SikhNet Attends Parliament of The World's Religions

From October 15th to October 19th, the Parliament of the World’s Religions will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. This unique gathering brings togetherthousands of people from different faiths to dialogue with one another about the pressing issues of our times.

The Parliament meets once every four years. This is the first time in over 20 years that the Parliament has been held in the United States.SikhNet will take part in this year’s Parliament of the World’s Religions, in part to bring YOU on the ground coverage of the Sikh presence there.

In addition, portions of the Parliament will be live-streamed. All Parliament plenaries, opening and closing, as well as up to 100 major programs will be available to view online. If you would like TO REGISTER to view the livestream, please click here.

How will the Sikhs contribute to this year’s Parliament? What unique perspectives do we have to share? SikhNet plans to bring you original articles, photos and interviews from the Parliament to give you a view of what is happening inside. Watch the SikhNet News, SikhNet social media or bookmark this page to view our inside coverage. 

The very first Parliament of the World’s Religions first took place in 1893, in Chicago, Illinois, USA, as part of the World Columbian Exposition. According to Wikipedia, “The 1893 Parliament, which ran from 11 to 27 September, marked the first organized gathering of representatives of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. Today it that event is recognized as the occasion of the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide.” 

Yet, over 500 years ago, Guru Nanak also sparked interfaith dialogue when he spoke the words, “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim.”Guru Nanak directed his students to recognize our common humanity as the highest spiritual sect. While Guru Nanak’s teachings eventually led to the birth of a new and distinct spiritual path, the roots of Sikhi inherently honor that the Divine exists within every religion. And that our brotherhood and sisterhood as human beings is more important than what religion one belongs to.

Today, the Parliament of the World’s Religions takes place every four years. SikhNet is excited to be participating in the Parliament, and we look forward to bringing you, our readers, along with us.