Temple of Understanding celebrating our 63rd Anniversary in 2023

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FORUM2020

Temple of Understanding

WATCH ENTIRE FORUM2020 PROGRAM HERE

FORUM2020: Science, Spirituality, the Climate Emergency and Our Future

FORUM2020 held Oct 16, 2020 & the Global Interfaith Prayer Service for the Earth held Oct 17, 2020 were proudly held on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Temple of Understanding.

World religious and spiritual visionaries, Indigenous leaders, scientists, and youth environmental activists came together to address the urgency of the climate crisis with strategies for inspired collective action.  Over forty international speakers offered their wisdom and perspectives through keynote addresses,  diverse panels, inspiring prayers and sacred music.  

*Due to the global pandemic, our event was held online this year.

Global Interfaith Prayer Service for the Earth

Watch the recording of the beautiful ceremony of prayers, affirmations and contemplations offered by Indigenous and world religious leaders and sacred music by renown international artists.

Watch Here: Global Interfaith Prayer Service for the Earth

FORUM2020 & FORUM2021

Proudly presented by the Temple of Understanding

in collaboration with Marble Collegiate Church, New York City 

FORUM2020 Keynote Speakers

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Chief Arvol Looking Horse was born on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. At the age of 12, he was given the responsibility of becoming the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, the youngest ever. He is widely recognized as a chief and the spiritual leader of all three branches of the Sioux tribe.

He is the author of White Buffalo Teachings and a guest columnist for Indian Country Today. A tireless advocate of maintaining traditional spiritual practices, Chief Looking Horse is the founder of Big Foot Riders which memorializes the massacre of Big Foot's band at Wounded Knee.

Cheif Looking Horse's prayers have opened numerous sessions of the United Nations and his many awards include the Juliet Hollister Award from the Temple of Understanding, a Non-Governmental Organization with Consultation Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. He lives on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.

Film interviews with Arol Looking Horse on spirituality, tribal history, and advice for American Indian youth are a featured part of the documentary film and DVD on the Crow Shoshone Sun Dance entitled Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way. An illustrated book, Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way, by Thomas Yellowtail (recorded and edited by Michael Fitzgerald), also features his counsel.


Eda Zavala Lopez

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

 Eda Zavala Lopez is a Peruvian shaman-curandera, sociologist and environmental activist . She is a direct descendant of Wari and Ashaninka People from the Amazon. 

In December 2014 she was awarded by the Ministry of Environment in Peru for her profound commitment to Indigenous People from the Amazon Jungle to protect their sacred territories and pristine forests. Eda is also a Cultural Ambassador on behalf of Impact A Village that funds her projects in Peru. Eda is a healer that connects with the spirits of the plants and she is an activist that works to preserve Indigenous knowledge and empower Indigenous People.  In the last 10 years Eda has participated in several venues around the US and participated in 2010, 2017 and 2018 at the United Nations Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues. She also collaborated on Stephan Martin’s book “Cosmic Visions: Dialogues on the Nature of the Universe and the Search for Reality” (2010)  

Chief Oren Lyons

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Grandmother Mona Polacca

Oren Lyons is a Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan and serves as a Member Chief of the Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee Peoples. Oren holds the title of Professor Emeritus at SUNY Buffalo, has a Doctor of Law Degree from his Alma Mater, Syracuse University and Lyons Hall at SU is named in his honor. Chief Lyons is an All-American Lacrosse Hall of Famer and Honorary Chairman of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team. He is an accomplished artist, environmentalist, and author. Oren is also a founder and Principal Partner in One Bowl Productions, a purpose driven film and Television Production Company, located in Los Angeles California. Oren is a leading voice at the UN Permanent Forum on Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples, serves on the Executive Committee of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders for Human Survival, acts as Chairman of the Board for both the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and Plantagon, a world leader in GreenHouse Innovation. Recipient of several prestigious awards including; The United Nations NGO World Peace Prize, the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, The Rosa Parks and George Arent Award for environmental and social activism and recently receiving Sweden’s prestigious Friends of the Children Award with his colleague the late Nelson Mandela. Recipient of Green Cross International Environmental Icon Award 2019.

Grandmother Mona Polacca

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

Grandmother Mona Polacca

Grandmother Mona Polacca is a Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa elder. She is the Chair of the International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. The elders of this Council come from the Amazon rainforest, the Alaskan Tundra, the great forests of the American North West, the vast plains of North America, the highlands of Central America, the Black Hills of South Dakota, the mountain ranges of Tibet and Nepal, the mountains of Oaxaca in Mexico the desert of the American South West, and from the rain forest of Central Africa.

Mona is representative of the Indigenous World Forum on Water and Peace, a coalition of Indigenous leaders and organizations and others who wish to protect water for future generations. This is a vision from the elders and has the support of 60 organizations globally at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

She is the President/CEO of the Turtle Island Project, a non-profit program founded in 1986 by Western practitioners and Native American healers to blend the science of psychoneuroimmunology (mind/body/spirit medicine) with indigenous wisdom and practices.

Mona also serves as a member of the World Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders due to her international justice work.

Prof. Dr. Vandana Shiva

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

Vandana Shiva, a world-renowned environmental thinker, activist, feminist, philosopher of science, writer and science policy advocat, is the founder of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (India) and President of Navdanya International. Trained as a Physicist at the University of Punjab, she completed her Ph.D. on the ‘Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory’ from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. She later shifted to inter-disciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, which she carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India. In 1982 she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE), an independent research institute that addresses the most significant problems of ecology of our times, and two years later, Navdanya (‘nine seeds’) the movement in defense of biodiversity and small farmers. In 2011 she founded Navdanya International in Italy and is Chairman of the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture, co-founded with the then President of the Region of Tuscany.  Recipient of many awards, including in 1993 the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’, and named among the top five “Most Important People in Asia” by AsiaWeek in 2001. Shes is a prolific writer and author of numerous books and serves on the board of the International Forum on Globalization, and member of the executive committee of the World Future Council.

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche, (Trungram Gyaltrul Rinpoche) is the head of the Trungram lineage and one of the highest tulkus of the Kagyu  lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He has received extensive transmissions of the Nyingma lineages, and teaches in the spirit of the nonsectarian Rime movement. He is also the first incarnate lama to earn a Ph.D. in the West, having completed a doctoral program in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Harvard University.  Widely recognized for his ability to modernize ancient Buddhist teachings for today's challenges, he is dedicated to the value of education in bringing wisdom to life. To realize this vision, he has founded organizations throughout Asia and the United States.

Born into a Nepalese Sherpa  family, Trungram Gyalwa was recognized by Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa, as the 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche, the reincarnation of the 3rd Trungram Gyalwa.

Nations, Organizations, Institutions, Groups & Initiatives represented at FORUM2020

Nations, Organizations, Institutions, Groups & Initiatives represented at FORUM2020

Nations, Organizations, Institutions, Groups & Initiatives represented at FORUM2020

Amazon Watch, Divine Shakti Foundation, Earth Guardians, The Faith and Belief Forum, Gandhi Development Trust, Global Interfaith Wash Alliance, Global Muslim Climate Network, GreenFaith, Green Hope Foundation, GreenFaith, Hazon, Impact A Village, Interfaith Power & Light, International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, International Forum on Globalization, International Organization for a Participatory Society, Maisiti Yukayeke Taino, Moms Clean Air Force, Parliament of World’s Religions, Rainforest Action Network, Religions for Peace International, Sioux Nation, The Taos Peace and Reconciliation Council, Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, Turtle Island Project, UN Environment Programme, United Religions Initiative, United Trungram Buddhist Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, World Council of Spiritual & Religious Leaders, Wooden Fish Foundation, World Congress of Faiths, World Future Council, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, Youth Vs Apocalypse, Zero Hour.


SAVE THE DATE FORUM2021

Forum2021 is planned to take place at Marble Collegiate Church on October 15 & 16, 2021 in New York City. 

Our Forum2020 speakers will be with us in person next year in New York, we hope you will be too! 

Distinguished Speakers, Prayer Contributors & Musicians FORUM2020

Nations, Organizations, Institutions, Groups & Initiatives represented at FORUM2020

Nations, Organizations, Institutions, Groups & Initiatives represented at FORUM2020

Zanagee Artis

Marlow Baines

Kehkashan Basu 

Rabbi Ellen Bernstein

Rev. Dr. Marcus Braybrooke

Imam Saffet Catovic

Samir Chatterjee

Isha Clarke

Steve Gorn

Rev. Fletcher Harper

Dr. Tyrone Hayes

Rev. Susan Hendershot

Lyla June

 Prof. Azza Karam, PhD

Rev. Victor Kazanjian

Audrey Kitagawa

Yungchen Lhamo

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Eda Zavala Lopez

Dr.Erin Lothes Biviano

Chief Oren Lyons

The Marble Choir

Marble Community Gospel Choir

Dr. Charles McNeill

Meher Master-Moos

Vivek Muni

Chief Redhawk

Grandmother Mona Polacca

Rabbi David Rosen

Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati

Dr. Vandana Shiva

Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh

Dr. Jyotsna Singh

Heather McTeer Toney

HE Gyaltrul Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker

Rev. John H. Vaughn

Venerable Dr. Yifa

Inspired

Collective

Collective

Collective

Collective

Collective

Action

Collective

Action

FORUM2020 Program & Video Links

Opening Prayer & Keynote Address

Opening Prayer & Keynote Address

Opening Prayer & Keynote Address

10:00-10:15AM EDT

Film "Peace, Justice and the Planet"

about the Temple of Understanding.

Welcoming comments, Dr. Michael Bos,

Senior Minister, Marble Collegiate Church


10:15 – 10:20AM EDT

Opening Prayer 

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle for the Great Sioux Nation. 


10.20 – 10.30AM EDT

Keynote Address 

Chief Oren Lyons

 Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan,

 Member Chief of the Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee Peoples. 

State of the Earth Panel

Opening Prayer & Keynote Address

Opening Prayer & Keynote Address

Panel Discussion:

Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker

Coordinator, Forum on Religion & Ecology, Yale University.

Imam Saffet Catovic

Founder, Green Muslims of New Jersey, Founding Board Member of the Global Muslim Climate Network.

Dr. Tyrone Hayes

Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley.

Rev. Susan Hendershot,

President, Interfaith Power & Light

Dr. Charles McNeill, 

UN Environment Programme

WATCH PANEL HERE

Message from the Amazon

Opening Prayer & Keynote Address

Message from the Amazon

11:00 – 11:10AM EDT

Eda Zavala Lopez, 

Wari, Peru; Anthropologist, Sociologist, Shaman, Environmental Activist; Program Leader, Impact a Village & Rainforest  Action Network.

Dr. Vandana Shiva Keynote Address

Buddhist Perspective on the Climate Crisis Keynote Address

Women in Leadership on the Environment Panel

11:10 – 11.20AM EDT

Keynote Address

Dr. Vandana Shiva, 

Founder, Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (India) and President of Navdanya International. 

World-renowned environmental thinker, activist, feminist, philosopher of science, writer and science policy advocate.

Women in Leadership on the Environment Panel

Buddhist Perspective on the Climate Crisis Keynote Address

Women in Leadership on the Environment Panel

Panel Discussion 

Dr. Azza Karam, 

Secretary General, Religions for Peace.

Dr. Erin Lothes Biviano, 

Program Director, Associate Professor, College of Saint Elizabeth.

Lyla June, 

Diné & Tsétsêhéstâhese Nations; Environmental Anthropology, Stanford University; Co-founder, Taos Peace and Reconciliation Council.

Audrey Kitagawa, 

Chair, Parliament of the World Religions.

Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, 

Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, National Jewish Environmental Organization 

Heather McTeer Toney, 

Former Regional Administrator EPA Southeast Region under President Obama; National Field Director, Moms Clean Air Force.

WATCH PANEL HERE

Buddhist Perspective on the Climate Crisis Keynote Address

Buddhist Perspective on the Climate Crisis Keynote Address

Buddhist Perspective on the Climate Crisis Keynote Address

11:50 – 12:00PM EDT

HE 4th Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche, (Trungram Gyaltrul Rinpoche) is the head of the Trungram lineage and one of the highest tulkus of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. 

Message from the 13 Grandmothers

Youth Activism & The Future of The Earth Community

Buddhist Perspective on the Climate Crisis Keynote Address

12:00 – 12:10PM EDT

Grandmother Mona Polacca, 

Hopi, Havasupai, Tewa Nations; Member, World Council of Spiritual & Religious Leaders; President, Turtle Island Project; Member, The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.

Youth Activism & The Future of The Earth Community

Youth Activism & The Future of The Earth Community

Youth Activism & The Future of The Earth Community

Panel Discussion

Isha Clarke,  

Co-founder & Youth Organizer, 

Youth Vs Apocalypse

Zanagee Artis, 

Cofounder, Zero Hour

Kehkashan Basu, 

Youth Ambassador World Future Council, Founder & President Green Hope Foundation

Marlow Baines,

Youth Director, Earth Guardians

WATCH PANEL HERE

Chief Arvol Looking Horse Keynote

Youth Activism & The Future of The Earth Community

Youth Activism & The Future of The Earth Community

12.40 - 12.50PM EDT

Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 

19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle for the Great Sioux Nation. 



The Juliet Hollister Award 2020

12.50 - 1:00PM EDT

Juliet Hollister Award Ceremony

Honoring Awardees: 

Rev. Dr. Mary and Marcus Braybrooke


Conclusion of Events by Presenters:

Dr. Michael Bos, Senior Minister, Marble Collegiate Church  & 

Alison Van Dyk, Executive Director, Temple of Understanding.

Rev. Dr. Mary and Marcus Braybrooke

Prayers

Offerings

Prayers

Music

Offerings

Prayers

Offerings

Offerings

Offerings

Global Interfaith Prayer Service for the Earth

Universal Prayer for the Earth

A deeply moving and inspiring Interfaith service of prayers, affirmations and contemplations offered by Indigenous and world religious leaders and sacred music by renown international artists, culminating with the Universal Prayer for the Earth creatively written by all of our speakers and prayer contributors this year.




Prayers and Offerings

Rev. Dr. Michael Bos

Imam Saffet Catovic

Rev. Fletcher Harper

Lyla June

Rev. Victor Kazanjian

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Eda Zavala Lopez

Chief Oren Lyons

Meher Master-Moos

Vivek Muni

Grandmother Mona Polacca   

Chief Redhawk

Rabbi David Rosen

Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati

Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh

Dr. Jyotsna Singh

HE Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

Rev. John H. Vaughn

Venerable Dr. Yifa

WATCH HERE Global Interfaith Prayer Service for the Earth

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