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Dalai Lama to convene inter-religious faith meeting; communal harmony, women's empowerment among key issues to be discussed

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The Dalai Lama is set to convene an inter-faith meeting in order to address the most important issues ailing the society, especially in India.

Called a 'Meeting of Diverse Spiritual Traditions', the event will be held on September 20 and 21, according to the official website of the Dalai Lama. Over 100 religious leaders of all faiths including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, representatives of Shankaracharya, a senior Shia Muslim cleric, the archbishop of Bombay, and leaders of Jewish community etc are expected to attend the meet. 

Speaking to dna, Tempa Tsering, representative of the Dalai Lama, said that promoting human values and inter-religious harmony are some of the main priorities.

'India has been the birthplace of one of the world’s greatest civilizations, giving rise to multiple systems of philosophical schools, spiritual and faith traditions. Philosophical thoughts like Sankhya, Yoga, Vaishasika, Nyaya, earlier and later Mimamsa, Bodh, Jain and Charvaka emerged and developed with extensive interactions and debates among them reaching to a high level of sophistication,' as stated in the Dalai Lama's website. The website also mentions that many faiths and spiritual lineages like VedicShaivaVaishnavaJain, Buddhist as well as Kabir and Sikh have originated in India. While religions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism etc were introduced and flourished in India.

Earlier this week, as Xi Jinping held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the exiled Tibetan spiritual said Xi should take lessons from "strong" Indian democratic practices and the "one-ness" in diversity

Tsering adds, "India is one country where there is religious harmony... and should be an example for the rest of the world." Several religious leaders from all over the country belonging to various faiths are expected to participate in the meeting. Tsering said that the leaders have great following and which would help the learnings from discussion reach a wider mass.

Communal harmony, inequality, environment and women's empowerment are some of the issues that will be discussed at the meeting. Stressing that a spiritual leader's responsibility lies beyond carrying out religious duties, Tsering said, "The purpose of religion is to serve humanity. It is not good enough for religious leaders to just offers prayers in churches, mosques, temples or monasteries. We must also come together for society to see how different religious leaders can contribute for social well being."

Also Read: Here's why 150,000 Tibetan refugees are protesting Xi Jinping's visit to India

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