Tasmania – July/August 2021 – Religions for Peace Australia

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Greetings of peace! We hope that all of your families and friends here and overseas are well and safe as the world battles with COVID and all its variants. We continue to hold everyone in our thoughts and prayers… especially at such a time people of faith hold on to the light of spiritual hope, knowing that compassion and lovingkindness can be a powerful means of helping one another through all these difficulties.

In August, we commemorate Hiroshima Day and Religions for Peace Tasmania will join the gathering to be held at 11-12noon on 7 August on Parliament House Lawns in Hobart.

Greetings of Peace!

We hope that all of your families and friends here and overseas are well and safe as the world battles with COVID and all its variants. We continue to hold everyone in our thoughts and prayers… especially at such a time people of faith hold on to the light of spiritual hope, knowing that compassion and lovingkindness can be a powerful means of helping one another through all these difficulties.

In August, we commemorate Hiroshima Day and Religions for Peace Tasmania will join the gathering to be held at 11-12noon on 7 August on Parliament House Lawns in Hobart.

A reminder that the Parliament of the World’s Religions will be held internationally online for the first time in its history in 2021 on 16-18 October (https://parliamentofreligions.org/parliament/2021-virtual). Registration is now open to everyone interested. It will provide inspirational opportunities to catch a glimpse of the extraordinary activities people of different faiths are undertaking together to support peace and safety in many countries of the world.

Holy Days in June 2021

Date	Event	Faith/religion
6 August	Rosh Hashannah	Judaism
10 August	Al-Hijra	Islam
22 August	Hungry Ghost	Chinese Buddhism
22 August	Raksha Bandhan	Hinduism
30 August	Krisnha Janmashtami	Hinduism

Sacred Conversations

31 July

At the next Sacred Conversations meeting our special guest will be Terry Sussmilch who will talk with us on the fascinating theme Creating a Network of Consciousness: the task of the time. Can we align theory and practice to bring such a network about? This will be held on Saturday 31st July at 2pm at the Baha’i Centre of Learning, 1 Tasman Hwy, Hobart. You are most welcome to join us as we celebrate our diversity and oneness with music, food, and sacred conversation.
For those who are unable to join us there in person, you can still have access to the meeting via this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6401673016

Sacred Conversations is an interfaith outreach and dialogue group that encourages people of different faiths and cultures to come together in a spirit of deep respect, understanding, peace, and love! We meet on the last Saturday of every month from 2pm to 4pm.

Enquiries: 0401673016 or julianmcgarry@gmail.com

Aligning your finances with your Faith

3 August Australian Religious Response to Climate Change presents a workshop entitled Aligning your Finances with your Faith to Protect the Planet. This will be conducted by RfPA National Secretary, Sue Ennis.

Sue has helped to create the workshop together with Uniting Church Minister, Jamie Thom. I was lucky enough to be part of the trial and can attest to how powerful a tool this workshop is towards our personal efforts to slow climate change and to encourage the organisations with whom we have invested our money to do the same.

This ARRCC Living the Change event is a series of small group monthly sessions in which participants share, learn and discuss within a multifaith group issues surrounding aligning your finances and faith to protect the planet by divesting from fossil fuels.

The first (introductory) session considers Banking, and subsequent follow-on sessions cover other aspects of finance such as Superannuation, Insurance, and Shareholder actions.

Book your first zoom session for either Tuesday 3rd August 2021 or Thursday 12th August 2021 from 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM AEST (Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane/Hobart), 7:00 PM (Adelaide), 5:30 PM (Perth). Details of subsequent sessions will be sent to participants in the first session.

There is much work we can do to ensure that our big financial institutions – banks, insurance companies and superannuation companies – are divesting from fossil fuel industries, and investing into renewable sources on the path to a reducing emissions. To register https://www.arrcc.org.au/align_your_finances_with_your_faith

Australian Religious Response to Climate Change

The Australian Religious Response to Climate Change is fundraising to support two part-time workers and their efforts to provide a unique contribution to climate action in Australia – a faith-based witness to both care for the earth and mutual respect across diverse cultures and faith traditions. We are determined to make the most of this next crucial year.

To do this, we need skilled community organisers who can dedicate their time to providing strategic guidance and support to our many active volunteers.

Thanks to some wonderful supporters, we have made major progress towards our fundraising goal. We’re asking for 30 kind people to set up monthly donations. Already the first ten people have stepped up. Not bad at all for the first three days!

If you’re in a position to help us reach our fundraising goal, please donate here. One-off donations are very welcome too. Thank you to all whose financial support makes our work more possible!

Brahma Kumaris

Choose to be Calm: A short course in Positive Thinking including an introduction to a simple form of meditation.

Develop personal powers for a calm, positive approach to life.

Tuesdays 10, 17, 24, 31 August 2021 from 1.30-3.00pm (four continuous sessions) at Mathers House (lower level), Bathurst St Hobart (between the Playhouse and the State Library.

Bookings are essential as numbers are limited.

Phone Helen o 6244 8362 or email hehe@iimetro.com.au

The Orpheus Choir

A stunning mid winter choral concert of Fauré’s Requiem & Brahms Zigeunerlieder with Drei Gesänge. Hobart Orpheus Choir accompanied by organ & piano.

Susan Reppion Brooke, Conductor
Ben Mackey, Organ
Elizabeth Rockliff, Piano
Arianne James, Soprano
Christopher Waterhouse, Baritone

Performed in the presence of the choir’s Patrons, Her Excellency The Honourable Barbara Baker, Governor of Tasmania & Professor Chalmers at Scots Memorial Church in Hobart.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 2021 AT 2 PM
Event by Hobart Orpheus Choir Inc.
29 Bathurst St Hobart 7000
Tickets: www.trybooking.com/BSOMF

Hindu Society of Tasmania

Hindu Satsang Group Discussions
19 August at 6.10pm – 8.00pm at the Baha’i Centre, 1 Tasman H’way, Hobart (in person or by Zoom)
Satsangs are held on the third of each month.

Dr Nagaratnam Jayasreedharan (Sree) will be presenting and discussing a pre-recorded lecture given by Swami Sarvapriyananda of the Vedanta Society of New York titled ‘The Language of Paradox in Advaita’. The lecture focuses on three key questions: Why the language of paradox? Why God is beyond language? How does it help us spiritually?

If you are interested, please email to the coordinators Ajit (ajitsr@gmail.com) or Sree (njayasreedharan@gmail.com) or SMS Ajit Ramadas: 0411 300 630 or Sree: 0413 936 936

The Hindu Society of Tasmania, Aryasamaj of Tasmania, Deepavali Tasmania and other like-minded associations have jointly been holding Satsang Group Discussions on various Hindu spiritual and philosophical subjects since 2016. Hinduism encourages freedom of enquiry of life. It has resulted in multiple pathways, teachers and practices which may sometimes conflict one with another. In spite of the many differences, there are even more commonalities, like reincarnation, the laws of karma, the cyclic nature of creation and dissolution, the notion of Atma or Jivathma (Soul), Paramatma (Supreme Soul) etc, to be found across them.

These sessions are an opportunity for community members to share and gain understanding on the various aspects of Hindu philosophy. The purpose of these discussions will be to cover various related topics and their associated vocabulary so as to provide a broad understanding of the embedded ideas and insights.

The purpose of the discussions includes the following:

To encourage enquiry and study of diverging Hindu philosophies/faiths
To study the fundamentals of various philosophies/faiths within Hindy culture
To be aware of the difference in viewpoints in diverse philosophies and practices
To share various cultural practices and the rational behind these practices
To encourage self-study and to share the information gained from the same
To share enquiries and personal views on various eternal questions of life
To encourage the practising of various noble human values common to all philosophies
To encourage enquiry into the common and special attributes of soul and mind
To familiarise with concepts such as Atma, Paramatma, Brahman, Prakruthi, Karma, Laws of Karma, Cycle of Creation etcTo Practise universal principles of ‘Ahimsa’, Satya

Parliament of the World’s Religions:

We are 141 days away from the 8th global Convening of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. The2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions addressing the theme, Opening Our Hearts to the World: Compassion in Action, will join the ranks of historic interfaith Convenings bringing together peoples of faith and conscience around the world in a common mission of justice, peace and sustainability on October 17-18th.

In addition, we wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to all who have already joined us in counting down to the 2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions by registering to attend and proposing a program. Due to some unexpected website maintenance, the Parliament has decided to extend the deadline for theCall for Programs.The new deadline for programs is Wednesday, June 30th.

The Theme is Opening our Hearts to the World: Compassion in Action.
https://parliamentofreligions.org/blog/2021-04-01-2114/2021-parliament-theme-announced

When: October 17th -18th, 2021
Where: Virtually everywhere around the world
Enjoy access to our lowest rates by taking advantage of the Super Saver Rate, only available until May 31st. Register for the Super Saver Rate (USD $50.00) here: https://parliamentofreligions.org/webform/2021-parliament-worlds-religions-registration?cid1={contact.contact_id}&{contact.checksum}

Have questions about the 2021 Parliament of the World’s Religions? Connect with our team today atinfo@parliamentofreligions.org

Tasmanian Council of Churches Emergencies Ministry

11 September

Our next Personal Support training day will be in Campbell Town on Saturday September 11th. This training in Psychological First Aid and Emotional & Spiritual Care is for potential new volunteers and also acts as a Refresher course for current volunteers. Topics covered include:

Understanding the emergency setting
Tasmanian Emergency Management Arrangements
The impact of emergencies on individuals and communities
Psychological First Aid principles
Emotional & Spiritual Care principles
The role of a TCC Emergencies Ministry volunteer

TCC Emergencies Ministry deploys faith-based volunteers to care for affected people in situations such as evacuation centres during fires and floods. No formal qualifications are required but we do need a positive reference from your faith community leader.

The registration form is online at https://www.tccem.org.au/register_for_training/ The price is $110 (incl GST), with a discount offered to Regional Coordinators and LGA Reps. Registrations close September 6th.