{"id":4384,"date":"2015-07-21T02:32:43","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T09:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/?p=4384"},"modified":"2016-09-12T20:32:08","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T03:32:08","slug":"4384","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/2015\/07\/21\/4384\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacifica Iftar brings together Faith Communities of Silicon Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"
07\/07\/2015, Pacifica Institute, Sunnyvale, CA<\/div>\n
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Pacifica Institute is dedicated to cultivating intercultural and interfaith dialogue between the diverse faith communities within Silicon Valley. To this end, Tuesday’s iftar was an anchor event in bringing people from a diverse faiths\u00a0of\u00a0Buddism, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam.<\/div>\n
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The program started with a short presentation about Ramadan and followed by a call to prayer (Athan) which signifies that it is now time to break fast. Different guests from diverse faiths were sprinkled around and mixing in at many tables and breaking fast along with Muslims.<\/div>\n
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After a peaceful dinner filled with appreciation to the Creator for the great food \u00a0as well as joyful discussions about faith, the moderator announced the faith leaders and government officials that were present in the audience: JianZong Shifu, Docent Director of the Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale,\u00a0Rabbi Philip R. Ohriner from Congregation Beth David, Ishrat Hussein from Rahima Foundation, Ash Kalra San Jose Councilmember, and Frank J. Grgurina, Police Chief from Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.<\/div>\n
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All of the community leaders have given short speeches thanking Pacifica for the efforts to cultivate peace and dialogue within the diverse cultures of Silicon Valley community. Council-members\u00a0and government officials\u00a0have invited their constituents to reach out to them in case of any questions or requests related to their districts.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr. Shifu from Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale gave short speech thanking Pacifica Institute for the opportunity to break fast with Pacifica Community. ‘Abraham’s hospitality has prevailed’, he emphasized. He then further emphasized that ‘I would like to take Pacifica Institute\u00a0for your great commitment and contributions to society and excellent work you do to foster co-operation and understating between different faith and cultures of the Silicon Valley.\u00a0 For Buddhists fasting is a time of reflection and serves not only as a practice in self control but also as a practice to help us better understand true nature of our minds. We share with you your observance of Ramadan. Peace and prosperity be upon you.’, he concluded his speech.<\/div>\n
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Next, Rabbi Ohriner has taken the microphone ‘It is such an honor to be able to join together with you in celebrating Ramadan. There are so many similarities between Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam and to be\u00a0 be able to come together and to appreciate the things in common and to seek to connect to God, to Allah together\u00a0and focus on the spiritual life is a life changing experience. I am grateful for the partnership we share with the Pacifica Institute and serving one another and growing together, learning from each other and working to make the world a better place. It is an honor to be here and thank you so much for having me here tonight’, he concluded.<\/div>\n
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Chief Grgurina\u00a0started his speech by sincerely thanking Pacifica Institute for inviting him and mentioned that this was his 4th year attending an Iftar Dinner at Pacifica Institute. ‘ What I am very happy to see that the group keeps expanding, larger and larger each year. I do appreciate all the interfaith\u00a0based groups that are here and all that you do for the community and certainly the Pacifica for hosting this tonight. We know that the people in our community those who are most challenged, they are the ones that really need your help and our help. So on behalf of City of Sunnyvale, Department of Public Safety we thank you for what you do.’<\/div>\n
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Finally, Councilmember Ash Kalra has the microphone and started by\u00a0greeting the audience with ‘Salam-un Alaykum and Ramadan Mubarak’. He then continued ‘I want to really to thank you for inviting all of us to join with you especially those of us who practice other faiths, I am a Hindu and I certainly understand and appreciate fasting and the discipline and reflection it allows during the time of Ramadan for practicing Muslims is really something that I think speaks to how you live your lives all year around. I think that sense of sacrifice, that sense of discipline, understanding\u00a0and appreciating what you have allows you to truly serve in a very pure way.\u00a0 And I am so appreciative of that.\u00a0Frankly, I love living where I live and I love being a councilmember in San Jose. As the Pacifica Institute’s motto ‘Building Bridges among Cultures’ , I don’t know many other places in the world where that’s done as good as it is done here. Thanks to the organizations like Pacifica Institute. We are all neighbors, friends, co-workers and it is in such meetings as this one, where you get the sense that we are all\u00a0in this life together\u00a0. It is so much fun and enjoyable when we share experiences with each other. So I want to thank you for allowing me to share this experience with all of you’.<\/div>\n
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The night continued with vivid conversations at each table sprinkled with people from different cultures and faiths. As the nights comes to a close, many people has gracefully left the Pacifica Institute thanking the organizers for an incredible opportunity of dialogue and friendship that they were able to cultivate in their tables.<\/div>\n
Pacifica Institute Silicon Valley<\/div>\n
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