Interfaith Discussion on Fasting: “Finding similarities in perceived differences”, May 6, 2021, 3.pm.
People with various faiths, worldviews, unique practices, and rituals from around the world have made Finland home. These practices are not necessarily made available to everyone or we may not know about them. One of these deeply rooted rituals and a type of worship is fasting. It is one of the central aspects of every major world religion, which connects us more closely to our ordinary material lives. Hunger and the satisfaction of hunger unfold to bring us together and unite us in a unique yet mundane bond and infuse adherents’ lives with the special and the spiritual. In this spirit, we would like to have this panel discussion, to listen to some such perspectives and learn different religions and cultures respective understanding of fasting.
Format
After general introduction of the event and the panelists:
1st round: each speaker will have 7 minutes to make their main conceptualization of the type of fast they have (e.g. sacred text, prophetic says, required rituals).
After general introduction of the event and the panelists:
1st round: each speaker will have 7 minutes to make their main conceptualization of the type of fast they have (e.g. sacred text, prophetic says, required rituals).
2nd round: each speaker will have 3 minutes to share the everyday practice of their fast.
3rd round: moderator will forward questions from the audience to the presenters and sum up.
3rd round: moderator will forward questions from the audience to the presenters and sum up.
Panelists
Gopal Krishna Das (Hinduism)
Suaad Onniselkä (Islam)
Heidi Rautionmaa (Christianity)
Ani Sherab (Tibetan Buddhism)
Kristina Schmidt-Penttilä (Bahai)
Ilkhom Khalimzoda (Moderator)
The panel will be held in English and in Zoom, streamed via Our YouTube Channel.