INTER FAITH WEEK 2011, DAY 1: FAITHS FILM FESTIVAL

Here are the programme notes I put together  for Little Buddha, showing this evening at Phoenix Square as part of the Faiths Film Festival, celebrating Inter Faith Week and helping mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Leicester Council of Faiths. Well, when I say, "put together", more like copied and pasted from the Internet Movie Database. Still, why reinvent the wheel?

For the uninitiated, Phoenix Square produces these notes as A4 black and white handouts, that patrons can pick up at reception, before or after they've seen the movie in question.

I wanted to do much more for this (and do it much better). Maybe put in some information about Buddhists worldwide, Buddhists in Britain and Buddhists in Leicester (as in our leaflets) but I ran out of time. I typed this up and emailed to the Box Office at Phoenix Square while still at the exhibition in Highcross, barely two hours before the movie was scheduled to be shown.

LITTLE BUDDHA (1993)

Director Bernardo Bertolluci 

Starring Chris Isaak, Bridget Fonda, Keanau Reeves

Plot summary (from Internet Movie Database) 

Lama Norbu comes to Seattle in search of the reincarnation of his dead teacher, Lama Dorje. His search leads him to young Jesse Conrad, Raju, a waif from Kathmandu, and an upper class Indian girl. Together, they journey to Bhutan where the three children must undergo a test to prove which is the true reincarnation. Interspersed with this, is the story of Siddharta, later known as the Buddha. It traces his spiritual journey from ignorance to true enlightenment.

Synopsis (from Internet Movie Database)

Little Buddha is a story about the quest of a group of monks, led by Lama Norbu (Ruocheng Ying), to seek out the reincarnation of his great Buddhist teacher, Lama Dorje (Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen). Lama Norbu and his fellow monks believe they have found a candidate of Dorje's reincarnation within a boy named Jesse Conrad (Alex Wiesendanger) in Seattle. While Jesse is fascinated with the monks and their way of life, his parents, Dean (Chris Isaak) and Lisa (Bridget Fonda), are wary, and that wariness turns into near-hostility when Norbu announces that he would like to take Jesse back with him to Bhutan to be tested. Jesse's father changes his mind however, after one of his close friends and colleagues commits suicide, seeming to realize that there could be more to life than work and money. He then decides to go to Bhutan with his son. In Nepal, two children who are also candidates are encountered, Raju (Rajuh Lal) and Gita (Greishma Makar Singh). 

In the story, the Lama Norbu relates Buddha's life story from a book entitled "Little Buddha," which is also enacted as a story within the movie. In the story, a Hindu prince called Siddhartha sets on a journey to achieve his goal. Mara, a jealous demon, senses that Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves) is about to attain enlightenment and sends his daughters to distract him. Failing to do so, he attempts to shatter Siddhartha's resolve and thus begins an onslaught of threats, intimidation and temptation. 

Mara summons a terrifying horde of monsters of every conceivable description but even something as horrific as this still leaves Siddhartha unmoved, unperturbed. Instead he transforms the weapons which these hosts throw at him into lotus petals which exude a lovely fragrance as they gently floated down to earth. Mara decides that Siddhartha will not deny himself and turns into his image in a reflection on a pool of water. Instead Siddhartha reaches and pulls the image out of the water. The classic Buddhist dialogue between Mara and Siddhartha takes place:

Mara: "You who go where others dare not; Will you be my God? The architect of my house?" 

Siddhartha: "Finally I meet the illusion of self; Your evil house will not be built again."

Mara: "But you live in me; I am your house."

Siddhartha: "O, trickster; phantom of my own ego, you are pure illusion. You, self, do not exist. The earth is my witness to this Supreme Enlightenment."

Lama Norbu explains that Siddhartha defeated an army of demons, simply through his observance of patience and tolerance. He achieved great peacefulness and compassion, through self-detachment from illusions.

In the end, it is found that all three children are reincarnations of the Lama Dorje, separate manifestations of his body (Raju), speech (Gita), and mind (Jesse). His reincarnation represents the three most important aspects of life. A funeral is held for Lama Norbu. The children distribute his ashes to respect Norbu's teaching of reincarnation through setting off the ashes in many places.

“Little Buddha” is being shown as part of Phoenix Square’s short season of films with themes or subject matter of religion or belief as part of Inter Faith Week 2011 (being held throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Sunday 20 – Saturday 26 November). Our Faiths Film Festival is being promoted in association with Leicester Council of Faiths, which is celebrating its 25^th anniversary during this period.

George M Ballentyne, Equality & Diversity Officer, Leicester Council of Faiths

Number of paying customers for Little Buddha this evening: 2 (and one of those is Javid Djalili, who came up from London to "soak up the atmosphere" as he put it. He'd seen Little Buddha before and wasn't intending to see it this evening, but he decided to do so in then end, in order to swell - i.e. double - the numbers. He said that he enjoyed the film more seeing it this evening than he did first time round - well, thank goodness for that!)

INTER FAITH WEEK 2011, DAY 1: HIGHCROSS EXHIBITION

First day of our week-long exhibition in Highcross to celebrate Inter Faith Week, showcasing the eight member communities represented on Leicester Council of Faiths.

This is the third consecutive year we've been invited into Highcross to put on this display. This time though, things are refreshingly different. We're in a new location: bigger, more central - and (I'm glad to say) warmer! This time last year, there was snow on the ground and we were rather too close to the outer doors of the West Mall for comfort. The weather is milder this year, but we're also deeper in the heart of Highcross (just over the line that marks the start of the East Mall, for any retail facility anoraks out there). We're at the bottom of the central set of escalators, which makes this spot one of the most highly frequented in the whole building. The loos are just behind us too, which helps make this a popular destination.

We're able to put more into the display this year. We have trestle tables for the first time (three of them) we've borrowed the University of Leicester's "Faiths Trail" and "Mapping Faith and Place" banners (and a box of their guide books for the city centre walking tour of places of worship). Our set of pop-up banners is arranged in a completely new way, back-to-back in pairs. No doubt I'll be messing  around with the arrangement as the week goes on.

Rosemarie Fitton (who has helped bring down all the material from Bishop Street), Gursharan Thandi and Shobha Trivedi are first on duty at the stall today. Shobha's daughter, Natasha, helped out for a couple of hours at this event last year. We're joined by Shobha's friend, Prafulla Raja. They all help with the final stages of setting up so that we're fully operational by 1115.

I leave them to it just before midday, to take a smaller amount of exhibition material by taxi to Beauchamp College for their "Together" event. But no sooner have I arrived there than circumstances compel me to return to Highcross - though not before putting up our old banner and laying out some of our literature, leaving it all in the care of Council of Faiths Secretary Inderjit Gugnani, who is manning a stall for Oadby & Wigston Sikh community. Pity: I'd been looking forward to this one. I have to leave before Bobby's vegetarian restaurant has even started cooking.

I'm back at Highcross just before 1400, in time to relieve Gursharan and spend the next hour or so on the stall with Deirdre O'Sullivan. Deirdre is a Lecturer in Archaeology in the School of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Leicester. She's been instrumental in developing their "Mapping Faith and Place" project. The next hour passes quickly (for me, anyway!) with a very interesting chat about the project and related topics.

Just before it's time for Deirdre to go, two Highcross staff members arrive and start taking photos of our display. Jo and Laura (photo above) put together a web page with highlights of each weekend at Highcross, for staff. We'll be in the one they're compiling today, apparently!

In the outside world today, there's a procession between two Sikh gurdwaras, as part of the local celebration of Guru Nanak's birthday. The procession ends at Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Holy Bones, near Highcross. Mid-afternoon, we see a lot of Sikhs coming through Highcross and many of them stop and look at our display.

Since we first had our exhibition at Highcross in 2009, we've kept a "reflective journal", in which we ask our Inter Faith Week volunteers to record something of how they felt about the experience. We're doing so again this year. Here are some comments by some of those who took part on this first day of Inter Faith Week 2011:

"Always a learning experience - right at the start I spoke to a man who raised many questions about faiths - good starter!"

"Very few visitors to the exhibition, those that did were pleased with the information they could take away. Spoke at length to a teacher and passed on the light source / colander example explaining Hindu god(s), which she loved. One person went past muttering that the Christians didn't have a banner - but they had gone before I could catch them. Lovely talking to other volunteers." 

"I have enjoyed being a volunteer for the Interfaith Council. I have learnt a lot by just observing people's reactions when reading quotes from various faiths."

"Although there were many shoppers, very few bothered to look at the displays. Talked to a Christian lady who wanted to find our more about the Faiths Trail and a teacher who took away a lot of leaflets. Many people just waled through the exhibition! It was lovely talking to Rosemary and Gursharan (George was fun too!)" 

"Interesting being right in the middle of Leicester going by. People seem shy about coming in beyond the banners."

I'd say that's the sort of mix of comments I'd expect for the first day, especially when we've had a few people with us who haven't taken part in this event in previous years.

As well as our exhibition, the East Mall features a big promotion for Nintendo this weekend. Visitors are invited to join in the celebration of a host of imaginary characters who inhabit a fantasy realm, where they achieve astonishing feats of magical skill. These characters have millions of followers, brought together by a common devotion that overcomes differences of age, language, nationality and race. Their devotees expend  immeasurable amounts of time on the glorification of their idols and pour unimaginable treasure into the coffers of those who are the guardians of their legacy and the trustees of their future expansion toward global domination. I'm talking about Super Mario Brothers of course. Who did you think I meant, faithful reader?

While on my way to Beauchamp College around lunchtime, I receive a text message from my friend Javid Djalili, who says he's coming up from London later this afternoon, to attend the first screening (Little Buddha) in our Faiths Film Festival at Phoenix Square. I meet Javid off the train just before 1700, in time to dash down to Highcross so he can get a look at the exhibition (photo above). Just as we arrive there, I receive a call from Maureen Sier, who helped out on our very first Inter Faith Week back in 2009. While she and I talk about how the week is shaping up, it strikes me that this is a serendipitous moment; Maureen's daughter, Sonia, is a filmmaker who has worked on inter-faith themes and topics (see my blog entry about her film, Beyond Tolerance) - and she's called me, out of the blue, just when I'm with Javid, who is in the process of setting up Interfaith Focus, an international charitable foundation for inter-faith filmmakers! So I pass the phone to Javid. He and Maureen have never met, but they have what appears to be a convivial and useful conversation, which I am sure is to their mutual benefit.

INTER FAITH WEEK 2011, DAY 1: TOGETHER EVENT AT BEAUCHAMP COLLEGE

As I was unable to attend the Together event at Beauchamp College this afternoon for more than a quarter of an hour, I'm glad that Michelle Benn (of Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation) has permitted me to include this short piece which she wrote for the congregation's newsletter.

Faiths Together 

On November 20th, whilst others were engaged with Mitzvah Day, I took along a collection of Judaica and Jewish books and spent a most unexpected afternoon at Beauchamp College's "faiths together" event. Sandwiched between a Sikh stall portraying the lives of the Gurus and a Hindu stall displaying stunningly beautiful saris and with a good view of the Muslim stall opposite, with posters of Jerusalem, I took time to reflect on how much I love being part of multi-faith Leicester and how easy and good it felt to celebrate that which unites us, instead of engaging in that which divides us. Also were local Oadby churches and Leicester Council of Faiths. 

It's funny how standing behind a stall displaying religious artifacts encourages people to talk. I had the most interesting, inspiring and deeply moving encounters with people of deep faith and none: a woman with Jewish roots in search of her ancestry; an atheist man grappling with issues of spirituality; a woman coming to terms with her loss of faith when her minister was unable to support her grieving and a woman vicar discussing gender-biased translations of the Bible. 

I had gone with the expectation of talking about Judaism and returned full of wonder having listened to people's life stories; people eager to share their thought and feelings about God, religion and the human heart. Having the time and a space devoted to faith allowed all sorts of people to stop and reflect on the meaning of life ... and enjoy a samosa.

OCCUPY LEICESTER

On the way into BBC Radio Leicester I pass three guys wrapped up against the cold in the Occupy Leicester camp. Last time I saw this, it was just one tent up against the Clock Tower. It's bigger now and has moved to the middle of the pedestrianised High Street. They give me a shout as I go past and I tell them I'll be back in half an hour or so and have a chat with them. Better than that, I bring them hot food and coffee from McDonald's (is there irony in there somewhere?) I talk to them about the blog, ask their permission to take a picture to put on here - and invite them in to see our exhibition in Highcross sometime during the coming week (since they're camped right outside there).

Join Occupy Leicester's Facebook group.

Follow Occupy Leicester on Twitter: @OccupyLeicester

INTER FAITH WEEK 2011, DAY 1: BBC RADIO LEICESTER

I'm appearing on John Florance's show this morning on BBC Radio Leicester. He’s interviewing me on the subject of Inter Faith Week, which begins today. I've been asked to come on just after the 8 o'clock news. I walk to the studio from home in Stoneygate. It's much too early for the first bus and I seem to have spent a small fortune on taxis recently.

It's a pleasant misty autumn morning and I arrive at the studio a few minutes before the hour. I enjoy the walk (even if the city centre doesn't look its best this time of a Sunday morning, before the debris from the night before has been cleaned away). Tomorrow, however, I'll be getting a cab here. I don't cover this route as quickly as I think I do and I have to be here a full 90 minutes earlier to read my Thought for the Day at 0630 on Ben Jackson’s Breakfast Show.

I'm brought into the building, then into the anteroom to the studio by John's producer, Becca Bryers. Three years ago, I was in the same spot with Shaikh Ibrahim Moghrah and Noel Singh, speaking with John on air about the first Inter Faith Week to be held in England and Wales. Back then, in November 2009, we didn't really know what to expect - or whether Inter Faith Week was going to be more than a one-shot deal.

John interviews me for a quarter of an hour or so, in which I get to explain the purpose of Inter Faith Week, promote some of our activities for it and announce the launch of Leicester Council of Faiths' 25th anniversary, which we're tagging on to this week. We were hoping to have someone from Phoenix Square here today, to talk about the Faiths Film Festival that’s running there this week, but I couldn't persuade any member of staff to come out at this time of the morning. But I hold my own on this too.

John raises that hoary old chestnut about whether we're doing no more than preaching to the converted during this week. I'll credit him with playing Devil's Advocate on this one. I make what I’d like to think is a spirited response and point out that all the activities sponsored by Leicester Council of Faiths during Inter Faith Week are outward-facing, aimed at the general public and that they’re taking place in venues not normally associated with religion or belief. The accusation that we might be "preaching to the converted" certainly doesn't apply to what we're doing this year (or, hopefully, in either of the past two years, for that matter).

Before I leave, I fix a time during the week when Becca can come to Highcross and gather some information about the Multi-Faith Prayer Room there, for next Sunday's show. I’ll have to clear that with Highcross management first, of course.

Then it's off to Bishop Street, to round up everything we need to set up the exhibition in Highcross - and to await Rosemarie Fitton and her little van.

PS: Later this evening, the interview was broadcast again.

HARMONY ACROSS BOUNDARIES OF DIFFERENT BELIEFS

Here's Bishop Tim's First Person column from today's Leicester mercury:

Harmony across boundaries of different beliefs 

The Bishop of Leicester says people will be reaching out to others during Inter Faith Week 

Tomorrow afternoon I shall be standing outside Asda supermarket in Oadby. It will be part of Mitzvah Day – the Jewish community's outreach to those of other faiths in the city. All around us next week will be signs of people of faith reaching out to those who are different from themselves as part of Inter Faith Week. 

There will be an exhibition in Highcross, a film festival at Phoenix Square, special lectures and talks and a Faiths Roadshow at Gateway College. 

In Leicester we are used to a tradition of building bridges between faiths established by Leicester Council of Faiths 25 years ago. This quarter century anniversary is something to be really proud of. 

Although there are similar Councils of Faiths in other cities, it was Leicester which was a pioneer in developing this work and now, 25 years later we can see the fruits of it. That is why people come to Leicester from other parts of the country and from around the world to see how we have enabled and encouraged relations between faiths to deepen and grow. 

At the heart of Inter Faith Week will be the St Philip's Centre in Evington which was established five years ago as a Christian centre for study and engagement with other faiths. This week we launched the Near Neighbours project at St Philip's, a national programme providing small grants for neighbourhood projects to build relationships between people of different faiths in their local communities. 

I can well remember when I was first ordained in East London over 35 years ago, how important it was to get to know our Muslim neighbours in East Ham. The exchange of conversation and indeed of food across the garden fence meant a great deal to us in those days. 

All of us need good neighbours and in so many cases here in Leicester our neighbours are those who come from other traditions, other countries, other faith communities. 

Yet in the 25 years since the Council of Faiths was founded, we have learned that having neighbours who are different is not a problem but an enrichment to our lives. All the greatest cities in the world are multi-cultural and multi-religious. I am proud that Leicester is one of them and that it is showing the way in how to build harmonious and strong communities across boundaries of different beliefs, languages and cultures. 

Next week's Inter Faith Week will, I hope, touch the lives of everyone in the city in one way or another. And I hope we shall feel proud to be celebrating a quarter of a century of effective work which changes lives, changes the reputation of the city and gives hope to so many.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,509)

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 847
2. United States 346
3. Russia 79
4. Germany 67
5. France 47
6. India 47
7. Ukraine 29
8. Romania 27
9. Australia 10
10. Indonesia 10

This week's total: 1,509 (last week's: 969). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (whenever that is), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time" (which seems to mean the last 12 months). They're updated each time I look at them.

FINAL FLYER DROP

After my short stint at Kohinoor Radio on St Saviours Road, I decide to drop off some of the remaining flyers for Inter Faith Week at appropriate places in the area. It's lunchtime, the air is filled with appetising smells from the high concentration of restaurants and take aways (not to mention homes) - I'm starving and I'm skint. As I walk up into Spinney Hills, the Adhan (Call to Prayer) is sounding from the Jame Mosque in Asfordby Street. I drop off the flyers at the following spots:

• Masjid-i-Usmani, St Saviours Road
• Wesley Hall Methodist Church, Hartington Road
• Wesley Hall Community Centre, Hartington Road
• Shree Mandata Samaj Sahayak Mandal, Hartington Road
• Masjid-al-Farooq / Islamic Da'wah Academy, Berners Street
• Sunnah Bookstore, Maynard Road

I use up all the packs I have in my bag. I toy with the idea of heading back to the Welcome Centre, making up some more bundles and coming back out to Highfields to cover some of the places I've missed. But it's really not on. Sooner or later, I have to call time on this little pilgrimage. I've got to get the the last bits of paperwork to get in to Highcross this afternoon, showing our public liability insurance cover for the exhibition starting Sunday. There's the Favourite Faiths Photo exhibition to finish, never mind laying my hands on three trestle tables and matching tablecloths. I've still got to find speakers for the talks in the Adult Ed College ...

Photo above: Jame Mosque, Asfordby Street by Ned Trifle. Used with permission.

THE JEWEL OF LEICESTER

I'm on Kohinoor Radio 97.3 FM ("The Jewel of Leicester") between 1200 and 1300 today. Inderjit Gugnani has asked me on to his show, to talk about Inter Faith Week and Leicester Council of Faiths' 25th anniversary. Inderjit is the newly elected Secretary of Leicester Council of Faiths and is also an occasional DJ and presenter on this Punjabi language station.

A moment before we go on air, Inderjit teaches me a greeting in Punjabi, which he says will impress the listeners: Sat Sri Akal (literally: "God is the ultimate truth").

As the interview progresses, Inderjit translates what I've said into Punjabi as we go. The time passes quickly and it's an easy and enjoyable experience. This is the first of three live radio appearances scheduled in the next few days - the only one that doesn't require getting up with the lark!

INTER FAITH WEEK IN THE CITY

Here's a page from Leicester City Council's news website, published online today:

Inter faith week in the city 

17/11/2011

A WEEK-long series of events celebrating Leicester's religious faiths is taking place. 

Inter Faith Week 2011 takes place from Sunday, November 20, to Saturday, November 26, and involves exhibitions, talks, films and photos showcasing the city's diverse faiths.

The event is being run by Leicester Council of Faiths, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Inter Faith Week's activities are designed to strengthen relations between faiths, to increase awareness of the different religious communities and the contribution they make to the city, and to improve understanding between religious and non-religious people.
Events include an exhibition on Leicester's faith communities, in the east mall of Highcross Leicester, which starts on November 20 and runs daily throughout the event.

For the first time, a faith films festival will take place at Phoenix Square, featuring films including Little Buddha, A Serious Man, Life in a Day, My Name is Khan and Lourdes.

The Leicester People's Photographic Gallery, housed in the former library in Belvoir Street, will feature an exhibition of images showcasing holy places and sacred sites chosen by the Council of Faiths.

Throughout the week there will also be talks shedding light on different faiths, including Baha'ism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Humanism, Jainism, Judaism, Islam, Paganism and Sikhism.

Leicester assistant city mayor responsible for health and community involvement, Cllr Manjula Sood, also chairs the Council of Faiths.
She said: "Leicester has a diverse range of faiths, and this is a wonderful opportunity for people to find out more about this fascinating subject.

"Learning more about the beliefs of others is a key part of increasing understanding between people of all faiths, which in turn benefits relationships in communities across the city.

"I am delighted that this event is taking place in Leicester, marking the Council of Faiths' 25th anniversary and celebrating all the good work which has been done."

Further information on Inter Faith Week events is available from the Council of Faiths offices at Pilgrim House, Bishop Street, Leicester, on 0116 254 6868.