 Welcome to Abraham, out of one many, an engaging art exhibition brought to you by Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston and curated by Caravan and international arts NGO non-profit that is recognized as a leader in using the arts to further our global quest for a more harmonious future both with each other and with the earth. Interfaith Ministries is Houston's oldest service organization. Dialogue, collaboration and service have been at the heart of our work for over 50 years. Our programs fall into four areas. We are Texas's largest meals on wheels program covering six counties but primarily in Harris and Galveston counties. We're one of the top 10 largest meals on wheels programs in the country. We also have a strong refugee services resettlement program working with Episcopal migration ministries to help resettle refugees into the Houston area. Volunteer Houston connects individuals groups and companies with non-profit agencies to transform the greater Houston community for good through volunteerism and interfaith relations and community partnerships fosters understanding respect and engagement among people of all faiths. Our CP is thrilled to be able to host this exhibit. Please visit www.imgh.org to learn more about us. Between April 20th and May 21st we hosted Abraham out of one many virtual exhibit of 15 paintings by three celebrated artists from the Middle East. We had planned to host these paintings in person in our Brigitte and Bashar Kallai Plaza of Respect and Great Hall in April of 2020 but COVID derailed those plans. We were thrilled to work with Caravan to create a virtual gallery experience so that we were able to reschedule the exhibit. A virtual experience allowed for a wide variety of accessible programs including the program you're about to enjoy. We are grateful to the sponsors that made this event possible especially our lead donors, Joni and David Andrews, Debbie and Floyd Kearns, Marion and Paul Cones, and Carol and Frank Grun. This exhibit came to us through the incredible work of Caravan. Its mission is based on the belief that the arts can be one of the most effective mediums to heal our world and to creatively foster peace, harmony, wholeness, and health in all its forms. Caravan originated out of an artistic bridge building initiative in Cairo, Egypt in 2009 that focused on addressing the then growing chasm of discord and misunderstanding between the people's cultures and creeds of the Middle East and the West. The nomadic Caravan team comes out of the founding vision to encourage and facilitate those from diverse backgrounds and worldviews to journey together through the arts. While Caravan's mission is global in focus, they maintain an ongoing program emphasis on the Middle East due to their founding. We invite you to visit oncaravan.org to learn more about the organization. Started in 2007, our Dinner Dialogue program is one of IRCP's longest running initiatives and has taken many forms and covered many topics since its inception. Even in a virtual format, our Dinner Dialogue allowed time for both compelling presentations as well as a virtual small group conversation. The title of this dialogue, Abraham and Conversation, highlights IAM's commitment to dialogue across all religions. Recognizing the Jewish-Christian Muslim focus of the exhibit, this dialogue brought the Buddhist and Hindu artistic traditions into the conversation. We welcome Sahana Singh and Miyoki Cain Barrett as our guests. We'll have a Dinner Dialogue, Abraham in Conversation. Let me try to get me moved over here. There we go. We're grateful to Caravan for bringing this art to us and to our generous sponsors for making this exhibit and tonight's event possible. You'll see those sponsors there listed on our screen. Since 2007, our Dinner Dialogs have been a staple of our interfaith work and have taken many shapes and forms. They've been in homes, they've been in our great hall, and they've been in houses of worship. People are not seeing the breakout room option. Don't worry about that just yet. That probably will happen when I activate it. When I tell you that the breakout rooms are open and you don't see an invitation to the breakout room, that's when you may need to look for that option. That should not be a worry. We've used a deck of cards of questions. We have used focused on different faiths. We've examined the elements of good dialogue. No matter. Our dialogues have sought to bring people together. There we go. Couple of quick announcements before I proceed. Please visit imgh.org. Click in the upper right-hand corner and click on the Abraham event to learn more about our closing events as we come to the close of our hosting, of our month's worth of hosting this virtual exhibit. I would especially invite you to please sign up for our final closing event, which is the third annual Gershenson lecture, which will be called Abraham Out of One. Abraham and Beyond, the Future of Interreligious Engagement, and I will be the lecturer this year. That will be a week from tonight, Thursday, May the 20th. You should have, if you received an invitation to dinner dialogues, you should also be on the same email list and should have received an invitation to the Gershenson lecture as well. Just a quick run of what we'll be doing this evening. I will move through our welcome over the next kind of 10 minutes or so, and then special presentations from Sahana Singh from the Hindu tradition and Miyoki Kane Barrett from the Buddhist tradition about opening the conversation. We'll have a little bit of question and answer. Then we'll move into one session of small group dialogue with moderators and come back for our conclusion. Please feel free if you're able to stay for 30 minutes after the dinner dialogue for a guided tour of the gallery of Abraham. Let me stay right here. During Abraham, this special exhibit we've hosted virtually between April 20th and May 21st, we've really enjoyed hosting, keeps advancing, there we go, and showcasing this wonderful work from three accomplished artists. As Bishop Paul Gordon Chandler, president of Caravan notes, today's climate of increasing prejudice and stereotyping has resulted in an increase of populist nationalism and tribalism. One way to counteract is through creative initiatives that are based on what we hold in common. It is in this context that Abraham, an ancestral spiritual figure of distinct significance within three primary monotheistic faith traditions of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism has much to teach us in this timely artistic exhibition about Abraham's life and about living harmoniously. Abraham's life can serve as a guide toward creating cultures of peace, harmony, justice, and healing. You know, art has touched us all in many ways. While this is not, and this is again the context in which we come to the dinner dialogues of learning and sharing. This is not a religious painting, but in many ways it's a very sacred one to me. This painting on Alfred Bierstadt landscape that hangs in the National Museum of American Art has been a companion of mine for 30 years. And I always, when I'm back in Washington D.C. where I did my undergraduate degree, always visit the National Museum of American Art and sit in front of this Bierstadt painting for as long as I can. And it's just a wonderful, it's been a wonderful companion over the years. And it's also helpful to know that our artists have also been influenced. As we quickly scroll through, for example, this is from Shea Zule, our Orthodox Jewish painter artist. And this is about the, from the theme of living as a pilgrim. But he notes that he was influenced by, again, another one of my favorites artists, Kaspar Friedrich, which is called, this one's called Standing Above a Sea of Fog. And so our artists also have influences as well. And you can see the distinct similarities between, again, this kind of, from kind of two different times and two different worlds standing above the sea of fog and living as a pilgrim. We know that art is special because it activates the imagination. As we kind of look through and please stay afterwards for our gallery showing as well of the, these pieces of art. And these are from, first of all, Sinan Hussein and then Kaisal Sindhi and Shea Zule. Our art, as we quickly scroll through the work of our three artists on five themes, we know that art is special because it activates the imagination. And it brings us in touch with the transcendent. Creativity always connects us with something larger than ourselves. Art is invitational as well. We can all experience it. It is also transboundary. Art doesn't stop at national borders. So transcendent, imaginative, invitational, transboundary as well. And so these works, as we go through them, I'm going to just move them through them a little bit more. Just as a reminder, again, these are some of the concluding ones from the five pieces of art by Kaisal Sindhi. And then we saw this one from Shea Zule. Again, Shea Zule has got this wonderful, very whimsical approach to his artwork. And it's just very, very, it's just really fun. And this one's been really important to us as well because this final one of the hands of blessing has been the one that we've used on a lot of our work. And what's really important here is then I think summarized in a quote from Leonard Bernstein. The point is art never stopped a war. That was never its function. Art cannot change events, but it can change people. It can affect people so that they are changed. They then act in a way that may affect the course of events, by the way they behave, by the way they think. And this exhibit has focused on five themes that have been focused on the story from Abraham. Living as a pilgrim, welcoming the stranger, sacrificial love, the compassionate, and a friend of God. But now it's time to enlarge the conversation, which is why this dinner dialogue is called Abraham and Conversation. And an opportunity for other voices and new perspectives to be also introduced. I'd like to welcome two women, members of our communities outside of the three traditions, to share and add their voices and their perspectives on the role of art and spirituality. I've not asked them to share as academics, what the dialogues have asked from attendees and speakers over the years is thought, is reflection, is that personal touch for us to share of ourselves. And this is what I have asked from them tonight, to share from their experiences of art and faith, from the Hindu tradition, the Sannathana Dharma, and from Buddhism, those who follow the noble eightfold path. If you've been with me on one of my classes on World Religions or on a visit to a faith community with me, you've heard me say that the approach to religion and faith between what are called the monotheistic religions or the Abrahamics, which is a problematic term in itself, and the non monotheistic religions, which is a problematic term in itself, between what we sometimes call Western religions and Eastern religions, which are wholly artificial constructs in themselves. But they are very different approaches. And these differences are important, because when we are with people who see the divine in different ways, it can expand our understandings as well. And I think that is one of the goals of the dinner dialogues, and the goals of this exhibit for us to see in new ways. And so I'll welcome now Sahana Singh, and I'll introduce both of them right now. And Sahana Singh is an author and commentator based in Texas. She's an environmental engineer by qualification who writes on a variety of issues, including water management, environment, and Indian history. Her book on India's educational heritage has been well received, and her second book on the same subject is awaiting publication. Sahana has won several awards for journalism, including the Developing Asia Journalism Award in 2008. Her articles have been published in Readers Digest, Washington Post, Discovery Channel Asia, Asian Water Magazine, and other publications. Sahana is the Director at Indian History Awareness and Research, IHAR, a non-profit headquartered in Houston, USA. She's passionate about traveling and connecting the dots across different societies, civilizations, and disciplines. And then we also welcome, and let me go ahead and stop my share so we can see everyone, Miyoki Kane Barrett, who currently holds the position of Bishop of the Nichiren Shoe Buddhist Order of North America. She is the first woman and the first American to hold this position. She's also the first American woman and the first person of African American and Japanese descent to be fully ordained in the Nichiren Shoe Order. She is the guiding teacher and priest at Myokinji Temple here in Houston. And she currently volunteers with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as clergy for two prison sanghas, which in Buddhism is a word meeting community. She has been fully engaged in this work for 15 years as a full expression of the Lotus Sutra, which teaches full equality. She also supports weekend trainings for healing warrior hearts, a Texas for Heroes project designed to truly welcome our veterans home. And again, before I turn things over to Sahana, if you have not, if you feel comfortable, please put in the chat box your name and what has drawn you here. And since it's a dinner dialogue, please share with us what you are having for dinner. Sahana, the floor is yours. And thank you for being here with us. Thank you. Thank you, Gregory. Namaste to everyone and a very good evening. Thank you very much for inviting me and making me and my faith a part of the conversation today. I look forward to an evening of sharing and learning. So I love the idea of using art to explain religion. So in Sanatana Dharma or what people call Hindu traditions, art is deeply infused by spiritual meanings. And it is intended to take the viewers towards the ultimate truth. So art always has this intention of drawing you towards higher truth. So today, the theme that I have selected is Ardhanari Shwara. It's a long name, Ardhanari Shwara, which means a particular depiction of the divine in which the God, the divine is half female. Now Ardha means half. Nari means female. So Ardhanari means half female. And Ishwara, Ishwara means the supreme divine. So when we join them all up, it becomes Ardhanari Shwara, which means the half female divine. So as you know, in the Hindu traditions, we do not view God as exclusively male. So we see the supreme being as both male and female. So we have many artistic depictions of the divine feminine as well as the masculine. But today what I'm going to show you is a composite of the male and female. It's a combination of Shiva, the male and Parvati, the female. So in Sanatana Dharma, we have the freedom of interpreting the divine in a variety of ways. And all these schools of thought make us very pluralistic. It also makes us debate all the time. So we are constantly debating. So just give me a moment. So in our religion, we have the understanding that every human being is a combination of male and female. So a man is not male, not male just because he has the male organs. But he also has more male traits than female traits. And similarly, a female is female, not nearly because she has female organs, but because she has more female traits than male. So it's a spectrum. And the male and the female are seen as having complementary rules, not competitive. And when we look at the Ardhanarishwara form, then we see them as inseparable. It is a particular depiction which shows the male and female as inseparable. The other thing is that we understand that the female form is a dynamic one. So she's the force of nature. She's mother nature herself. So everything in nature that people see around us like the mountains, the trees, the flowers, the sky, the storms, even the pandemic itself, all that we see as a feminine expression of the divine. And she is called the Shakti, the cosmic power or the energy. And on the other hand, is a completely still Purusha or consciousness, pure consciousness. And some people call it the supreme consciousness. And some people see it as a male entity, while others see it as neither male or female, because it is beyond all that duality of male and female. So this is actually a very deep concept to explain in a short time. But I'll show you some art in which the artists and sculptors have tried to depict the half-female divinity. And I will start with what I'm actually wearing today. I'm wearing around my neck. I don't know if you can see this appendent. This is my first exhibit. So you can see a face, which is half-male, which is of Shiva and half-female, that is Parvati. The blue side is the male. I hope you're able to see this. And now, this is actually a very common motive. So what I have on my appendent, we also see it in our clothes, wall hangings, saris and things like that. So let me just go on to share my screen. I think you can see my screen now. Looks good. Good. So I'll give you a glimpse of Sanatana Dharma via art. Oops, it's not moving. Yeah. So Ardhanarishwara is a special depiction of the Supreme Divine as half-female, as I told you. And some of the images that I'm going to show you are very ancient. The earliest images go back to the first century CE. And this depiction is shown in many of the temples in India, especially the Shiva temples. So this is the first picture. It's a painting, as you can see. And this shows the Ardhanarishwara in a seated position. This is actually not very common. It's usually shown as standing. So you can see half the body, which is female. She's wearing a saree, Parvati. You can see her bindi, half a bindi. And you can see that there is more ornamentation on the female side. And you can also see the tiger or the lion. Sometimes it's a tiger. Sometimes it's a lion. Which is the Vahan. Vahan is the mode of transport, the vehicle used by this Deepi. So it is on her side. And then on the male side, you can see that it is of a different color to distinguish. And you can see the hair. It's all matted locks. Whereas on the female side, you can see it's more neat. And then you can see the crescent moon, which is a symbol of Shiva, so which is on the male side. And you can see that he is dressed in a different kind of clothing, which is the skin of a tiger skin, typically, or some other skin of an animal. And then you see the Vahana, the transportation of Shiva, which is a bull, which is, we revere the bull as well, Nandi. So you see all this male and female, both in one picture. So Ardhanarishwara. Now I'll take you to another one. This one is from, just a minute, I think I'll pick it up. This is found in the Elephanta caves in the western part of India near Bombay. But it's badly damaged because when the Portuguese captured Bombay, then they destroyed a lot of these. So you only see the upper part a bit more clearly. So this is from the fifth century. This was made in the fifth century. And in fact, this whole place, the caves are full of amazing sculptures and paintings. So I have zeroed in on Ardhanarishwara. And today is a UNESCO heritage site. And so you can see, in the female side, you can see the breast. So that is the female side. And then the male side is flat chested, which is Shiva. And then of course, there are other figures depicted around the main DP. They are worshippers or whatever. Sometimes they are other celestial figures. Then you have this one. Again, Ardhanarishwara, which is found in the caves of Badami, which is in southern India in Karnataka, the state of Karnataka. And this is interesting because there is a stringed instrument. There is a, it is called the Veena, which is held there, held by both the male and female parts. The support Shiva and Parvati are holding this Veena. And you can, if you go closer, you'll be able to see all the attributes, the breast and the female side, more ornamentation. And the headgear is more the neater, comb side and all that. And then all those figures standing around, they are the worshippers. This is another one, a very beautiful depiction of Ardhanarishwara. And again, you can see the single breast on the left side. And you can see the long ropes. You can see the folds of the ropes that the female Parvati is wearing. And it's interesting that this is almost like a dance pose. But in order to balance the weight, we can see that Shiva is resting his elbow on the, on the Nandi, on the bull. So, but then the hand has been broken off again. Again, I think the work of some, some of the invaders. So this is another Ardhanarishwara. And in this one, you can see, this is the earliest. This is probably the first century common era from that period when the Kushanas were ruling over India. And so we just have the bust of this Ardhanarishwara. We don't have the lower part. And in this, again, you can see that the female side is on the left side is wearing huge earrings. And then you can see the hair, which is combed and kind of styled well. And on Shiva's side, it's all matted locks on that side. You can see the hair coming down right there on the, on the shoulder. So this is the earliest Ardhanarishwara. And this is an interesting one. This is a much later depiction of Ardhanarishwara, because it shows two faces. So both, they have actually made the two faces of Shiva and Parvati. And it looks like they've even made the Vahan, the transport also both male and female, because the tiger looks seems to have a female and a male side as well. So this is interesting. And there's actually, there's more detail in this. What else? So that's because I'm just letting you see it for a while. And then I'll take you to the another one. So this one is in Khajuraho. This is in central India. And this is the view that was possible because it's quite big. So you can't take it at eye level. And you can see all the usual, the single breast, you can see the different clothing, you can see the different instruments and the weapons in the hands. Both of them, both the male and female side have two arms each. But sometimes it varies. And this is one that I took last, two years ago. This is from Mahavali Puram, which is next to the sea. It's a beautiful temple. Again, you can see, you can see snake, on the male side, because Shiva is generally associated with snakes. There are snakes around him. And so that's the reason that snakes are also given a lot of care and respect. They are venerated as well, because they are found with Shiva, popular depictions of Shiva. Here is a smiling one, smiling depiction of Ardhanarishwara. Again, the hand is resting on the Shiva's hand is resting on the bull. And you can see the whole hand. This has not been broken off. So it's special. And you can see the ornamentation as well. And I got this picture of a saree, which is having the same Ardhanarishwara at the end of it, where we know when we, not in the main body of the saree, which is wrapped around the body, but on the pallu, which is on the shoulder. So you can see Ardhanarishwara here as well. The blue side here, Shiva is blue and Parvati is shown in yellow. She is shown wearing a saree, all the same elements. A close-up. You can see half a bindi and you can see a different kind of marking on the head, which is typical of Shiva on the male side. This is another one. So all these motifs, you will find them on sarees, dresses, and of course, you'll find them in Shiva temples. So the question might arise that why do we, why do Hindus worship images of deities? I think this is a question that often arises among the followers of Abrahamic religions. So these images, they are called murtis in Sanskrit. They are viewed as physical representations of the infinite divine. So we know that the divine is infinite. But then we, these are physical and finite representations. And it helps the people to, the seekers to search for the truth, because it helps to focus one's dhyana, what we call dhyana, which is loosely translated to meditativeness. So we need that form. But then we know that this is not, this is not all that there is. It is, it goes way beyond that. And also, when we do the, when we worship these images, it helps to inculcate within ourselves the qualities that are attributed to this particular form of the deity. So each of these deities has several gunas or qualities. And when we worship them in that form, then we are not only hailing them for those qualities, but we need to bring it in ourselves, whatever it is, it is, you know, where the love of learning, kindness, compassion, whatever are those qualities, we have to also bring it within ourselves. So when it comes to Ardhanarishwara, what is the significance of worshiping Ardhanarishwara? It reminds us of the inseparable nature of the divine feminine, the energy around us, as well as the still consciousness. So for us Hindus, there is divinity both outside and inside. So we also regard that what is within us, that consciousness is also divine, as well as the energy, the dynamism, the energy to do to keep doing something, that's also divine. So in poetry, the inseparable nature of Shiva and Parvati has been described as similar to the relationship between a word and its meaning, just like you cannot separate the word and its meaning, you cannot separate Shiva and Parvati. That's a very famous piece of poetry. So when we invoke Ardhanarishwara, it helps to us to get in touch with the dynamic as well as the still consciousness within our own cells, and both the male and female within our own cells. So with that, I thank you. Maybe you all stay positive and keep our faith. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you. Sahana, thank you so very much and we're good on time. There were a couple of questions, maybe it would be helpful to do a little Q&A after each of the presentations. So Miyuki will be with you in just a minute. There was a question in the chat, is the image of cattle associated with the male? Is there a gender, is there a kind of engenderedness to the image of the cattle in the art that we saw? No, that was actually the bull. So it was because Shiva is associated with the bull. So that one is male. It's typically male. It was, maybe there are some depictions where they try to show both, but Shiva's transportation is on the bull. So the bull is his vehicle. That helps for me because I often use a picture of Ganesh and people always ask, is that a little armadillo or a little rat or a little mouse? And because I believe since that's Ganesh's vehicle, I believe, if I got that right. Yes, I'm not giving bad information. One of the others questions was in the pictures, it seems that the female is always on the left and the male on the right. And again, I don't know if it's kind of from the point of view of the image or the point of view of the viewer, but it seems that there's a consistency in male-female orientation. Is, first of all, did we see that right? Blake, I know Blake, he's very perceptive. And is there a reason to this orientation? Yes, the male is, the female is usually on the left and the male is on the right, except there was one depiction that I showed which showed it the other way. So in general, the larger numbers of people show the male, the female on the left, where the heart, the heart region, that part is usually given to the female. So all those emotions, the feelings and all that, that is more attributed to the female energy. So that is on the left and the right side is given to the male. But then there are, as in India, you know, there is for everything that is true, the opposite is equally true. That's India for you. So there are a whole number of worshipers of the female, the feminine divine, and they like to show Shiva on the left and Parvati on the right, the female on the right, because they think that they have reversed the roles basically. So for them, they show it that way. Is there, is there within the sanatana dharma a privileging or a bias between the left hand and the right and the right hand? You know, there are a lot, it's pretty common, interestingly, across traditions, across cultures, across civilizations, across times that the left is often seen because again in Latin, the word for left is sinestra, which means sinister. And the word in Latin for right is dextra, where we get the word like dextrous. So is there a, is there a biasing in Hinduism? I know there's lots of Hinduisms between left, between the left-sidedness and right-sidedness. Yeah. So the right side is actually dominant. So that's the reason that those who, so the worshipers of the divine feminine, the Shakti worshipers would show the female on the right. Because for them, that is the dominant side. I mean, that is the dominant side. The right is dominant. So they would show the female on the right, the worshipers of the divine feminine Shakti. And then the others, the regular people who are, so they would show the right as Shiva. The others would show the Shiva on the right side. Yes, the right side is dominant. But again, you know, there is, they don't really see it in them in conflict. It is always more in terms of, you know, they're working together for the good of the people. So that's the way we see it. We don't see them in conflict. Thanks. And I'm happy to see any, any other questions. If you have seen the Abraham exhibit, you'll find that Sahana's presentation and the approach to art and divinity within the, within Hinduism, within the Sanatana Dharma to be really different. And I think a wonderful kind of balance or another, another approach to again, kind of the very particular maleness of, of a lot of equal because of the nature of the Abraham story. So Sahana, I very much appreciate your time and don't go anywhere because I'm sure there will be some more questions, I think, after our small groups. Let me turn things over to Miyoki Kane Barrett and for a little time with her out of the, out of the Buddhist tradition. And again, thanks to Nate Church who will be working the slides. I think you're still there. Thank you. Yes. And hopefully we'll be even. Thank you Sahana. We have much in common as I was listening to your presentation. I think the art that we can safely say related to the Lotus Sutra and other sutras was brought about because of a desire to tell pictures, tell the stories of the sutra in pictures. And so it was carried out usually in two formats as frontist pieces to different chapters or as hanging scrolls. And it wasn't until later as they tried to put in more detail of the stories that were being told in the sutras that they stopped having any relationship to the stories that were in the sutra. So they were used as impetus for what we call the picture explaining priests. So they would travel around with these pictures and teach the Dharma that way and became a popular form of sermons. We also see them depicted in two ways in the Lotus Sutra. Primarily as, could you back up the slide please, a Hunzen or what we call a central image of worship and which are used in religious services and rituals and devotions. And also illustrations of significant ideas of the sutra. So both are intended to promote faith in an understanding of the sutra. Now we can get into the slides. So one of the things that is really important especially today that there's a long tradition of those folks who are the artisans of carving divinity. And if you notice here what's really significant is the face of the Buddha. And this is particularly noted as Shaka Muni because of the hand position, which is the meditation mudra. The next slide is the founder of our order, the Nitran Shoo tradition. This is Nitran Shonin. And again one of the things you notice is the beauty of the face and the adoption of again the meditation position. One of the rare pictures of Nitran with his hands in the position we know as Gashou. Next slide please. So what is represented in most of what we'll see upcoming is the title of the Lotus Sutra, which is Namu Mioho Renge Kyo. Which means Namu means devotion or respect for what follows. Mioho is wonderful or mysterious Dharma. Renge Lotus flower signifying cause and effect. And Kyo is the teaching or vibration. So it's devotion to the sutra of the lotus flower, the teaching of the lotus flower of the wonderful Dharma. Next slide please. This is another representation. And if you notice the blue stupa in the back written in there is Namu Mioho Renge Kyo. And this would be considered a very expensive form because of the individual statues. And in the Lotus Sutra the stupa represents the stupa arising from the earth when the Buddha is teaching the Lotus Sutra. And Tahoe Buddha comes out to verify the Buddha's teachings. And so he invites the Buddha to sit with him at the stupa. And these are the other deities and bodhisattvas represented here in statue form. Next slide please. Now here is a statue of the Buddha for no fear. And also the two statues at the bottom are Jizo Bodhisattva thought to be the deity for children and travelers. And also used in the rituals for misokuyo or children who have been aborted, miscarried or died at a very tender age. Next slide please. You also find different kinds of stupas are called ohihis. This one is particularly dedicated to all those who have died in the past throughout the universe. Next please. Now what I'm showing you is the altar of the temple here. And so we'll go into that in the next slide a little bit deeper. We are very fortunate that the, this is a typical one, a Gohanzan, a Mandala Gohanzan. And if you notice again down the center is written Namu Mio Haudengekyo. And that's very much centered on a great deal of the art that is used in our, as objects of worship and ritualistic practice. And this one might be called a medicine Omandala Gohanzan. But it also includes names of all the bodhisattvas that were present to indicate the multitudes of beings that were present when the Buddha first started to preach the Lotus Sutra. Next slide please. Now this is the one that's in our temple and it's very unique. It was written and drawn specifically for our temple. So again you have Namu Mio Haudengekyo down the center. And you notice in very bold in each corner those are the four heavenly kings which are guardians. But down in the center is, if you go to the next slide, this is Mio Ken. And this was hand drawn by an artist. Mio Ken is the guiding deity of our temple because we chose that name since we are in the Lone Star state. And Mio Ken is the god of the North Star. Thought to have keen vision and he's also the god of horses and farmers. Next slide please. Again you notice this also represents the Buddha and Tahoe in the stupa, rising from the earth. So what this is designed to replicate for us as we're looking at it and is to understand that we continue to participate in the ceremony that was conducted when the Buddha was speaking. So which is known as a ceremony in the air. We also have the smaller statue here of Nitrin shown in as well in his teaching pose. Okay next slide. So these are some other deities that are represented. One on the left is Aizen who is the god of passion. Basically the wisdom king of passion to help us understand that whatever passions we might have even if they are negative can be transformed to the good. And that's what a lot of these statues help us to recognize. The next one in the middle is the Saijo Inadi which is the god of foxes. You might see the little fox head in the center but it's a god of props and foxes. The next one is Kokuzo the goddess of wisdom. And so you find a lot of these statues are used at various temples or even as amulets to help people get through their daily lives. Next slide please. This is again another scroll depicting the Namu Myohu Dengekyo and the deity here is Sichiman who was a dragon that lived atop a mountain and there are pilgrimages to the top of this mountain that go on regularly throughout the year. But her object in life was to listen to the teachings of the Buddha and protect the followers of the Buddha. And down in the corner here on the right you'll notice that's Kanzeon or Kuan Yin in Chinese and the one on the left is Benton the goddess of arts and music. Next slide please. Now this is one that you may see outside in the world on peace pagodas. Again the Odaimoku is down the center and the picture of the Buddha. Again this represents the ceremony in the air in this case for the whole world to participate. Next please. This is another rendering of myokin in statue form. Again, God of the North Star. Next slide please. This is Kishimojin and again in front of an Omandola Gohanzen. Next slide. Now one of the things the story of Kishimojin is a very powerful one. She is the queen of demons and she used to devour the children of the villagers and they would come to the Buddha and say please help us. She's you know killing our kids and so he the Buddha kidnapped her child and she came to him seeking help and he asked her did she now understand how the villagers felt and because of that she stopped being the demon who would eat human flesh and instead became a protector of the villages and the children in particular and is represented today by pomegranates because she stopped eating the flesh of humans. Next slide. Whoops. Skip that one. Okay. Well I have there is a YouTube channel called Carving the Divine and there's a young Japanese man who has undertaken the project of filming all about carving statues, the history of it, as well as different questions about Buddhism and he also has included Hinduism in his exploration. This is a taiko drum which is also represented here with the sound of a dragon. I think Nate's trying to figure out how to play it so we'll see if we could make that happen. So thank you Nate. So yeah I'm not going to play sorry. Okay. That was it. I got a little lost there. No. But I hope you will look at carving the divine if you are interested in more information about the different statues that can be found. Super. A couple of questions. One of them is one that I often have, the ears, long ears, large ears within the representations of the Buddha. Can you talk to us at all a little bit about what you know about why the ears are kind of when we find kind of big ears on a bodhisattva? I think if I remember correctly it's about hearing the cries of the world because he's the father, the parent, teacher, and sovereign of the world and especially all of us are his children. At least I think so. Are these deities or demons, just a fascinating again, really again why I think this is important because of the kind of the transformation of the grotesque into the good or the recovery of that which is seen as evil into an ally. Are these deities or demons part of Buddhism itself? Were they borrowed from other faiths or cultures? That's a complex question because there's nothing new under the sun in a lot of ways. But are there some parts that we know that are kind of either borrowed or adapted from other parts of the culture or ones that are kind of unique out of Buddhism? As I read it, they're all included because when the Buddha talks about living beings, he excludes none of them. And so like Kishimojin, the representation I have of her, I love that because it reminds me daily that I don't have to change in order to become awakened that just as I am, I am good enough. And there are other representations of Kishimojin where she becomes this beautiful statue holding babies and things like that. And some people like that one. But I tend to like the wicked looking woman. It's just my nature. But when the Buddha talks about, the sutra talks about who's present, everyone, every living being from all corners of the world, all 10 directions are included. So you'll have dragons and you know, gondarvas and asuras, all those weird words that name different kinds of critters. And that people have been trying forever to rename in Western lingo. Right. I've got two questions. Miyuki, I'd like to start with the two questions to you. And then because they also apply to Sahana, I'd love to get the same two questions to her. Let's start in both traditions. Wendy notes depictions of hand placement seem very intentional. What is the significance of this in Buddhism? I mean, you mentioned the word mudra, which is a you know, the word about a specific hand gesture, meaning something very important. Could you talk a little bit about the significance of hand placement? Essentially, it tells you the Buddha that you're looking at and the characteristics of that particular Buddha, like the one with no fear. There's one for touching earth. There's the teaching mudra. And it kind of gives you all of the characteristics that are available of the different Buddhists, because we tend to think of the Buddha as a single individual, whereas the teaching actually talks about the Buddha as eternal. And there are many manifestations of the Buddha. And it just depends on what particular Buddha is needed in that particular time. I feel also just to take advantage of the opportunity as we expand a little bit beyond talking about art, but talking about Buddhism is transformation a matter of a heart. Is the transformation a matter of individual or social or spiritual responsibility? Valencia, if I didn't get that right, can you chime in and ask your question? You're close. I just the transformation of the deity from being the, you know, the destroyer to the caretaker. Is that a matter of heart transformation or is that social, spiritual responsibility within? I would say it's all of that, because initially, one of the things we learn is that our practice is always for others. You know, so the transformation that happens in your life as a result of that is for others as well. But it's also the fact of our responsibility to transform our world, to not leave it the way it is, you know, so that we're constantly recognizing that we're all in this together and each of us has a role to play in it. One of my favorite expressions to remind myself of this is that it's more important for a thousand people to take one step than for one person to take a thousand steps, because we cover more ground if we're all working together that way. Thank you. Sahana, if I could ask you to chime in particularly on the the intentionality of hand placement or hand position within some of those images that we saw out of the Sanatana Dharma? Yeah, so the Buddhas are actually similar because Buddha, as you know, Buddha was born in India, which is all, I mean, so it's not, there's no really, there was no compartment between Buddhism and Hinduism. If you go back in history, Buddha didn't say that he belonged to a different religion or anything like that because within Hinduism itself, there were so many schools of philosophy. So Buddha was like another guru who came along and he had his own followers. Yeah, so the hand placements are usually significant. And in the ones that I showed you, there weren't any very significant ones, but most of them were the Abhaya Mudra, which was the hand cut off in many of them. So you couldn't see them. But typically Shiva would be having a Abhaya Mudra, which is do not be afraid, everything will be well, be fearless. That is the typical Mudra in which you find a lot of these deities. And then there are many, many Mudras. It will be very complicated to get into all of them. But yes, when the artists and the sculptors used to depict them, the deities, they would really need to be people who knew all the legends around them. They would be well read in that. And so when they're depicting, they would take care to show all the Mudras correctly, all the attributes correctly. Thank you, Oz, for recording. Any report backs from or additional questions from the small groups? If I could call, give that responsibility to the moderator or moderators that were in the rooms. Anybody want to report back in with any additional questions or reflections? We'll start with room one that would be Alina or Katie. So one of the, when we were talking sort of about our first question, which was what really stood out to us in these presentations. And there were a couple of things. One was this idea of this spectrum of kind of gender and energy between male and female. We thought that that was really powerful and kind of resonated with our own feelings about spirituality in a lot of ways that in our own faith traditions, that's not so much presented kind of in the mainstream as much. And then the other was just, we all wanted to be able to sit in front of these pieces of art for like a few days rather than, you know, 15 minutes because the complexity is just astounding and really profound. And so this felt like just a stick in our toe in the water. But, but we also feel like this is the kind of thing that's necessary to start understanding these, these different traditions that we're not familiar with. I mean, otherwise, where there's not even a starting point, right? And so, but those were kind of the overarching kind of initial thoughts from our group. Perfect. Katie, thank you. And I believe that the MFA Houston's got a pretty good collection out of the Hindu tradition. Someone can correct me if I'm totally off, but I think it does. Let me go to room two with Helen, kind of any brief report out or an additional question to throw into the into the chat box? Oh, you are muted still, the classic line. Yeah, we also were drawn to the concept of both the male female, continue on the spectrum, and also the incorporation of the monster into the glorious. We really resonated with that. And we were so, so blessed and fortunate that Miyoki joined our group. So we had her to enlighten us further as we had our discussions. But we also kind of, we had to break away a little bit from that word spiritual, because it was off-putting for some. So I translated that to awe or wonder. And that got more conversation going. Good. And so we had a longer conversation on question three. And we're really just grooving when you called us back. It's always the case. It's always the case. But it was, yeah, we had a, this was probably the most diverse small group I've ever had the privilege to moderate. And so that was really fun too. Yeah, I really enjoyed that. And like I said, Miyoki joining us was just awesome. Super. Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you, Helen. And that is one of my mantras of always, always leave them longing for a little more. So you'll come back. So let me go to room three. I think Jessica and Hailey and Nate, you joined in as well. One of you want to give just a brief report out any additional reflections? Yeah, this is Hailey. We actually focused on kind of a different initial question that I thought is something that maybe others could use as well. But we were talking about what art is in our lives from a day to day basis, again, our homes, what do we wear, what do we use for worship, whether it be daily or a special holiday that we just, we have in our homes. And so that was, we had people of all different faiths in ours and our room. And so that was really fascinating to hear, you know, how, how, how we all use art in different ways daily. So yeah. And actually, I'm putting that in the chat so that, so that it's in my record, because that's a wonderful question about the day to day. And most likely happens more than you think, when you sit and reflect, there are those more overt ways, but there are those more understated ways where, where art is, is, is useful and used on a daily basis that we sometimes don't even realize. Thank you, Hailey. Let me go. Can I have one big, sorry. Absolutely, Jessica. Props to Sahana, because it was something she did that I think inspired that conversation when she, towards the beginning of your, your presentation, you showed your necklace. And that just caught my, caught my eye. And then so, kudos to you. You probably didn't even realize you were, you were inspiring our conversation, but I just wanted to share that with you because I thought that that was. Thank you. You know, worth noting. Yes. Super. Thank you. Let's go to room four out of five. Looks like Jim, you were the moderator in room four. Do you want to give a brief report out and any additional questions or thoughts? Yeah, I would say that our first overwhelming kind of response from a Jewish Christian group was how overwhelming and how different the art was reflecting the faith that it was depicting. And yet by the time we kind of talked through some of the things, I think there was a sense of how spirituality transcends various religious traditions and how artistic expressions can help kind of broaden us as human beings in our appreciation for those that, you know, may not be from the same tradition that we are. So it was kind of interesting that it was, it was almost kind of overwhelming how different it was in the beginning. And then it moved toward an understanding of the ability of art and spirituality to kind of bring us together. Beautiful. No, absolutely. And one of my favorite phrases that I use about the study of religion, it makes the strange familiar and the familiar strange. It takes what we know so from and assume and de-centers it. And it takes that which is initially very overwhelming and very different. And we begin to see the threads of similarity, which is, Jim, your comment and your insights are really, again, very, very helpful. So thank you. Let me go to room five. Pastor Valencia Edner, you were the moderator and they're, and Wendy Cooper as well. Sorry about that. I had to scroll down one spot more. Valencia and or Wendy, I see your, I see you first Valencia. Do you want some commentary? Wonderful in this room where questions were asked that were eye-opening for everyone based on their experiences with art in their lives and in their faith. Because it was so eclectic in our space, it made it even more, we were able to share even more and to cross culturally look at some things that went beyond even the questions or the thoughts about what we received tonight, but also to connect those things to things that have been seen before and music and art and dance and movement and all of that. If you look in the chat and you see two links that are, that comes from our group, one from Jay and one from myself, to look at what art has moved us in our spaces and we talked about a lot more than that. I'm going to pass it over to Wendy so that she can add to that discussion, to what our discussion was, but I wanted to talk about the eclecticness of our experiences. Thank you. And I think one, just the other thing that really we all kind of spoke to was that art in whatever, whether it's visual, music, movement, the experience of it is so individual and how that is spirituality. The experience of spirituality and the experience of faith is so individual and that's why those two things can go so well together. Wendy, thanks. Thank you. And if there are any links that you're referring to that you put into the chat rooms, in your breakout rooms, I can't remember if those get recorded over. So if there are any links that you all were referring to that you used in your chat, they're there, they're in the main chat. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thanks everyone for being here for this dialogue. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to go ahead and kind of go into some final comments and we can enter if you're able to stay for 30 minutes and take a look at the art in the Abraham Gallery, which I'm excited about. Again, I've looked at this probably 30 times and I'm particularly excited to look at it now in light of kind of the new insights from because of our guests. Let me share my screen with a, oh actually, yes, Jodi, a couple of thanks. Jodi Bernstein, our Vice President for Interfaith Relations and Community Partnerships. Do you want to unmute and have any final words? My final words really just thank, thanks to Greg, thanks to Jett for a great time tonight. I learned a lot. It was fabulous being in a small group with some of our amazing young professionals and our tried and true dinner dialogue participants. I love the legacy and the continuity and the continued relationships. I love it. And I know these things don't happen on their own and that a lot of hard work went into planning tonight. So that's why I give Greg and Jett some kudos. And then also say thanks to Jay Harberg, who is tonight. Maybe I'm stealing your thunder, Greg. Not at all. Please steal. Jay is our board chair who has come to almost all of our Abraham programming and everything else going on in IM and it just speaks volumes about his commitment to our issues. So it's been great. The one thing that we did learn in our small group is some of us had very basic understanding of the face presented tonight and they were almost stereotypes of the various face. And tonight helped us realize that it's not that it's not that basic that there's so much more to every faith. So it really just inspired us to learn more about the different face. So kudos to our presenters for helping us. At least those of us had a very basic understanding to learn more and want to continue to learn more. So thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. And I do want to offer a couple of other thanks to Ali Alsudani, who's also here, our chief programs officer. And also I want to just give a big thanks to both Sushma Mahajan, who is a longtime board member, as well as Vijay Pillod, who are too very, very faithful and very responsive and very knowledgeable contacts into the Hindu community who led me to Sahana. So I just wanted to thank Sushma and Vijay for their friendship and their collaboration. Oh, yes. I just wanted to see if there are any other board members. Shana is also here and she's also a board member. And I think Jim Bankston is a senior board member as well. So a lot of leadership here that is taking their time to support us. So again, very, very grateful for all of you. Let me share my screen for one final slide and we'll start to work our way into the gallery. Where are we here? Let me do slideshow, play from current slide. And I think I may need to reshare. So just give me a second. It is here. So again, thank you for coming. Please stay for a 30-minute tour. Please continue to visit imgh.org to learn about not only upcoming events with Abraham, but after Abraham closes, we've got a busy summer. Our next major event will be the Unity concert on June 8th and will be a wonderful event sponsored by Empower, our women's leadership group. Also, as always, we ask if you would, please visit imgh.org and please consider supporting our work through a donation. Let me go ahead and close that. Stop my screen share and let that close. I see a couple of questions and then I'll let you all go or come with me into the gallery. Will we be able to find the recording of the presentations later? The answer is yes. We are recording these presentations. Jody and I just need to figure out when we have a moment to breathe exactly how we're going to share them, but we do consider these a true treasure trove of experiences. Again, the Abraham exhibit was supposed to be here May of 2020, but stopped its international journey in February in Jacksonville, Florida. And of all of the organizations that we're going to host after that, we're the first to be back on the calendar because we chose to do it in this virtual format. Sushma asked, would the art gallery be available on YouTube? If you will actually go to on caravan, well, two things. If you go to on caravan.org and click on the Abraham, their Abraham link, you can see all of the paintings and this virtual gallery that we're about to go into if you have time. Starting probably middle of next week, if you send an email to jetphillips at gphillips at imgh.org, Jed, will you mind putting your email in the in the chat box? We'll send you the link to the virtual gallery. So Jay, let me just actually ask our board chair, I'm going to, this is a stupid question, but do you have any words you'd like to say, Mr. Harburg? Well, I would shock you and say no, so I won't say that. I'll just tell you, if you have any chance to stay for the next 30 minutes, Greg's tour is not to be missed. If you don't have time, do it another night, but definitely allow him to be your docent and guide you through the exhibit. It's fabulous. I've been doing these these dialogues since the very beginning and some of you I recognize from the very beginning and every time it's fun, every time you learn something and every time you get to meet someone new and I thank you all for being here, Greg. You're just you know, you're doing an amazing job and all of our staff and if you will come back, come back soon and often and we'll do it again. Thank you. Jay Harburg, chair of the board, thank you. On behalf of Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, our staff, our lay leaders, thank you for being here for this dialogue. I would especially offer a special thanks to Sahana Singh and Miyoki Kane Barrett for their time, for their presence, for their sharing. We are grateful to the two of you for being here, so make sure to give me a round of applause for Sahana and Miyoki and I would very much look forward to the next opportunity that I have to work with the two of you. Sahana and Miyoki, do you have any closing words and then we'll definitely stop. Sahana? Yes, it was very enjoyable. I did not feel like I'm meeting all of you for the first time. It was wonderful, even though we all have different faiths. I'm not sure if there's any other Hindu in this gathering but I just didn't feel like I was different from any one of you, so it was amazing. I hope that this is, I mean all over the world, this is the way we could all converse and have dialogues, so thank you so much for including me in this today. Sahana, thank you. And Miyoki Kane Barrett, a couple of closing, any closing words? Well, thanks all of you. It was great to be with you and like Sahana said, I didn't feel like a stranger. It's like walking into my own community. So all I can say now is a deep gassho to all of you. Namaste. The Buddha in me bows to the Buddha in you. And thank you so much. Miyoki, thank you. Again, on behalf of Interfaith Ministries, thank you for being here. This concludes the formal portion of the dinner dialogue and in about 30 seconds, I'm going to take us into the gallery for a 30-minute tour if you'd like. Thanks for being with us.