Conscious Choice: A Vision of Harmony

February 2000

A Vision of Harmony

The 1999 Parliament of the World's Religions at Cape Town

by Wayne Teasdale

The 1999 Parliament in Cape Town captured the attention, imagination, and hearts of Africans, especially of Capetonians. South Africa and Cape Town enthusiastically embraced the Parliament and the approximately eight thousand participants during the December 1-8 session. The diversity was breathtaking, with some two hundred religions represented. Although the Parliament had to compete with the excitement over the World Trade Organization and its opponents who took to the streets of Seattle, it was major news every day in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The American media displayed its usual myopia concerning all things spiritual. Only the New York Times, and a few other papers, took notice of the historic event.

The Cape Town gathering was marked by significant controversy caused by Thabo Mbeki’s refusal to meet with the Dalai Lama. The South African president caved in to Chinese pressure not to meet with the exiled spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet. Mbeki was criticized by many, including Desmond Tutu, for this moral failure and political blunder. Some pointed out that Nelson Mandela would certainly have met with His Holiness (and in fact he did when he was president). Aware of the fallout, Mbeki has modified his position and said he would gladly meet His Holiness as part of a six- or seven- person delegation of religious and spiritual leaders from the Parliament. The Dalai Lama declined, mentioning a schedule conflict.

The Parliament opened on December 1 with an AIDS awareness event in the Company Gardens. The AIDS Quilt was prominently displayed. AIDS is a huge problem in South Africa where 20 percent of the population is infected with HIV. The Parliament wanted to draw attention to this critical matter by identifying with South Africa’s suffering.

From Company Gardens, thousands of participants marched to District Six, a sacred place for South Africans in their struggle to overcome the apartheid regime. On the way, they were greeted by protesting Evangelicals and fundamentalist Moslems who had formed a rare alliance in their fear of and opposition to the interfaith movement. (A few days later, after realizing the positive nature of what was happening in Cape Town, four of the Moslems actually apologized to Parliament leaders.) Upon reaching an open field in District Six, under the subtropical heat, the Parliament celebrated its opening on the African continent.

There were more than seven hundred programs, including lectures, workshops, presentations, performances, and symposia. One of the most fascinating of the latter was the science and religion symposium entitled "At Home in the Universe." This meeting demonstrated the growing congeniality between scientists and sages. There were nine plenary sessions accenting themes such as sharing sacred space, human rights, understanding and cooperation, celebrating life, creative engagement, meeting essential needs, and the Next Generation’s nurturing transformative community.

The Next Generation, or the youth, had several forums in which to express themselves, and had twenty-five members in the Parliament’s Assembly (a group composed of four hundred representatives from the religions, the guiding institutions and significant organizations, activists, and scholars). The dance and musical events were spectacular; the noteworthy stars were the Japanese Taiko drummers and the Zulu dancers who appeared at various points during the Parliament’s eight exhaustingly rich days.

One of the highlights of the Cape Town gathering was Nelson Mandela’s appearance at one of the evening plenary sessions. His humility, warmth, and graciousness never faltered, even in the face of some participants who came across as a bit too serious and self-important but nonetheless wished to bask in Mandela’s brilliance and celebrity. The former president’s speech drew attention to the role religion had played in South Africa’s struggle against racism and the apartheid system. He remarked how the religious schools had been the only means by which blacks, Indians, and other non-whites could achieve an education, since the best schools had been reserved for the white minority. His words were meaningful in an age when it is common for people to criticize and even reject organized religion.

The Dalai Lama’s presence and participation represented another high point, though his contribution was limited to the last day, December 8. He arrived the day before, and during a news conference he was asked about the value of the Parliament. He responded by pointing out that it was definitely a positive force but that it needed to walk the path of action, not simply words. In his address at the final plenary, he reiterated his plea for concrete action, though he did not specify what kinds of action he meant.

In the Parliament Assembly where he arrived on the morning of the December 8, His Holiness spent two hours with the 25 members of the Next Generation who had been chosen to interact with him. The Dalai Lama was his usual playful but wise self. He and the young people clearly enjoyed themselves. They expressed their concerns and hopes, on the basis of reflective essays they had written about A Call to Our Guiding Institutions. This Parliament document is a challenge to cultural leaders from all walks of life.

The Assembly, along with the Next Generation, was engaged in considering ways to implement the Call, to disseminate it far and wide, and to offer ideas for programs related to the Call in service to the planet. The Assembly itself was divided into tables of nine or ten people. Their conversations, often profound, provided plenty of ideas for the Parliament about how best to proceed with this document, which is regarded by many as a bold and innovative step.

When His Holiness spoke in the Assembly and later at the mayor of Cape Town’s luncheon, the entire group spontaneously broke into refrains of "We Shall Overcome," thus linking the Tibetan struggle with the victorious campaigns of South Africa and the civil rights movement of America. Another link came from the presence of Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and a member of the South African Parliament representing a district in Durban.

Like the previous Parliaments of 1993 and 1893, this Parliament proved memorable (although I was unable to attend the 1893 parliament!). I believe the Parliament has now emerged as a world force. The Parliament in 2004 will be even more significant if it can provide practical guidance in precisely how we can transform consciousness on this planet as the Call requires. If the reaction of Cape Town’s taxi drivers is any measure, the Parliament will be enormously influential in the future. As these drivers remarked to so many of us, "This Parliament has changed our lives forever!"

Visit the CPWR web site for more information.

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