Thursday, May 9, 2013
a joint venture with the University of Portland & Maitripa College at the Chiles Center, Portland
9:30-11:30 am: An Interfaith Event
Spirituality & the Environment
Welcome: Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, Tina Kotek
Moderator: Laural Porter
Speakers: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Rev. E. William Beauchamp, Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana, Imam Muhammad Najieb, and Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim.
What is the relationship between spirituality and environmental awareness? How does faith move within us as we address issues critical to the environment? What role can interfaith collaboration play in working to heal our planet? His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C. President, University of Portland, Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana of Congregation Beth Israel, Imam Muhammed Najieb of the Muslim Community Center, Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim and more will offer their thoughts on these questions, a blessing from their spiritual tradition, and participation in a roundtable discussion moderated by Laural Porter. The morning will also offer songs from an interfaith children’s choir and a symbolic lighting of the “Candle for Peace.” An illuminating and moving interfaith event intended to bring forth inspiration for environmental change from the rich spiritual roots of our local and global community.
1:30-3:00 pm: A Public Talk
Universal Responsibility & the Inner Environment: The Nature of the Mind
Introduction: Mayor Charlie Hales
Speakers: His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Thubten Jinpa, Translator
How does the “inner environment” of the individual relate to the external environment in which we live? Renowned as one of the world’s foremost scholars of Buddhism, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will offer a philosophical exegesis of the nature of the mind from a Buddhist perspective, based on a genuine sense of human compassion or affection. Following this talk, His Holiness will answer questions from the audience. A deep and engaging conclusion to the day, intended to provide a philosophical foundation for understanding our interdependent role in the universe, and the innate universal responsibility we bear to each other and the planet, our only home.
Tickets:
Tickets for these events are sold out >Visit the Tickets page for details.
Location for Both Events:
Chiles Center, University of Portland | 5000 N. Willamette Blvd. |
Portland, OR 97203
About the Participants:
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. >Please click here for a short biographical summary and links to additional information about the life and activities of His Holiness
Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C.
Rev. E. William Beauchamp has served as president of the University of Portland since 2004. Under his leadership, the University of Portland has every year been named one of the top 10 Western universities and has ranked first nationally among its peers for Fulbright scholarships since 2009, first nationally in community service in 2011 and 2012, and the top university in Oregon for “Return on Investment” since 2010. Over the past three years, the University has set records for applications and welcomed its largest, most academically-gifted freshmen classes; built, renovated, or expanded six campus buildings; and raised more than $150 million for the most ambitious fundraising campaign in its history, the RISE campaign, which seeks to raise $175 million by 2014. Fr. Bill has also been a pioneer in sustainability, as UP became the first college on the West Coast to discontinue the sale of disposable plastic water bottles, signed a Climate Action Plan with a goal of being carbon-neutral by 2040, has constructed five LEED-certified buildings (including LEED Platinum Shiley Hall, one of the only buildings on a college campus nationwide to earn the highest LEED rating), and in 2012 partnered with the EPA to rehabilitate 35 acres of formerly industrial property along the Willamette River. Prior to coming to UP in 2002, Fr. Bill worked as an accountant, business professor, and lawyer, was ordained to the priesthood in 1982, and served for many years as executive vice president at the University of Notre Dame.
Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana
Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana, is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, Portland. Through his leadership and programming, Rabbi Cahana has reached out to unaffiliated Jews, interfaith families and others who have struggled to find a home in the Jewish community. Rabbi Cahana brings to Congregation Beth Israel his passion for creating a warm, supportive community in which Jewish learning and worship are exciting and engaging. Rabbi Cahana’s academic interests are the interface of religion and science with a particular emphasis on medical ethics. He has served on the Central Conference of American Rabbi’s Committee on Human Sexuality and chaired its ad hoc committee on Physician Assisted Suicide. He continues to serve on community boards and inter-religious councils, and is a past President of the Oregon Board of Rabbi. In 1999, Rabbi Cahana was featured, along with his family, in the critically acclaimed documentary “The Last Days.” Rabbi Cahana has published on such diverse topics as physician assisted suicide in Jewish law, the Unvoiced Tetragrammaton, and the role of religion in Battlestar Galactica. His 2012 Rosh Hashanah sermon, “Rabbi Sputnik and the Dreams of a Generation,” will be included in an upcoming edition of American Dreamers, a collection featuring the “optimists, mavericks, and mad inventors who believe we can create a better world.”. He lives in Portland with his wife, son, and triplet daughters.
Imam Muhammad A. Najieb
Muhammad A. Najieb is Resident Imam for the Muslim Community Center of Portland, Oregon. The Muslim Community Center of Portland, MCCP, is one of the oldest established Islamic centers in the Pacific Northwest in the United States of America. He was the first coordinator of the nationally acclaimed Islamic program, “Islam in Focus” radio broadcast, which continues to educate the public by providing interviews, discussions and lectures. Imam Muhammad A. Najieb has served on the KBOO Board of Directors, Budget, Finance, and Public Affairs Committees. As a long time worker for the advancement of Islam, Imam Najieb has served as past President of Muslim Educational Trust (MET), a non-profit organization which provides information and education to Muslim and non-Muslim populations. His work has included interfaith and community concern based organizations, such as Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, EMO. He was the first Imam to deliver the invocation to the Senate and House of Representatives in Salem, Oregon. Imam Muhammad A. Najieb was the recipient of the Ambassadors for Peace International Award by the America Clergy Leadership Conference presented by Congress in 2003. Imam Muhammad A. Najieb performed Hajj in 1978 and 2006.
Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim
Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim is honored as a “Living Treasure” by her tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz, as she is the descendent of political and spiritual tribal leaders. She is also the oldest living female of the Takelma Band (that we know of), who have lived in Southern Oregon for over 22,000 years. For nearly forty years, her dedication to the Spirit has led her to be an Ambassador for our Mother Earth, working tirelessly to prevent spiritual blindness and inspire people to remember the ways of living that we all share as people of the Earth. Grandmother has touched people of all ages in many different cultures in the United States and around the world, through venues ranging from pow-wows to environmental conferences, from schools to health centers. She is also the chairperson of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, who represent a global alliance of prayer, education, and healing for our Mother Earth and all Her inhabitants and children.
Laural Porter
Laural Porter can be seen weeknights on KGW NewsChannel 8 anchoring NewsChannel 8 at 6:30 with Tracy Barry, Newschannel 8 at 11 with Joe Donlon and at 10:00 p.m. on NewsChannel 8 on Portland’s CW 32. She also hosts KGW NewsChannel 8’s current affairs show, “Straight Talk”, which airs Saturday evenings at 6:30. Laural has been honored with numerous awards including the prestigious national Edward R. Murrow award for feature reporting in 2011. She won a national award from the Mental Health Association for her coverage of mental health issues. She is a five-time northwest regional Emmy award winner and 2012 winner of a western regional Associated Press award for feature reporting. She’s earned numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalism, Associated Press and Oregon Association of Broadcasters. Laural has run the Portland Marathon several times and qualified for the Boston Marathon, which she ran in record heat in 2004. She has also run marathons for the Leukemia Society’s “Team in Training” and served for several years as the honorary co-chair for the “Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure” in Portland and Vancouver.