Wednesday,  May 25, 2011

6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program

Intersections, 274 5th Ave

Btwn 29th and 30th Sts

With Gadadhara Pandit Dasa

Hindu Monk & Chaplain at Columbia University and NYU

"Vegetarian food leaves a deep impression on our nature. If the whole world adopts vegetarianism, it can change the destiny of humankind." ~ Albert Einstein

When Pandit started as Hindu Chaplain at Columbia eight years ago, he helped launch a Bhakti Yoga club and teach a vegetarian cooking class. In a relatively short time, regular attendance at the weekly cooking classes grew to over 100 students per session. As students became fans of the vegetarian feasts, their curiosity about the traditions and philosophy of India also increased.

Faith House invites you all to an evening of meditation, chanting, teaching, conversation and of course cooking and eating with Pandit.  Learn about the connections between the Hindu tradition, vegetarianism, and mindfulness.  Plus you'll learn to cook a dish or two and then have a chance to try them!

Gadadhara Pandit Dasa was born in Kanpur, India in 1972, grew up in L.A. and abroad, and moved to New York City in 1995. Desiring further progress in his spiritual life, Pandit spent six months in Mumbai, India receiving monastic training, after which he decided to continue his commitment to monastic life at the ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Ashram in New York, where he has been residing since. He became a disciple of the Vaisnava tradition in 2001, a monotheistic tradition with its roots in ancient India, and received his brahminical (priestly) initiation, in 2002.

In 2001, Pandit began his campus ministry efforts in colleges in the New York area, including Queens College, SUNY Albany, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and most recently Columbia University where he now focuses most of his efforts. As a chaplain with the United Campus Ministry at Columbia, he provides representation for the Hindu community and participates in interfaith dialogues on campus. In October 2008, he became New York University's Hindu Chaplain.

In the Fall of 2003, Pandit taught an accredited course on the Bhagavad Gita at SUNY Albany. At the same time, he was accepted as a "visiting scholar" at the Center for the Study of Science and Religion (CSSR) at Columbia University.

RSVPs welcome at Facebook or Meetup 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program

Intersections, 274 5th Ave

Btwn 29th and 30th Sts

With Chris Stedman,

Interfaith and Community Service Fellow for the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University  

Co-Sponsored by the Center for Inquiry, NYC 

"Looking at the shouting match in our culture, between the forces of aggressive atheism (The End of Faith, God is not Great) and the armies of belligerent belief (James Dobson, Pat Robertson), it looks like the widest part of the faith divide is between religion and secularism." ~ Eboo Patel

Ten years into the 21^st century, there is still significant division between the religious and nonreligious in American civic life.  In this Living Room, Chris Stedman, a young "humanist interfaith activist" and accomplished author, speaker and organizer, will identify ways the religious and secular might better understand one another in order to work together.  Chris will share his passion to catalyze a movement in which religious and secular folks not only co-exist peacefully but collaborate around shared values - and engage us all in a small service project to put our words to work. 

Chris Stedman is the Interfaith and Community Service Fellow for the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University and the Managing Director of State of Formation, a new initiative at the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue. Chris received an MA in Religion from Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago, for which he was awarded the Billings Prize for Most Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. A graduate of Augsburg College with a summa cum laude B.A. in Religion, Chris is the founder and author of the blog NonProphet Status. He is a popular writer for The Huffington Post Religion, the youngest panelist for The Washington Post On Faith, and his writing has also appeared in venues such as The Journal of College and Character, Tikkun Daily, The New Humanism, and more.  

Previously a Content Developer and Adjunct Trainer for the Interfaith Youth Core, Chris is a secular humanist working to foster positive and productive dialogue between faith communities and the nonreligious. In 2011, the University of Oregon Alliance of Happy Atheists recognized Chris' work with their first annual Happy Heathen! Award. He is currently writing a book on this work and on his experiences for Beacon Press and speaks on it regularly both by invitation and as a member of the Center for Inquiry Speakers Bureau and Secular Student Alliance Speakers Bureau. Chris also serves on the Leadership Team of the Common Ground Campaign, a coalition of young people standing up in response to the recent wave of anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence violence in the U.S., on the Board of Directors of World Faith, and as an advisor to the Foundation Beyond Belief's Challenge the Gap initiative. Portland, Oregon's GLBT newspaper Just Out called his work "brilliant" and labeled him an "emerging... vibrant and youthful queer voice for the secular humanist movement."

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