о мой бог

In an event, which promises to have great historical
significance in the history of Gaudiya
Vaishnavism, the Bhaktivedanta Institute and
ISKCON Mayapur will be hosting over 500
religious leaders of various faith backgrounds,
and from all over the world, at Sri Mayapur
dham, between November 24th to December
5th, 2008.
These religious leaders are all members of the
United Religions Initiative (URI), one of the
largest and most active Interfaith organizations
in the world. This will be URI’s second Global
Assembly (the first was in Rio de Janerio,
Brazil, in 2002.) This second Global Assembly
(GA) will be held in Mayapur, West Bengal, the
birth place of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who
established the process of harinama sankirtana
(congregational chanting) as the yuga dharma
(prescribed spiritual principle) for this age.
The idea of holding the Global Assembly in
Mayapur had its genesis in an invitation made
by Dr. T.D. Singh (H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara
Swami) to Rev. Canon Charles Gibbs, the
Executive Director of the URI, several years
ago. Dr. Singh is a Charter member
of the United Religions Initiative,
and played a major role in the formation
and growth of that organization.
This Global Assembly is to be held in his honor, and Dr. Singh will be memorialized
during the Opening session of the Assembly.
There are two parts to the URI’s GA. They are:
Nov 24-Nov 29: URI Young Leaders Program
Nov 30-Dec 5: URI Global Assembly
This event has required an enormous amount
of planning and coordination between the
URI, the Bhaktivedanta Institute and ISKCON
Mayapur. Discussions and planning for this
program have been going on for quite some
time, with several URI teams visiting Mayapur
and planning and coordinating the meeting.
Among the issues that had to be addressed
were the travel and logistics, the pure vegetarian
meals that will be served to all the
attendees, the lodgings, and the communication
facilities that are necessary for such a huge
gathering.
Among the highlights of the GA will be the
many workshops and sessions which will promote
world peace and interfaith understanding.
A unique feature of this year’s conference
will be the several sessions available to all
attendees that will promote understanding of
the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy that will be
held in the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

From the URI
Website:
http://www.globalassembly2008.org


Pilgrims of Peace: Many Paths, One
Purpose
About the URI Global Assembly
The United Religions Initiative’s
Global Assembly provides a critically
important opportunity for members
and partners of URI’s global community
to celebrate URI’s diversity and
deepen our global community;
•to share diverse expressions and experiences
of the sacred;
•to co-create bold visions for the future
inspired by our past successes;
•to engage in mutual learning, receive
training and build our collective capacity;
•to plan actions at global, regional
and local levels; and
•to provide input for an agenda that
will inspire and sustain principled
and effective action for the next three
years.
URI will bring together over 500
members and friends for the second
Global Assembly, “Pilgrims of Peace:
Many Paths, One Purpose,” in Mayapur,
(November 30 to December 5,
2008) including:
•Delegates from nearly 400 CCs
•Over 200 young leaders from
around the world
•Nearly 100 Global Council and
Global Staff Members
•URI affiliates and friends
The theme of Global Assembly 2008
is “Pilgrims of Peace: Many Paths,
One Purpose.” With our world in
turmoil, achieving global peace canseem unimaginable. And yet, we believe
that when people act together
for peace, justice and healing, there is
no limit to what can be accomplished.
As pilgrims dedicated to such action,
representatives of the URI community
will make a journey to join together in
a deeply spiritual place, a small temple
town on the banks of the Ganges River
in West Bengal, India.
Pilgrimage is a powerful notion in India.
The idea of being on a pilgrimage,
rather than being tourists, is a
powerful one that the URI community
came to identify with at the first
Global Assembly in 2002, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It also relates to the
vision of “72 days of pilgrimage”
that URI leaders from Asia developed
following the Rio assembly.
LOCATION
Our host community for Global
Assembly 2008 is the International
Society for Krishna Consciousness
(ISKCON) in Mayapur, where pilgrims
from across the globe visit
in great numbers each year. Very
much a “spiritual capital of the
world,” Mayapur is the place where
“the Deities of Sri Sri Radha Madhava,
Pancha-tattva and Prahlada-
Nrsimhadeva preside over the temple
for thousands to enjoy daily congregational
chanting. Up to 10,000
pilgrims visit Srila Prabhupada’s
Samadhi memorial each day.” As
pilgrims, participants of the Global
Assembly will honor the norms of
our host community at ISKCON
while creating a distinctly URI experience
within that context, including
eating a variety of delicious vegetarian
food and abstaining from intoxicants,
like alcohol, nicotine and caffeinated
beverages - although coffee
and tea will be made available especially
for our group, but to a limited
extent, like during breakfast and in
special areas.
His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara
Swami (Dr. T. D. Singh) was one
of ISKCON’s esteemed leaders and a
founding member of URI. Until his
passing in 2006, he was a member of
URI’s Global Council from India. It
is due to T.D. Singh’s vision that URI
will hold its next Global Assembly
in Mayapur, where together we will
seek ways for a mutually enriching
interaction with our hosts and the
local community that reflects our
common dedication to sharing the
sacred and serving the world.
PROGRAM
In seven and a half years, URI has
grown from a vision to a global organization
active in over 60 countries
with the involvement of over
1,000,000 people annually. It has
created an unprecedented global
network of interfaith cooperation,
launched countless successful projects
around the world and become
the recognized and respected leader
in grassroots interfaith organizing.
URI’s work is carried out by nearly
400 local groups called Cooperation
Circles, of which 70 are in India. Our
governing board is a Global Council
of 29 members from 18 countries.
The assembly program will be
developed in response to the expressed
needs of URI’s Cooperation
Circles and other participants. The
program will enrich various dimensions
of the “Guidelines for Action”
in URI’s Charter:
•Sharing the Wisdom and Cultures
of Faith Traditions
•Nurturing Cultures of Healing
and Peace
•Rights and Responsibilities
•Ecological Imperative
•Sustainable Just Economics
•Supporting the Overall URI
Also part of the assembly program
will be the URI’s triennial Meeting
of Members. We will celebrate
and support the transition from
URI’s second to third Global Council.
The winners of the first Bowes
Awards will also be acknowledged
during the Global Assembly.
Through ceremonies and daily
sacred/cultural offerings, Appreciative
Inquiry processes, expert
speakers/teachers/presenters and
training sessions, CC workshops,
Open Space sessions, interaction
with ISKCON hosts, shared service
engagement, and other activities
that reflect the diversity of URI’s
global community, we anticipate
that:
•Participants will leave the assembly
expressing their exceptional experience
and training in Mayapur.
•The experience will motivate and
expand their ability to accomplish
their aspirations in interfaith cooperation
and peacebuilding, and help
them utilize the URI global community
in accord with the URI Charter.
•Exemplary CC action projects will
be shared and documented for future
use.
•Advances in URI’s work in India
will be identified as a result of GA
assembly presence.
•Dynamic new partnerships
strengthened by the Global Assembly
experience will further URI’s
impact in the world