Bushey Interfaith Forum Meeting ‘Keeping The Faith’
As part of National Interfaith Week, the theme of the Bushey Interfaith Forum annual community event for 2018 was entitled ‘Keeping The Faith – The Challenge of Living in a Secular Society’. It was held on 21st November 2018 at St Peter’s Church Hall at High Road, Bushey Heath WD23 1FG .
Despite being a chilly evening, there was a fantastic turnout of almost 150 people filling the venue to near capacity. Speakers from Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish and Jain faiths presented the topic from their viewpoints interpreting the subject in a variety of ways. Statistics indicated that society as a whole now had as many people stating that they had ‘no faith’ as those indicating a belief in a faith. Interestingly, some faith congregations were experiencing dropping numbers whilst others had seen numbers increase.
Kajal Sheth, Trustee of Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur UK, representing OneJAIN,expressed that to actually become firmly established in a faith, firstly one should challenge the faith such that one is able to satisfy oneself that the faith can provide the level of inner belief required. Jainism is that sense, she explained, was extremely scientific in its approach to the major questions of life and existence, and hence able to provide answers which today’s questioning youth, in particular, could relate to. Ultimately, one also needs faith in a spiritual master to allow an aspirant to reach their full potential.
All faiths expressed challenges, whether from prejudice relating to appearance or simply assumptions based on little factual knowledge, to changes in society such that political correctness resulted in an erosion of important traditions. A lively Q&A session concluded an evening of sharing, warmth and friendship amongst an audience drawn from several different faith traditions.
Visit to Kenton Road Temple
The Interfaith Week celebrations committee representatives were visiting various religious organisations and had honoured Mahavir Foundation with a visit to the temple at 557 Kenton Road on 18th November.
The President of Harrow Interfaith group, Varshaben Dodhia joined the Executive Committee members of Mahavir Foundation to welcome the Inter-Faith representatives.
The theme for the visit was ‘Meditation’. Dr Vinodbhai Kapashi explained how meditation is embedded in Jainism and forms the foundation of Jain philosophy. Dr Kapashi also highlighted the history of the temple and explained the ethos of Jain philosophy and detailed some of the basic principles of Jainism. Ms Dodhia took the visitors round the temple explaining various rituals that were taking place at the time.
Visitors were offered light snacks at the end of the tour and they departed after a visit of hour and a half at around 12.30.
