These inspiring photos were taken on Feb. 1 at the 7th Anniversary of the Interfaith Association for Service to Humanity and Nature (IASHN). That is a long name for an association founded to foster the development of daily spiritual practice, interfaith respect and harmony, seva or service, wise stewardship of resources, and care for the planet.
I was blessed to be present with 11 women from the U.S. and 160 other people from India and around the world at IASHN’s first gathering. Sr. Lucy, founder and director of Maher, presided over its creation just steps away from Maher’s first home. IASHN’s founding took place on an auspicious day. Twenty years before, Maher Ashram, an interfaith, caste-free organization in India had welcomed the first women and children seeking safe shelter.
As we processed into the hall at Maher’s National Center, Sr. Lucy and Hirabegum Mulla, chair of the Maher Trust, handed each of us rose petals. I remember the colorful interfaith mandala, scriptures, passages, songs, and chants, lots of joy, and the smell of spices from the kitchen behind us wafting through the hall.
Unlike most Maher gatherings, the IASHN inauguration was just for adults. Each of us had made a commitment. We agreed to respect and honor all faith traditions, observe a daily spiritual practice, alleviate human suffering and environmental destruction through seva, or service, and to use natural and monetary resources as carefully as possible so that we might serve as many people in need as possible.
I was the only person in our group to have qualms about making such a commitment. Having spent 8 months at Maher, I knew the organization’s integrity. Could I live up to the pledge? In the end, perhaps because there was no pressure, I signed the double-spaced document, which fills less than a page.
I often fall short. However, not a day goes by that I don’t think about the higher standards IASHN calls me to and step toward them. This experience reminds me of a concept Jillian Pransky shares in her book Deep Listening: A Healing Practice to Calm Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and Open Your Heart. She writes “a little” + “often” = “a lot.”
Too often, leaders and citizens choose violence, aggression, and righteousness over compassion, collaboration, and compromise. I find comfort knowing that those of us who have taken the IASHN pledge are walking together in India, Austria, Brazil, Germany, the UK, the U.S., and other countries toward kindness and care. IASHN offers proof that the answers to human and societal challenges don’t have to be as complicated as we are often led to believe. IASHN was founded on the principle that “Love is our Religion.” I remember Meg Wheatley saying once that, “Love is stronger than law.”
I am sorry I was not there to celebrate IASHN’s anniversary. That I didn’t have the opportunity to see women religious leaders join Sr. Lucy and the male religious leaders on stage for the first time. To hear their voices as they offered prayers and teaching. That I didn’t get to see the young women perform their beautiful interfaith dance. That I wasn’t there to carry a candle in the peace rally or sit in meditation with the hundreds who were present.
In a time when so many feel alone and isolated, I am heartened that I can be connected half a world away through simple daily acts of respect, service, love, and care. That a small, growing movement that costs nothing to join is helping to make our communities and the planet a safer, healthier, happier place for our children, our grandchildren, their children and all the generations to come.
To learn more about IASHN and how you can bring its message of interfaith harmony and stewardship to your community, reach out to interfaithassociation2017@gmail.com.
Photos published with permission from IASHN.
