The upcoming “International Gita Symposium 2020” is an interfaith virtual symposium on the Bhagavad Gita, with reputed scholars and leaders of different faiths and senior academicians sharing their perspectives and understanding of the Gita. The topic for the symposium is ‘The Bhagavad Gita and Humanity today’.
Bhagavad Gita (The Song of the Lord), the 700-verse Hindu scripture is part of the epic Mahabharata (chapters 23–40 of Bhisma Parva) and is dated to the second century BCE.
The Gita set in a narrative framework is a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and his cousin, guide and charioteer Lord Krishna.
Arjuna is overcome with moral dilemma on the battlefield of Kurukshetraabout warring against his own kith and kin and wishes to leave the battlefield in utter mental confusion and disarray. Lord Krishna then counsels him. This Krishna–Arjuna dialogue covers a broad range of spiritual, ethical and philosophical issues that go far beyond the war that Arjuna faces. It symbolically represents the constant inner turmoil that man has with his inner self.
Bhagavad Gita has been a perennial text for students of Management in various educational institutions as its deals with strategies and instils the thought process of helping man to help himself. Hence needless to say it’s a practical guide to self-help.
Bhagavad Gita is a compulsory subject in the core curriculum for students of Seton Hall University, USA. This is a catholic university founded in 1856. This university wanted a transformational course that will influence the character and life of the students. Hence their choice was the study of Bhagavad Gita.
The Symposium is happening on
Fri, 14 Aug 2020, 8:00 to 10 am (USA)/ 8:00 pm to 10 pm (Singapore Time)
Platform: Webinar
Free event but registration is mandatory: https://tinyurl.com//yag631g8
The Symposium features:
— Two Hindu monks: Swami Sarvapriyananda (Vedanta Society of New York of Ramakrishna Mission) and Swami Samachittananda (Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore)
— A Jewish Rabbi: Professor Rabbi Alan Brill
— 4 Academics: Professors in Communications, Management and Social Sciences from USA and Singapore, Prof A D Amar, Prof Mike Stebbins, Dr Jon Radwan, Prof Vineeta Sinha (Singapore)
— A Buddhist monk.
— Mr Mohamed Imran from Centre for Interfaith Understanding (CIFU, Singapore)
The Symposium is jointly presented by Gita Jayanti (Singapore) and Institute for Communication and Religion Seton Hall University, New Jersey. Gita Jayanti (Singapore) is a part of Hindu Endowments Board (Singapore).
