A Pilgrimage of Spiritual Learning, Culture, our Shared Humanity
August 10, 2015: Indy's Festival of Faith (Veterans Memorial Plaza, Indianapolis Sunday, August 30, 1-5PM) provides a significant opportunity to learn about other faiths as a way of reaffirming our own spiritual foundations. The sanctity of all faiths and spiritual traditions has been a part of the Sikh commandments, advocacy by spiritual leaders - His Holiness the Dalai Lama and anchor the lessons, teachings, and legacy of other faiths and respected spiritual voices. Many have expressed and advocated interfaith dialogue and interfacing with other faiths in recent decades.
Learning can lead to understanding, and understanding can lead to connecting in various ways and at multiple levels. When we interface in faith, with respect and trust, and shared humanitarian spirit, then our perceptions of being strangers is diminished, if not completely shattered. Together, we see and can create greater goodwill for causes that need our collective gifts and common prayers.
It is almost providential that on August 29th, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis is opening an amazing exhibit SACRED JOURNEYS with photographic support from National Geographic, sponsored by Lilly Endowment. The SACRED JOURNEYS Exhibit will offer iconic pilgrimage perspectives from Christian, Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and others spiritual traditions.
Sacred Journeys-Indy Festival of Faiths Announcement (Photo credit: Children's Museum)
A beautiful invitation announced the collaboration between the Children's Museum of Indianapolis and the Center for Interfaith Cooperation for two special events in the same week: SACRED JOURNEYS EXHIBIT and INDY'S FESTIVAL OF FAITHS August 29 - 30.
Imagine that experiences offered and inspired at these two events may in time lead to:
Amazing opportunity for families where visitors will be taken on cherished and undreamed-of sacred journeys without leaving town.
Welcoming guests from faith communities, educators, and visitors from around the world to experience another dimension of awesome creativity, sacred icons, and traditions that enrich and enlarge our understanding of the spiritual and cultural tapestry and treasures of humanity.
Spiritual encounters and events that widen new frontiers of learning, sharing, and appreciation of shared ideas and prayers as a human family, about faiths different from our own, yet a part of the collective spiritual heritage of humanity.
Indianapolis as a world-class welcome destination may earn another honor: a City that appreciates and advances interfaith understanding, the all-important anchor to peace, goodwill, and spirit of friendship.
 |
| Performance on the main stage at the 2014 Festival of Faiths |
 |
| Indianapolis Star reporter Robert King wearing a Sikh turban at the 2014 Festival of Faiths |
 |
| Indiana Sikhs and other Participants in the Festival of Faiths |
It is heartwarming that lesser known traditions, such as Sikh faith pilgrimage, are part of the Sacred Journeys Exhibit, and the central Indiana Sikh community, with its display and sharing of the Sikh wedding tradition (Weddings in Faith Traditions is the theme of this year's Festival of Faiths), is a part of Indy's Festival of Faiths.
Congratulations to all who made these events possible. We can hope that tens of thousands of Hoosiers and our friends in other states will benefit from this amazing experience and be a part of these and other future beautiful pilgrimages to learn about ourselves and others who share this planet with us.
Photo Credits (bottom three): KP Singh
Indianapolis, Indiana USA www.KPSinghDesigns.com
