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Parliament of the World's
Religions--
Discovering New Ways of Life
By Anthony George, SGI-South Africa
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| The
writer (center) and SGI-South Africa members at the SGI information
booth |
Cape Town, a city nestled among the striking beauty of
intermingling mountains, forests and beaches, is used to welcoming visitors.
Since South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, thousands
more tourists have been arriving every year to enjoy this natural splendor
and the mild climate of the city. There was, however, a definite sense
of collective excitement last year as December drew nearer and the city
prepared itself for the arrival of the participants in the third Parliament
of the World’s Religions. Approximately 7,000 people representing
some 150 spiritual traditions, from at least 90 different countries, would
be in the city between December 1 and 8 for the largest global interreligious
convention of its kind.
The purpose of this occasion was, in the words of Jim
Kenney, director of the Council of the Parliament, to enable the religious
and spiritual traditions of the world to encounter one another in a spirit
of respect and "to discover new ways to rise to the challenges and
the opportunities of life at the threshold of a new century." For
South Africans the opportunity not only to encounter, but to host the
spiritual traditions of the world, was another significant boost to national
morale after years of enforced isolation and international ostracism.
The first Parliament took place in Chicago in 1893. It
took another hundred years, however, for the idea of an international
gathering of scholars and representatives of the world’s religions
to be revived. When it was, in 1993, Chicago again played host to an even
broader representation of the world’s spiritual traditions. From
the success of that event a determination was born to hold these gatherings
more frequently.
One of the biggest challenges for participants in the
Parliament was choosing from the incredible number and variety of lectures,
workshops, films, exhibits, symposiums and cultural performances. Over
1,000 such activities were held over the course of eight days. This meant
that attendants were frequently faced with a choice of between 40--50
events to select from at any given time. Most of the lectures took place
on the campus of the Cape Town Technikon--a tertiary education institute
which balances theory and practical training--located a few minutes
away from the city center.
The Good Hope Center, a large auditorium a few blocks
away, provided the venue for the evening plenary sessions. This core element
of the daily proceedings gave religious leaders an opportunity to address
a wider audience of the attendants and provided a more ceremonial context
for interreligious encounter. Here the themes of religious pluralism,
tolerance, unity in diversity and the universality of core religious principles
were repeatedly invoked. The sessions also included music and dance performances
from around the world.
There are many reasons why South Africa seems a particularly
appropriate context for such a structured attempt at interreligious dialogue
and cooperation toward addressing the reality of human suffering. One
is the aura of moral integrity which seems to surround South Africa as
a result of its recent liberation and its surprising transformation through
the "soft power" of dialogue. In the world’s popular imagination
South Africa has come to hold a place as a symbol of the moral victory
of good over evil and of the possibilities of peaceful transition.
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| Local
performers visiting the SGI booth |
Also relevant to Cape Town’s suitability as a venue
is the glaring disparity in socioeconomic well-being of the population,
which is still strikingly and painfully evident as a tangible legacy of
apartheid and a reminder of the urgent need for action. This seemed to
lend added impetus to many of the plenary and public sessions. On many
occasions, too, the moral weight of this recent history of struggle in
South Africa--personified by the presence of former president Nelson
Mandela at the fifth evening plenary session--seemed to help focus
the rhetoric away from sentimental appeals to universality and onto the
urgent need to seriously confront and address the reality of social and
economic injustice.
A strong injunctive in this regard was presented by Cape
Town’s mayor, Nomaindia Mfeketo, herself a veteran of the South African
struggle and a staunch activist in the continuation of that struggle in
the socioeconomic arena. Addressing the opening session of the Parliament,
she made it clear that the rhetoric of religious peace and universal love
has no weight unless it is backed by concrete engagement with the reality
of people’s lives. This, ultimately then, is the challenge of religion.
For his part, former president Nelson Mandela paid tribute
to religious institutions for the supportive role they played during South
Africa’s antiapartheid struggle. Many, for example, provided schools
for black people when the state refused to do so. Had it not been for
the efforts of religious institutions, said Mr. Mandela, he would not
be where he is today.
This theme of the social mission of religion was echoed
in the addresses given by SGI Vice President Toshinori Iwazumi and Soka
University dean of law, Prof. Tadashige Takamura, at the Cape Town
Technikon.
In his presentation, "Applying Buddhist Values in Building a Culture
of Peace," Mr. Iwazumi discussed the value of humane education based
on his personal experience as a member of a family of atomic bomb survivors.
Describing Buddhism as a movement of popular education awakening people
to the true nature and value of their own lives, he related how this process
of personal expansion, wherein one can learn to take responsibility for
the entirety of one’s life, also enables one to take responsibility
toward the human future. He described how his process of "human revolution"
as a Buddhist helped him transform the despair of his family history and
become a person who could take concrete action for peace.
Dr. Takamura’s presentation "Applying Buddhist
Values in Conflict Resolution" analyzed the structural violence inherent
in the socio-political trends which have grown in the vacuum created by
the ending of the Cold War, and explained how the principles and values
of Buddhism provide concrete antidotes to these. He also described some
of the activities which the SGI has undertaken to put these principles
into practice.
Another aspect of the SGI’s participation at the
Parliament included an information booth manned by SGI-South Africa members
which made Buddhist literature available to the public.
The SGI’s presence was also powerfully represented
by the exhibit, "Treasuring the Future: Children’s Rights and
Realities," brought by SGI-USA delegates at the request of the Parliament’s
organizers. This was viewed by many members of the public as well as participants
in the Parliament.
For ordinary South Africans who were able to experience
the Parliament (many were able to attend as volunteer helpers), it was
a valuable and rare educational experience. This is because South Africa
is a predominantly Christian country in which people have had very little
exposure to other religious ideas and practices. Although a variety of
religions are practiced in South Africa, the legacy of separation within
South African society has meant that there have been few opportunities
for people to confront and overcome the prejudices, mistrust and fear
which separation creates.
In South Africa, Cape Town is known as "The Mother
City." Having had the privilege of participating in this third Parliament
and experiencing the incredible amount of goodwill and genuine collective
enthusiasm for peace among the attendants, I feel confident that our city
has been able to play a part in nurturing a burgeoning global vision of
hope for humanity.
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