Thanks to everyone

Thanks to Wesam Berjaoui for his engaging and enlightening talk on Islamic finance which closed out our winter/spring series on Faith and Finance. It was a great way to close out the season before we take a summer hiatus. Thanks again to all of our speakers, attendees and committee memebers for making the Interfaith Experience a success. We look forward to returning on September 25th for our new series on Faith and Food. Stay tuned for more details.

Spring Finale: Islamic finance, June 26th

Please join us for the conclusion of our "Faith and Finance" series. Our guest speaker is Wesam Berjaoui who will be discussing the principles of Islamic finance. At a time when the conventional interest-based global financial system is in turmoil, it is a natural reaction to seek more prudent and ethical alternative systems of financial management. Islamic finance offers one unique alternative and is here to stay. Come learn why Islamic finance is the fastest growing phenomenon in global finance. How does Islamic finance differ from conventional finance? Why does Islamic law, Shariah, forbid Muslims from receiving interest on loans or savings? Please bring your questions, thoughts and enthusiasm to this highly anticipated gathering.

The event will take place at 7pm, June 26th at the Rubin Museum of Art. We look forward to seeing you there.

Wesam Berjaoui is Regional Manager at University Islamic Financial. He graduated from Pace University with a Bachelors degree in Finance. He started his career at Guidance Residential as a sales consultant and worked his way up to District Manager and then climbed steadily up to North East Regional Manager, managing a team of up to eight sales consultants. Wesam recently joined University Islamic Financial in October 2007 as their Regional Manager handling East Coast operations and expansion. His responsibilities extend to currently training and coaching the dynamic sales team as well as helping expand operational states.

Survey and May event

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May 29th with Sheila Wall and Michael Pergola

We hope to see everyone on May 29th for our continuing series on "Faith and Finance." We look forward to welcoming Sheila Wall and Michael Pergola from Coalition for One Voice. Please join us...

"Faith and Finance: Can It Make a Difference"

In the past 30 years we have witnessed a series of disruptions to the financial system that have been publicly perceived as scandals that deviate from the norm. They have followed each other with a certain inevitability, and have led to the current freezing of the world economy and the disruption of countless lives.

We will explore this phenomenon, and what we can do individually and collectively to respond creatively to current circumstances. Questions that will be addressed include:
• What characteristics do the people involved in all of these situations have in common?
• How could some of the best trained and most gifted members of our society fail to see the long term implications of their actions
• What, if any, impact did the ethics courses added to the curriculum of MBA programs in the 80’s have on the behavior of financial leaders
• What role does the “ethic of unfettered individualism” and the “argument culture” play in creating our current distress
• How could a deeper experience of ethics, morality and spirituality help us see the opportunity in the current crisis
• How can we understand and utilize the notion of higher consciousness to inform our actions and respond creatively to the challenges we encounter in our personal and professional lives
• What should we expect from our leaders in finance, business and government, and
• How can we create the conditions, individually and socially, that will get us what we need in order for our children and our grandchildren to live meaningful lives in a just society that spans the globe

We will focus on how the consciousness of individuality has played itself out in our institutions, particularly our financial and educational institutions, and offer insights and practices from the great spiritual traditions that can increase our capacity to experience deep inner peace in the midst of turmoil, and to find creative responses and skillful actions in the face of the current challenges.

In Conversation with Robert Thurman and guests

Tuesday, May 5, 2009
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
The Paley Center for Media
25 West 52 Street (between 5th & 6th Ave)
New York, NY

Religion, Media, and Culture
In Conversation with...

Robert A. F. Thurman, Professor, Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University, and President, Tibet House US

Laurie Goodstein, National Religion Correspondent for the New York Times

Steve Waldman, Co-Founder, President and Editor-in-Chief of Beliefnet

Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey, Director of Human Rights Division, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation

For tickets: https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7164135 or call the box office 212-621-6600
Use the promotional code: temple

We're pleased to announce our very exciting upcoming program with Robert Thurman who is considered the foremost Western scholar on Tibetan Buddhism. This event will take place on May 5th at 630pm at the Paley Center for Media. See below for more information.

Robert Thurman was the first American to have been ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk and a personal friend of the Dalai Lama for over 40 years, Professor Thurman is a passionate advocate and spokesperson for the truth regarding the current Tibet-China situation and the human rights violations suffered by the Tibetan people under Chinese rule. His commitment to finding a peaceful, win-win solution for Tibet and China inspired him to write his latest book, Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet and the World, published in June of 2008. Popularizing the Buddha's teachings is just one of Thurman's creative talents.

He is a riveting speaker and an author of many books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture, including Circling the Sacred Mountain, Essential Tibetan Buddhism, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well, Inner Revolution, The Jewel Tree of Tibet and, most recently, Why the Dalai Lama Matters.

Religion, Media, and Culture

In Conversation with Robert Thurman

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
The Paley Center for Media
25 West 52 Street (between 5th & 6th Ave)
New York, NY

In 1959, coverage of the Dalai Lama's exile from Tibet catapulted his epic struggle with China onto the world stage. Fifty years later, despite highly sophisticated attacks on his reputation and threats of diplomatic sanctions against welcoming states, his celebrity is larger than ever. As the Dalai Lama visits New York in May to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his exile, join us for a discussion to explore different perspectives on the success of his use of media in advancing awareness of the plight of the Tibetan people.

This program is presented in conjunction with The Temple of Understanding, a New York–based organization dedicated to promoting cross cultural and inter-religious tolerance and understanding.

Advanced tickets are $15.
Purchases at the door are $20.

https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7164135
Use the promotional code: temple

April event postponed

We regret to inform you that April's Interfaith Experience has been canceled. Please note that this talk on Islamic finance will be rescheduled for June 26th. We're sorry for the inconvenience. The next Interfaith Experience talk will take place on May 29th with Sheila Wall and Michael Pergola from Coalition for One Voice.

Thanks to Kona and March program

A very special thanks to Kona Goulet for her wonderful talk to kickoff our "Faith and Finance" series. It made us think about: does the way we spend our money reflect our higher values? I'd recommend tracking your spending (to the penny) for one week and you'll be surprised where the money goes. Give it a try.

We look forward to seeing everyone on March 27th at 7pm for the 2nd talk of our "Faith and Finance" series.

"Economic Turmoil and Financial Abundance"

Andrew Wang, Senior Vice President at Runnymede Capital Management, addresses the importance of financial health in one's pursuit of physical, mental and spiritual well being. Drawing from personal and professional experience, Andrew discusses the subject of money from a Christian perspective as it relates to materialism, giving, prosperity and success. Amidst the back drop of a contracting economy, global banking crisis, and corporate malfeasance, Andrew shares the foundation of his financial ministry and how Christian views on money apply to the current economic turmoil.

Andrew is a Senior Vice President and an Equity Portfolio Manager at Runnymede Capital Management, a registered investment adviser that serves individuals and institutional clients. Runnymede Capital Management was recently nominated as investment "Manager of the Year" for 2008 by the editors of Financial Investment News. In 1996, Runnymede coined the term "Financial Hurricanes." In the face of major downturns, Andrew believes that you must take defensive positioning which has benefits in terms of financial and emotional health. Andrew holds a B.A. in International Studies with honors from Trinity College.

2009 Kickoff event with Kona Goulet. Please join us February 27th.

Next week, we look forward to our first event of 2009. Please join us Friday, February 27th at 7pm at the Rubin Museum of Art. Our first speaker of the season is Kona Goulet, Director of Development for EnlightenNext.

"Keeping the Faith: Pursuing Higher Values in Challenging Times"

You may have heard the refrain, “If you want to know what you value in life, just look in your check book.” In these challenging times, when we tend to become more conservative, the question is, what are we conserving? Do we conserve that which matters most? After we cut out the “excess” in our lives, is what’s left a reflection of our higher values? Or do we succumb to survival instincts and leave our higher aspirations to times less troubling? In this talk, Kona Goulet, Director of Development for EnlightenNext, will speak about how in challenging times we must ask ourselves even more deeply just how much our lives (and finances) are expressing our faith and our deepest values.

Kona Goulet is Director of Development for EnlightenNext, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen and dedicated to the evolution of consciousness and culture. She is one of Cohen’s senior students and has been practicing his teaching philosophy of Evolutionary Enlightenment for fourteen years. Goulet has worked for the past decade in the corporate and financial sectors in England, Australia and Holland. She first became the Managing Director for EnlightenNext in the UK in 2004 and two years later, became the Director of Development at the EnlightenNext World Center based in Lenox, Massachusetts. She is a passionate advocate for the potential of philanthropy to uplift and transform culture. Her work entails developing creative forums for philanthropists to come together as agents of transformation.