By Louis Medina

It has been 140 years since the legendary human rights and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was born.

Google celebrated the anniversary Friday, Oct. 2, by replacing the first “G” in its name with a likeness of Gandhi on the popular web browser’s home page.

Bakersfield honored the leader from India Saturday morning, Oct. 3, at the 12th annual Bakersfield Interfaith Conference held at Bakersfield College’s Fine Arts Theater. The event was themed “Unity through Religious Teaching” and co-sponsored by the Gandhi Alliance for Interfaith Harmony and the Behavioral Sciences Department of Bakersfield College.

Defining the Father of India’s name as “A great soul” (Mahatma) “who has a great fragrance” (Gandhi), Swami Ishwarananda of Chinmaya Mission was the first of six panelists representing Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism who spoke in the spirit of unity and religious tolerance.

A respectful audience of about 120 listened attentively and later participated in a thought-provoking question and answer session led by CSUB religious studies professor Stafford Betty that explored such topics as religious intolerance, doctrinal splits within Islam and Christianity, and the importance of instilling spiritual values along with religious tolerance in one’s children. Several attendees signed up for an interfaith children’s group which the Gandhi Alliance hopes to establish locally, according to planning committee member Dr. Hansa Patel.

Mario Sanchez, 47, a Yokut Indian and a spiritual leader for the Tejon Tribe, said, “I was apprehensive before coming here today,” but was encouraged to find many similarities between the teachings expounded at the conference and the American Indian songs he learned in his youth. His comments drew hearty applause from the audience.

A special guest at the conference was Padma Trivedi, 89, a retired teacher born in India who actually met Gandhi during the four years she and her sister spent in a boarding school for women that he founded.

Here are highlights of each speaker’s presentation, in the order given.

Swami Ishwarananda, Hindu
On Gandhi and his teachings

Gandhi’s belief may be called “spiritual humanism,” the Swami said. He believed in the importance of achieving “communal harmony” and peace among people of different faiths.

“Gandhi loved Hinduism because it is the most tolerant and inclusive of all religions.”

He was against the caste system and animal sacrifices, Ishwarananda said.

“He saw Islam as a religion of peace, love, kindness and brotherhood,” valued its teachings on the importance of respecting one’s elders and avoiding adultery, and was greatly influenced by its disciplines, according to Ishwarananda.

Regarding Christianity, the Swami said Gandhi saw in Jesus’ crucifixion the ultimate example of the “conquering (of) evil by good.”

Padma Trivedi, Hindu
Speaking through Dr. Anil Mehta, who interpreted for her, on her personal experiences with Mahatma Gandhi

Trivedi said Gandhiji (a term of respect and affection used by Indians when referring to the spiritual leader) taught women to be independent and self-reliant by weaving their own clothes, grinding their own grains, and becoming productive members of society. He instituted communities called “service villages,” she said, where the able-bodied helped those who were weak.

He nurtured the spirituality of the students at his women’s schools by observing prayer times at 4 and 7 p.m., during which everyone was allowed to pray according to her own tradition, she said.

Gandhi would encourage the women by lovingly tapping them on the back and telling them, “This is my way of showing my love. May you be strong.”

Lenore Harriman,  Jewish
Social service worker at a Porterville hospital

“God is one river and we’re all drilling many wells to the same source,” Harriman said, referring to a spiritual book she is currently reading.

Jews, who are commanded to recall their flight from Egypt, where they were once slaves, “don’t want anyone else to be enslaved,” she said — by poverty, sexism or other forms of oppression.

She said Judaism’s greatest contribution to the world is “ethical monotheism,” which she defined as serving God through one’s ethical behavior.

Dr. Anil Mehta, Hindu
A local gastroenterologist and the founder and president of Chinmaya Mission Bakersfield

“There is only one truth and the wise speak of it in many ways,” Mehta said, quoting from the Upanishads.

He said Hindus believe that all the great prophets — Krishna, Mohammed, Jesus, Moses — are incarnations of the same God who came to re-establish goodness on the earth during times particularly troubled by evil.

“It is in our foolishness that we say, ‘My religion is better than your religion,’” and “‘If you worship in this building where I worship, you’ll go to heaven, but if you worship in the building across the street, you’ll go to hell,’” Mehta said.

Shanna Kinser, Christian
A women’s Bible study leader at First Congregational Church, and a Presbyterian elder soon to be ordained as a minister

“How many of you know Bakersfield as a town of Christian imperialism?” said Kinser, who was without a doubt the most apologetic of the panelists regarding her faith.

She said local mainstream Christians often show “contemptuousness toward the religious other.”

She said she purposely chose not to carry a Bible to the conference because “there is a perception in the religious other in this area that our Bibles are meant as weapons.”

“Christianity ought to embody love and often it doesn’t until we embrace humility,” she said.

However, Kinser said she is encouraged by events such as the interfaith conference, which she said represents “a gorgeous array of religious pluralism” and is a sign that Bakersfield and Kern are growing spiritually.

Dr. Umaima Jamaluddin, Muslim
A local practitioner of obstetrics and gynecology

“Islam holds family life at a very high level of importance,” Jamaluddin said. “Therefore it becomes imperative for a Muslim to make his home the basis of good and not evil” in his children’s lives.

She defined for the audience an Islamic spiritual term meaning struggle, which she said is often misunderstood by non-Muslims. “Jihad is not to fight with each other,” she said. “It’s a fight at the mental level both for the individual and society.”

“Every religion teaches the same path to reach Allah,” Jamaluddin said. “Let us beseech Allah’s guidance. He is the guide to the correct path.”

Mita Dhariwal, Sikh
A sociology professor specializing in population studies

For those not familiar with her faith, Dhariwal introduced Sikhism as “a modern religion founded by Guru Nanak in 1496 A.D.” Although Sikhs may be found anywhere in the world, she said, they are most prevalent in the Punjab region of Northern India.

Dhariwal outlined three basic principles of Sikhism: Praise the Almighty, pray to him and give thanks; work for your living; and share your earnings with others, especially the needy.

“One is not to be proud of his caste, which is his social or cultural or birth position,” she said.

Although Sikhs traditionally carry a sword (or dagger), she said, “it doesn’t mean you can use it anytime when you get angry.” Rather, she said, it is a symbol of protection of the weak and against injustice.

“All religions are beautiful,” she said, “but what affects our unity is the misinterpretation of each other’s beliefs.”