An International Interfaith Seminar was jointly organized by K. J. Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham (India) and GRISO from the University of Navarra (Spain) in January/February 2013. at Somaiya Vidyavihar, Mumbai. It was in continuation of a fruitful tradition started in 1998. The theme of the seminar was «The Cosmic Elements in Religion, Philosophy, Art and Literature).
Papers were presented by scholars from different countries such as India, Spain, Portugal, UK, Italy, Canada, USA, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and others.The theme of the seminar was focused on the search for the origin of the world, a search that is clearly seen in the various fields of culture. It is a fact that several civilizations have defined a set of ‘classical elements’ which are considered as the source of whatever exists. The most traditional are the ones of Water, Fire, Earth and Air, to which Ether is also added. K. J. Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham by organizing Interfaith Dialogue seminars aims at fostering a sincere and enriching dialogue between Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. On this occasion it worked together with GRISO, one of the most prestigious research institutes on the Golden Century of Spanish Literature. The timeless message of the Rigveda, the Hindu scripture is: «Meet together, speak together, let your minds be of one accord… May your counsel be common, your assembly common, common the mind and the thoughts of these unite». And here in the seminar scholars from different cultures and religions came together and shared their thoughts.
Kala Acharya, Ignacio Arellano, Mariano Iturbe, Prachi Pathak, Rudraksha Sakrikar jointly edited a compilation of these papers presented under the title:
The Cosmic Elements in Religion, Philosophy, Art and Literature
This compilation has been published by :
Pamplona, Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Navarra, 2015. Colección BIADIG (Biblioteca Áurea Digital), 34 / Publicaciones Digitales del GRISO. ISBN: 978-84-8081-481-2.
This compilation also includes a paper read at the seminar by the Deputy Chairman of the Institute of Jainology titled ‘JAINISM AND NATURE’
Full details of this publication can be found at:
http://www.unav.edu/publicacion/biblioteca-aurea-digital/biadig-34