Tasmania: November-December 2022 – Religions for Peace Australia

Tasmania Logo

Greetings of peace!

We hope everything is going peacefully for you, your families and your communities as we enter another season of holy days to end the old year (where did that year go?) and begin a new one full of possibilities.

Greetings of peace.

The Religions for Peace Tasmania event this month will be our participation in a national project, a series of online workshops organised by Religions for Peace Australia entitled Faith communities Preventing Family Violence: sharing strategies across Australia.

The first one will be held this Friday 25 November 22 from 12 noon – 2.00pm. The details are below. Please send on the information to anyone you think may be interested.

Religions for Peace Australia will also hold a prayer session for recent victims of floods both here and around the world. This will be held on 13 December. If anyone would like to join in the prayer session, please let me know.

Finally many blessings to everyone for the coming holy season. May they bring peace and spiritual joy and renewal to you and your communities.

Holy Days in November – December 2022

Date	Event	Faith/religion
24 November	Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur	Sikhism
26 November	Day of the Covenant	Baha’i
27 November	Advent	Christianity
28 November	Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha	Baha’i
6 December	St Nicholas Day	Christianity
8 December	Bodhi Day	Mahayana Buddhism
19 December	Hanukkah	Judaism
25 December	Christmas	Western Christianity

Faith communities Preventing Family Violence: sharing strategies across Australia

Religions for Peace Australia invites people of faith in Australia involved in working with (or thinking of working with) faith communities/ faith leaders on the prevention of family violence to an informal Zoom gathering.

The purpose of this meeting encompasses states and territories and their work in this area; it is meet and fitting that faith participants share our practices in order to bring about peace in the home, peace in the society and thereafter, peace in the nation.

When: Near the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Friday 25th of November 2022

Time: 12-2pm AEST (SA 11.30, QLD 11 am, NT 10.30 am, WA 9 am)

Where: Zoom
Register in advance for this meeting

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting which will include the link.

There will be another local workshop on Preventing Family Violence in Tasmania on Thursday 9 February via Zoom (further information early next year and a further national strategies session on 9 March 2023 in which Tasmania will feature.

Brahma Kumaris Meditation Centre Hobart

Dealing with Powerful Emotions: why am I so affected by others?

New wisdom for contemporary life

When: Saturday 26 November 3.00-4.30pm

Where: Hobart Town Hall, Macquarie St., Hobart and online

Presentation, discussion, Q&A, and meditation experience

Guest Speaker: Charlie Hogg, National Co-ordinator of Brahma Kumaris Australia

Bookings essential on tiny.cc/powerfulemotions or join online on the day at tiny.cc/dwpezoom

Enquiries: 6278 3788

Supported by the City of Hobart

Dances of Universal Peace

Come to Dances of Universal Peace with Sangita and Chando:

When: 2-4pm Sat 26th November

Where: Pat Murnane Hall, 188a Lenah Valley Road

(Park at the RSL, the hall is just above)

We look forward to offering Dances of Universal Peace here each month, in the afternoon on the 3rd or 4th Saturday throughout 2023.

Hope to see you there!

Sangita and Chando peacedancetas@gmail.com

Sacred Conversations

Stories of celebrations: what does this time of year mean to you?

For many Australians, Christmas is just one of many celebrations at this time of year. All have stories attached and, like the Nativity story for Christians, are deeply meaningful for those who participate and those who join with them. Sacred Conversations this month seeks to be truly inter-faith and share stories of different festivals at this special time of the year. The tales of how Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Karthigai Deepam (Festival of Lights) came about will be offered, but there are many more – see this article from SBS from some years ago: https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2016/12/13/christmas-isnt-only-holiday-australians-will-celebrate-december.

Please come prepared to share and to listen as we enter into each other’s festivities and merriment. Most festivals signify joy after struggle and so there will be room to reflect on difficulties as well. Sharing is such a part of festivals and the photo above reflects that – the roundabout is called United Nations Square (only in Israel!) and you can see three faiths united here – the menorah of Hanukkah, a Christmas tree and a crescent and star during the Holyday of Holydays – a festival that has been celebrated in Haifa for the last 30 years.

Let’s have our own Holyday of Holydays for the final Sacred Conversations for this year. Unfortunately for us, Julian won’t be able to join us – but we wish him well and a speedy recovery from surgery.

As always, the meeting will be held at the Bahai Centre of Learning at 1 Tasman Hwy, Hobart, 26 November from 2pm to 4pm.

It would be a pleasure to have you join us in person but if you’re not able to, and would like to join us via Zoom, here is the link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88482883301?pwd=U1F3a0U0L3ord1o2OGtrdW9XTzVTUT09

For more information, contact Ann, 0497904340

Religions for Peace Asia

Invitation to attend Online Climate Change Seminar ACRP (Asian Congress of Religions for Peace)
(The current Moderator of ACRP is Prof Emeritus Des Cahill OAM, immediate past Chair of RfPA)

The Asia Pacific Women of Faith Network present an online seminar on Climate Change.

Theme: Inspired by Our Faiths and Spiritualities to Move Forward with Climate Action

Seminar Objectives

➤ Developing a clear understanding of how multireligious actors can take a range of actions that can leverage positive influence to address climate change challenges across our region.
➤ Strengthening bonds of familiarity, trust, and active engagement between diverse faith leaders, and between religious and secular policymakers and the experts on climate change.
➤ Building a religious network for specific activities (and learning exchanges) related to climate change

Date: Tuesday, November 29th, 2022 / 2:00 pm-4:40 pm (Japan Time)* (Click Here for Your Local Time)

Registration Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrf-mtpjksGtWyy0kT0UxlWtEyYY4V43N6

Aligning your Finances with your Faith to Protect the Planet

The Australian Religious Response to Climate Change Divestment Group is offering a Support Group session for those who have participated in the Aligning your finances with your faith to protect the planet series.

To finish 2023 and to celebrate some of the divestment changes you have made (or are trying to make) you may like to come to a one-hour support session on:

When: Thursday 1st December 2022

Melbourne/Sydney 7.30- 8.30 pm; Adelaide time 7pm; Brisbane 6.30pm; Darwin 6pm; Perth 4.30pm

So we can get ready for the session and you can receive the Zoom link, please could you register using the following link:

https://www.trybooking.com/BYVDM

The session will include: sharing on faith and financetalking about how things are going with regard to our banking, super, insurance, etc-divestment
We understand that this is a journey so it will take some time and some social media activity.

Soul Food

You are invited to join on Sunday December 4th at 3pm at the Bahai Centre of Learning for Tasmania,

1 Tasman Hwy, Hobart TAS 7000, for another thought-provoking Soul Food. The Theme for this program will be ” Springs of Giving“.

With readings and quotes from philosophers, poets, authors and faiths chosen to encourage enlightened actions.

The music will be C-Silk Quartet creating a warm environment promoting friendship followed by a nice warm afternoon tea.

All welcome – Ample free parking
Enquiries ttp://www.soulfood.com.au/tas/

Museum of Old and New Art Festival of Music and Art
Multi-channel sound installation Prayer

https://www.tumblr.com/the-prayer-project

You are invited to join Prayer, a community-orientated art project documenting vocal worship around the world.

Prayer presents a city with a portrait of itself, as a place of diverse spiritual and religious practices, faiths, and beliefs. This moving and contemplative sound installation brings together audio recordings of vocal worship: voice, melody and language to weave a sonic tapestry that envelops gallery visitors.

Prayer in lutruwita / Tasmania

Prayer will be presented as part of MONA FOMA at Old Tafe, 10-16 Wellington Street, Launceston from the 17th to the 19th of February, and secondly at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) in Hobart, from 24 February to 9 March 2023.

If you live in lutruwita / Tasmania and wish to participate in Prayer by being recorded reciting a prayer, please contact the producer, Kat Traill, on kat.traill@mona.net.au as soon as possible.

The artist, James Webb and the Project Producer, Kat Traill, will be traveling around Tasmania to record prayers from communities interested to participate from the 26 January, starting in Hobart, and will conclude recording on the 21 February at the absolute latest.

The opening night function will be held at 5.30pm – 7.30pm Thursday 23 February at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery , and we will be inviting all the participants, contributors, heads of churches, faiths, politicians and key stakeholders to come and see the work before it opens to the public the next day.