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Goanet mourns the passing of Cornel da Costa in London, England - Sep 10/10
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From the Joseph Naik Vaz Institute....
In splendid sunshine and in the midst of a colorful Berkeley crowd, music, and
bands, our Joseph Naik Vaz Institute and Dana Yoga Peace Society supporters
came together at Berkeley Civic Center Park to offer our prayers, support,
sentiments for peace, and inter-religious harmony on this tragic anniversary of
September 11.
We were right in the spirit of Tim Padgett’s article “What Christians Can Learn
from Koran Burner the Rev. Terry Jones” in TIME magazine. What is the counter
to violence? His suggestion: go pray with others of different faiths, celebrate
their festivals, share their holidays.
Our celebration was around a picture of Ganesha for Ganesha Chaturthi, one of
Blessed Joseph Naik Vaz in a Sannyasi robe, and a picture of the Dalai Lama and
the Tibetan flag. First of all we took a minute to talk about our journey
toward peace and non-violence, to remember victims of all faiths who perished
on 9/11, and the burn and accident victims around our San Francisco Bay Area
(San Bruno gas pipe explosion).
Swamini Mangala of Badarikashrama helped us to do the Lighting of the Lamp
ceremony while she recited Mantras for Peace and Invoked Ganesha on this
auspicious Ganesha Chaturthi festival day to remove obstacles in our paths.
We recited the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) in thanksgiving for the great
Christian tradition in America that leads to protect refugees like the Tibetans
who attended this meeting. An Egyptian provided her family Koran and we read
verses about Peace in the Koran. Then the Tibetans chanted and said a very
special prayer for Peace composed by the Dalai Lama.
Two beautiful paragraphs were read from our own Asha Sharma’s book about her
Quaker grandfather’s spiritual journey to Hinduism while working as a
missionary in Himachal Pradesh, from the chapter titled “The Vedantist.” They
signified unity between religious faiths.
We ended by reflecting on the beautiful inter religious events in the life of
Goan Catholic saint, Blessed Vaz, who was protected by the Buddhist King of
Kandy from Dutch persecution, and the compassionate intervention of the King’s
Muslim physician to save him from capture and death by the Dutch in seventeenth
century Sri Lanka, all while Blessed Vaz was ministering to persecuted
Catholics at the risk of his life and surviving on little like a Hindu sannyasi.
Incredibly, the Blessed Vaz canonization Petition to the Pope, "Make Blessed
Vaz A Saint", crossed 1,000 signatures at the time of the event
(http://www.petitiononline.com/JosephV/). The symbolism was not lost on Blessed
Vaz supporters.
Joseph Naik Vaz Institute
Berkeley, California
www.josephnaikvaz.org
