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Friends Talk: The Concept of God in the Bhagavad Gita

Friends Talk: The Concept of God in the Bhagavad Gita

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Friends Talk: The Concept of God in the Bhagavad Gita

Birmingham Friends Event
Saturday, 16 February 2013 – 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Meeting House of the Society of Friends,1 Hamlet Road
Hall Green, Birmingham B28 9BG

Dr. Kate Wharton, Deputy Adviser for Inter Religious Affairs and Ramesh Pattni, Co-Chair of Hindu Christian Forum will each give a short presentation in response to the text of the Gita.
 
Ramesh Pattni will show how the Gita has been read by a variety of Hindu traditions to depict God in different ways. Is Krishna in his highest essence a divine being beyond personhood, a divine person coextensive with all creation or as first among equals, one divine person among many?
 
Kate Wharton will respond by speaking about her experience of first encountering the Gita and how it inspired her to become involved in inter religious dialogue. In her work for the Archbishop of Canterbury, she has curated many discussions on the Gita, particularly drawing on the Sr i Vaishnava tradition.
 
Dr Kate Wharton has a PhD in the interpretation of the Upanisads from SOAS University of London and has worked for three and a half years for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. She studied Sanskrit in Mysore and is very interested in the theology of Ramanuja. 
 
Ramesh Pattni is Inter Faith Chair for the Hindu Forum of Britain, Co-Chair of the national Hindu Christian Forum and a leading member of the Chinmaya Mission. He is currently studying for his PhD in the inter pretation of the Yoga Sutras at Oxford University.
Organiser: 
Friends of the OCHS – Birmingham
 
Young, Hindu, Oxonian

Young, Hindu, Oxonian

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Young, Hindu, Oxonian

Friday, 25 January 2013

A talk by Alpesh B Patel, Tuesday 29 January 2013, 6pm, Balliol College as part of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Leadership Programme.

What does it mean to be a good leader, and what qualities do we associate with good leadership? What do aspiring young leaders need to focus on most in their early years?

The purpose of this student organised lecture series is to help students consider leadership from Indian sources, dharmic and spiritual perspectives and practices, and from the considerable experience of representatives from government, the civil service, the media, community organisations, and academia.

The OCHS leadership programme consists of eight lectures to be delivered throughout the academic year, and of internships placing students under the guidance of recognised leaders.

The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Leadership Programme aims to educate and inspire potential leaders and pioneers of tomorrow to serve the aspirations and needs of the community, and to prepare them to engage in national life, politics, public administration, business, the professions, and the voluntary sector, whilst being mindful of good professional practice and the practice of dharma.

Mr. Patel was a Visiting Fellow in Business and Industry at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University and read Philosophy Politics Economics at St Anne’s College, Oxford University. Mr. Patel is a Barrister and founding Board Member of TiE UK which is part of an international grouping of entrepreneurs whose aim is to mentor other entrepreneurs.He also presented a weekly show on Bloomberg TV and Sky TV and currently regularly co-hosts on CNBC. Mr. Patel has written 12 books on investing several of which cover India in particular.

Friends Event: The Cook, the Thief, the Wife and the Lover: Images of Time in Hindu tradition

Friends Event: The Cook, the Thief, the Wife and the Lover: Images of Time in Hindu tradition

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Friends Event: The Cook, the Thief, the Wife and the Lover: Images of Time in Hindu tradition

Leicester Friends Event
Saturday, 15 December 2012 – 6:30pm to 9:00pm

Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre
Rothley Street Leicester LE4 6LF

A talk by Anuradha Dooney of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

We all know the clock-face of time that marks our days in ticks and tocks, but who knows the face of Time presented as these characters above?

This talk draws upon some less familiar faces of Time from the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita and explores the relevance of these positive and negative descriptions to our experience of time today. It is accompanied by a visual presentation and will allow time questions and further discussion

Organiser: 
Friends of the OCHS – Leicester
lf@ochs.org.uk
Friends Event: Women in Hinduism

Friends Event: Women in Hinduism

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Friends Event: Women in Hinduism

Thursday, 1 November 2012 – 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Langley Grammar School
Reddington Drive
Langley
Berkshire
SL3 7QS

A talk by Anuradha Dooney of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
The roles of women in Hindu traditions are changing as they are throughout the rest of the world. What can stories of Sita and Draupadi, of Savitri or Sulabha contribute to the contemporary challenges of chapati rolling ( or not!) child-care and career-making. This talk sketches a broad overview of varying female voices from selected Hindu sacred texts and explores their relevance to Hindu women today.
Organiser: 
Friends of the OCHS – UK
info@ochs.org.uk
Friends Event: Does Hinduism Exist?

Friends Event: Does Hinduism Exist?

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Friends Event: Does Hinduism Exist?

Leicester Friends Event
Saturday, 27 October 2012 – 6:30pm to 9:00pm

Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre
Rothley Street Leicester LE4 6LF

Contrary to common assumptions that the existence of a religion called “Hinduism” is beyond question, on-going debates in the world of scholarship reveal that the issue is far from settled. This talk will survey some of the arguments for and against the coherence and usefulness of the term “Hinduism”.

Organiser: 
Friends of the OCHS – Leicester
lf@ochs.org.uk
 
 
 
New book – Modern Hindu Personalism

New book – Modern Hindu Personalism

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New book - Modern Hindu Personalism

Saturday, 20 October 2012
 

OCHS fellow, Ferdinando Sardella, has published a new book, Modern Hindu Personalism, in which he explores the life and works of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (1874-1937), a Vaishnava guru of the Chaitanya school of Bengal. Ferdinando Sardella examines Bhaktisiddhanta’s background, motivation and thought, especially as it relates to his creation of a modern traditionalist institution for the successful revival of Chaitanya Vaishnava bhakti. Sardella provides the historical background as well as the contemporary context of the India in which Bhaktisiddhanta lived and functioned, in the process shedding light on such topics as colonial culture and sensibilities, the emergence of an educated middle-class, the rise of the Bengal Renaissance and the challenge posed by Protestant missionaries.

Bhaktisiddhanta’s childhood, education and major influences are examined, as well as his involvement with Chaitanya Vaishnavism and the practice of bhakti. Sardella places Bhaktisiddhanta’s life and work within a taxonomy of modern Hinduism and compares the significance of his work to the contributions of other major figures such as Swami Vivekananda. Finally, Bhaktisiddhanta’s work is linked to the development of a worldwide movement that today involves thousands of American and European practitioners, many of whom have become respected representatives of Chaitanya bhakti in India itself.

OCHS academic director, Gavin Flood says “Modern Hindu Personalism is a significant contribution to scholarship not only of the modern Gaudiya Vaisnava movement but also of the religious history of Bengal within the last half of the colonial period. Adding greatly to our understanding of the development of Hinduism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the context of colonialism and a rising Indian nationalism, this book should be widely read by scholars of the history of colonial India and religion.”

Modern Hindu Personalism is available to buy online at OUP or Amazon

IK Foundation Lecture: India: A Secular State?

IK Foundation Lecture: India: A Secular State?

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IK Foundation Lecture: India: A Secular State?

Nehru Centre Event
Thursday, 18 October 2012 – 6:30pm

Nehru Centre
8 South Audley Street
London, W1K 1HF

A talk by Dr Nick Sutton of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

The constitution of India is clearly that of a modern secular society that excludes any single religion from exerting significant political influence.  Yet India is still far from being a country without religion.  In this talk we will consider the limits of secularism and exactly what distinctions exist between secular and religious societies.

Organiser: 
Nehru Centre – London
Bhumi in India

Bhumi in India

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Bhumi in India

Monday, 15 October 2012
Our Project Manager, Gopal Patel, is currently in India for the next few months. Whilst there he will be working on a number of India-based initiatives for Bhumi.
 
The first is to develop an India-based Hindu chapter of the Green Pilgrimage Network which was launched by ARC last year in Assisi, Italy <http://arcworld.org/news.asp?pageID=493>. He will be helping organise two conferences that will bring together civic and religious leaders from pilgrim towns across the country. The first will take place in Hyderabad in mid-October, during the Convention on Bio-diversity <http://www.cbd.int/cop11/>. The second will be held in Rishikesh in late Novemeber at Parmarth Niketan <http://www.parmarth.com/>, the ashram of Swami Chidanand Saraswati (Muniji) . It is here where Gopal will be based during his stay in India.
 
The Bhumi Project is also working on an initiative in India to highlight the role of women on pilgrimage. As in other cultures, women play a strong role within Hindu society. This initiative aims to highlight that role by exploring how women can set a good environmental example for others when on pilgrimage.
 
Also in partnership with Parmarth Niketan, Bhumi will be working on a number of green initiatives for the Maha Kumbh Mela which is taking place early next year in Allahabad. Billed to be the largest gathering of humans ever, 120 million people are expected to attend the festival over a one-month period.
 
Alongside these initiatives, Bhumi also hopes to widen it’s network in India through partnerships, working with leaders in the Hinduism and environmental field, and establishing a long-term presence through a Bhumi India office.
 
You can stay updated about Gopal’s stay in India through his blog <http://blog.bhumiproject.org> and Twitter: @BhumiGopalPatel <twitter.com/BhumiGopalPatel>.
OCHS Cricket Day 2012

OCHS Cricket Day 2012

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OCHS Cricket Day 2012

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

The last weekend of the cricket season saw the first OCHS Cricket Day, with gorgeous weather conditions and two excellent teams set for a great day. 

The format of the game was two innings; one of twenty overs and the second of sixteen. The teams were London vs Rest of the world and the game was played at the beautiful Luton Town and Indians cricket ground.

London batted first, slightly over confident they crumbled to 26/4 within the first 6 overs. With Vishal Patel from Milton Keynes holding the innings together and some loose bowling by the ROW, London managed a respectable 111 from their allotted overs.

The teams comprised of some players who have played minor county cricket and others who have never played before creating the greatest possible mix. ROW in their first innings started slowly but strongly with former Bedfordshire cricketer Dhaval Naik hitting 55 not out and taking them to 124.

After tea, the London team was back in to bat 13 runs behind, this time much more steady. The promising Afghan youngster Faiyaz struck an excellent partnership with Manjit Singh who struck two huge sixes with one smashed out of the ground on to the road! London powered to 108 from 16 overs leaving ROW 95 to chase. Opening the bowling with Abbas Panju (who has not bowled since high school) the openers struggled to get quick runs on the board, Preetum Gharat from Norwich for the event, hit a few boundaries helping ROW along their way, but in the end the slow pace of the London spin bowlers Bhavesh Shah, Amit Patel, and Paresh Tailor simply made the task too difficult for the ROW. With just one over to go Subhash Salmalkar, an excellent cricketer from Mumbai, was left with the incredible task of hitting 29 from the last over.

Thanks to everyone at Luton Town and Indians and those who took part with a special thank you to Hitu Naik for umpiring the whole day. The London team won the first OCHS cricket day by 20 runs with everybody having an enjoyable day, raising £600 for OCHS and looking forward to next year!

Hemal Randerwala

If you would like to be involved with next year’s event in anyway please email hemal@ochs.org.uk