Er. Zarrir Bhandara Speaks At Interfaith Conference, USA
The ‘Love All Serve All’ Interfaith Conference was organized on April 7th, 2019, by the International Society of Sathya Sai Baba and the Sathya Sai Centers of USA, with the purpose of promoting the spirit of unity within diversity, which was amply portrayed by spiritual leaders from six major religions of the world.
Venerable Sumitta represented Buddhism, sharing Buddhist prayers and spoke on non-violence and explained how all of us are God’s children belonging to one global family. Rev Susan Chamberlain, Director of Interfaith Coalition for the Environment, represented the Christian faith, stressing the importance of taking care of our environment through the teachings of different religions. She was followed by Rabbi Arthur Perles, Doctorate in Divinity in Jewish Studies, who gave a speech with Hebrew chants. Hinduism was represented by Dr. Acharya Mahadevan, Secretary – Chinmaya Mission, who emphasized on oneness and God’s presence in all.
He was followed by Ervad Zarrir Bhandara, representing the Zoroastrian faith. Bhandara took the floor and asked the audience about God’s presence in every being and in everything; he spoke of the energy field and each of us as spiritual beings manifested in a physical body. He spoke on the definition of God as “was always there, is and will always be there; cannot be destroyed…” He chanted and shared a brief explanation of our prayers and mentioned, “Translation is just a tip of an iceberg; the real essence lies in the sound vibrations of the prayers itself. Therefore, one should focus on the sound of these ancient prayers.”
Lastly, Islam was represented by Sheikh Yousouf Estes, who urged the audience to have undaunted faith in God – the only supreme power.
