SUMMER VISITS: NEVE SHALOM LPJC SYNAGOGUE

The Faith Awareness series of summer visits to places of worship and other faith-related sites in Leicester continues this evening at Neve Shalom, the synagogue of Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation. As well being contracted to work 20 hours a week for Leicester Council of Faiths, I now do a day and a half a week with Faith Awareness, the inter-faith programme of Christians Aware.

Neve Shalom means "Oasis of Peace" (Isaiah 32:18). The Synagogue is named after a village near Jerusalem known as Neve Shalom / Wahat al Salam, where Jews, Christians and Muslims live and work together for the common good. The village is an inspiration to Jewish people, in Leicester and farther afield. The distinctive building, designed by celebrated Leicester architect Ernest Gimson, has an interesting history of its own. This is hinted at in an article by Olwen Hughes, published in the Leicester Mercury in January 2013 and reproduced in my blog.

I've made half a dozen visits to the LPJC Synagogue since my first time in July 2011, and have always enjoyed the hospitality of the community there. 

We're keeping up good numbers on these Monday evening visits. We've brought along a dozen people this evening (half of them newbies) and we're matched one-to-one by members of the LPJC.

The original theme for this series of visits was "food and festivals". Our hosts this evening have stuck to that theme. Dov Stekel gives a short talk about the theory of kosher food and its place in the life of the community. That's followed up by a practical demonstration, with a delightful spread of food and drink linked to different occasions in the Jewish calendar.

This is the fifth of six Faith Awareness visits planned for Monday evenings in May and June, the others being

• Jain Centre, Oxford Street (13 May)
• All Saints Church, Kerrysdale Avenue (20 May)
• BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Gipsy Lane (3 June)
• Islam Information Centre, Highfield Street (10 June)
• Guru Amar Das Gurdwara, Clarendon Park Road (24 June)

I may not be able to attend every visit personally, but I hope to arrange for a blog post on each of them. Watch this space!

BUDDHIST HOUSE BBQ

 

This evening I'm at The Buddhist House, Narborough, for a vegetarian barbecue and garden evening. It's been raining quite heavily, off and on, for most of the day, and there's quite a downpour on the way here (hailstones in the middle of June, for goodness sake). But it stops and the sky clears around 1830, so enjoyment of the evening isn't dampened.

The Buddhist House is home to the Tariki Trust, a community of people who believe that Buddhism is something to be lived, not merely a practice to be fitted in during a busy day. The name Tariki means "other-power" in Japanese, a fundamental concept in Pureland Buddhism. It's the basis for Other-Centred Approach, the model of psychology underpinning the psychotherapy taught on Tariki courses, which are offered at The Buddhist House.

 It's a fine, rambling house of character and distinction, dating from around 1900, with a garden to match. There's a Buddha statue nestled under a lime tree.

 

I get the chance to chat with some interesting people, each of them with different manners of association with The Buddhist House or for being here this evening. I also discuss briefly with Carolyn Brazier tentative plans to start an informal collective group bringing together the many and varied groups of Buddhists in Leicester and Leicester. I've been asked to help get that going as an "honest broker" working with and between most of these groups.

I also propose that The Buddhist House be fitted into next year's programme of Faith Awareness summer visits to places of worship and faith-related sites in and around Leicester. I'm sure we could fill a minibus for an evening visit here.

This is my first visit to The Buddhist House, though it's not for want of being asked. I honestly can't think why I haven't made the short trip out here before. I mean, the Arriva number 50 bus from Leicester city centre comes straight to the door, for goodness sake! So I have no excuse for not coming again.

SUMMER VISITS: ISLAM INFORMATION CENTRE

Some of the group at the Islam Information Centre this evening

The Faith Awareness series of summer visits to places of worship and other faith-related sites in Leicester continues this evening at the Islam Information Centre, Highfield Street.

 

I was last here less than a week ago, helping out with a group of Year 5 pupils from Sandfield Close Primary on a visit arranged in association with The Mighty Creatives. The children had cameras, digital voice recorders and all kinds of art materials, to capture their experiences and impressions visiting not only here, but also the Jain Centre, Leicester Cathedral and BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir. Back in the classroom they'll be producing material for a display entitled "Faith in Neighbours" that will be on show in Curve during An Indian Summer later this month.

I'm glad to say that we have the biggest turnout so far for these Monday evening visits, with an even dozen of us at the start. Had any more arrived, the group would have had to be renamed "Christians Galore"!

Each of the three floors in the Centre has themed rooms. The ground floor and reception area is "Discover Islam". On the first floor are two rooms, "Status of Women" and "Islamic World of Science". In the last of these, we watch a short DVD feature, Library of Secrets, starring Sir Ben Kingsley, which reveals some of the contributions that Islam has made to some of the most essential aspects of the modern world. We're introduced to illustrious figures from the Golden Age of Muslim civilization (roughly coinciding with what is still called the Dark Ages in European history) who pushed back the frontiers of theory and practice in matters such as

• astronomy (Meriam al-Astrulabi, 10th century CE)
• mathematics (Al Kindi, c 801-873 CE)
• manned flight (Abbas Ibn Firnas, 810-887 CE)
• mechanics (Al-Jazari, 1136-1206 CE)
• optics (Ibn al-Haytham, AKA Alhazen, 965-1040 CE)
• surgery (Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi 956-1013 CE).

This is very well made, à la Harry Potter: accessible, enjoyable and interesting for children and adults alike.

 

I remember when I first heard about characters such as these and their achievements, the glories of the Golden Age of Muslim civilization and how much that magnificent culture has bequeathed to our modern world. That was in 1979, when I was 19 years old. I was astonished at what I learned then and questioned why I hadn't known any of this before. How could I have gone through a liberal educational process, the finest that the Scottish system - long the envy of much of the rest of the world - had to offer, yet been taught nothing about this? Did my teachers even know about these things? Did those who had taught them? I felt like I uncovered these hidden truths, which are now gaining ground as common knowledge, through the writings of William Sears and George Townshend, little known apologists for what was a little known faith in my late teenage years. Sometimes it felt like being a detective or lifting the lid on a conspiracy theory as I found out more and more. It's good that institutions such as the Islam Information Centre exist today to redress the balance and close some of these yawning gaps in our knowledge.

Kamran Qayyuam & Abu Bakar

Kamran Qayyum and Abu Bakar are our guides through the rooms. They're supported by Daud Sameja (Joint Coordinator of the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group), who gives a short introductory talk and fields the Q&A at the end. In the photo above, Kamran and Abu are seen with a display of copies of the Qur’án in different languages. To the left of the picture are translations of the Qur’án in Albanian, Chinese, French and German; to the right, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil and Urdu translations. This in "The Noble Qur’án" room, one of the two themed rooms on the top floor. The other is dedicated to a display on "The Prophets of God (Peace Be Upon Them)".

After we've toured the themed rooms, we return to the reception area, where some food is laid on for us. We end with a relaxed Q&A and I present Kamran with a copy of Meeting Muslims, the latest in a series of books on encounters with people of different faiths published by Christians Aware. I checked beforehand that they didn't already have a copy of this. They didn't, surprisingly, since it was done with the help of several friends in Leicester (including Daud) and is published by an inter-faith organization based a mere stone's throw away. I'm glad to be able to rectify that omission this evening.

 

I get the remaining members of the group to pose for a photo at the front of the building. As we're leaving, I encourage our Muslim friends to join us on the visit to Neve Shalom - Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation's synagogue - next Monday evening. I hope that some of them will be able to take us up on the offer.

This is the fourth of six Faith Awareness visits planned for Monday evenings in May and June, the others being

• Jain Centre, Oxford Street (13 May)
• All Saints Church, Kerrysdale Avenue (20 May)
• BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Gipsy Lane (3 June)
• Neve Shalom Progressive Synagogue, Avenue Road (17 June)
• Guru Amar Das Gurdwara, Clarendon Park Road (24 June)

I may not be ale to attend every visit personally, but I hope to arrange for a blog post on each of them. Watch this space!

SUMMER VISITS: BAPS SHRI SWAMINARAYAN MANDIR

 

The Faith Awareness series of summer visits to places of worship and other faith-related sites in Leicester continues this evening at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Gipsy Lane. I'm obliged to be elsewhere this evening, so much of the content of this blog post has been provided by Barbara Butler (thanks Barbara!)

The Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is directly across the road from the place the group's last visit in this programme: All Saints Church, Kerrysdale Avenue.

Our group was welcomed and shown into the main temple, where we admired the beauty and peace of the space. We also appreciated the watercolour depictions of the life of the guru. We were shown round the classrooms and talked to some of the boys who were learning Gujarati. This was made easy because we had a child with us. We finally joined in with the worship of the community.

 

Frieze in the vestibule at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

This is the third of six Faith Awareness visits planned for Monday evenings in May and June, the others being

• Jain Centre, Oxford Street (13 May)
• All Saints Church, Kerrysdale Avenue (20 May)
• Islam Information Centre, Highfield Centre (12 June) 
• Neve Shalom Progressive Synagogue, Avenue Road (17 June)
• Guru Amar Das Gurdwara, Clarendon Park Road (24 June)

I may not be ale to attend every visit personally, but I hope to arrange for a blog post on each of them. Watch this space!

I'm bringing a group of Year 5 pupils from Sandfield Close Primary here tomorrow morning. That will be the third of four visits in two days that these children are making to local places of worship, arranged in association with The Mighty Creatives (a charity based in Leicester's LCB Depot, working across the East Midlands to champion young people's creativity and innovation). Artwork that the children produce as an outcome of their visits will be on display under the title, "Faith in Neighbours" in the Mezzanine at Curve as part of An Indian Summer later this month.

BIG LUNCH WITH SANT NIRANKARI MISSION

Nav Aurora, GMB, Cllr Manjula Sood, Debbie from Asda

Late morning and early afternoon today I'm at Sant Nirankari Bhawan, for a Big Lunch event, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation. The Big Lunch receives sponsorship and support from Asda.

This is the first time I've visited the group's centre in Prebend Street, on the site of an old Quaker Meeting House - the second to be occupied by the Society of Friends in Leicester (built 1877, closed 1956).

 

Sant Nirankari Mission styles itself "an all-embracing spiritual movement dedicated to peace, love and human fraternity. ... The mission is a platform for spiritual awakening with the simple philosophy that God is for all humanity irrespective of age or background, age, gender, political ideology or any other differentiating factor."

On entrance, the first thing I see is an interesting exhibition showing a range of community activities: blood donor drive; Easter egg donation; Universal Oneness Community Games; Mystical Musical Events; street shows. 

 

 

The programme begins with half an hour of Bhangra dancing, that starts out as a demonstration and ends up a bit of a rammy. There's a nice photo above, taken around the halfway point. A couple of minutes later, I'm up dancing in the circle (I'd time the rammy as starting from that point). I'm not often seen dancing in public, but I'm dragged on to the floor by Cllr Manjula Sood and she's my boss, so how could I refuse? This is followed by a demonstration of Dandiya (below). No way am I getting involved in that: those women have sticks!

 

After this demonstration, I make my way to the langar and share in the vegetarian food and soft drinks. In the main hall, there's a "laughing yoga" session going on, with audio piped into the room where we're eating. It takes me a few minutes to figure out just what the bizarre noises are for - and when I do, it's a bit of a relief!

 

I'm moved to say that this is one of the most genuinely diverse, harmonious, joyous inter faith events that I've attended, in Leicester or elsewhere. The congregation here is remarkably varied. Going on visual cues alone, some are distinctly Hindu; others Muslim; others still, Sikh; a few are Christian. This could prompt a debate about the relationship between conventional markers of culture and geographical origin, spiritual belief and religious practice - but everyone's too busy getting along and being happy together for that.

 

 

 

A couple of Police Community Support Officers attending today appear to have resolved that hoary old chestnut about whether members of the emergency services should remove their shoes in a place of worship.

 

Given that this is my first visit here, I'll be back in just a few days' time. There's a talk on the Bhagavad Gita, given by Mrs Jaya Rowe this coming Wednesday (5 June, 1830).