ISSN 2250 - 3331 Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation Chair of Inter-Religious & Inter-Cultural Dialogue

Ethics and Society: An International Journal Religions and Cultures for Peace and Harmony Vol. 2 Contributors Section I Cardinal Paul Poupard Archbishop Felix Machado Adv. Giuseppe Musumeci Scientist Mr. Niranjan Bilgi Dr. D. K. Sankaran Dr. Marie Fernandes Dr. Sr. Teresa Joseph Dr. Fr. Leo Lefubure Dr. Kala Acharya Prof. Lalita Namjoshi Mr. Suhas Paranjpe Mr. Zuhair Nathani Ms. Zarina Tajani Dr. Avinash De Souza Prof. Jyoti Bhatia Ms. Elcy Pinto Section II Dr. Paul Balta Dr. Dan Jaffé Dr. Marie Fernandes Prof. Sharmila Dhote Dr. Fr. S.M. Michael Edited by Archbishop Felix Machado Rev. Dr. Stephen Fernandes 26 November 2011 ISSN 2250 - 3331 Ethics and Society: An International Journal Religions and Cultures for Peace and Harmony Vol. 2

Contributors Section I Cardinal Paul Poupard Archbishop Felix Machado Adv. Giuseppe Musumeci Scientist Mr. Niranjan Bilgi Dr. D. K. Sankaran Dr. Marie Fernandes Dr. Sr. Teresa Joseph Dr. Fr. Leo Lefubure Dr. Kala Acharya Prof. Lalita Namjoshi Mr. Suhas Paranjpe Mr. Zuhair Nathani Ms. Zarina Tajani Dr. Avinash De Souza Prof. Jyoti Bhatia Ms. Elcy Pinto Section II Mr. Paul Balta Mr. Dan Jaffé Dr. Marie Fernandes Prof. Sharmila Dhote Dr. Fr. S.M. Michael Edited by Archbishop Felix Machado Rev. Dr. Stephen Fernandes 26 November 2011 © 2011 Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation

Published: November 2011 Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation Chair for Inter-Religious And Inter-Cultural Dialogue St. Andrew’s College, Bandra, Mumbai – 400050

Printed at : JRose Enterprises 27, Surve Industrial Estate, Sonawala X Road No. 1, Goregaon East, Mumbai - 400 063 Contents 1) The Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation 3

2) Creating Oasis of Peace and Harmony Cardinal Paul Poupard 6

3) Discourse Archbishop Felix Machado 11

4) Clean Drinking Water For All Adv. Giuseppe Musumeci 15

5) Water – The Essence of our Existence Scientist Niranjan Biligi 19

6) Water Resources In India Dr. D. K. Sankaran 25

7) A Torrent of Signification in Water Stories – Factual and Mystical Dr. Marie Fernandes 30

8) An Enquiry into Water from an Inter-religious, Inter-cultural and Inter-disciplinary Perspective Sr. Dr. Teresa Joseph fma 46

9) Water in Interreligious Perspective Dr. Fr. Leo D. Lefebure 54

10) Sacredness of Water in the Hindu Tradition Dr. Kala Acharya 66

11) Sacredness of Water Dr Lalita Namjoshi 71

12) Water : An Islamic Perspective Zuhair Nathani 74

13) Significance of Water in Islam Zarina Tajani 81

14) Water: A Bio-Psycho-Social Construct Dr. Avinash De Sousa 84

15) Hindu Perspective on Water - Case Study of River Ganga Prof. Jyoti Bhatia 88

16) Hindu Perspective on Water Elcy Pinto 96

17) Boire et Manger en Méditerranée Paul Balta 102 18) Le Partage de la Table dans le Monde Juif : Histoire et Identité Dr. Dan Jaffé 109

19) Anthropological and Culinary Customs of Some of the Major Religions in India – Hinduism,Buddhism, Judaism and Christian Religion Dr. Marie Fernandes 115

20 Eat, Pray and Love Prof. Sharmila Dhote 135

21 Meals and Celebrations in Asian Cultures S.M. Michael svd 153

22 About the Editors 171

23 About the Contributors 173 5 The Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation

The Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation has been constituted under Italian law and recognised by the Republic of Italy. It has legal base at Crema, Via Dante, 24. In a world oscillating between indifference and fanaticism, His Eminence Cardinal Poupard, collaborator of the sovereign Pontiffs John XXIII, Paul VI and Benedict XVI is one of the most qualified representatives for the way of dialogue, identified by Popes as being able to establish peaceful and long-lasting co-existence between nations and different civilisations. The Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation intends to conserve and make use of the considerable patrimony of culture and relations that the Cardinal created over many years, in seeking to create and encourage cultural initiatives that can foster the coming together and understanding between traditions and religions of all the world. It seeks to promote congress, conferences, publications, create Chairs in universities throughout the world, help students with grants and promote the Prize “The Dialogue of Cultures”. In order to do this, it is composed under the direction of His Eminence Cardinal Paul Poupard, of a President, who will have responsibility for all the activity of the Foundation, assisted by a scientific Committee made up of men and women from the field of culture and the world of business and finance, and will be a place of contact able to erect solid bridges between countries and cultural institutions. The members of this Committee witness, by their adherence, to the richness of different cultures across the world: France, Italy, Russia, United States, Latin America, India and Middle East.

The Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation: Inspired by an Open Humanism

One can synthesize the specific character of Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation, saying that it is inspired by an open Humanism and it is committed to its spread.

It is Humanism, because at the core of its concerns there is the human being, that means the one who has to defend himself from all the ideological, political and economic forces which tend to enslave him.

It is Open, because it recognises within each human being the spiritual openness, that means the religious dimension which constitute man’s nature. 6 Therefore, it works through the initiatives that I am going to illustrate [or: that I have illustrated]; valorising man in his spiritual dimension, hoping that the different expressions of it do not become an occasion for violent conflicts, but rather a loyal and constructive comparison, for reciprocal enrichment and a common search of truth.

Adv. Giuseppe Musumeci President Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation

St. Andrew’s College Management Committee for the Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation: Chair of Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Dialogue

1. Cardinal Oswald Gracias (Chairperson) 2. Archbishop Felix Machado (Ex-Officio, Card. Paul Poupard Foundation) 3. Adv. Giuseppe Musumeci (Ex-Officio, Card. Paul Poupard Foundation) 4. Msgr. Nereus Rodrigues (Manager) 5. Dr. Marie Fernandes (Principal) 6. Sr. Theresa Joseph (Secretary)

Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation Chair of Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Dialogue St. Andrew’s College, Bandra

Vision

To promote peace and harmony for a holistic development of society. Mission

The Chair of Inter-Religious and International Dialogue at St. Andrew’s College aims at promoting:

! The exchange of knowledge concerning religions and cultures in dialogue with one another ! Advanced studies and research in Inter-Religious and Inter-Cultural Dialogue 7

! A space for dialogue so as to foster social harmony and national integration ! The transformation of society by training people to live in peace and harmony. Programmes Offered

Seminars: To promote study and research among the students into the major religious and cultural traditions.

Certificate / Diploma Courses: Short courses in the areas of inter-religious dialogue, religious pluralism and cultures so as to enable the participants to get to know various religions and cultures.

Local, national and international workshops: Workshops on Inter-Religious and Inter-Cultural Dialogue and Education as well as sensitizing teachers / students on the significance of the same.

Lectures: Lectures by distinguished persons of various religious traditions and cultures. The lectures will aim at creating better understanding among the students and participants, and at promoting peace and harmony.

Research: Offers the possibility for scholars to work on research papers and publications.

Inter-Collegiate Programmes: Essay and Quiz competitions, Seminars, Debates and Exhibitions. Themes

A team of Educators who would offer inter-religious and inter-cultural perspectives.

A team of Professors who would offer reflections and approaches to promote peace and harmony for a holistic development of society. 8 Creating Oasis of Peace and Harmony

Cardinal Paul Poupard

Pope Benedict XVI in his address at an meeting of Interreligious leaders at the Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem on 11 May 2009 declared it was God who said to Abraham: “Go from your country, your kindred and your father’s house for a land I shall show you” And so Abram went … and took his wife Sarah with him” (Gen 12:1-5). Truly, God’s call, which marks the beginning of the history of our faith traditions, was heard in the midst of man’s ordinary daily existence. And the history that ensued was shaped, not in isolation, but through the encounter with Egyptian, Hittite, Sumerian, Babylonian, Persian, and Greek cultures.

Indeed, faith is always lived within a culture. And the history of religion shows that a community of believers proceeds by degrees of faithfulness to God, drawing from and shaping the culture it meets.

Pope Benedict XVI also pertinently reminds us nearly four thousand years after Abraham that the encounter of religions with culture occurs not only on a geographical plane. Certain aspects of globalization and in particular the world of the internet have created a vast virtual culture, the worth of which is as varied as its countless manifestations. Undoubtedly much has been achieved to create a sense of closeness and unity within the world-wide human family. Yet, at the same time, the boundless array of portals through which people so readily access undifferentiated sources of information can easily become an instrument of increasing fragmentation: the unity of knowledge is shattered and the complex skills of critique, discernment and discrimination learned through academic and ethical traditions are at times bypassed or neglected.

The question naturally arises then as to what contribution do religions make to the cultures of the world against the backdrop of rapid globalization. Religion is the soul of culture. Hence, religions have a bounden duty to share and mould cultures, including and especially, the virtual culture which is so much a part and parcel of life today. Indeed, as members of different religious traditions, we seek to enrich culture and shape it, as well, thus seeking to form a culture not defined by boundaries of time or place but fundamentally shaped by the principles and actions that stem from our faith convictions.

Furthermore, some point out that the differences in religious doctrine and practices can pose a challenge to proclaim with clarity what we share in common. A few even maintain that our different voices should simply be silenced. But we know that our differences, on the contrary, provide a wonderful opportunity for 9 people of different religions to live together in profound respect, esteem and appreciation, encouraging one another to come closer to God. Indeed, despite our differences, there are so many profound realities we share in common. For instance, the profound sense of awe and respect for the absolute and for truth, which impels religious peoples to converse with one another in the first place, is the driving force to uphold basic human, spiritual and religious values.

Religious belief presupposes truth. In an interview conducted two years after the beginning of the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, in the year 2007, and which appeared as an article in the April issue of Inside the Vatican April, 2007, I had pointed out that religion is not about politics. It is about the truth revealed. Thus the one who believes is the one who seeks truth and lives by it. Although the medium by which we understand the discovery and communication of truth differs in part from religion to religion, we should not be deterred in our efforts to bear witness to truth’s power. Together we can proclaim that God exists and can be known, that the earth is his creation, that we are his creatures, and that he calls every man and woman to a way of life that respects his design for the world.

At this juncture, after having highlighted the Church’s fundamental perspectives relating to Interreligious Dialogue in the context of the world today, I would like to relate our reflections to ‘Water’ the source of life, which is the focus of our reflection this morning. Without water the earth would be an arid desert, where life would be impossible because of famine and drought. Even though we know that it can be the cause of death (through floods, drowning and water-borne diseases), water is generally seen and appreciated for the advantages and benefits that it brings to the life of living beings.

Biblical and theological reflection, as well as examining actual struggles and conflicts over water, reveals to us how water plays a crucial role in: Peace in the community, Peace among peoples, Peace in the marketplace, Peace with the earth.

With the situation and struggles of vulnerable and marginalized communities at the centre of our reflections, we seek to find out what we as Church can do to advocate for a just peace in the context of water-related struggles1.

A. Water, a basic necessity of life:

Since primordial times, people have struggled for basic natural resources, including water which is such a crucial element of life. We find examples of this struggle throughout the Bible.2 For instance, the biblical story in Exodus 15:22- 10 27 tells how the Israelites searched for clean water to be able to survive after crossing the Red Sea into the wilderness. They arrive at a place called Marah – Hebrew for “bitterness” – where they find water but discover that it is not fit for drinking.

The name of the place “Marah” can be interpreted simply as a literal reference to the “bitter” water. But we can also read it as a figurative description of the situation and of the mood of the people. Fleeing from the Egyptians and crossing the desert without water, the Israelites find themselves in a difficult moment. Their grumbling against Moses is also an expression of an inner bitterness, one that may be borne of feelings of fear, frustration, hopelessness, and, it seems, a lack or temporary loss of faith.

Today, in various parts of the world, including India, people are also thirsty, searching for clean water in order to survive, similar to the Israelites in Exodus. Their situation is “bitter” – despite an abundance of water around them, they have no water to drink. Searching for clean and drinkable water is a herculean task particularly for women and children who often walk more than three kilometers to get water for their families.

In the Exodus, the Israelites were guided by Moses, God’s chosen prophet, who leads the Israelites to salvation from the hold of the Pharaoh – a journey which begins with clean water being turned to blood in the first plague (Exodus 7, 20- 21): “He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water.”

Moses stood before those in power, the Pharaoh and his officials, challenging them to open their eyes and hearts, to stop the oppression of the Israel people. He led them to freedom. In Marah, he threw a tree into the bitter water and purified it.

People searching for pure water to drink and for their various needs need such leaders, leaders who can liberate them and empower them to strive for and receive justice. Leaders who will, like Moses, not only purify water but heal the people and restore their trust.

With Moses, we are all called to confront the ‘Pharaohs’ in our different global contexts. When we are indifferent to the suffering of others, or in a way participate 11 in economic or political structures that deny water to those who thirst, we must confront the ‘Pharaoh’ within ourselves.

When the “Marah” is removed from our hearts—the inner bitterness, borne of feelings of fear, frustration, hopelessness, and lack of faith—only then can we, with Moses at Marah, use that part of the tree of life which has been entrusted to us, and make access to drinkable water for all a reality. Then we hear the words of Jesus in a new way: “Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward” (Matthew 10.42)

B. Women, water, violence3

Women and girls are particularly affected where clean water and safe sanitation are lacking. They are often responsible for fetching water, an exhausting task which deprives them of time and energy they could use to earn an income or go to school. The lack of clean water and sanitation is sorely felt by women and girls, for example during menstruation. It also puts them at risk of becoming victims of violence. Many women and girls face sexual harassment and rape when fetching water or when they have to go outside for lack of toilets in their homes. The burden of fetching water can aggravate domestic violence when women cannot cope with all the chores their husbands expect them to take on.

The provision of drinking water for all and the removal of the burden of fetching water are challenges for the whole of humankind. The words of our Lord Jesus, who symbolically offered water to the Samaritan woman so that she would no longer have to venture forth alone to the well at all hours, are a challenge to women and men to claim more decent living conditions: “Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Women should have access to, and control of, the resources for production, and have their say on government policies, particularly in the framing of legislation. This would enable them to work for their problems to be heard and to sweep away those cultural attitudes that conspire to reinforce their difficulties. The voice of Christ challenges men, women, and public authorities to focus on one of the most important priorities for life: drinking water for all.

Each one of us here also knows, however, that God’s voice is heard less clearly today as compared to the past due to a variety of factors. Yet that “void” is not one of silence. Indeed, it is the din of selfish demands, empty promises and false hopes that attempt to invade the very space in which God seeks us. Can we then make spaces - oases of peace and profound reflection - where God’s voice can 12 be heard anew, where his truth can be discovered within the universality of reason, where every individual, regardless of dwelling, or ethnic group, or political hue, or religious belief, can be respected as a person, as a fellow human being? In an age of instant access to information and social tendencies which engender a kind of monoculture, deep reflection against the backdrop of God’s presence will strengthen reason, stimulate creative genius, facilitate critical appreciation of cultural practices and uphold the universal values which are part of religious belief.

We recall the prophetic words of Mahatma Gandhi: “the earth is sufficient for everyone’s need, but not everyone’s greed.” May our generation make that significant choice, which is the need of the times, for a brave, new world!

End Notes 1 The EWN, is a network of churches and Christian organizations promoting people’s access to water around the world, In 2011, it focused on “Water, conflict and just peace”,while examining the links between access to water, water struggles, and building just peace. The theme was chosen because of its relevance to communities and churches around the world and in view of the international Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) that took place in Jamaica, Kingston, from 17 - 25 May 2011. One of the objectives was to raise awareness of why and how addressing injustice and struggles related to water can contribute to building and keeping “just peace” in a violent world. 2 Cf. Rev. Canon Dr Ezekiel Babatunde, director of the Institute of Church and Society of the Christian Council of Nigeria, looks at the story of the Exodus and reflects on environmental damage and economic injustice. 3 Cf. Rev. Dr Priscille Djomhoue, professor at the Protestant University of Central Africa in Cameroon, explores biblical narratives of women’s experiences at the well 13 Discourse by Archbishop Felix Machado

This coming together for Interfaith Dialogue for Peace and Harmony is indeed a timely one.

With believers of other religions dialogue is always possible on the basis of culture. Culture is a common terrain in which believers and nonbelievers or believers of diverse religions can dialogue. The culture of the People of God, which exceeds national, linguistic, regional, etc., limits, enters into dialogue with other cultures, vitally permeated by other religions. In this dialogue there is mutual enrichment, and the Gospel, incarnated in a concrete culture, can heal and fertilize new cultural expressions.

Asia with its diversity of cultures and creeds, some of which are more ancient than Christianity, presents itself as a cultural mosaic. In any mosaic, every piece, howsoever small, is important to complete the whole picture. If one piece is missing we have an ugly gap. In Asia the mosaic is already there; what we need to do is to illumine it with the Light of the Gospel, so that its beauty shines forth with greater splendour. Let me make use of a parallel. A couple of years back Michelangelo’s Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel was restored. This masterpiece, which has been viewed and admired by millions of pilgrims, tourists and art lovers now stands out in all its radiant beauty. The restoration work that took years did not add to the genius of Michelangelo. It only took away what prevented and obstructed his genius from being seen more clearly. It got rid of the soot and dirt that dulled the painting and robbed it of its inner glow.

I like to compare the exposure of diverse cultures to the Gospel as a kind of “restoration”. In his Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio, Pope John Paul II dealing with the encounter between the Gospel and cultures clearly states that “the proclamation of the Gospel in different cultures allows people to preserve their own cultural identity. This is no way creates division, because the community of the baptised is marked by a universality which can embrace every culture and help foster whatever is implicit in them to the point where it will be fully explicit in the light of truth” (No. 71). He further adds that “the Gospel is not opposed to any culture, as if in engaging a culture the Gospel would force it to adopt forms which are alien to it. On the contrary, the message which believers bring to the world of cultures is a genuine liberation from all the disorders caused by sin and is, at the same time, a call to the fullness of truth” (ibid.). The encounter of the Gospel with cultures far from diminishing them only further develops them as they open up and blossom more fully. 14 The human person can achieve true and full humanity only by means of culture. But at the same time, we humans are both child and parent of the culture in which we are immersed. Today we are living in a fascinating world where cultures are encountering each other, influencing one another in the global world. This cultural mix brings a new opportunities as well as challenges.

In this context, it is important to remember that all culture(s) is an effort to ponder the mystery of the world and in particular of the human person. The heart of every culture is its approach to the greatest mystery: the mystery of God. In short, we can say that culture is a particular way in which persons and peoples cultivate their relationship with nature and their brothers and sisters, with themselves and with God, so as to attain a fully human existence. Culture only exists through man, by man and for man. It is the whole of human activity, human intelligence and emotions, the human quest for meaning, human customs and ethics. Culture is so natural to man that human nature can only be revealed through culture.

Man always exists in a particular culture, but it must also be admitted that man is not exhaustively defined by that culture. Moreover, the very progress of cultures demonstrates that there is something in man which transcends those cultures. This ‘something’ is precisely human nature: this nature is itself the measure of culture and the condition of ensuring that man does not become prisoner of any of his cultures, but asserts his personal dignity by living in accordance with the profound truth of his being.

Contemporary society has been experiencing both a crisis and resurgence in culture which would uphold this dignity of human person.

The crisis in culture is manifested in terms of doubt in the very nature of human person to know the truth. One of the things that characterize the times we live in is the breakdown of absolutes. In morals – sexual anarchy; in metaphysics – doubt; in epistemology – confusion and ambiguity. Symptoms of this cultural and intellectual malaise are everywhere discernible. It often derives meaning or excitement through experiments with sensation, sex and drugs, and if confronted with teachings promoting traditional values or Wisdom of the Ages, it proudly rejects them as outdated and no more relevant to contemporary man. A gradual secularization, increasing prosperity of some people as a role model for others to imitate, liberal education are questioning many of the traditional values and cultural presuppositions. Science and technology are becoming increasingly powerful. Scientific progress and technological advancement is transforming our world and overturning our cultures. 15 At the same time, we also observe the resurgence of people’s movements for an authentic culture which will safeguard human dignity. The revival of this humanistic culture has taken place, according to social scientists, largely because science, technology and rationalism have failed to give meaning in both the personal and occupational lives of individuals and have failed to resolve some of the institutional problems of modern society. They have also failed to provide a guide to the human quest for ultimate meaning. The cultural world of today has led to the deterioration of our environment. The ecological disaster is leading mankind for self-destruction. The deterioration of nature is in fact closely connected to the culture that shapes human existence.

Thus, we are living in a confused world between ethnocentric and relativistic cultural orientations. Some social scientists characterize the present world as Post-Modern World. The Post-modernism seems to be a fluid, multi-dimensional or pluri-cultural and, therefore, transitory phenomenon. However, it suggests that we have gone beyond modernism but does not specify Where we are going. But if does not specify where we are going, does it mean that we must remain rudderless and just drift along with low and high tides? Or, and this seems to be more appropriate and relevant, must we seek for a guiding compass?

So, in what direction shall we look and what truths and values shall we endeavour to pursue in keeping with our higher interests and purposes? The breakdown of traditional value complexes, without their replacement leads to moral ambiguity and value confusion.

To build a New Civilization, a civilization of life, we need new vision

Here is the role of Education. True education will teach its students to understand and discern, evaluate and incorporate the true value of science and technology, the usefulness of modern means of communication in the world of globalization. Our education should conscientize people to understand and respond creatively and constructively to the innovative scientific ideas and impressive technological breakthroughs which are transforming the way we live, the way we think and the way we act. People should be made aware that today science is fast becoming a worldview shaping our value systems and rewriting our meaning system. All the same, it is important to understand science is dealing with empirical facts and not with metaphysical realities. Education must be rooted both in reason and faith. Education should incorporate insights both from science and religion. According to the late Pope John Paul II, “Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish”. 16 There is a need for a creative and constructive dialogue between modern science and religion. Similar sentiments are expressed by Pope Benedict XVI in his latest Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate. True education will promote integral human development. Pope Benedict says, “The development of individuals and peoples is located on a height, if we consider the spiritual dimension that must be present if such development is to be authentic. It requires new eyes and a new heart, capable of rising above a materialistic vision of human events, capable of glimpsing in development the “beyond” that technology cannot give. By following this path, it is possible to pursue the integral human development that takes its direction from the driving force of charity in truth”.

I wish to conclude with the appeal that the Holy Father makes in the same Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio to India in particular, and to the great cultures of China and Japan, and the other countries of Asia as well, inviting and encouraging them to explore the riches of their respective cultural heritage to discover therein the elements that are compatible with the faith. “It is the duty of Christians now to draw from this rich heritage the elements with their faith in order to enrich Christian thought” (No. 72). Let this be our focus and our goal as we begin this Convention. Thus will Asia be able to reveal anew the face of Christ, thus will Asia make Christ feel at home, for it is in Asia that He was born, for it is to Asia that He gifted the Church and it was from Asia that He sent His first disciples to preach the Good News to the very ends of the earth! May these days together fill us with greater zest and zeal as we approach the Third Millennium to be joyful messengers of the Gospel illuminating with its Light the Mosaic of Asian Cultures and knowing that He is with us always as He promised to be “to the end of time” (Matthew 28:20). 17 Clean Drinking Water for All

Adv. Giuseppe Musumeci

Mr. Chairman, distinguished colleagues, honoured guests, I thank you for the possibility of addressing you here today. My name is Giuseppe Musumeci, and I am a lawyer by training; however, I am here today as the President of the Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation. As you may know, for many years, Cardinal Poupard was the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and also of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious dialogue. In these offices, he was the main representative of the Holy See in discussion both with non-Christians and non-believers, and as such, was a good friend of UNESCO, and one of its strongest supporters. In keeping with the passion and the expertise of the Cardinal, we have created the Foundation to continue his life’s work of finding means of discussion and collaboration between all people of faith of any kind, as well as men and women of good will the world over. Therefore, our focus is on formation, social inclusion, environmental sustainability and the promotion of culture.

I can think of no better issue with which to foster this collaboration and concern than the topic of the right to access to clean water for every man woman and child on planet Earth. It is impossible to imagine a single human being who would be opposed to this, and yet, we are all too painfully aware that there remain far too many people who are unable to obtain safe and clean water. How is this possible? There are many reasons for this: for those of us living in the major industrialized nations, it has been so long since our ancestors had to worry about clean water that we are at times oblivious to the large number of people for whom water, which is essential for survival is often the very thing which brings death. Even if we look to our recent past, the 19th century, where Cholera was still a major problem and one which lead to the development of modern public health and water works, it was not until the wealthiest members of society began to be affected by poor water that a solution was finally found.

Let us face it, clean water is a simple and inexpensive means of protecting the vulnerable and prolonging life, as well as a guarantee of quality of life, but, precisely for this fact, it is neither glamourous nor profit-making. We need to agree that clean water is a right, not a privilege, and that people should come before profits. That is, we need to foster every possible means of eliminating water borne pathogens, even if we find that there are more profitable avenues of research and development.

It is not just the difficulty of more than one hundred years of people in the developed world living without fear of the water they drink, or the fact that 18 clean water is not a money making proposition; there are other factors that impede our quest: often times those areas which are most in need of clean water are also those areas in the midst of civil war, or other forms of political and economic instability, and, as a result, in spite of all the good will in the world, it is difficult or impossible to intervene. Then there is the tragic specter of race based violence, or of religious persecution, all things that should be nothing more than footnotes in history textbooks, but which are still very real in our contemporary world. We need to agree that clean water is a basic human right, and, as such, every single woman, man and child must be given access to it regardless of his or her race, religion, economic status or location on the planet. Water must never be used as a bargaining chip by political or military leaders, much less as means of controlling groups of people.

Of course it is also true that there are factors in some way beyond human control that also affect our laudable goal of access to clean water for all of humanity. We are not yet fully masters of the natural world, and, as such things like hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, and earth quakes also impede access to clean, safe water. In fact, even in the developed world, where such disasters occur, often times those who are caught in its path find themselves, at least temporarily without clean water; however, even then, it pales in comparison to what so many have to deal with each and every day. What I mean by this is that typically, such disasters only affect the water supply for short periods of time, and, even during that time, there is usually easy access to bottled water, or to heat sources to boil the water, or even to the technology necessary to filter and purify that water while the rebuilding process goes on. Add to this the ease of movement, and the existence of insurance policies that protect against such natural disasters and you begin to understand how easily we may loose sight of the tragic consequences of lack of clean water. As I said, even though such natural disasters do at times affect the developed world, we have the money, political stability and infrastructure to quickly an efficiently return life to normal for those who are most affected. It is also true that whenever a major natural disaster strikes, those of us who are blessed with the means to do so are moved with compassion for the sufferings of our fellow human beings, and, at least in the immediate aftermath, there is a noticeable uptake in donations to the various charities that bring about the necessary assistance to those who are affected by these catastrophic events.

I spoke earlier about the dangers which political and economic instability pose to the provision of clean water for all, and I alluded to the fact that racial and religious tensions can often be at the source of these difficulties. I believe that this is one of the major ways in which the Foundation can be of assistance. 19 Fostering dialogue between people of different faiths, or of no faith at all, is a priority for us, and we are convinced that the more we learn to see ourselves for what unites us: our humanity, our basic hopes and dreams, fears and longings, then the less we will focus on what divides us. We believe that on the day in which we finally recognize in each and every person we meet another self, a human being who is equal to us in dignity, then all of those things that divide us, no matter how important they may appear to be, will pale in comparison to our equality, and as a result, we will be willing and able to help anyone anywhere any time. Ignorance is a great source of prejudice, and, the more we encounter one another, the more we learn about the other, the more we see those common bonds of humanity that hold out the hope and the promise of a world in which clean water is a reality for all.

There is another way in which knowledge is crucial for survival, and that is the way in which we humans are also affecting our environment. We all know that desertification is increasing throughout the world, and that at the same time, hurricanes, and melting polar ice caps are also on the rise. We are increasingly aware of the role that development has played in all of this, and, by means of education and public advocacy, we are improving. Recycling means that we have less need to exploit resources that we are able to re-use. Understanding the affects of development on the ozone layer means that we have developed and continue to develop alternative technologies that provide us with the same levels of comfort and convenience without the hazardous side effects on our natural world. It is our belief and our hope that education and advocacy can have the same great success with regards to our relationship to each other that it has had with regards to our relationship with the environment.

We are becoming more and more aware of the inter-connectedness of the entire human family, and of how seemingly unrelated events on the other side of the globe affect us all. As it becomes easier to migrate, and as people of all cultures find themselves spread throughout the globe, we develop an ever keener sense of belonging not to any particular race or creed, but to the human family. It is my sincere hope that greater awareness of the fundamental equality of all human beings, and of the value of all cultures will push us forwards, overcoming the obstacles of past hatreds, of silly human pride and of an excessive valuation of one’s own homeland or culture. We cannot deny that women and children are still not as valued as they should be, and that, often times they are the ones who are most vulnerable to precarious conditions of lack of clean water or lack of access to a proper education, or the denial of other basic human rights. As we come to understand better and better the fundamental equality of cultures and races and creeds, it is not too much to hope that gender and age can be added to that list. 20 In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I would like to re-iterate that access to clean water is a basic human right, and that, in order to guarantee this right, we need to look beyond the profit motive, to better understand the impact of technology on the environment, and, above all else, to foster dialogue between groups who, historically have been unable or unwilling to do so. After all, the more we get to know each other, the more clearly will we see that common thread of humanity that runs through every fiber of our being. Clean water is the most basic and important element of human survival and flourishing, and I pledge the full co-operation and expertise of the Foundation to make this dream a reality for every single man, woman and child, now and in the future. 21 Water – The Essence of our Existence

Scientist Niranjan Biligi

As a natural organism, water is formed and functions according to Nature’s laws and geometry, the latter exhibiting none of the elements of the straight line, circle and point, the basis of modern mechanical and technological artifacts.

Water is to be viewed as a living entity, the ‘Blood of Mother-Earth’, which is born in the womb of the forest. Our mechanistic, materialistic and extremely superficial way of looking at things, however, prevents us from considering water to be anything other than inorganic, i.e. supposedly without life but, while apparently having no life itself, can nevertheless miraculously create life in all its forms. Life is movement and is epitomized by water, which is in a constant state of motion and transformation, both externally and internally. In confirmation of this fact, water is able to combine with more substances than any other molecule and, flowing as water, sap and blood, is the creator of the myriad life-forms on this planet. How then could it ever be construed as life-less in accordance with the chemist’s clinical view of water, defined as the inorganic substance H2O? This short description is a gross misrepresentation, as the fundamental basis of all life. Water is itself a living entity and should be treated as such. Failure to do so quickly transforms it into an enemy, rather than the nurturer and furtherer of all life that it should be.

Were water merely the sterile, distilled H20 as claimed by science, it would be poisonous to all living things. H2O or ‘juvenile water’ is sterile, distilled water and devoid of any so-called ‘impurities’. It has no developed character and qualities. As a young, immature, growing entity, it grasps like a baby at everything within reach. It absorbs the characteristics and properties of whatever it comes into contact with or has attracted to itself in order to grow to maturity. This ‘everything’ - the so-called ‘impurities’- takes the form of trace elements, minerals, salts and even smells! Were we to drink pure H2O constantly, it would quickly leach out all our store of minerals and trace elements, debilitating and ultimately killing us. Like a growing child, juvenile water takes and does not give. Only when mature, i.e. when suitably enriched with raw materials, is it in a position to give, to dispense itself freely and willingly, thus enabling the rest of life to develop. Before the birth of water, there was no life.

But what is this marvelous, colorless, tasteless and odorless substance, which quenches our thirst like no other liquid? Did we but truly understand the essential nature of water - a living substance - we would not treat it so churlishly, but would care for it as if our lives depended on it, which undoubtedly they do. 22 Indeed in accordance with the famous Hasenohrl-Einstein equation E = mc2, in 1 gram of substance, or 1 cubic centimeter of water, 25 million kilowatt hours of energy are stored!

Water is a being that has life and death. With incorrect, ignorant handling, however, it becomes diseased, imparting this condition to all other organisms, vegetable, animal and human alike, causing their eventual physical decay and death, and in the case of human beings, their moral, mental and spiritual deterioration as well. From this it can be seen just how vital it is, that water should be handled and stored in such a way as to avert such pernicious repercussions.

Science views the blood-building and character-influencing organism - ‘water’ merely as a chemical compound and provides millions of people with a liquid prepared from this point of view, which is everything but healthy water.

Although the chlorination of drinking and household water-supplies ostensibly removes the threat of water-borne diseases, it does so, however, to the detriment of the consumer. In its function of water sterilizer or disinfectant, chlorine eradicates all types of bacteria, beneficial and harmful alike. More importantly, however, it also disinfects the blood (about 80% water) or sap and in doing so kills off or seriously weakens many of the immunity enhancing micro-organisms resident in the body of those constantly forced to consume it. This eventually impairs their immune systems to such a degree that they are no longer able to eject viruses, germs and cancer cells, to which the respective host-bodies ultimately falls victim.

Apart from other factors (some cannot be defined quantitatively), encompassing such aspects as turbidity (opaqueness), impurity, and quality, the most crucial factor affecting the health and energy of water is temperature. As a liquid, the behavior of water differs from all other fluids. The latter become consistently and steadily denser with cooling, water reaches its densest state at a temperature of +4°C (+39.2°F), below which it grows less dense. In contrast, water’s behavior is anomalous, because it reaches its greatest density at a temperature of +4°C (+39.2°F). This is the so-called ‘anomaly point’, or the point of water’s anomalous expansion, which is decisive in this regard and has a major influence on its quality. Below this temperature it once more expands. This highest state of density is synonymous with its highest energy content, a factor to be taken carefully into account, since energy can also be equated with life or life-force. Therefore water’s health, energy and life-force are to be maintained at the highest possible level. 23 Conceived in the cool, dark cradle of the virgin forest, water ripens and matures as it slowly mounts from the depths. On its upward way it gathers to itself trace elements and minerals. Only when it is ripe, and not before, will it emerge from the womb of the Earth as a spring. As a true spring, in contrast to a seepage spring, this has a water temperature of about +4°C (+39.2°F). Here in the cool, diffused light of the forest it begins its long, life-giving cycle as a sparkling, lively, translucent stream, bubbling, gurgling, whirling and gyrating as it wends its way valley wards. In its natural, self-cooling, spiraling, convoluting motion, water is able to maintain its vital inner energies, health and purity. In this way it acts as the conveyor of all the necessary minerals, trace elements and other subtle energies to the surrounding environment. Naturally flowing water seeks to flow in darkness or in the diffused light of the forest, thus avoiding the damaging direct light of the sun. Under these conditions, even when cascading down in torrents, a stream will only rarely overflow its banks. Due to its correct natural motion, the faster it flows, the greater its carrying capacity and scouring ability and the more it deepens its bed. This is due to the formation of in-winding, longitudinal, clockwise - anti-clockwise alternating spiral vortices down the central axis of the current, which constantly cool and re-cool the water, maintaining it at a healthy temperature and leading to a faster, more laminar, spiral flow. To protect itself from harmful effects of excess heat, water shields itself from the Sun with over-hanging vegetation, for with increasing heat and light it begins to lose its vitality and health, its capacity to enliven and animate the environment through which it passes. Ultimately becoming a broad river, the water becomes more turbid, the content of small-grain sediment and silt increasing as it warms up, its flow becoming slower and more sluggish. However, even this turbidity plays an important role, because it protects the deeper water-strata from the heating effect of the sun. Being in a denser state, the colder bottom-strata retain the power to shift sediment of larger grain-size (pebbles, gravel, etc.) from the centre of the watercourse. In this way the danger of flooding is reduced to a minimum. The spiral, vortical motion mentioned earlier, creates the conditions, where the germination of harmful bacteria is inhibited and the water remains disease-free. Another of its life-giving properties is its high specific heat - lowest at +37.5°C (+99.5°F). The term “specific heat” refers to the capacity and rapidity of a body to absorb or release heat. With a relatively small input of heat fluids with a high specific heat warm up less rapidly than those with a lower specific heat. How strange then, and how remarkable, that the lowest specific heat of this “inorganic” substance - water - lies but 0.5°C (0.9°F) above the normal +37°C (+98.6°F) 24 blood temperature of the most highly evolved of Nature’s creatures - human beings. This property of water to resist rapid thermal change enables us, with blood composed of 80% water, to survive under large variations of temperature. Pure accident so we are told, or is it by clever, symbiotic design?! However, we are used to thinking about temperature in gross terms (car engines operate at temperatures of l000°C (l, 832°F) or so and many industrial processes employ extremely high temperatures). Despite the fact that we begin to feel unwell if our temperature rises by as little as 0.5°C (0.9°F), we fail to see that non- mechanical, organic life and health are based on very subtle differences in temperature. When our body temperature is +37°C (98.6°F) we do not have a ‘temperature’ as such. We are healthy and in a state called ‘indifferent’ or ‘temperature - less’. Just as good water is the preserver of our proper bodily temperature, our anomaly point of greatest health and energy, so too does it preserve this planet as a habitat for our continuing existence. Water has the capacity to retain large amounts of heat and were there no water vapor in the atmosphere, this world of ours would be an icy-cold, barren wasteland. Water in all its forms and qualities is thus the mediator of all life and deserving of the highest focus of our esteem.

“To Be or Not to Be”

In Nature, all life is a question of the minutest, but extremely precisely graduated differences in the particular thermal motion within every single body, which continually changes in rhythm with the processes of pulsation. “This unique law, which manifests itself throughout Nature’s fastness and unity and expresses in every creature and organism, is the law of ceaseless cycles’ that in every organism is linked to a certain time span and a particular tempo.”

The slightest disturbance of this harmony can lead to the most disastrous consequences for the major life forms. In order to preserve this state of equilibrium, it is vital that the characteristic inner temperature of each of the millions of micro-organisms contained in the macro-organisms be maintained.

The No. 1 enemy of water is excess heat or over-exposure to the Sun’s rays. It is a well-known fact that oxygen is present in all processes of organic growth and decay. Whether its energies are harnessed for either one or the other is to a very great extent, if not wholly, dependent on the temperature of the water as itself or in the form of blood or sap. As long as the water temperature is below +9°C (+48.2°F), its oxygen content remains passive. Under such conditions the oxygen assists in the building up of beneficial, high-grade micro-organisms and other organic life. However, if the water temperature rises above this level, then the 25 oxygen becomes increasingly active and aggressive. This aggressiveness increases as the temperature rises, promoting the propagation of pathogenic bacteria, which, when drunk with the water, infest the organism of the drinker.

But this aggressiveness is not confined to the domain of oxygen alone. When water becomes over-heated, principally, due to the increasingly widespread clear- felling of the forest, the health-maintaining pattern of longitudinal vortices change into transverse ones. These not only undermine and gouge into the riverbanks and embankment works, eventually bursting them, but also create pot-holes in the riverbed itself, bringing even greater disorder to an already chaotic channel- profile. Water subjected to these conditions loses its character, its soul. Like humans of low character, it becomes increasingly violent and aggressive as it casts about hither and thither seeking to vent its anger and restore to itself its former health and stability. However, due to the senseless malpractice of the clear-felling of forests, we are destroying the very foundation of life. For with the removal of the forest, two very serious things happen:

1. During its flow to the sea, the water warms up prematurely to such an extent that it is warmed right down to the channel-bed. No cool, dense, water-strata remain and the sediment is left lying on the bottom. This block the flow, dislocates the channel and results in the inevitable/ often catastrophic floods. Yet we still have the effrontery to call these awesome events ‘natural disasters’, as if Nature herself were responsible. Furthermore, due to the broadening of the channel, even more water is exposed to the Sun’s heat, resulting in over-rapid evaporation to the atmosphere. In many cases this overloads the atmosphere with water vapor, which it is unable to retain in suspension. Deluges follow.

2. With the forest-cover now removed, the ground also begins to heat up to temperatures much higher than normal and natural. Dry soil heats up as much as five times faster than water. This has a two-fold effect:

a. The rejection and repulsion by the warmer soil of any incident rainwater, whose temperature in this case is generally lower. Cold rain will not readily infiltrate into warm soil. This result in rapid surface run-off and no groundwater recharge. The soil dries out.

b. An increase in pathogenic microbial activity, harmful to plant life.

The upshot of all this is more flooding, reduced groundwater quantity and lower groundwater table. One flood therefore begets the next in rapid succession. But since there is no groundwater recharge, the water-balance and natural distribution are completely upset. The remaining trees - the vital retainers of water - die, 26 leaving the land barren and desiccated with the necessary sequel of drought. The less the tree-cover, the more extensive the flooding and the longer the period of drought, of waterlessness, which is synonymous with lifelessness!

Unnatural, quantity-inspired forestry practices, ignorant of Nature’s laws and the over-warming of the soil arising from massive deforestation are the primary causes of the deterioration in water quality, climate and the sinking of the water table. The channeling of water through straight, unnaturally constructed, trapezoid canals, steel pipelines and other misguided systems of river regulation also force the water to move in an unnatural way and accelerate its degeneration and increase its disease-carrying capacity.

The more the engineer endeavors to channel water, of whose spirit and nature he is today still ignorant, by the shortest and straightest route to the sea, the more the flow of water weighs into the bends, the longer its path and the worse the water will become. The spreading of the most terrible disease of all, of cancer, is the necessary consequence of such unnatural regulatory works.

The drying up of mountain springs, the change in the whole pattern of motion of the groundwater, and the disturbance in the blood circulation of the organism - Earth - is the direct result of modern forestry practices. The pulse beat of the Earth was factually arrested by the modern timber production industry.

Every economic death of a people is always preceded by the death of its forests. The forest is the habitat of water and as such the habitat of life processes too, whose quality declines as the organic development of the forest is disturbed. Ultimately, due to a law which functions with awesome constancy, it will slowly but surely come around to our turn. Our accustomed way of thinking in many ways, and perhaps even without exception, is opposed to the true workings of Nature. Our work is the embodiment of our will. The spiritual manifestation of this work is its effect. When such work is carried out correctly, it brings happiness, but when carried out incorrectly, it assuredly brings misery.

PS: Many of the ideas and concepts presented above are peer reviewed and corroborated by scientists of great repute including Dr. Einstein and his contemporaries. With great respect, due credit is goes to them. 27 Water Resources in India

Dr. D. K. Sankaran Introduction

Water together with air, earth, sun and fire is one of the five elements sustaining life. No doubt all are important elements. Water nevertheless plays a crucial role. To emphasis this let me remind ourselves here that till recently it was believed that the planet Mars had no water; it was consequently held that it can sustain, no life, Now, scientists have found that there is water in Mars and with that they believe that there are traces of life on that planet. Human habitations in the world developed alongside great water bodies rivers like the Nile, the Euphrates, the Ganges, the Yangtze have seen great civilizations flourished on their banks.

When we look at this crucial resource, water, at the beginning of the 21st century we realise it is becoming a scarce, if not an endangered resource in many parts of the world. With world population crossing the 7 billion mark, recent statistics show that nearly 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water. That is nearly the population of India! Only 1% of the water in the world is potable, 97 % being Saline and 2% in the form of glaciers.

Global policy analysts agree that water or more accurately the shortage of it, will decide the course of world events. Experts in Middle East have analysed how water shortage – especially the shrinking Jordan River System – will decide Middle Eastern politics. In the subcontinent, the shortage of water in the Indus River System will have a crucial bearing on Indo–Pakistan dynamics. TThe Chinese attempts to dam and divert the Brahmaputra have adverse fallout on Indo-China relationship. The sharing of the Teesta waters has become a bone of contention between India and Bangladesh .Closer Closer home, the Mumbai Metropolitan region will become the largest consumer of water among costal settlements in India. Mumbai, its largest component, which will account for 55% of this demand, gets its water from river valley projects on the mainland; but with increasing environmental concerns putting a break on large river water projects, water desalination will become the preferred source of clean drinking water. In short the solution to water crisis will be in adaptation of modern technology, including recycling waste water by purification.

However, over all the position of availability of water is not alarming in India if one looks at the macro picture. Annual estimated precipitation in India is 4000 BCM. Average annual potential in rivers is 1869 BCM. The Projected water 28 demand in India by 2025 will be 1093 BCM. Thus, on a macro level there is no demand supply mismatch. However such a mismatch occurs in many states, cities and rural areas. The main question is that of distribution of water from the water sources, natural or artificially created. Water conservation measures for dry areas and flood protection measures for flood prone areas are essential. Added to this will be the adoption of technology to purify sea water and make it potable. These include water desalination, which increasingly supplies large cities with drinking water in coastal areas with inadequate access to clean water. Water Management

While at a macro level water situation in the country does not cause great concern on a micro level proper water management will be very crucial for equitable distribution of the resource. Proper water management should include emphasis on demand management, conservation and increasing efficiency of water utilisation. A good water policy should include equal attention to these issues covering the use of water in the domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors and river management for each river basin. In the domestic sector, introduction of water saving devices and installion of water meters for all consumers, together with a progressive water tariff structure would be an essential perquisite to a good water policy .Auditing of water use would be necessary as well.

In the Industrial sector as well, a progressive water tariff followed by water recycling facilities and treating urban sewage water for cooling and other appropriate industrial uses will contribute to optional water usage. The water tariff structure should encourage recycling in the industrial sector. In the Agricultural sector, which is the largest user of water, setting up of water users’ associations will go a long way towards good water management. Water rates should yield enough revenue for maintenance of facilities. Water rates should be so designed that they encourage optimal use of water; it should encourage the use of treated water for non-edible crops and saline water for tolerant crops. In a nutshell, it should reduce water losses in this sector.

Many states have taken measures to introduce appropriate water tariff structures. States like Mahrashtra have introduced autonomous commissions to fix tariffs. In Maharashtra, this commission fixes rates for irrigation water in the state for different areas and different crops. This will remove arbitrariness from water rate fixing. If it is integrated with the cropping pattern it will go a long way towards optimal use of water. Water Situation in Maharashtra 29 When one comes to the state of Maharashtra, the situation is less promising. It is less blessed with the bounty of water than India is, as a whole .Only 73% of the geographical area in the state is cultivable, only 38% of this can be provided with water for irrigation. Maharashtra’s figures are telling when the figures of irrigation potential are looked at. It formes only 21.06% of the cultivable area, whereas the national average is 38.00%

So construction of reservoirs by damming rivers has been the main thrust of policy in the state. There are five major river valleys or irrigation systems in Maharashtra .The state’s water policy lays down priorities in the use of water. Domestic use for drinking, cooling, hygiene and sanitation tops the list followed by agriculture and hydroelectric power stations. Industrial and Commercial use follows this. If one looks at the sectoral use of water, 10.05% of water in Maharashtra used for drinking. The industries sector uses 5.60% of water and agricultural sector uses 84.35% of water available in the State. Water Scenario in Mumbai Metropolitan Area Mumbai faces a water deficit of about 850 million liters per day, its demand being about 4250 MLD and supply from dams about 3400 MLD. This figure will go up to about 5000 MLD by 2031 as per the MMRDA ( Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority ) documents. Though it has started preliminary work on three dams in the region, looming environmental concerns about large river valley projects raise a serious question mark about this route for solving the issue. Accordingly the concerned Steering Committee of the State Government of Maharashtra took the desalination plant proposal forward on 06/ 06/2010. By 2013 , the Government plans to set up two plants of 100 MLD each at South Mumbai and the suburbs to tackle the water crises. [See India Water Portal promoted by the National Knowledge Commission] Based on a report by international consultants, Frost & Sullivan, MMRDA has begun preliminary work on the projects. It is going to be on a PPP (Public Private Partnership) model. At present Chennai is the only large city which has a desalination plant at Minjur. It is a small plant with a capacity of 100 MLD and costing Rs. 600 Cores. A second plant of 100 MLD is under construction in Chennai. A proposal of a third plant of 220 MLD is being finalized. One can visualize more water desalination plants coming up in the coastal areas of India. The State of Gujarat which has 37% of water desalination plants in India of all categories is planning to visualize newer coastal cities with desalination plants, to accommodate the growing population of the state. The cost-benefit analysis also favour desalination plants in the coastal areas. The Minjur plant in Chennai 30 supplies water at a cost of only 5 paise / litre. Further, the Government of India has promised to fund 70% of the cost of desalination plants in India. Thus, water desalination plants have considerable future in India, especially in the coastal areas. Conclusion

Water being am natural resource of prime importance, an appropriate policy would require continuous monitoring of various schemes formulated. It should pay particular attention to

i) Water resource planning ii) Water allocation priorities iii) Project planning and implementation iv) Improving water use capacity v) Management of Interstate water disputes and vi) Application of modern technologies like water desalination technologies to increase the availability of clean water.

The Government of India has announced that it will unveil a new water policy by March 2012. Water resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal recently stated that the Union Government was holding Consultation with all stakeholders in the water sector and was considering suggestions like reservation of water for farming, sustainable farming and safe clean and assured drinking water that have been put forward by some of the stakeholders.

“A new national water policy is in the drafting stage for almost ten years. The first policy was adopted by National Water Resources Council in 1987.This was revised and updated in April 2002. Since then, not only have several major developments taken place in the water sector, but also a greater realization has come that water is a prime natural resource, a basic human need and a precious national asset “ Bansal said at a consultation meeting.

“Hence, to make the new policy truly a national policy, we are ensuring that it has participation of all stakeholders. The representatives of the Panchayati Raj institutions thereof should provide specific feedback for policy inputs that could help address present concerns in water resources sector and help reorient the policy,” Bansal added.

The Indian industry has been calling for encouraging and implementing public- private partnerships in water projects, particularly in urban water supply systems There has been a demand for a proposal for incentivizing state governments to 31 move water utilities towards greater financial sustainability to be incorporated into the Water Policy.

It is hoped that the new policy so drafted, will address the concerns of all the stakeholders and will be truly reflective of the aspiration of the people.

References: 1) National Water Policy – India Ministry of Water Resources 2002 – Government of India 2) Water Policy and Action Plan for India 2020: An Alternate Approach G.N.Kathpalia - Planning Commission of India Reports 2010 3) Reports of the Government of India – Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission 4) Annual Reports of Government of Maharashtra Departments of Water Resources and Drinking Water and Sanitation 5) Reports from India Water Portal 32 A Torrent of Signification in Water Stories – Factual and Mystical

Dr. Marie Fernandes Origin of Water: Scientific Explanation

Water is the signature of our earth, the blue planet of life. Latest discoveries in astrophysics indicate that water has been imported from the edges of our solar system. Carl Sagan poetically wrote ‘we are made of star-stuff’ referring to the formation of the earth from the left-over detritus of exploded stars. The hydration of Earth came from comets and some hydrous asteroids.

Ice within the comet traps noble gases as well as a cocktail of other chemicals such as silicates, carbons and interplanetary dust. One of the most intriguing molecules bound into comets are amino acids. These are the building blocks for biogenetic activity. Racing towards our planet at 120,000 kilometres per hour these projectiles of chemical gifts represent the birth of oceans and our own genesis. Within the first billion years most of the water had arrived and the first signs of life are believed to have commenced replication. Seventy per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered in water. Eighty per cent of fruit and vegetables are made of water. Our bodies are 50 - 70% water and we lose three bucket loads every week or about 2.5 litres on an average escapes our body every day.

Water has its own unique properties. It is one of the world’s great solvents. It can change it shape to be solid, liquid or gaseous. It dissolves minerals and ores, so that seawater even has the ability to dissolve gold. Water in the Judeo-Christian tradition and its significance

On the second day God parts the waters to create the firmament

God said, “Let there be a dome between the waters and let it separate them.” So God made the dome and separated the waters below it from the waters above it “. And so it was, God called the dome ‘Sky’. There was evening and there was morning the second day.

God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And so it was. (Genesis 1:6-9) 33 The Bible begins with the magnificent poem of Creation as a seven-day wonder. The story of creation was written much later than other parts of the book and borrows the style and imagery of a Babylonian creation story –‘Enuma Elish’. The priestly author however gives the story a new purpose and meaning and teaches a different theology of creation than what the Babylonian myth did. He however, makes use of mythological motifs and imagery that were familiar to his audience and part of their culture. To understand this imagery and grasp its meaning we have to enter into that culture and understand its expressions. But it is important to note that the biblical author is not writing history as we understand it today, but he is writing a faith-story.

However the full meaning of creation was revealed only in the coming of Jesus Christ, through whom and for whom the world was made. (cf. Jn. 1:1-4 and Eph. 1:3-14)

In the beginning God created, the heavens and the earth: creation is proclaimed as a decision of god as told in Isa 40:26. Mention of a state of existence as a chaotic void and darkness before this decision, must be understood against the background of the Babylonian myth. But God is here shown as being in solemn, undisputed command.

Even in the Upanishad, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.2.1;1.4 ff., Aitareya Upanishad 1.1. ff , Tattiya Upanishad 2.7, some creation accounts open with the word agre (that is, at the beginning). But in the Bible creation is never understood as an emanation from the Divine Reality as in Indian Scriptures.i

Joseph interprets the Pharaoh’s dream as a vision of coming drought

“There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that famine which will follow, for it will be very grievous”. (Genesis 41:29-31)

Pharaoh was deeply disturbed by his dreams and none of the wise men of Egypt could offer him a satisfactory interpretation of his dreams. When Joseph, is summoned from the dungeon to the palace he interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty, symbolized by the fat cows and fat grain, will be followed by seven years of hunger, reflected by the lean cows and the shrivelled ears.

When Joseph proceeded to interpret the dream for Pharaoh he was not offering him advice on how to run his country, rather the recommendation was part of the 34 dream interpretation. Joseph believed that the coexistence of the two sets of cows contained the solution to the approaching famine: During the years of plenty Egypt must prepare for the years of famine and every day store away food for it. The seven lean cows ought to be part of the people’s consciousness during the era of the seven fat cows.

The wisdom of Joseph’s presentation to Pharaoh becomes strikingly clear when we reflect upon the spiritual message behind the story. These stories describe not only physical events that took place at a certain point in history, but also detail metaphysical and timeless tales occurring continuously within the human heart.

All of us experience cycles of plenty and cycles of famine in our lives. There are times when things are going very well: We are healthy, successful and comfortable. Often during such times we fail to invest time and energy to cultivate genuine emotional intimacy with our family, to develop real relationships with friends and to create a sincere bond with God. We feel self-sufficient and do not need anybody in our lives. Yet when a time of famine arrives, when a serious crisis erupts in our lives, we suddenly feel the need to reach out beyond ourselves and connect with our loved ones and with God. When the years of famine confront us, we lack the tools we so desperately need to survive the crisis.

This is the essence of Joseph’s wisdom. We must never separate the years of plenty from the years of famine. When we experience plenty, we must try not let it blind our vision and desensitize us from what is truly important in life. The life we choose to live during our “good times” should be of the kind that will sustain you during your “bad times” as well.ii

Moses in a basket of bulrushes floats to his destiny on the river

“And when she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river’s brink.” (Exodus 2:3)

The circumstances surrounding the birth of Moses bring out once more how the intentions of Yahweh outwit the decrees of Pharaoh. Yahweh’s instruments are once again women, one of them ironically from Pharaoh’s royal household. Moses is adopted into the royal household and received an upbringing that prepared him for his future leadership role. “God works in subtle ways and human history is dotted with examples of this.iii 35 Moses turns water to blood

“And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, `Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood”. (Exodus 7:19-of 20)

Modern readers often ask if these things happened. The narrative of the plagues is not a scientific report of what actually happened. Rather, the events which led to the dramatic liberation of the Israelites from the power of the stubborn Pharaoh, were told and retold for centuries in the changing circumstances and vicissitudes of Israelites life. In this process the stories were crafted anew, and were finally given a stylistic expression for liturgical recital. Hence, they have a similarity of structure.

Some writers have pointed out a connection between the plagues and natural catastrophes that occur in Egypt- Locusts, frogs and the red Nile. It must be kept in mind that many ancient people did not make a distinction between natural and supernatural phenomena as we do. For them, the universe was interwoven with natural and divine forces, and they read God’s writing in all the events around them.

The purpose of plague narratives is not to be interpreted as a punishment from God. They do not want to depict a God of vengeance and destruction. Rather they focus on Yahweh as a God of liberation, concerned about the oppression of the repeatedly calls on Pharaoh to change his mind and cooperate with the divine plan – as the recurring formula, ‘‘ Then he will realized that I am the Lord ,” suggests.

But, Pharaoh persists in his stubbornness and arrogance. He is a warning to all national leaders: If they would only open their eyes to the evils that afflict their country, they would realise that injustices will have to be paid for dearly and that they themselves will, one day, meet their doom. Perhaps, one may compare the narrative with the Mahabharata Epic: the Kauravas under the leadership of Duryodhana symbolise the forces of evil and stubbornness of the evil-doer, leading to total defeat.44 Augustine Kanachikuzhy, 101. 36 Moses parts the Red Sea

“Then Moses stretched out actually his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided”.(Exodus 14:21)

The narrative of the crossing of the Sea was not a factual historical account. It was written much later, as the Israelites in faith, recalled these saving events. This account was used for liturgical purposes and hence the language is magnificently celebrative of God’s mighty deeds. Even in our days God joins the oppressed in their struggle for liberation, and with them he remakes the world.

Crossing of the Sea. The Israelites crossed to the other shore, and this was for them a beginning of a new life, a new existence as God’s free people. St. Paul writes later, “Our ancestors underwent baptism of the cloud and of the sea to be the people of Moses” (1 Cor. 10:1-2). All Christians baptised in Christ are called to cross over to a new existence in Jesus.

The idea of crossing has deep echoes in the Indian spiritual tradition. Salvation is described as the crossing (tarati) of the sea of falsehood or maya “to cross over from the false world) and carry the world across” (cf. Narada Bhakta Sutra, 50). During one’s earthly existence, one is plunged into the ocean of re-birth and delusion (samsara-sagaram, moharnavam) which has to be crossed to reach the after shore of salvation. The great Indian thinker Shankara in his Atmabodha (v.50) speaks of the crossing of the ocean of delusion (teertva moharnavam). The Sanskrit word for the incarnation of the gods, ava-tara, comes from the same root and denotes the crossing of the incarnated God down into our world for the purpose of salvation. Mukti or moksha which is the final emancipation or liberation is a state of supreme bliss and freedom from bondage. It is the highest goal of human life.v

Joshua crosses the Jordan

“When all the kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites that were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them, because of the people of Israel”. (Joshua 5:1)

The story of the exodus to Canaan, the Promised Land, ends only if one includes the Book of Joshua. Tragically, the generation of Israelites that departed Egypt with Moses angered the Lord so often by their disbelief and disobedience that he 37 consigned almost all, except for a handful, to roam the wilderness for 40 years until they died. They never reached the Promised Land. This certainly was not Moses’ fault, he provided them unique and superb leadership. Thereafter, Moses appointed Joshua as leader, (Numbers 18:16 -27); and after his death at Mount Nebo, Joshua guides the new generation of Israelites into Canaan, where Israel is today.

The Jordan event signifies that the men were newly reborn spiritually upon crossing the river because the spirit of God descended upon them and fused with their spirit as they crossed its waters. The twelve rough stones inserted into the Jordan signify death to sin (i.e. death to the old sinful self), but the twelve smooth ones taken out, life to holiness (a new, spiritual beginning). The Promised Land, Cannan symbolises the New Eden.vi

The vision of the holy waters appears to Ezekiel

“The man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple and I saw a spring of water coming out from under the threshold of the Temple and flowing eastwards.(Ezekiel 47: 1-12)

The Holy Spirit is here imaged in the stream of living water makes all the hidden seeds of life to blossom again in the world. It is also an emblem of the power of God’s grace under the Gospel, capable of healing all but the incorrigibly impenitent, represented by the marshy ground that cannot be healed, There is also a description of the several divisions of the Holy Land indiscriminately shared between Jews and proselytes; to denote that in after times the privileges now enjoyed by the Jews should be also extended to the Gentiles, (Eze 47:13- 23)vii

Jonah is swallowed by the whale

And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17)

The story of Jonah and the Whale, one of the oddest accounts in the Bible, opens with God speaking to Jonah son of Amittai, commanding him to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Jonah found this order unbearable. Not only was Nineveh known for its wickedness, but it was also the capital of the Assyrian empire, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies. Jonah, a stubborn young man, did just the opposite of what he was told. He went down to the seaport of Joppa and booked passage on a ship to Tarshish, heading directly away from Nineveh. The Bible tells us Jonah “ran away from the Lord.” 38 In response, God sent a violent storm, which threatened to break the ship to pieces. The terrified crew cast lots determining that Jonah was responsible for the storm. Jonah told them to throw him overboard. First they tried rowing to shore, but the waves got even higher. Afraid of God, the sailors finally tossed Jonah into the sea, and the water immediately grew calm. The crew made a sacrifice to God, swearing vows to him.

Instead of drowning, Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, which God provided. In the belly of the whale, Jonah repented and cried out to God in prayer. He praised God, ending with the eerily prophetic statement, “Salvation comes from the Lord.”

Jonah was in the giant fish three days. God commanded the whale, and it vomited the reluctant prophet onto dry land. This time Jonah obeyed God. He walked through Nineveh proclaiming that in forty days the city would be destroyed. Surprisingly, the Ninevites believed Jonah’s message and repented, wearing sackcloth and covering themselves in ashes. God had compassion on them and did not destroy them.

Again Jonah questioned God, because Jonah was angry that Israel’s enemies had been spared. When Jonah stopped outside the city to rest, God provided a vine to shelter him from the hot sun. Jonah was happy with the vine, but the next day God provided a worm that ate the vine, making it wither. Growing faint in the sun, Jonah complained again.

God scolded Jonah for being concerned about a vine, but not about Nineveh, which had 120,000 lost people. The story ends with God expressing concern even about the wicked. It is interesting to note that God commands everything in his Creation, from the weather to a whale, to carry out his plan. God is in control. It is not important whether it was a great fish or a whale that swallowed Jonah. The point of the story is that God can provide a supernatural means of rescue when his people are in trouble.viii

Jesus is baptized in the Jordan

“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan”.(Mark 1:9)

Jesus humbly presents himself before John to be baptized, along with the others. He thus identifies himself with the people of Israel and their calling. It is at this moment of total submission to the will of the Father that Jesus has deep experience of the Father. The Jewish people of that time mourned the absence of prophets 39 and the silence of God. But now, with the coming of Jesus, the heavens were again opened and God’s Spirit came down once more.ix

Peter walks on water

Jesus said to him, “Come”. And Peter got out of the boat and began walking on the water to go to Jesus. But, becoming aware of the strong win, he was afraid and began to sink. So he cried out, “Lord save me!” Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and took hold of him saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mat.14:28- 31)

The incident of Peter walking on the waters is found only in Matthew, where Peter plays a special role as the spokesman and leader of the other disciples. Matthew’s portrayal of this representative disciple shows of typical combination of positive and negative traits. Peter is shown as impetuous and inconstant, moving from foolhardy courage to fear. But he is also full of enthusiasm for and faith in Jesus. His conduct is an expression of the ‘little faith’ which is Matthew’s characteristic description for the disciples of Jesus, as representing the member of his own Christian community.x

Paul is shipwrecked at sea

“Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea”. (2 Corinthians 11:25)

The first part of this boasting recounts the labours and perils he has undergone for the sake of the gospel, which is an authentic sign for a true minister of Christ, in contrast false preachers. In this he is surely in the footsteps of the humble and crucified Christ, and shares in the folly of the cross which is the wisdom of God.

And so Paul goes on to boast about his weakness. The false preachers tried his weakness. The false preachers tried to find favour with the Corinthians by parading special spiritual qualities they possessed. Paul says he has also had visions and revelations. But he does not count these as his personal achievement but as the Lord’s doing. What he will boast of is rather what has been his everyday experience of weakness, ‘a thorn in the flesh’ from which he suffered. There is no further indication what his weakness or suffering was, but through it Paul came to realize the power of Christ in him. In this lies his strength.xi

St. John’s vision of the beast coming out of the sea 40 “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads”. (Revelations 13:1)

The dragon’s authority comes to rest in two beasts, both of them symbols of the Roman Emperor. The beast from the sea described here is a composite made up of the four beasts in Dan 7:2-28- symbolic of four empires. The roman Emperors- and Nero is probably specially referred to here – claimed for themselves the trappings of divinity and introduced emperor-worship in various parts of the empire, especially in the province of Asia Minor where the Book of Revelation is being written.

The author phrases his description of the worship of the beast to sound like a parody of the worship of God and the slain-risen lamb, Jesus. However, the worship of the beast gets a great following among the peoples of the earth. But those who are true followers of the lamb will not succumb to these political pressures; they are prepared for captivity and even death.

The true followers of Christ in any period of history will be subject to tribulations, for these disciples will not go along with every dictate of political powers, and political powers have a tendency to adopt god-like posture when they think themselves the superpowers of this world.xii

Flood stories from around the world

Native global flood stories are documented as history or legend in almost every region on earth. Old world missionaries reported their amazement at finding remote tribes already possessing legends with tremendous similarities to the Bible’s accounts of the worldwide flood we witness with Noah and the ark. H.S. Bellamy in Moons, Myths and Men estimates that altogether there are over 500 Flood legends worldwide. Ancient civilizations such as China, Babylonia, Wales, Russia, India, America, Hawaii, Scandinavia, Sumatra, Peru, and Polynesia, all have their own versions of a giant flood.

These flood tales are frequently linked by common elements that parallel the Biblical account including the warning of the coming flood, the construction of a boat in advance, the storage of animals, the inclusion of family, and the release of birds to determine if the water level had subsided. The overwhelming consistency among flood legends found in distant parts of the globe indicates they were derived from the same origin, in all probability the Bible’s record, but oral transcription has changed the details through time. 41 Carl Jung’s Interpretation of the Flood

Many theories exist that try to explain the similarities of these ideas. Carl Jung’s theory of archetypal myths can clarify the mystery of why they are the same. Jung discovered that certain emotions, situations, and actions are universal in all peoples subconscious. Cultural diffusion is another possible cause of these resemblances. This occurs when people of different cultures travel to different areas and incorporate their beliefs into existing ones, thus altering them. Whatever the case may be flood stories have a deeper message that underlies the literal meanings of the stories. Flood Myths symbolically tell a tale of life, death, and the rebirth of the earth and humanity. The oldest surviving written story in world literature is The Bible.

In Jung’s theories he believes fear of death is an archetype that all people can intimately relate to. The flood is representative of the transformation of humans by washing away their foibles to develop into more civilized and moral people. Examples of the themes of life, death, and rebirth can be seen in these stories. Human life is threatened by God’s attempt to exterminate it. The great flood brings about the death of most living things, but survivors enable life on earth to be reborn.xiii Water in Greek stories

King Tantalus cut up his son Pelops, boiled him, and served him as food when he invited the gods to dine with him. He also stole ambrosia from the Gods and told his people its secrets. Tantalus’s punishment for his actions was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any. Over his head towered a threatening stone like that of Sisyphus. The word tantalize has come into the English language meaning to tease.xiv

Narcissus

In this tale, told by Ovid and remembered for his verses on love, a young girl named Echo falls in love with a vain youth named Narcissus. He was the son of a woman that the river god had encircled with the windings of his streams, thus trapping and seducing her. Worried for her son’s welfare, she consulted a prophet regarding his future. The prophet reports: Narcissus “will live to a ripe old age, as long as he never knows himself.”

One day when Narcissus was out hunting, Echo follows the handsome youth through the woods, longing to address him but unable to speak first. When 42 Narcissus finally heard her footsteps he shouted “Who goes there?” Echo answered “...goes there? ...goes there?” And so it went, until finally Echo showed herself and rushed to embrace Narcissus. He pulled away and vainly told her to leave him alone. Narcissus left Echo heartbroken and she spent the rest of her life lonely and pining away for the love she never knew. Only her voice remained.

Eventually Narcissus became thirsty and went to drink from a stream. As he saw his reflection, he fell in love with it, not knowing that it was him. As he bent down to kiss it, it seemed to “run away” and he was heartbroken. He grew thirstier but he wouldn’t touch the water for fear of damaging his reflection, so he eventually died of thirst and staring at his own reflection. The narcissus flower is closely identified with the boy and was said to spring from the ground around the pool where Narcissus died. In the roman version it is suggested that Narcissus is transformed into the flower.

The deeper meaning to this mythical tale is about Narcissus as a product of a seduction and a woman engulfed by her emotions. He is trapped from the beginning. His life is tolerable but, only until he learns the truth of his history. This is his curse.

In this context, the only love he will ever know is the echo of his own voice. Because of vanity and false pride, even this will fade. Ultimately, having a desire (thirst) to understand the emotions that surrounds him, he will attempt to connect with the source. It is then that he sees his reflection and falls in love. However, he thinks this reflection is ‘the other’ or God. Little does he know that it is him! (Narcissus is the son of a God in the Myth)

A single attempt to accept (kiss) what he sees…makes it disappear. Each attempt to touch this illusive image of the self…disappears in the touching. Narcissus is heartbroken and alone…not realizing that it is his own divinity and self- acceptance that he longs for.

As life would have it, the desire for connection, understanding, and proximity to the other becomes so great…that the longing kills Narcissus. In the end, Narcissus takes on his true form (and potential) – a flower. His true beauty occurs with the flowering (understanding) of his feelings.xv

Achilles

The legend of Achilles has it that he was dipped into the river Styx by his mother Thetis in order to make him invulnerable. His heel was not covered by the water and he was later killed by an arrow wound to his heel. Although the legend is 43 ancient, the phrase was not picked up in English until the 19th century. It is used as a metaphor for vulnerability.

Sirens

In Greek mythology, the Sirens are creatures with the head of a female and the body of a bird. They lived on an island (Sirenum scopuli; three small rocky islands) and with the irresistible charm of their song they lured mariners to their destruction on the rocks surrounding their island (Virgil V, 846; Ovid XIV, 88).

The Argonauts escaped them because when he heard their song, Orpheus immediately realized the peril they were in. He took out his lyre and sang a song so clear and ringing that it drowned the sound of those lovely fatal voices. When on another journey the Odysseus’ ship passed the Sirens, had the sailors stuff their ears with wax. He had himself tied to the mast for he wanted to hear their beautiful voices. The Sirens sang when they approached, their words even more enticing than the melody. They would give knowledge to every man who came to them, they said, ripe wisdom and a quickening of the spirit. Odysseys’ heart ran with longing but the ropes held him and the ship quickly sailed to safer waters (Odyssey XII, 39).

According to Ovid, they were nymphs and the play-mates of Persephone. They were present when she was abducted and, because they did not interfere, Demeter changed them into birds with female faces (Ovid V, 551).xvi

Scylla

In Greek mythology was a twelve footed six headed monster. She lived on a rock in the strait of Messina, attacking ships and very nearly doing Odysseus in when he sailed past. She was once a beautiful maiden but the enchantress Circe was jealous because the handsome sea-God Glaucus loved Scylla instead of her. So she put a magic potion into the pool where the innocent Scylla bathed, changing her into that horrible monster.17 Water in the English Legend

Water deities were extremely popular with Celtic Society for they controlled the essential essence of life itself. The spontaneous movement of springs, rivers and lakes clearly showed the supernatural powers of the goddesses who lived within; and offerings at such aquatic features were commonplace, especially of weapons and other valuables. The practice continues today at wishing wells across the country, and the Lady of the Lake is remembered as “Lady Luck”! 44 The Name “Excalibur” was first used for King Arthur’s sword by the French Romancers. It was not the famous “Sword in the Stone” (which broke in battle), but a second sword acquired by the King through the intercession of his druidic advisor, Merlin. Worried that Arthur would fall in battle, Merlin took the King to a magical lake where a mysterious hand thrust itself up from the water, holding aloft a magnificent sword. It was the Lady of the Lake offering Arthur a magic unbreakable blade, fashioned by an Avalonian elf smith, along with a scabbard which would protect him as long as he wore it.

Towards the end of his reign, during the troubled times of Medrod’s rebellion, Excalibur was stolen by Arthur’s wicked half-sister, Morgan le Fay. Though it was recovered, the scabbard was lost forever. Thus Arthur was mortally wounded at the Battle of Camlann. The King then instructed Bedwyr (or Girflet) to return Excalibur to the lake from whence it came. However, when questioned about the circumstances of its return, Bedwyr claimed to have seen nothing unusual. Arthur therefore knew that Bedwyr had kept Excalibur for himself and sent him back to the Lake once more. Hurling the sword into the misty waters this time, Bedwyr saw the mystic hand appear to catch Excalibur and draw it beneath the rippling waters for the last time.

Avalon was the enchanted island where Arthur’s sword was forged and where he was brought after his last battle. Arthur was placed on a golden bed and carried into Avalon by it’s divine priestess. He could only be healed by entrusting his care to her completely forever. It is said that Arthur waits there with her until the time of his return.18

Interesting Facts about Water

Many American states have names that refer to water State Origin Meaning *Minnesota Sioux Sky coloured water Connecticut Agon quin Besides the long river Mississippi Chippewa Great river Arizona Spanish/Pima Place of little springs Michigan Chippewa Greater water 45 Missouri After Missouri River Muddy water Nebraska Omaha Wide river Nevada Spanish Snow-clad Ohio Iroquois Lovely River Oregon Indian Beautiful water19 *Minnesota has over 10,000 lakes Musical composers drew inspiration from water for their musical compositions as is evident from the following Beethoven The Brook Rachmaninoff Flood of Spring Brahms Rain Sonata Grofé Hudson River Suite Sibelius The Oceanides Stravinsky Noah and the Flood Ravel Jeux d’eau Respighi The Fountains of Rome Handel Water Music Schubert, Trout Quintet Liszt Beside a Spring Saint-Saens Le Deluge Dvorak The Water Nymph Tchaikovsky Swan Lake Strauss Blue Danube Mendel ssohn Calm Sea20 Archimedes Principle

There is a famous story about how this principle was discovered; In 212 B.C., a Greek king in the time of Archimedes had a new crown made for himself, but he was not sure that the goldsmiths had been honest with him. He suspected that the crown was not gold all the way through; the craftsmen had kept some of it for themselves, and used a less precious metal for parts of the crown that were not seen. But the king could not tell how to prove anything, without taking the crown apart. 46 Archimedes realized that if the crown were placed in water, the volume of water it displaced would be the same as the crown’s volume. Knowing the crown’s volume, he would be able to work out its density (since he already knew its weight), and so tell if it was the right density to be gold. If it was more or less dense than pure gold, they would know that the craftsmen had cheated them. The story goes that Archimedes realized he could use the displacement of water to solve the problem, while he was taking a bath in the public baths. He was so pleased by his discovery that he leaped out of the bath and ran home through the streets, shouting ‘Eureka’ - ‘it is found’.

When an object is immersed in water, it feels lighter. In a cylinder filled with water, the action of inserting a mass in the liquid causes it to displace upward. In 212 B.C., the Greek scientist Archimedes discovered the following principle: an object is immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object. This became known as Archimedes’ principle.xxi Wonders of the World

Four of the Seven Wonders of the World was water related. The Pyramids were internationally constructed on the west bank of the holy Nile; the Hanging Gardens of Babylon had exquisite pools and fountains and depended on a sophisticated irrigation and pumping system; the Colossus of Rhodes was built at the entrance to the harbour at Rhodes; and the Pharos of Alexandria was the worlds’ first lighthouse.xxii Conclusion

From all this we can conclude that ‘water’ plays a very significant role in our lives. It has shaped our destiny and regulated and transformed our lives. While water has always been associated with cleansing and purifying, we must not forget it has power to destroy with its raging torrents. Civilizations grew and flourished near rivers and lakes and streams. The Biblical stories have relevance for our times and the Greek myths often help us to understand ourselves better. These stories have a transcendent quality and readers down the ages will continue to be fascinated by them and write fresh stories to deal with aspects of our being that remain dark and mysterious, beneath the oceans of our unconscious mind.

End Notes

i Augustine Kanachikuzhy. Ed, The New Community Bible. Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2008)8 ii Yosef Y. Jacobson, Joseph’s Wisdom, editor, www.algemeiner.com iii Augustine Kanachikuzhy,89. 47

iv Augustine Kanachikuzhy,101. v Augustine Kanachikuzhy, 112-113. vi Tony Badillo, From Egypt to Cannan the New Eden: Israel’s Amazing Jordan Crossing http://www.templesecrets.info/jordan.html vii Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible,[1831], at sacred-texts.com viii Jack Zavada, Jonah and the Whale, http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/ a/Jonah-And-The-Whale.htm) ix Augustine Kanachikuzhy, 1733. x Augustine Kanachikuzhy, 1688-89 xi Augustine Kanachikuzhy, 2084 xii Augustine Kanachikuzhy, 2250. xiii www.ondix.com xiv The Friendly Guide to Mythology. (New York: Penguin, 2001) xv The Narcissus Myth by Ernie Vecchio, http://www.narcissismfree.com/the-narcissus- myth.php xvi Micha F. Lindemans, www.pantheon.org › Areas › Mythology ›Europe›Greek mythology xvii D.A Rain – The Water Book –Branden Books, ISBN-0-8283-1956-1 xviii Anne Berthelot, King Arthur: Chivalry and Legend (London: Thames and Hudson, 1996) xix D.A Rain – The Water Book –Branden Books, ISBN-0-8283-1956-1 xx D.A Rain – The Water Book –Branden Books, ISBN-0-8283-1956-1 xxi http://thesaurus.maths.org/mmkb/entry.html?action=entryById&id=640 xxii D.A Rain – The Water Book –Branden Books, ISBN-0-8283-1956-1 48 An Enquiry into Water from an Inter-religious, Inter-cultural and Inter-disciplinary Perspective

Sr. Dr. Teresa Joseph fma Introduction

Water holds ancient symbolic meanings dealing with the subconscious and depth of knowledge. Water contains all the mysteriousness of the unknown. Who can explore the murky depths of the ocean? Who can predict what to expect there. No wonder even the very experienced oceanic explorers are overwhelmed by their findings from the deep. No doubt, water holds endless mystery to humanity as it represents that which is definitely there, but cannot be seen. Water as a Womb symbol

The symbolism of water has a universal connotation of purity and fertility. Symbolically, it is often viewed as the source of life itself as narrated in countless creation myths in which life emerges from primordial waters. Albert Szent- Gyorgyi has put it eloquently: “Water is life’s mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.”

Water has furthermore been known to be a womb symbol: an emblem of birth, fertility and feminine-ness. This association comes from a variety of ancient flood myths and from ‘water springs life’ concept.

In Greek philosophy, water was believed to be the original substance that all things were made from. The sharp-eyed ancient Greeks understood the power of transition water holds. From liquid, to solid, to vapor - water is the epitomal symbol for metamorphosis and philosophical recycling.

The Native Americans considered water to be a symbol of life and linked the symbol to many creation myths. And for the ancient Egyptians their adored Nile river is akin to the birth canal of their existence.

Philosophical Perspective

Water is an intangible element of life and we interact with it each and every day. What is the water we usually see falling down from the gray sky, the one we see flowing out of the tap, and the one we know flowing strongly in great rivers communicating to the human family? Water is simply harmonizing itself 49 with the law of nature. It entrusts itself fully to God. Surrender is one of the strong messages from the flowing water.1

right philosophy of life can be learned from true contemplation of water. Water is shapeless and formless and is pure in its original form. The sparkling water can challenge persons to be transformers and givers2. It is graceful and cool and has the unique quality to adapt to any element and flow to any corner. Water goes by the path of least resistance, allowing the flow to be the guide. John O’Donohue has aptly summarized: “I’d love to live the way a river flows carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” Water Commons

Water is a global issue, and it affects all of us. Access to clean water is not just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue, an animal welfare issue, a sustainability issue. On July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared that access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right, though 900 million people don’t have access to safe water and 2.6 billion don’t have access to basic sanitation.

Control over water implies control over people, and that water privatization is the number one instrument of control. In the face of the ongoing privatization of water, today, there is a growing request to defend the idea of a water commons3. And the question is: can we connect a water commons to community ownership? Water is a powerful means to keep philosophy actively involved in public life. It can connect philosophy to everyday life. In this way philosophy can significantly involve with public policy.

Water is a key to how we live in our World. The misuse of water has resulted in the rise in sea levels leading to several beach erosion, coastal destabilization, added infrastructure expenses and a suite of building codes and regulations designed to anticipate the impacts of future global warming and subsidence. These symptoms of stress inform us that our current mode of life is not the right way to live and it is not sustainable. In his Negative Dialectics (p.364) Adorno says that shock is what compels us to philosophize and to throw light on truth. This is a worthwhile process and why not initiate it by returning to our history of the way we have dealt with water? From a careful analysis of water we come to a new history of ecology. 50 A New History of Ecology

The philosophy underpinning state/nation building through the domination of nature is a risky one. Irrigated water development is now seen as buying national prosperity and security at the cost of disastrous ecological damage. We have slowly come to accept that excessive regulation of the rivers for human use is the fundamental cause of the ecological damage we see all around us. The stark conflict between the widely different views of water and nature informs the public debate over the water politics we are currently living in different parts of the world.

Water is the ecological basis of all life in the world. It is important to defend water as a shared public good. It is only by viewing water as a commons, and precisely from the ecological perspective of water, that we are able to identify the hidden costs of irrigated agriculture. The ecological perspective when taken into consideration will propose an alternative principle for resource allocation to the market’s efficiency principle. Water scarcity has become a market opportunity for water corporations for money making by selling more water. Dr. Karl Maret predicts that water will become the currency in the new century. Meanwhile researchers of water mysteries struggle for funding. Psychological Perspective

Water produces amazing psychological effects. According to a recent study conducted by John Bargh and Idit Shalev of Yale University, physical warmth can actually compensate for social isolation. They discovered that people “subconsciously self-comfort against loneliness through the use of warm baths and showers.” Laura Schenck M.A. opines that this is the first study to show that “we subconsciously administer our own tonic of physical warmth to compensate for social rejection.”4

Above and beyond the physical and mental benefits, bathing in a water fountain provides psychological well-being too. When getting to bath in a water fountain, there is a sense of relaxation and rejuvenation that oozing water makes possible for the physical body. The experience of a refreshing feeling leads to a sense of calm and peace. All other sounds and noises are masked by the sound that springs from a water fountain. This in general leads to a stress-free mental state and psychological contentedness5. Hot water is a good means. It relaxes the joints while increasing circulation to reduce muscle spasms. Richard Kradin, M.D. affirms: “Relaxation in a warm bath might have similar effects to other forms of relaxation protocols. It really needs to be studied.”6 51 Study of water from a psychological perspective has helped to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the human person. For example “Piaget’s work on children’s intellectual development owed much to his early studies of water snails” (Satterly, 1987:622) . Religious Value of Water

Water is attributed important symbolic and ceremonial properties in almost all the world’s major religions.

In the bible we read: “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” Genesis 1:2.

The Koran states, “From water we have made all things.” Water plays an essential part in Islam.

Buddha gave little significance to water and his teachings mainly emphasized the “mental” aspect of world enlightenment.

The Hindus consider all water as sacred, in particular rivers. It is an essential element in practically all rites and ceremonies. Water is a sacred element in Hinduism and The Hindus believe that the Ganges River (in India) is sacred. Its waters are used in puja (worship) and if possible a sip is given to the dying. Water is utilized in Buddhist funerals, caused to flow till overflowing into a bowl placed in front of the monks and the dead body. In Christianity water is used in various rites including baptism and washing. In Islam, water is used for ablutions. Small pools of water are found within or just outside all mosques because worshippers must be pure for prayers. Some mosques have a courtyard with a pool of clear water in the centre, but in most mosques the ablutions are found outside the walls. ”In the Qoran, the ideas of Mercy and water in particular rain are in a sense inseparable. With them must be included the idea of Revelation, tanzÄ«l, which means literally a sending down. The Revelation and the rain are both ‘sent down’ by the All-Merciful and both are described throughout the Qoran as ‘mercy,’ and both are spoken of as ‘life-giving.’7

In almost all religions water is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. Pilgrimage is very important to believers of all religions. Holy places are usually located on the banks of rivers in Hinduism. Funeral grounds are always located near a river. Every temple has a pond near it and devotees are supposed to take a bath before entering the temple. 52 In Judaism ritual washing is proposed to restore or maintain a state of ritual purity and its origins can be found in the Torah. These ablutions can be washing the hands, the hands and the feet, or total immersion which must be carried out in ‘living water’, i.e. the sea, a river, a spring or in a mikveh. The ritual washing of hands is performed before and after meals and on many other occasions.

The Red Sea is noteworthy in Jewish history because its parting by Moses was a miraculous event at the beginning of the Exodus which enabled the Israelites to escape from the Egyptian army that was chasing them. The Israelites experienced God’s love for them as He allowed Moses to part the sea so that they could walk safely to the other side on dry land, while the Egyptians drowned as the sea came together again.

The connotations of water in Zoroastrianism are a combination of its purifying properties and its importance as a basic life element. Zoroastrians believe that pollution is evil and that water, when pure, is sacred. Water is sacred itself and so must be kept from being polluted although water is used in purification rites and rituals. The blessedness of water is very important to Zoroastrians. In midsummer the holy day of Haurvatat is celebrated. Characteristic of the day is people pray and make offerings by the seashore or any natural water. In daily life Haurvatat is observed by keeping water unpolluted and being temperate and self-disciplined. Haurvatat is the embodiment of what salvation means to the individual.

The Taoist tradition considers water as an aspect of wisdom. The concept that is highlighted is that water takes on the form in which it is held and moves in the path of least resistance. And therefore the symbolic meaning of water speaks of a higher wisdom all humanity can aspire to acquire. New Life

In the New Testament, water symbolizes a number of things. For example: new life, becoming a child of God “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”(John 3:5). Here the reference is to baptism by immersion in water. Other texts that will shed more light on this theme are: Romans 6:1-4, Acts 22:16, Acts 2:38, Romans 6:1-4, Acts 2:47, Col. 1:16; Gal. 3:26-27, Ephesians 1:21-22.

G. Burge (1987:97-99) comments that the Johannine Gospel is the only New Testament writing to mention living water. The metaphor of the living water illustrates two things: ! The valueless institution which Jesus replaces in his person. 53

! The newness Jesus brings.

A careful analysis of the creative and dynamic dialogue between Jesus and the woman at the well (John 4:7-30), reveals yet another significance of water. Jesus, as their dialogue progresses communicates to the woman something she has never heard before: “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” The woman at the well responds with a profound request: “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” The Word of God

What is this water which symbolized eternal life? It was the Word of God which Jesus taught the woman at the well. The Word of God is the pure water for which our souls thirst. This is beautifully expressed by the Hebrew writer: “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22).

Water is a symbol of salvation for the Christian. Water is a sign of God’s care and concern, God’s providence, God’s Word, God’s salvation. Although there is no mystical or magical power in water, it stands as a symbol for these things. The rainbow which is made up of water reminds us of God’s unfailing and unconditional love. A New Relationship

It is a life lived in relationship with God. Those who “drink” Jesus’ teaching will have the Spirit (living water) welling up in their hearts as Jesus promised the Samaritan woman in Jn 4:13-14. The water from Jacob’s well could certainly extend life for a while, but the living water from Jesus would issue into life everlasting which, according to the Johannine perspective refers to life lived in relationship with God. Such a life is the basis for healthy relationship with self and others. Conclusion

In making this comparative study of water and its rich significance in the major religions, cultures and in philosophy and psychology, we learn to appreciate the unique strong points of our own traditions and to see that each tradition has its own outstanding features. 54 If we wish to promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue and to benefit everyone, we need eventually to learn the entire spectrum of use, significance and symbolism of water in various religious traditions and how they all fit together so that we are able to teach people of different inclinations and capacities. Inter-religious Implications

The context of dialogue is the arena of life, the daily struggle for bread, clothing, rest, justice, peace and love. We meet each other as fellow-travelers in the above mentioned concerns of life. Water being an element of common life can very well facilitate dialogue of life.

Reflections on water will help to bring into inter-religious dialogue women’s experiences, voices and theoretical views. “Women who engage in inter-religious dialogue have the enriching experience of encountering sisters from all places. They are able to acquire a new self-knowledge born out of viewing themselves from a perspective of such a diversity.”8 The feminine contribution will help: ! To assume responsibility to nurture life more consciously ! To uphold the sacredness of life at all times ! To get to know deeply the spiritual treasures of each religion ! To stand by as persons and as communities

By exploring the meaning and significance of water in various religions from an inter-religious, inter-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective a larger and more coherent picture emerges which opens the view and the inter-relatedness of different themes. The symbolic description of water has genuine potential and deserves to be explored and studied further. Water definitely has functional and inter-religious implications too. From an inter-religious and interdisciplinary perspective with a metaphoric reference to water we bring to the forefront certain characteristics of water; its attributes like freshness, pureness, innocence, graciousness, tenderness, peace and tranquility. Whether in the fabulous bathhouses of Rome, along the sacred shores of the Ganges, or at the holy spring of Zamzam in Mecca, humanity has sought for millennia the healing powers of water for spiritual, psychological and physical growth.

End Notes

1 Cf. http://thesoulsanctuary.us/2009/05/the-philosophy-of-water/ (accessed on 18/11/2011). 2 Cf. http://marketingdeviant.com/water-philosophy/ (accessed on 18/11/2011). 3 http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/philosophy/000070.html (accessed on 18/11/2011). 4 http://lauraschenck.com/psychological-studies/warm-water-alleviates-the-pain-of-loneliness (accessed on 20/11/2011). 55 5 Cf. http://www.healthster.co.uk/psychological-effects-of-water-fountain/(accessed on 20/11/2011). 6 http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199907/water-world(accessed on 20/11/2011). 7 Martin Lings, Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 2, No. 3. (Summer, 1968) © World Wisdom, Inc. 8 Maura O’Neill, Women Speaking Women Listening Women in Inter-religious Dialogue, Orbis books, Mary Knoll, New York, 1990, p.102. 56 Water in Interreligious Perspective

Dr. Fr. Leo D. Lefebure The Many Roles of Water in Interreligious Encounters

When perfectly still, water reflects objects with clarity, offering an image of peace and tranquility; in sharp contrast, rapidly rushing water often swirls and roars, suggesting rage and fury. Water comes in the forms of ice and steam, as well as in mist and rainbows. Water is essential for life as we know it, but the destructive force of floods and tsunamis can overwhelm the human structures within its path in just a few moments, reminding us how fragile all our constructions are. Water is a force of transformation, of dissolution, of cleansing, and of new beginnings. Given its decisive and multifaceted position in nature, it is not surprising that water plays prominent and varied roles in the symbolism of religious traditions around the world. Water can variously represent life or death, peace or war, good or evil, serene order or tumultuous chaos; it is often linked to beginnings and endings, as well as to moments of purification and renewal.

Water has played a variety of symbolic roles for participants in interreligious discussions. Some scholars have used the imagery of rivers to interpret the relations among religious traditions. Raimundo Panikkar, a Catholic priest whose personal religious journey led him through Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism, interpreted the Christian encounter with religious pluralism through the imagery of “The Jordan, the Tiber, and the Ganges: Three Kairological moments of Christic Self-Consciousness.”1 Panikkar notes that even though Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the waters of the Tiber have profoundly influenced the flow of Christian history. He then adds the image of the Ganges River to describe our current situation:

Christianity is the religion of these two rivers. . . . If spiritually Christianity cannot dispense with Judaism, intellectually it would collapse without its connection with the Tiber, which I take as the symbol of the mentality of the west, however broad and multifaceted this mentality may be. The question today is whether these two rivers delimit Christian theological boundaries or whether one should cross another Rubicon, this time not to defeat Pompey but to reach peacefully the Ganges... The Ma Ganga, the motherly river of the Ganges, is taken here as the symbol, not just for Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and primordial religions, but for all other traditions of Asia, 57 Africa, and Oceania, which represent not only other spiritualities but also different mentalities.2

Panikkar notes that the encounter with other religions poses the familiar dilemmas of triumphalism, exclusivism or relativism, and he playfully proposes a resolution in terms of the diverse forms of water:

The present study will ambitiously try to solve this dilemma by showing that the rivers of the earth do not actually meet each other, not even in the oceans, nor do they need to meet in order to be truly life-giving rivers. But ‘they’ do meet: they meet in the skies—that is, in heaven. . . . ‘they’ meet in the form of clouds, once they have suffered a transformation into vapor, which eventually will pour down again into the valleys of mortals to feed the rivers of the earth.3

Panikkar does not want to confuse the waters of the different rivers (religions), for each “carries its proper salts and micro-organisms. Nor should we forget that the waters undergo a transformation (of death and resurrection—into water, snow, and again water), which alone allows them to go on fertilizing the earth.”4 The multiple transformations of water suggest in symbolic form a dynamic resolution that eludes conceptual definition.

Bede Griffiths, an English Benedictine monk who lived many years as a sannyasi in India, entitled his Christian commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, River of Compassion.5 Looking at Hindu-Christian relations from a Hindu perspective, Sandy Bharat frames Hindu-Christian dialogue as Christ across the Ganges: Hindu Responses to Jesus.6 Wilfred Cantwell Smith, a Canadian Christian theologian who was also a noted historian of Islam, used the imagery of flowing rivers to interpret the dynamics of interreligious relations.7 Religions, he proposed, are not static entities with eternal essences that can be univocally defined; instead, they are rather more like rivers that flow and wind. Like rivers, religions are not perfectly stable systems but rather ever-changing historical processes. The convergences that we find within religious history are part of the ongoing flow. Nonetheless, Cantwell Smith decided the image of the river was limited in that it was “impersonal and external.”8

Recalling that the book of Genesis mentions four rivers in Paradise (2:10-14), David Noel Freedman and Michael McClymond draw on these rivers as images for religions that look to major leaders as “religious founders”: The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad as Religious Founders.9 Freedman observes that in the text of Genesis, there is a single, unnamed river which divides later into four tributaries which become rivers. 58 “Only after flowing through the Garden does it subdivide into four tributaries. These rivers, in turn, run to different parts of the world, ins some cases at least forming territorial boundaries around whole lands.”10 Of the four rivers, two (the Tigris and the Euphrates) are well-known and two (the Pishon and the Gihon) are more obscure, suggesting both the clarity and the obscurity of the relations among religions. Freedman interprets the imagery of the five rivers of Paradise, “the source or fountainhead and its four branches—as a model or pattern for the great personality religions of the world: their origins, development, history, and destiny.”11 Freedman develops the model with the hope of a common origin and destination: “The Rivers of Paradise came from Eden, which is also where the journey will end.”12

Freedman’s claim raises the pressing and disputed question of whether all the rivers/religions arise from and seek the same reality. Do all the rivers really come from the same source and run to the same goal? While Freedman, W.C. Smith and many others have assumed there to be a common origin and goal of all religions, others have questioned this assumption. Using the different metaphor of climbing a mountain, the late American Zen Roshi Robert Aitken told me that he questioned whether different religious travelers were even on the same mountain. While Japanese Buddhist philosopher Masao Abe questioned the notion of a common essence of religion and insisted on the important differences between Buddhist Nirvana and Christian heaven, nonetheless he accepted the notion of a common end in the sense that “a genuine form of ‘world religion’ must be now sought and actualized as the end, that is, as an ‘aim’ to be achieved in order to cope with the present and future world situation and human predicament.”13

Aloysius Pieris, a Jesuit priest in Sri Lanka who holds a doctorate in Buddhist studies, approaches interreligious relations in light of the images of fire and water, seeing fire and wind as masculine symbols and the earth and water as feminine symbols. Referring to “Nature’s power of nurture,” Pieris comments:

This power of hers is Water, that other feminine symbol which makes the earth awe inspiring and even frightening in its manifestations. For water is a sign of life-giving love and death-bringing rage; of stillness and depth on the one hand, and of stirring motions on the other. When partnered by Earth, it makes a symbolic dyad that evokes in our hearts both the need and the fear of the feminine, the mystery of something beyond comprehension, which is at the same time our first uterine encounter with the cosmic.14 59 Pieris sees the ancient stupa, even before Buddhism, as representing Mother Earth, suggesting the image of a breast. According to Pieris, the stupa “elevated the mind to a realm beyond itself; to the mysterious springs of living Water. It symbolized the lunar (the menstrual?) cycle which alternated with the more regular and easily calculable solar rhythm of the males; this lunar cycle evoked the secrecy of the night and caused those stirrings of water—the tidal waves.”15

Rushing water can threaten life and can serve as an image of destructive forces out of control and of the need to trust in an ultimate sourced of protection. Mary Margaret Funk, an American Benedictine monastic with long experience in dialogue with Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims, recounts her terrifying experience of being swept away by a flood in South America: Into the Depths: a Journey of Loss and Vocation.16 The raging waters swept her away from the vehicle she had been in, drowned some of her companions and nearly drowned her before casting her up on the bank. The lessons she learned in this harrowing experience shaped her later decades-long leadership in Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and other interreligious discussions. Water does not always rush and threaten. Psalm 23 rejoices that God “leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul” (Ps 23:3). Harold Kasimow, John Keenan, and Linda Klepinger Keenan reflect on interreligious meditation practice using the image of water at rest to explore the practice of stillness in Beside Still Waters: Jews, Christians, and the Way of the Buddha.17 They examine the ways in which many Jews and Christians in North America and Europe have benefited from forms of meditation practice coming from Buddhism. Water can be an evocative nonverbal symbol in interreligious encounters. Water can function as an open-ended symbol that different traditions can interpret in their own manner. The story is told of an academically oriented interreligious discussion in which university professors from different religions were debating endlessly over questions of worldview and doctrine. Three monastics were present and listened in silence as the professors spoke. During an intermission, the monastics decided to rearrange the room, placing all the chairs on the side and opening up an empty space in the center, where they carefully arranged a rock, a flower, and a bowl of water as wordless symbols of religious experience and interreligious encounter. When the professors returned, they were fascinated by the non-verbal intervention, but of course they had to debate about what it meant! In many traditions, water is used to cleanse and purify or to mark a new beginning. At an interreligious discussion of religion and violence at Wisdom House in Litchfield, Connecticut, in October 2001, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, 60 and Buddhists shared a simple ceremony that involved pouring water over people’s hands. We invited the participants to come forward and extend their hands over a bowl. A woman and I took turns pouring water over their hands and drying them with a towel. The gesture could be interpreted in various ways by different religious traditions. The significance of water in ancient traditions often arose from interreligious encounters and offers various openings for interreligious reflection today. I will mention briefly just a few examples, first from the Bible and then from East Asia. The Ancient Middle East and the Bible

The very first appearance of water in the Bible emerges from an interreligious context. According to the book of Genesis, water was present at the beginning of the cosmic history: “[D]arkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” (1:2).18 The narrative at the beginning of Genesis was likely composed in the context of the Babylonian exile where each year at the festival of the New Year Jews were confronted with the imagery of the Akkadian Creation Epic known as “Enuma Elish” (from the opening words, “When on high”).

In the Babylonian drama of creation, water is the primordial reality prior to the creation of the gods: the fresh waters of the male Apsu commingled with the marine waters of female Tiamat (“the sea”), and “the gods were formed within them.”19 After the gods are formed, they disturb Apsu and Tiamat, leading to mortal combat in which Apsu is put to sleep with a spell and then killed. Enraged, Tiamat prepares her loyal assembly for battle against the gods who are her offspring. The gods are terrified, fearing destruction. They turn to Marduk as their avenger and hail him as king, instructing him to kill Tiamat. The water of Tiamat represents the chaos that threatens the all-too-fragile order of the cosmos. Marduk, patron deity of the Babylonian Empire, dares to do battle with Tiamat. When she opens her jaws to swallow him, Marduk sends the Evil Wind to force her mouth to stay open, and then he splits her body in half. With the upper half of her body Marduk fashions the upper part of the cosmos, with the waters above the dome; with the lower part he fashions the earth, with its surrounding waters:

He split her like a shellfish into two parts. Half of her he set up and ceiled it as sky, Pulled down the bar and posted guards. He bade them to allow not her waters to escape.20

Creation involves setting limits to the water so that it may not overwhelm the stability of the settled world. This imagery, as well as the figure of a watery 61 monster arising from the sea to threaten cosmic order will reappear in various religious traditions for centuries, in particular in apocalyptic dramas. The Hebrew word tehom (“the deep”) in Genesis 1 may be interpreted as a demythologization of Tiamat, the watery sea-goddess of the Babylonian epic, the Enuma Elish.21 The narrative in Genesis demythologizes the sea monster so that there is only water. No longer the power of a threatening sea-goddess, water is the chaotic, material element shaped by God: “And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome” (Gen 1:6-7). In the Bible, creation involves setting limits to water, but the inhabited world is ever threatened by water. Walter Wink argues that the slaying of Tiamat in the Babylonian epic expresses the myth of redemptive violence, the notion that violence is necessary and even salvific to protect a fragile world from the watery forces of evil; as Wink comments, “Our very origin is violence. Killing is in our blood.”22 The Babylonian myth legitimated the military conquests of the Babylonian Empire. In contrast, Wink proposes that Genesis offers a non-violent account of creation in which God does not oppose other heavenly powers but creates simply by commanding. Temot is not an active power of evil but simply the watery chaos that is one element for creation. Later in Genesis, the narrative of the flood presents water as the destructive force God uses to eliminate evildoers from the face of the earth. The primordial limits of creation are loosened, as water not only rains down from above, but also rises up from below: “on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened” (Gen 7:11). The rainbow, created by the refraction of light through water in the sky, appears as a sign of hope, of God’s covenant with all creation, and of God’s promise that “the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Gen 9:15). Mircea Eliade noted that there are accounts of floods across the world and suggested, “Almost all the traditions of deluges are bound up with the idea of humanity returning to the water whence it had come, and the establishment of a new era and a new humanity.”23

Even though Genesis 1 demythologized the Enuma Elish, the mythology of the watery sea-monster, variously named Rahab or Leviathan, influenced other passages in the Hebrew Bible, including Exodus, the Psalms, Job, and Second Isaiah. Psalm 89 proclaims: “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies 62 with your mighty arm” (89:9-10). At the end of the book of Job, God challenges Job:

“Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped. . . . Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down its tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?” (Job 38:8-11; 41:-2)

The account of the deliverance at the Sea of Reeds in the book of Exodus draws upon the ancient mythological symbolism of water. Frank Moore Cross demonstrated that the Canaanite myth of a god slaying a sea monster lies in the background of Exodus 15.24 Similarly, Psalm 77 interprets the deliverance at the Sea of Reeds in terms of a combat with the waters: “When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; the very deep trembled. . . . You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Ps 77:16, 20). In hoping for the return of Jews from exile in Babylon, Second Isaiah applies the same imagery to a new historical situation: “Awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago! Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? What it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to cross over?” (Is 51:9-10).

In the book of Daniel, watery monsters rise from the sea as symbols of the evil empires that dominate history and threaten God’s people: “I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another” (Dan 7:2-3). The watery sea monsters symbolize the various earthly powers that rebel against God. In the book of Revelation, the ancient mythology of the sea monsters reappears, now interpreted in relation to the Roman Empire.25 Often in later centuries Christians would interpret their relations to Jews and Muslims in light of apocalyptic imagery, which included the watery sea monsters as images of mortal enemies. While water often represents chaos and evil, it can also represent life and peace. Throughout the Middle East, the contrast between areas where there is water and where there is not is stark. The desert is a place of death, while running streams give life. Above all, water represents transformation from one state to another. Eliade comments on the symbolism of water: “But, whether at the cosmic or the anthropolotical level, immersion in water does not mean final extinction, but simply a temporary reintegration into the formless, which will be followed 63 by a new creation, a new life or a new man, depending on whether the reintegration in question is cosmic, biological, or redemptive. . . . [Water] disintegrates, abolishes forms, ‘washing away sins’—at once purifying and giving new life.”26 New Testament and the Christian Tradition The symbolism of the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East appears in the New Testament and the later Christian tradition in relation to Jesus Christ. The Christian liturgy of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, which initiates new Christians in baptism, proclaims the account of the Exodus in relation to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ is now the victor over the ancient foes. John the Baptist baptizes in the Jordan River as a sign of repentance for sin. According to the gospel of John, Jesus himself baptized as well (Jn 3:22). Paul understands baptism as the initiation into the death of Jesus Christ so that his followers can also share in his resurrection (Rom 6:3-4). The waters of baptism destroy the old self so that Christ can live inside the new person (Gal 2:20). In Jesus’ dialogue with the Samaritan woman at the well, water appears as a symbol for the deepest yearnings of the human heart, which can only ultimately be satisfied by God (Jn 4:10-14). The well in ancient Israel was a place where people encountered each other; for some, including Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, a well was the place where they met their future spouse (Gen 24:11-15; 29:2-12; Ex 2:15-21). Thus in the scene of Jesus encountering a Samaritan woman at a well there hovers the imagery of the ancient meetings that transformed people’s lives. The well that gives life-giving water to travelers from various regions offers a symbol for interreligious encounter that comes to us through the intervening centuries. Daoism The Daoist tradition has long seen water as an image of the Dao, which is said to be like water in that it seeks the lowest areas that others spurn. The Dao De Jing proclaims: The highest efficacy is like water. It is because water benefits everything Yet vies to dwell in places loathed by the crowd That it comes nearest to proper way-making.27

Philosophers Roger Ames and David Hall comment on this passage, “The intensity and expansiveness of water is an appropriate analogy for such efficacy 64 since it gives the gift of life without discrimination, and flows everywhere disdaining nothing.”28 Moss Roberts comments, “Water is adaptable but unchanging, always itself, unitary; it does not become its opposite, though it may alter all it touches. Thus water is an apt and recurring metaphor for Dao.29

Trappist monk Thomas Merton savored and translated the sayings of Chuang Tzu, who also compared Dao to water:

Fishes are born in water Man is born in Tao. If fishes, born in water, Seek the deep shadow Of pond and pool, All their needs are satisfied. If man, born in Tao, Sinks into the deep shadow Of non-action To forget aggression and concern, He lacks nothing His life is secure.

Moral: “All the fish needs Is to get lost in water. All man needs is to get lost In Tao.”30.

In the spirit of Merton, Chwen Jiuan Lee, a Taiwanese Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Conception, and Thomas Hand, an American Jesuit priest, reflect on Christianity in light of their experience of Daoism and Mahayana Buddhism, entitling their project, A Taste of Water; as an example of how water can be a helpful image, they translate a poem by Tachibana Koshu Roshi, “Moving Cloud, Flowing Water,” which begins:

A cloud moves and water flows in selfless openness. This is the heart of the Unsui [literally, cloud-water, a term for a Zen trainee] Moving and flowing without any goal, they arrive precisely where they are made to arrive.31

Lee and Hand approach Daoist and Buddhist images in light of the promise of Isaiah: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Is 12:3).32 They offer a symbolic narrative of Frances and Stanley who encounter a friendly but enigmatic figure with the name of Aquarius, “water bearer.” Aquarius claims 65 to transcend the usual distinctions between male and female, eastern or western. Aquarius’ goal is: “I’m here to lead you to a taste of water. . . . Water is one of the best symbols for what I want you to experience.”33

As they walk toward a spring where water flows from a rock, Fran and Stan feel a sense of ease and familiarity, as if they have known Aquarius all their lives. When they taste the pure, fresh spring water, Stan blurts out without reflecting, “Yes, it really doesn’t have any taste at all. And this is what you want us to taste.”34

Aquarius simply smiles, as Fran adds, “It doesn’t have any color either, does it? . . . But when you see anything in water, its color becomes so much more visible and true.”35 Stan reflects further that the water is formless, taking whatever shape it has from what contains it. As Aquarius directs them to look into the pool of water and asks what they see. Fran exclaims, “I see my face”; and Stan adds that he sees himself, Fran, Aquarius and everything around them. Fran craws the conclusion, “I am the water. I mean. . . Yes. It sounds crazy, but . . . This water is, of course, this water. And I am I. But I am flowing out of the rock and in the pool.” Stan concurs, “And somehow I am you and Fran and everything.”36

Aquarius smiles, notes that water is without taste or color or shape, and then draws together the imagery of Isaiah with the principles of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism: “With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation”; then he adds, “Form, this is the formless. Formless, this is form.”37 Stan recalls the language of Jesus in the gospel of John, “The water I shall give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Stan interprets the identity of the mysterious Aquarius, “I know who you are. You are a Christ. You are the Christ consciousness. You are what we are programmed to be. That’s why this stream is actually a river of living water flowing from within us.”38 Fran adds, “Now I know why we are baptized in water and how water turns into wine and gladdens human hearts.” Aquarius draws on the language of the Dao De Jing to offer the final advice: “remember that water follows the line of least resistance. Let go. Let flow. Let go of comparisons, judgments, fears and confrontations. Entrust yourself to your Self. I am your Self. It’s all very simple.”39

End Notes 1 Raimundo Panikkar, “The Jordan, the Tiber, and the Ganges: Three Kairological moments of Christic Self-Consciousness,” in The Myth of Christian Uniqueness: toward a Pluralistic Theology of Religions, ed. John Hick and Paul f. Knitter (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1987), 89-116. 2 Panikkar, 90. 66

3 Panikkar, 92. 4 Panikkar, 92. 5 Bede Griffiths, River of Compassion: A Christian Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita (Springfield, IL: Templegate Publishers, 1987, 2001). 6 Sandy Bharat, Christ across the Ganges: Hindu Responses to Jesus (Winchester, UK and Washington, DC: O Books, 2007). 7 Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Towards a World Theology: Faith and the Comparative History of Religion (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1981), 26. 8 Smith, 26. 9 The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, and Muhammad as Religious Founders, ed. David Noel Freedman and Michael J. McClymond (Grand Rapics, MI and Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001). 10 David Noel Freedman, “Introduction: The Rivers of Paradise,” in Rivers of Paradise, 1.11 Freedman, “Introduction,” 2. 12 Freedman, “Introduction,” 9. 13 Masao Abe, Zen and Western Thought, ed. William R. LaFleur (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985), 261. 14 Aloysius Pieris, Fire and Water: Basic Issues in Asian Buddhism and Christianity (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996), 20. 15 Pieris, 21. 16 Mary Margaret Funk, Into the Depths; A Journey of Loss and Vocation (New York: Lantern Books, 2011). 17 Beside Still Waters: Jews, Christians, and the Way of the Buddha, ed. Harold Kasimow, John P. Keenan, and Linda Klepinger Keenan (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003). 18 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical quotations will be from The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Augmented Third Edition, ed. Michael D. Coogan (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). 19 “The Creation Epic,” in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, ed. James H. Pritchard (3rd ed.; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969), 61. 20 “The Creation Epic,” 137-140, in Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 67.21 John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004), 76-77. 22 Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992), 14-15. 23 Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion, trans. Rosemary Sheed (Lincoln, NE, and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1958, 1996), 210. 24 Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel (Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press, 1973), 77-144. 67

25 Adela Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984). 26 Eliade, 212. 27 Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall, Daodejing “Making This Life Significant”: A Philosophical Translation, (New York: Ballantine Books, 2003), 87. 28 Ames and Hall, 87. 29 Laozi, Dao De Jing; The Book of the Way, translation and commentary by Moss Roberts (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004), 45 30 Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu (New York: New Directions, 1965), 65. 31 Chwen Jiuan A. Lee and Thomas G. Hand, A Taste of Water: Christianity through Taoist- Buddhist Eyes (Burlingame, CA: Mercy Center, 1990), 107. 32 Lee and Hand, 209. 33 Lee and Hand, 210. 34 Lee and Hand, 212. 35 Lee and Hand, 212. 36 Lee and Hand, 212. 37 Lee and Hand, 213. 38 Lee and Hand, 214.

39 Lee and Hand, 214-15. 68 Sacredness of Water in the Hindu Tradition

Dr. Kala Acharya

Most of the cultures of the world ascribe sanctity to water. Similarly most of the religions believe in the purifying power of water. The scriptures speak about the healing power of water. It is sustainer of life. The symbol of water in the Vedas is significant. It is only water that existed before creation in it. The primordial water carries the seed of creation. It pervades and supports everything. In other words water is the primeval element; the support of all; everything else rests on it. It is without form. It is invisible and as one of the great elements, namely, earth, water, fire, air and ether it becomes visible. It belongs to the three worlds, namely, the heaven, the mid-region and the earth. The celestial water is in the form of primordial water. In the mid- region between the heaven and the earth it is in the form of rains and the terrestrial water takes various forms such as streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. The Nasadiya hymn of the Rigvedai a pertinent hymn on creation describes water as the first condition of life. It says, “Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness, and all was Water indiscriminate. Then that which was hidden by the void, that One, emerging, stirring, through the inner fervor came to be. Within it first arose desire, the primal germ of mind.” The Shatapatha Brahmana reiterates the view and says: “ Of this universe, it is in truth the Waters that were made first. Hence when the Waters flow, then everything here, whatsoever exists, is produced.”ii Waters are not solid like the earth, nor intangible like the air. The movement and life of the air and the gravity and consistency of the solid earth both are present in waters. They have life. Divinity of Water:

In the Vedanta philosophy the Reality is described as consciousness and the Brihadaranyka Upanishad tells us that the consciousness abides in water. It says:

“He who is abiding in the earth, yet different from the earth… He who is abiding in the water, yet different from the water… He who is abiding in the wind, yet different from the wind…iii 69 So we should not confine water with its physical properties alone as H2O. It has Divinity within it as it has been said, “In the Waters, O Lord, is your seat, in the Waters, O Lord, is your womb.”iv

It has also been said, “In the midst of the Waters is moving the Lord, watching men’s truth and falsehood.”v The Shatapatha Brahmana mentions that the waters were produced out of vak, the speech.vi The text mentions time and again that waters being the basis and foundation of the universe, vessels and other utensils used in sacrifice must be thrown into the waters. The practice of immersion of the idols of Ganesha and of Gauries after their worship in their festivals is in vogue. It is the return to the origin which is subtle in its nature. The Waters, no doubt, are a resting place for all the Gods. It becomes the elixir of immortality. vii The Healing Power:

The healing power of water is mentioned in several hymns of the Vedas. A few passages referring to the healing power are: “May excellent waters be helpful for our bliss and drink. May they flow all round for curing our ailments and preventing us from falling a pray to them.”viii “A skilled physician tells me, that in waters lies the capacity to heal all ailments and digestive power which is the bringer of all sorts of happiness. O Waters, grant me medicine to keep my body free from harm, so that I may see the sun for long.”ix “May the divine Water, the flowing water, water dug from the earth, spring water protect us.”x “Within the Waters, Soma has told me, remedies exist of every sort and Agni who brings blessing to all.”xi “O Waters,… give us healing balm.”

The waters symbolize fertility. Hence the Hindu scriptures describe rain as the vehicles of fertility. Fire has been described as the son of waters, the apam napat in the Rigveda. It has a counterpart in the Avesta. He dwells in the depth of the waters in the mid -region between the heaven and the earth and is surrounded by divine spirits. Water as Purifier: 70 The waters are purifiers as they have divinity in them. Hence a prayer runs as under.

“May this Earth so purified purify me! May the Lord of the Holy World purify me, May [Earth], purified by Brahman, purify me!xii

It is believed that waters can make a man free from his sin. Hence the prayer:

“Whatever sin is found in me, whatever wrong I may have done, if I have lied or falsely sworn, Waters remove it far from me.” xiii

The Yajurveda refers to purifying power of water. One of the prayers in this Veda runs as under:

“Hail to you, divine, unfathomable, all purifying Waters!”xiv

As the waters purifyxv, the worshipper comes up out of them pure and cleansed. Hence the Brahmana texts prescribe the ritual of bath for purification. It has been stated, “O swiftly moving purifying bath, you flow gently down. With the help of the Gods may my sins against the Gods be removed and with the help of mortals may my sins against mortals be washed away.”xvi

“O cleasing bath, cleansing as you flow, may I wipe out with the help of the Gods such sin as I have committed against the Gods and with the help of men such sin as I have committed against my fellowmen… There is not in him who has taken a bath even as much as sin as there is in a toothless child.”xvii

Hence we find that a dip in water of river Ganga or other sacred reservoirs of water is considered as a ritual by Hindus. They have faith in the bath ritual. Before entering a temple a devotee must take a bath or at least wash his feet. Most of the places of pilgrimages are also found in the vicinity of rivers or lakes.

Water as Mother:

In the Rigveda Goddess Sarasvati, celebrated than any other river, is addressed as a great mother, a great river and a great goddess. She herself is a great purifier.xviii The devotees pray her to make them well known. Later she became the Goddess of knowledge as both have a common feature. The stream of a river flows constantly; similarly speech, the vehicle of knowledge flows 71 uninterruptedly. Waters are addressed as mothers in the Vedic texts frequently. One of the texts says,

“May the Waters, the mothers, purify us.”xix Another text includes the prayer: “ You like loving mothers are Who long to give to children dear. Give us of your propitious sap.”xx

Water as Source of Happiness:

Waters give strength and happiness. Hence it has been stated,

“O Waters, source of happiness, pray give us vigor so that we may contemplate the great delight.” Ye, waters, truly bring us bliss, ‘so help’ ye us to strength and power, that we may succeed in ‘big life’s struggle and look on God.xxi “ These Waters be to us for drink; divine are they for aid and joy. May they impart to us health and strength!”xxii The Divine Waters flow constantly, they never sleep, they are pure.xxiii Dead bodies of children and holy men are either buried or thrown into rivers. This is going back to the origin, for the reason that the waters are the foundation of all this universe.xxiv From the waters is this universe produced.xxv

In the Christian tradition we find that Jesus, before conferring eyesight on the blind asks him to apply mud on his eyes and then to wash the eyes by water.xxvi This signifies that sin, the impurity can be purified by water. Water plays a significant role in Baptism. The literal meaning for Baptism is “to deep, immerse, wash.”

Coming back to the Hindu tradition, I would like to conclude with the prayer in the Atharvaveda, “May the gleaming waters…be for our well-being and joy.”xxvii

End Notes i Rigveda X. 129 ii Shatapatha Brahmana VII.4.1.6 72

iii Brihadaranyka Upanishad III.7.3-7 iv Shatapatha Brahmana VI.8.2.4 v Rigveda VII.49.3 vi Shatapatha Brahmana VI.1.1.9 vii Shatapatha Brahmana IV. 4.3.15 viii Rigveda X. 9.1 ix Rigveda X.9.6-7 x Rigveda VII. 49.2 xi Rigveda X.9.6 xii Mahanarayaniya Upanishad 317-318 xiii Rigveda X.9.8 xiv Taittiriya Samhita I. 2.2 xv Rigveda X.17.10 xvi Yajurveda III.48 xvii Shatapatha Brahmana IV. 4.5.22-23 xviii Rigveda I.3.10 xix Taittiriya Samhita I. 2. 1 xx Rigveda X.9.1-2 xxi Atharvaveda VI.22.2 xxii Rigveda X.9.4 xxiii Rigveda VII.49.1 xiv Shatapatha Brahmana XII. 5.2.14 xv Shatapatha Brahmana VI.8.2.3 xvi The Holy Bible, John 9

xvii Atharvaveda VI.23.3 73 Sacredness of Water

Dr. Lalita Namjoshi

A popular saying in Sanskrit declares, “There are indeed three jewels on the earth, water being the first followed by food and good saying. The fools term the prices of stone as jewels.” This saying reflects the general sentiment for water that Hinduism cherishes.

Water occupies a prime place in the cosmological order in ancient Hindu scriptures. In the Rigveda, the Nasadiya Sukta (X 129) speaks of the origin of the universe. The seer says that in the beginning there was neither Sat nor Asat. Darkness enveloped darkness and the first element was the primal water without any attribute. The principle Upanishads elucidate the evolution of the world from the Ultimate Reality. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.2.1) states that the Ultimate Principle thought that is should become manifest. So it mediated. While meditating water was born. From water came fire and from fire came forth the air and other elements.

In the Chandogya Upanishad , it is said that there was Sat in the beginning. It thought, “Let me multiply, I shall create. ‘It created Teja , that is ,Fire. The fire also reflected that it should become many and so it produced waters. The waters created food.’(VI.2.4) The Lord decided that he should enter these three deities, namely, fire, water and food and create the names and forms, that is, the world which has names and forms as attributes (VI.3.2). The three elements are associated with a particular colour. Water is described as having white colour. It is through the combination of these three elements the gross world came into existence. The vital energy, that is, Prana is made of water (VI.5.1). The Chandogya Upanishad (V.3.20) narrates that sage Gautama went to Pravahana Jaivali to learn the secret doctrine about how water turns into a Person after fifth oblation. It is elucidated that at the first stage waters called Faith are transformed into the moon. The moon turns into rainfall in the next stage from which grows food. From food originates semen and from semen foetus comes into being. Thus according to the Chandogya Upanishad , water is the seed of the human person.

In the same Upanishad ( Chapter VII), it is described that Narad approached Sanatkumar requesting him to teach the worship of Brahman. Narad had already mastered the Vedas with their auxiliaries and many other empirical skills. Santkumar told him that whatever Narad had acquired was the gross form of Knowledge. He must contemplate on subtler levels of life to realize Brahman. 74 In this journey from gross to subtle, the teacher asked him to concentrate on water as Brahman. He brings out the connection between water and life in very lucid words. He says “When there is lack of abundant rainfall, creatures are in agony thinking that, “Food will be scarce.” Again, when there is abundance of rainfall the creatures become joyous thinking, “Food will be plentiful.” Water indeed is all these that have forms. That which is this earth, that which is in intermediate-space, that which is heaven, those which are mountains, those who are gods and human beings, and those which are animals and birds, grass, trees, ferocious animals, worms, flies and creatures including ants – it is water what has taken all these forms. Meditate on water.’ (VII.10.1) Of course water is not the ultimate symbol for meditation on Brahman.

Since water was governed by Lord Varuna according to the Vedic Tradition, it gained importance in purifying rituals. Varuna was regarded as the guardian of Cosmic Order – Rit. He was supposed to punish those who failed in their duty. In the Aghamarshana ritual that removed sin, the seeker beseeched Varuna to cleanse the sins done knowingly or unknowingly by offering water. The hymn for Aghamarshana prays Varuna who is in the waters to purify the seeker. The rivers are enumerated as the representative of Varuna. Thus we can understand the religious importance of rivers and explain how taking a dip in sacred rivers became an integral part of Hindu religious life.

Oblation of water and chanting of the Aghamarshana hymn(Rigveda X.190) are important steps in daily Sandhya Vandana. The mode of worship prescribed by the Puranas and in practice even today starts with taking a sip of water uttering the names of Keshava, Madhava and Govinda. The worshipper goes on chanting other names of Lord Vishnu. This act is called Achamana. The course of worship has sixteen ingredients wherein offering water for the deity is called Achamaniyam. It is said that one who offers Achamaniya for God attains long life, vigour, prosperity and all other objects of his wish. The deity is offered water for washing feet and bath as well. In Shaiva tradition, the Shivalinga is offered Abhisheka with water or milk. The water which is poured on the deity during Abhesheka is considered very sacred and accepted as Thirth that purifies the devotee. Abhesheka is an integral part of many rituals. The King is given a sacred bath with the water from holy rivers and his ascend to the throne is called Rajyabhisheka, Consecrated water is sprinkled during Shanti Homa-s on the members of the household to purify them and to bestow peace unto them.

The ordinary water taken for daily bath can also be consecrated to render it sacred. A prayer is offered that invokes the holy rivers to reside in the water. Thus water has occupied a special place in religious life of Hindus. It is the 75 irony of the time that Water respected so much is misused, abused and contaminated so much that we need purifiers to drink water. We are unmindful of the diminishing water levels. It feared that the next world war may be fought over water. Let us now respect water as the most sacred manifestation of God. 76 Water : An Islamic Perspective

Zuhair Nathani

Salamun Alaikum !

The Beginning of Creation:

The Holy Quran says “It is He ( Allah) who created the heavens and the earth in six periods – and His Throne (dominion) was [then] upon the waters that He may manifest you [to see] which of you is best in conduct….” (11:7)

All creation started from water by the Will of God. Water being the perennial substance of which the physical Universe, terrestrial and celestial was formed.

Ameerul Momineen Ali ibne Abi Talib (AS) in one of his sermons ( Najul Balagha) says……..

“….When the Almighty created the openings of atmosphere, expanse of firmament and strata of winds, He flowed into it water whose waves were stormy and whose surges leapt one over the other. He loaded it on dashing wind and breaking typhoons, ordered them to shed it back (as rain), gave the wind control over the vigour of the rain, and acquainted it with its limitations. The wind blew under it while water flowed furiously over it.”

And God created Man:

The Quran mentions the creation of Adam ( peace be upon him ) from “an extract of clay” (23:12 ) …”Who made good everything that He created, and He began the creation of man from dust” (32:7)

Ameerul Momineen Ali ibne Abi Talib (AS) when asked about the creation of Adam says “….he was made from hard, soft, sweet and sour earth, clay dripped in water till it got pure, and it was kneaded with moisture ……………for a fixed time and a known duration. Then Allah blew into it out of His Spirit whereupon it took the pattern of a human being with mind that governs him, intelligence which he makes use of, limbs that serve him, ……sagacity that differentiates between truth and untruth, tastes and smells, colours and species. He is a mixture of clays of different colours, cohesive materials, divergent contradictories and differing properties like heat, cold, softness and hardness.”

The one essential common factor in all creation is Water 77 Water is a fundamental of life. Without it man cannot survive for more than a few days. God has made every living thing dependent on water for its very existence.

Water is of profound importance in Islam. It is considered a blessing from God that gives and sustains life, and purifies humankind and the earth.

The Arabic word for water, ma’, occurs sixty-three times in the Quran. God’s throne is described as resting on water, and Paradise is described as “Gardens beneath which rivers flow.” Dante Caponera points out, that in the Quran, the most precious creation after humankind is water. The life-giving quality of water is reflected in the verse, “And Allah has sent down the water from the sky and therewith gives life to the earth after its death.There is a sign in this for a people who would listen..”( The Bee 16:65) Not only does water give life, but every life is itself made of water: “We made from water every living thing.Will they not then believe?”(Anbiya21:30)

All human beings rely on water for life and good health but, for Muslims, it enjoys special importance for its use in wudu (ablution, that is, washing before prayer) and ghusl (bathing). The benefit of the daily prayers, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, has itself been compared by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to the cleansing action of water in the following hadith ( tradition), “The similitude of five prayers is like an overflowing river passing by the gate of one of you in which he washes five times daily.”

It is stated in Misbahush Shari’ah that Imam as Sadiq (AS) said : “When you intend purification and wudu’ [ritual ablution], proceed to the water as you proceed to Allah’s mercy, because Allah has made water the key to his proximity and supplication, and a guide to the court of His service. And, as Allah’s mercy purifies the sins of the servants, similarly the outer filths are purified by water and by nothing else. Allah, the Exalted, says: ‘And He it is Who sends the winds as good news heralding His mercy, and We send down purifying water from the sky.’(Surah al-Furqan: 48).

Imam as Sadiq ( AS) further states : Allah has given life, with water, to everything of the blessings of this world, likewise, He has made obedience the life of the hearts, out of His mercy and grace. Think of the clarity, softness, purity and blessing of water and of its tender mixing with everything. ……….. And learn a lesson from the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) (who said): ‘A sincere believer is like water’. Let your clearness with Allah, the Most High, be like the clearness of water as He sent it down from the sky and called it ‘purifier’ [tahur]. 78 Purify your heart with fear of Allah [taqwa] and certitude [yaqin] as you cleanse your organs with water.”

The Water Cycle is described in the Holy Qur’an and Allah declares:

“And we send down water from the sky in due measure then we let it settle on the earth; and we have power to withdraw it, too.” (23:18). The words ‘due measure’ are in essence the summary of water cycle referring to the amount of water vaporized into atmosphere, turned into the form rainfall, part of which goes underground and is available to man for use.

It was only in the 16th century A.D. that the idea of rainwater penetrating the subsoil was presented by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Bernard Palissy.

Pierre Pessaull (1608-80) is considered to be the founder of the science of Hydrology. Edme Mariotte (1620-84) and the astronomer Edmond Halley (1656- 1742) also contributed to the understanding of the water cycle. It is to the distinctive merit of Holy Qur’an that it described the complete water cycle in the most correct and scientific way, uninfluenced by any of the myths and theories prevalent at that time.

Rain is mentioned several times in the Quran and in Islamic Tradition is considered a “Mercy”. It is said that one’s prayers are heard and accepted when Allah blesses you with rain.

Man is warned in verse (Al-A’raf )7:56 not to bring corruption to the world and upset the balance of what Allah has set right, and in the following verses 7: 57 and 7:58 “It is He who sends forth the winds as harbingers of His mercy. When they bear [rain-] laden clouds, We drive them towards a dead land and send down water on it, and with it We bring forth all kinds of crops. Thus shall we raise the dead; maybe you take admonition.” “ The good land – it’s vegetation comes out with the permission of it’s Lord, and as for that which is bad, it does not come out except sparsely. Thus do we paraphrase the signs variously for a people who give thanks.”

Thus through the imagery of Rain and the revival of dead earth Allah speaks of His Grace on those deserving of His mercy, who take heed and do not corrupt the earth, give thanks, He brings them into His fold once again in a revival.

Islam covers all aspects of human life. It regulates the relationships between God, humans, and nature. It is based on the recognition of the unity of the Creator and of humans’ submission to His will. Muslims believe that everything originates 79 from the One God, and everyone is responsible to Him. Humans are viewed as trustees (khulafa) and witnesses (shahed). Our role and responsibility is to ensure that all resources, including water, are used in a reasonable, equitable, and sustainable manner.

The law of the Quran by which man is guided is called ‘Shariah’ Shariah literally means “A path to life giving water”. In fact, the word Yarrah (i.e. the root of the Hebrew word Torah) means precisely the same thing. Therefore Shariah is ingrained in the Abrahamic tradition.

Before it came to mean simply “law,” the Arabic word sharia denoted the law of water (Mallat 1995). It is, therefore, not surprising that a detailed examination of the Quran and the hadith shows that Islam makes a remarkable number of specific statements about water management.

Muslims believe that God has honoured humans with authority over the countless things that He has created. Everything has been harnessed for us. We have been endowed with the power to subdue them and make them serve our objectives. This superior position gives humans authority over resources, including water. However, this authority must be guided by a sense of responsibility and accountability toward both living creatures and nature. Humans should not waste resources on fruitless ventures nor should they unnecessarily damage them. When humans employ resources in their service, they should employ the best and the least injurious methods of deriving benefit from these resources

Many verses in the Quran illustrate the value of water, how was it formed, and its vulnerability: for example: “We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?” and “Say: Tell me should your water some morning sink (into the underground earth), who then bring you clear flowing water?” ( Al- Mulk 67:30)

Islam urges all members of society to take an active and positive attitude toward public concerns.

Each has a social responsibility to conserve water and prevent water pollution Women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water. Likewise, in Islam the responsibility for taking care of resources is not divided by gender. Both men and women are considered as caretakers of resources. They act as God’s deputies on earth. They both enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. As such there is a responsibility towards the preservation of this vital resource. 80 The story of Hajar wife of the Prophet Abraham ( peace be upon him ) tells of her search for water between Safa and Marwa, for her son Ishmael. This forms part of the rituals of the Haj pilgrimage in Mecca and has made these places into sites of remembrance for Muslims.

The miraculous spring of water called Zam-Zam till this day pours forth water for the millions of pilgrims at Haj and throughout the year. The quality of water is so perfect and balanced that tests have been done by scientists to determine why the quality and ingredients do not change and they have failed to know the reason.

Principle 4 of the Dublin Statement on Water Management states that “Water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognized as an economic good.” Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad ( Peace be upon him )declared that water should be, together with pasture and fire, the common entitlement of all Muslims. This is why, in many modern Muslim countries, water legislation considers that water resources belong to the whole community, that is, the state or the public domain (Caponera 1992). Based on this notion, public water in its natural state (large lakes and rivers) cannot be sold. Access to water is a right of the community.

As in Christianity and Judaism, in Islam humankind has the first right to the resources that God has provided for his creation. It is well accepted by Islamic scholars that the priority of water use rights is: first, haq al shafa or shirb, the law of thirst or the right of humans to drink or quench their thirst; second, haq al shafa, the right of cattle and household animals; and third, the right of irrigation. However, the environment has clear and unmistakable rights in Islam.

There is no contradiction between what Islam says about water management and the emerging international consensus on the issue, as reflected by recent accords such as the Dublin Principles or the UN Water Convention. In fact, the Islamic water management principles are not unique. Some of the same principles could be derived by studying other faiths, their holy books, and the lives of their prophets. As one delves into Islam, one encounters values common not only to the other two Abra-hamic religions, Christianity and Judaism, but also to many other world-views and religions.

God informs human beings of the rights of animals by comparing them (animals) to humans: “There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you.” Animals cannot be allowed to die of thirst, and the water that remains after humans have quenched their thirst must be given to them. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, “there 81 is a reward for serving any animate (living) being,” and “He who digs a well in the desert . . . cannot prevent the animals from slaking their thirst at this well.” The immense value of giving water to any creature is mentioned in several authentic traditions.

The Quran notes that the gift of water is for flora as well: “vegetation of all kinds” and “various colours” are nourished by rainwater that God sends down.

These verses support the statement that water is made available by God so that all life should receive support according to its needs, including humans, animals, and plants (Yusuf Ali 1977, n. 3107). As Amery notes, nonhuman species have rights to sufficient water that is of “good” quality because the water has to be suitable for “nourishing vegetation” and for drinking by animals.

Because Islam arose and developed in a desert area where water resources were extremely important, Muslim sources and scholars have much to say about the ownership and transfer of water and of land tenure. The environment, however, was not the only reason for this. It was also connected with the nature of Islam as a monotheistic religion that sought to regulate the behaviour of humans according to the commands of Allah.

Misuse of the resource, bad conduct and disobeying God’s laws will also have consequences. The Quran mentions in several places the punishment for corruption, eating away an orphan’s inheritance, eating and drinking of forbidden things, Greed and wastage os God given resources. The punishment being a drink of boiling water like molten brass ( Hameem ) in Hell.

So to those who love the world I recall the words of: The seventh Imam, Musa ibn Ja’far [as], who said: “The likeness of this world is as the water of the sea. However much (water) a thirsty person drinks from it, his thirst increases so much so that the water kills him.” Bihar-uI-Anwar, vol. 78, p. 311

And where punishment is mentioned there is also reward for the good, for the pious and God-fearing, the charitable, the humble, who shall abide in Heaven where rivers flow that are whiter than milk, sweeter than honey : Kawthar, Tasnim, Salsabil…….The reward for quenching the thirst of a traveler, a guest, a visitor is that on the day of Judgement he or she shall not remain thirsty.t

As the month of Moharram begins tomorrow you will see at many places along the streets of the city Pots of cool drinking water or cool sherbat being given to any passerby who wishes to drink. This is in memory of Imam Hussain (AS) the grandson of the Prophet ( peace be upon him ), and his family and companions who were brutally martyred at Karbala on the 10th of Moharram by the Ummayad tyrant Yazid ibne Muawiya and his men after water had been denied to Imam 82 Hussain, his family and companions. Water that fundamental right given to all in Islam even during a state of war. Water that had quenched the thirst of the very same enemy troops earlier by Imam Hussain, when they marched to stop him and removed his camp from the banks of the Euphrates. That magnanimous gesture of Imam Hussain (AS) so touched the heart of one enemy commander named Hur, that on the eve of the battle that followed his conscience and his faith in truth made him join forces with the Imam, thus he too died with the seventy one others as a martyr for truth and justice, a fight against an oppressive debauched tyrant. A drink of water offered, a gesture of kindness, has it’s own reward and could mean the difference between Heaven and Hell for some.

Conclusion : Water as a social good

! Water is first and foremost a social good in Islam – a gift from God and a part of, and necessary for, sustaining all life. ! Water belongs to the community as a whole – no individual literally owns water. ! The first priority for water use is access to drinking water of acceptable quantity and quality to sustain human life, and every human being has the right to this basic water requirement. ! The second and third priorities for water are for domestic animals and for irrigation. ! Humankind is the steward of water on earth. ! The environment (both flora and fauna) has a very strong and legitimate right to water and it is vital to protect the environment by minimizing pollution. Individuals, organizations, and states are liable for harm that they have caused to the environment or to the environmental rights of others, including water use rights. ! Water resources must be managed and used in a sustainable way. ! Sustainable and equitable water management ultimately depends upon following universal values such as fairness, equity, and concern for others. References: International Development Research Center – Canada Water Management in Islam - Edited by Naser I. Faruqui, Asit K. Biswas, and Murad J. Bino Ownership and Transfer of Water and Land in Islam : Dante A. Caponera 2001 Islam and the Environment : Hussein A. Amery 2001 Islamic Water Management and the Dublin Statement : Odeh Al-Jayyousi 2001 Mr. Abbas Muljiani – Muscat, Oman : for guiding me to the correct sources 83 Significance of Water in Islam

Zarina Tajani

Islam comes from the root word ‘salam’, which means peace. It also means to submit, to surrender, to be sincere and obedient to the one and true god Allah subhanahu ta’ala. We believe that the Quran is the last and final book of Allah, which was revealed upon the last and final messenger prophet Mmohammad.Sallallahu alaihiwa sallam.(peace be upon him) What is water?

It is heaven’s way to oblige mankind, that is H2O. There is something special about water. Have you ever wondered why water is so significant to us? What does it signify?

Even before a child is born, it is surrounded by water in its mother’s womb. As it enters the world, water flows from its eyes in the form of tears. It is given the first water bath even before its mother’s milk, which also consists of water. When a person dies, he is given a last bath with water. After his death a person is promised Paradise. The angels will say,” Welcome, welcome to Paradise. We are your friends, do not grieve”

Insha allah. I shall qoute a few verses from the holy book, Quran, to throw light on this topic.

Regarding Paradise, god says in the Quran (88, xi-xii) —”the water in Paradise is never stagnant, it flows, rushes, unlike the festering waters of hell.” The Quran also equates the waters of Paradise with moral uprightness, “in the garden is no idle talk; there is a gushing fountain.” In Quran (47, xv), god says “the believers will be rewarded for their piety by the rivers of fresh waters and rivers of milk, unchanging in taste, the rivers of wine, delicious to the drinkers and rivers of honey purified”.

When a person dies, his book of accounts (deeds) is closed. But if the deceased had during his lifetime made provision for providing water to the wayfarers, poor or needy, by the means of wells, canals or pipelines, then his good deeds continue even after his death. Zamzam - A Miracle

God says in the Quran (14,xxxvii), “ when Abraham (Pbuh) said ,”Our Lord! Indeed, I have settled some of my offspring in an uncultivated valley near your 84 sacred house” it is further described in the Quran that prophet Abraham’s wife was running frantically between the hills of Safaa and Marwaa in the holy city of Mecca, in search of water for her infant son, Ismail (Pbuh), water gushed forth from beneath the infant’s feet. Hajra (pbuh) said zamzam, that is, Stop! Stop!. This water is taken by pilgrims on hajj and umrah throughout the world. This zamzam has not ceased to flow till today in the Mecca desert. God liked, the motherly act of love and desperation, so much that he has immortalized it. It is mandatory for every male pilgrim to run between the two hills as a symbolic act, in the footsteps of Hajra, a female. Zamzam can cure most of the ailments and the claim is supported with an authentic data across the world. The entire desert is now drenched with a heavenly source of water. Saving water

Water is a gift from god. It is one of the three things that every human is entitled to that is, grass (pastures for our cattle), water and fire. Water should be freely available to all, and any Muslim who withholds unneeded water, sins against god.” No one can refuse surplus water without sinning against god and against mankind.” The prophetic traditions says, “among the three people whom god shall ignore on the day of resurrection, there shall be ‘the man, who having water in excess of his needs, refuses it to a traveller ‘—represented by bukhari

Here is a true story of sacrifice—in a desert. There was a man, who was very thirsty. He was offered a glass of water. He gave it to his companion, he was thirsty too. The second companion passed the glass of water to the third companion, who was pleading for water due to thirst. Alas! Until then the third man was no more! Hence the glass of water was returned to the second one. But he too had died. Till the water had reached back to the first man, it was too late for him to survive without water, he too had died. Uses of water:

! Wadu or Ablution:- Wadu is mandatory before starting a prayer. It is a minor purification carried out before prayer, It consists of washing the hands, the face, the forearms and the feet.

! The other uses of water are for drinking, bathing, ghusal to a dead body, istanja, plantation, and for industrial uses. Islam does give water, the importance that it rightly deserves. It is water that keeps the earth cool. It is water that balances and controls the earth’s electromagnetic radiations. It is water that produces food for us through agriculture and it is water that quenches our thirst. 85 In the holy Quran (XI, vii), it is said that he is the one who created the heavens and the earth in six days and his throne was on the water, that he might test which of you is best in deeds.

According to Maulana Roami, “Worldly life is like water and the heart of a man is like a boat. Till the water remains below the boat it helps in moving the boat, but as soon as the water enters the boat, it causes the destruction of the boat.” Thus, one should not get too attracted to this worldly life and one should not forget the Almighty god who has created this world.

In Quran (XXXV, xii), god says, the two seas are not alike, one is fresh and sweet and pleasant to drink and the other is salty and bitter. And from both you eat fresh meat and extract ornaments you wear. And you see the ships sailing through so that you may seek of his bounty and that you may be grateful. From this verse, we may get the moral that if fish can exist in a favorable condition (sweet water) and unfavorable condition (bitter water) without any complains, then oh mankind, why do you keep complaining about unfavorable conditions in your life? Why can’t you be grateful to your creator (god). Always be thankful to god.

In Quran (XXV, liii), it is said that he is the one who has released the two seas, one palatable and sweet and the other salty and bitter and he has placed the barrier between them, a partition that is forbidden.

Is it not a miracle that two seas flow together maintain their own identity? This fact of nature in god’s creation teaches us to live in harmony and tolerance without creating any problems.

Example: If each drop of water wants to retain its identity, its ego, and live in isolation, then each drop will get dried up and will be useless. But if all the drops will unite together in a glass, losing their own identity, ego then that glass of water will be useful to mankind to quench their thirst.

So today, we are here on this platform to bring together each of our drops to fill a glass of water that can quench the thirst of humanity at large, insha allah. 86 Water: A Bio-Psycho-Social Construct

Dr. Avinash De Sousa

Stress, depression and anxiety are three very different conditions. However, many people experience a combination of these three. Sometimes the stress can lead to the other two, for example. There are many things that can be done to heal these emotionally tolling conditions, including removing stressors from our lives, taking medications, resting, exercising, meditation and yoga and more. However, did you know that water can also help?

The three of these disorders are mood disorders, perhaps stemming from the brain. Studies link depression to dehydration because 85% of brain tissue is water. Dehydration causes energy generation in the brain to decrease. So, lack of water can be the culprit in any of these disorders really. However, like in many other medical areas, contaminated water can also cause health problems. It is a known that lead in water can cause damage to nervous systems, with depression being one of the most common results of lead-filled water. A reverse osmosis filter is one the best ways to ensure that you are drinking safe water. Now, let’s move on to more ways water can help.

There are several types of anxiety disorders, the most common being general anxiety disorder (GAD). Beverages with caffeine can increase anxiety. Replacing soda, tea and coffee with water is a good place to start. According to a holistic health website, water is a great “anxiety quencher.” When the body is dehydrated, in can actually induce anxiety and nervousness. According to the aforementioned site, when we are dehydrated our cells feel it at the molecular level and communicate this to the subconscious as an underline subtle anxiety or threat to survival. The key is to rebalance this deficit of fluids is to drink eight glasses of fresh water a day. Water alone may not cure GAD and other related disorders, but it can sure calm those nerves!

Depression is another mood disorder than cause someone to feel sad, helpless and hopeless for an extended period of time. There are many different levels and types of depression, and the length of time it lasts also varies greatly on the person. Treatment for depression is usually through medication aptly called antidepressants. Sometimes these pills can cause dehydration, which means they need to be taken with plenty of water. Eating healthy and exercising, like with most medical conditions, is a great way to feel and be healthy. Along with this would mean cutting out alcohol and caffeine, which can not only dehydrate, but also have adverse affects on the medication. And speaking of the drugs, one 87 major side effect of some of the popular antidepressants is constipation. Being hydrated is crucial to comfort with this.

Aside from drinking water, hydrotherapy is a calming remedy for stress and anxiety. Taking a warm bath with an herbal supplement can do wonders for the body and soul. Sounds like a cliché, but the hot water will literally ease muscle tension- the supplements also helping And, the soothing herbs and the quiet time can just allow the mind to escape. You can literally wash those cares away!

An eight-year French study concluded that people exposed to water with high aluminum concentrates were more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia. It was noted that aluminum could damage nerve cells and their connectors. The major symptoms of this disease are progressive decline of memory and other higher mental functions. These changes are associated with the loss of brain cells and the development of two kinds of microscopic damage in the brain, which doctors dub the plaques and tangles. The plaques consist of abnormal deposits of a protein, beta amyloid, between the brain cells. The tangles occur within the cells. These are formed from abnormal thread-like deposits of a the protein tau, normally part of the cell’s ‘skeleton’.

There is much evidence that aluminum is associated with the disease. Studies note that there is a higher concentration of Alzheimer’s where there is also a higher concentration of aluminum in the water. In animal tests, aluminum was shown to have negative effects on the nervous system. Also, drugs that remove aluminum from the body are said to decrease the effects of Alzheimer’s. Much of this evidence is argued and great research efforts are still being put into the cause of this disease.

Although there is controversy surrounding aluminum, or any other metal, causing Alzheimer’s, it doesn’t hurt to play it safe by investing in a reverse osmosis water filter or other means to get safe drinking water. In fact, some doctors will state that it is just plain unhealthy for the brain. Also, certain foods contain this metal. In addition, doctors say the mercury is also bad for the brain- a metal found in the flu shot. A side effect of Alzheimer’s, and rightfully so, is depression. When the body is dehydrated, it is more likely to go into depression mode (see related article). So, staying healthy and hydrated can keep an Alzheimer’s patient in good spirits

To treat your headache naturally with water, it is a good idea to first find out what type of headache you have. First, there are chronic tension headaches that can result from stress overload, fatigue and even from physical problems, psychological and emotional issues and depression. Then, there are cluster 88 headaches, which are categorized by coming in groups of one to four a day in a set cluster periods that could be days or months. Hormonal headaches are similar to migraines in that they affect only one side of the head, and they are also frequently accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and/or noise. Finally, there are sinus headaches, which can be experienced after a cold or other medical condition.

Water can aid as a treatment to all of these headaches. In tension headaches, it was noted above that a cause can be fatigue. Fatigue is a side effect of dehydration. So, if dehydration is the cause of the fatigue and fatigue is the cause of the headache- start by treating the fatigue and get hydrated. Tension headaches could also be a symptom of other problems, so if they persist it is a good idea to seek help from a medical professional.

Cluster headaches are also known to be cured by drinking water. A woman by the name of Margi contributed a piece of advice at clusterheadaches.com, reporting that her husband’s headaches have not come back since he started drinking a glass of water at least every hour. Additionally, the hot water from a nice, warm shower or bath can help relax those tightened muscles. As far as preventing headaches, staying hydrated can help. In fact, a very common form of headache can come in the form of caffeine withdraw. Of course, having a coffee or soda can give the body what it wants and help ease the headache pain, but it could also begin a vicious cycle. Since caffeine dehydrates, the headache prone may be better off avoiding it and instead drink more water, juices and decaf teas, coffees and sodas.

The state of water in our world currently is endangered. Pollution, privatization, waste, climate change effects and lack of attention to this most crucial life crisis is bringing us to the brink as a species. And we have no one to blame but ourselves. In trying to assess in my own mind why something so basic and necessary to our lives is given such little attention it is frustrating to say the least. Epecially in this age of technology when we see through our modems and other devices so much more information than ever before being shared on this and so many other global crises.

When you look at the world as a whole and realize that 3/4 of it live in poverty and that the majority of those areas also do not have access to potable water/ sanitation, the correlation is obvious. Yet, we as a species even in the 21st century are failing at even providing the basic necessities of life to ourselves and others. Why? Why is water so unimportant to so many even though they know they cannot live without it? Is it ignorance? Arrogance? Or is it because there are 89 those who have been made to believe that we will always have what we need because money can buy you anything even at the expense of taking it from others.

Think about it…. 90 Hindu Perspective on Water - Case Study of River Ganga

Prof. Jyoti Bhatia Introduction:

“The World is the River of God Flowing from him and flowing back to him” Shvetashvatara Upanishad

‘Water has the power to move millions of people – let it move us in the direction of peace’. (Mikhail Gorbachev, President, Green Cross International).

Water is not only essential to our body but also it has an intimate relationship to our mind. In other words, water is the mirror to reflect our mind. Sustainable water resources development and management are major challenges of the immediate and long-term future. History has shown that the most important feature of freshwater provides a powerful natural incentive for cooperation. Water is religion of Life in Sanskrit also termed as ‘Jalam Jeevana Dharma’ in Hindi.

Conflicts over water could be looked upon as consisting of three key spheres: hydrosphere, economic, and political. There is a strong potential conflict between the ecosystem’s needs for water and human needs. Even within the context of human needs, conflicts over water are often affected by problems in the economic and political spheres as much as those generated within the water sphere itself. Without water there is no life, yet water has the power to destroy as well as to create. We are at the mercy of water just as we are at the mercy of our God. The significance of water manifests itself differently in different religions and beliefs but it is these two qualities of water that underlie its place in our cultures and faiths. A. Water Worship: Water has been worshipped not only in India but in many European and other Asian countries. Water washes away evil, disease and old age, from where arose the idea that there was somewhere a fountain of youth or of immortality. Water cleanses us morally. It is a belief that strength returns after the bath. In India water is taken in hand while uttering a prayer and the same water is believed to be very powerful, the hands are washed before accepting a present. Since water 91 is one of the essential factors in the preservation of the life and the growth of the crops, it naturally plays an important role in man’s life. Similarly agriculture and then commerce would lend an additional importance to water as a means of irrigation and transportation, which again would find a reason for water-worship.

In the Puranas, we find the most elaborate form of worship of water. Here waters are considered as the most miraculous, holy, super natural and divine. They have various Gods as their presiding deities. They are blessed with many powers and attributes by the Gods and Sages. Many of them are said to have divine origin, or are attributed with super natural virtues and thus are regarded sacred and worshipped.

According to Rigveda, Aryans were nature worshipers. Whatever they feared they started worship of that object. The strength and activities of the natural powers like Fire, Water, Wind, Sun, Rain and Rivers are beyond the imagination of the then people. So they started worshipping these powers as objects of veneration. Among these, water is one of the most important powers. Later on water was also associated with the worship of Vedic God Varuna. The successors of Aryans still continue this nature worship. The Rigvedic seers called the waters Goddesses as they quenched the thirst of their cattle. Rigveda praises water as Apsaras (the anthropomorphic form of water). The waters bestow long life, wealth and immortality. It cleans and purifies the worshipper, even from moral sins such as telling lies, cursing and violence. B. Hinduism

Water in Hinduism has a special place because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. To Hindus all water is sacred, especially rivers. The seven sacred rivers are the Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. Although Hinduism encompasses so many different beliefs, among those that most Hindus do share is- the importance of striving to attain purity and avoiding pollution. This relates to both physical cleanliness and spiritual well-being. C. Case Study of River Ganga

‘The Ganges has been a symbol of India’s age-long culture and civilization, ever changing, ever flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga.’ Jawaharlal Nehru, born in Allahabad on the Ganges.

Reference of Ganga is available in the Vedas and the Puranas. Ganga is the path to heaven of those that have bathed in her current. The Ganga or Ganges River is a major river of the Indian subcontinent. It is associated with mythology, as well 92 as, reality with the people of India. In Hinduism it is personified as a Goddess & it is an integral part of Hindu religion.

i. Geographical Overview:

The river known as the “Ganges” is officially and popularly known by its Hindu name, Ganga. The river Ganges is very sacred to the Hindus. The river has its source in the Himalayas, at Gaumukh in the southern Himalayas on the Indian side of the Tibetan border. It is 1,560 miles (2,510 km) long and flows through China, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The Ganges river basin is one of the most fertile and densely populated in the world and covers an area of 4,00,000 sq miles (10,00,000 sq km). The headwaters of the Ganges and Brahmaputra originate in the Tibetan China area of the Himalayan mountain range. The Ganges River flows South- West into India, turns South-East joining with many major tributaries (covering 29 cities with population over 1,00,000; 23 cities with a population between 50,000 and 100,000, and about 48 towns.) After flowing into Bangladesh, the Ganges joins the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers to flow into the Bay of Bengal as the Meghna (Padma) river.

Approximately a quarter of India lies within the Ganges river basin India holds power within the Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins due to its important geographic positioning (upstream), large contribution of flow to the Ganges River and prior use stake hold. India reduces flow within the Ganges through two water diversions at Haridwar and Farakkar. The diversion at Haridwar, into the Upper Ganges Canal, was constructed for irrigation. The Farakka barrage is another major water diversion located immediately upstream of the Bangladesh boundary. The Farakka barrage diverts water from the Ganges River to the Bhagirathi River via the Hugli Canal during the dry season.

According to the Puranas, there are three tributaries of the Ganga and they are Swarg Ganga (Mandakini), Bhoo Ganga (Bhagirathi) and Patal Ganga (Bhagvati).

ii. Significance:

As Amrit (drink that confers immortality) is to the deities, a Swadha (oblation offered to Pitris during sacred fire ceremony) is to the Pitris, as Sudha is to the Nagas, even so is Ganga water to human beings. The merit that one earns by bathing in Ganga, is such that the like of it is incapable of being earned through the acquisition of sons or wealth or the performance of meritorious acts. The man of righteous conduct who, 93 with rapt soul, thinks of Ganga at the time when his life-breaths are about to leave his body, succeeds in attaining to the highest end. Ganga is regarded as competent to rescue every creature from sin and lead him to the felicity of heaven. iii. Ganga as per Hindu Myth:

“pavanah pavatam asmi ramah shastra-bhrtam aham jhasanam makaras chasmi srotasam asmi jahnavi” (Shrimad Bhagwat Gita: (X : iii)

Meaning:

“Sri Krishna said to Arjuna: Of all the purifiers I am the wind; of the wielders of weapons I am Rama; of fishes I am the shark; and of all the flowing rivers I am the River Ganges. Lord Krishna himself declares that among all the rivers, God himself is there as “River Ganga” on this earth. So it is a form of a living Goddess.

Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya:

Of purifiers Lord Krishna’s vibhuti or divine, transcendental opulence is the wind. Amongst all the rivers, Lord Krishna’s vibhuti is ‘jahnavi’ - a name of the holy Ganga.

Rigveda:

The earliest and theoretically the holiest of the Hindu scriptures mentions Ganga in the nadistuti (Rigveda 10.75), which lists the holy rivers from East to West. iv. Origin of Ganga:

Ganga is said to have originated on the tenth day of Shukl Paksh of Jyestha month (third month of Hindu calendar). This day is also known as Ganga Dussehara. The Puranas state that Ganga is the daughter of the Himalayas and Sumeru’s daughter Menaka is the mother of Ganga. The river is believed to flow from the toe of Vishnu to be spread into the world through the hairs of Shiva. 94 According to Vayupuran, before coming to the earth, Ganga lived in the heaven.

According to Bhagvat Puran descendents of King Sagar brought the Ganga to the earth from heaven after performing a lot of rituals.

According to Hindu mythology, Ganga flowed in the heavens but then was ordered to go down to earth. Fearing that her forceful descent might wash away the earth, the Gods sought the help of Shiva. Shiva broke the fall of Ganga-Ganges by capturing her in his mighty locks. Since then, Ganga-Ganges resides on top of Shiva’s head as his second wife (the first being Parvati).

It is also said that due to Bhagiratha’s efforts Ganga descended on to earth and hence the river is also known as Bhagirathi, and the term “Bhagirath prayatna” is used to describe a most important achievement.

v. Beliefs of Visit:

! According to Skandpuran, a person who takes a bath in the holy Ganga on Ganga Dashmi, is blessed and goes to heaven.

! As mentioned in the Vishnu Puran, people get rid of their sins, by taking the name of Ganga, remembering her, while taking a bath in the Ganga or drinking its water. Three places are most prominent for taking a bath in the Ganga: Haridwar, Prayag and Gangasagar near Kolkata

! As per a Sanskrit hymn: “Jyeshtha mase site pakshe dashamya budh hastiyoh Dashehara jayate vyas ganga janm par shuchi”

Meaning: It is believed that if in Jyestha month, Shukla Paksh, ‘Dashmi Tithi’, Wednesday, Hast Nakshatra, Moon of Virgo sign, Sun of Taurus sign falls on Ganga Dashmi and a person worships Ganga on this day and takes a holy dip in Haridwar, Prayag or Gangasagar, he is exonerated from all his sins and becomes pure.

! Shaivite philosopher and Acharya Adi Shankar emphasized the importance of rivers and organized by their banks assemblies of sages, saints and yogis who came together to deliberate on and disseminate their faith. Thus, the tradition of Kumbh was born. Four rivers in four directions of the country became sacred bathing sites. Consequently, 95 the Ganga and her contiguous cities in North India became principal centre of spiritual and cultural congregations.

It is believed that those who bathe in the Ganges and leaves some part of their body (hair or bone) on the left bank will attain Swarg (the paradise of Indra). Ganga waters are used in worship and a sip of this water is generally given to a dying person. vi. Spiritual Experience at the Ganga

Pilgrimage is very important to Hindus. Holy places are usually located on the banks of rivers, coasts, seashores and mountains. Sites of convergence, between land and river/s carry special significance and are sacred. In the Ganges the pure are made even more pure and the impure have their pollution removed if only temporarily. Kumbha Mela is a pilgrimage of Hindu devotees and is held every three years at four different places in turn - Hardwar, Nasik, Prayag and Ujjain. These places are believed to be where drops of Amrit (the nectar of immortality) – which fell to earth during a heavenly conflict.

The river, personified as a goddess, is worshipped by Hindus, who believe that bathing in the river causes the remission of sins and facilitates liberation from the cycle of life and death. Pilgrims travel long distances to immerse the ashes of their kin in the waters of the Ganga, so that their loved ones will pass on to heaven.

Several places sacred to Hindus lie along the banks of the river Ganga, and includes Gangotri, Haridwar, Allahabad and Varanasi. vii.Why do people visit the Ganga river?

Pilgrims visit the Ganga river to perform the important rituals of their spiritual rebirth involving the use of Ganga water. Such rituals normally take place at Haridwar, Varanasi (Kashi or Banaras) and Allahabad.

The Abhishek Puja: Every child born to Hindu parents is given an ‘abhishek’, bath in milk and the holy waters of the Ganges. The child is ‘purified’ per se from the sins of its last life for a fresh beginning in this life.

The Holy Bath before Marriage: Marriage in Hindu philosophy is like being born again as a as a soul that has two bodies. So it becomes important that any individual about to enter holy matrimony must be purged of all impurities of the soul. 96 The Asthi Visarjan: This is a ritual deeply associated with the concept of rebirth in Hinduism. Asthi Visarjan is a part of the last rites of a human being. After the cremation of the dead body, the left over ashes are supposed to be disposed off into any of the holy river waters by the Hindus. This sort of death in the spiritual water will ensure that soul of the dead a favourable rebirth.

The Visarjan of Idols: This is an universal custom in Hinduism that the idols of deities made for special festive occasions like Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja have to be immersed in a water body. So the use of water in religion is not just limited to living beings but also extends to the Gods themselves. The Gods are supposed to visit the mortals during these festivals are put forth for the journey to their heavenly abode by immersing them in water by Hindus. This is done so that they can come back the next year. The Ardh Kumbh: In Haridwar, a recent study showed that during the Kumbh Mela thousands of people took a holy dip in the river Ganga, which is worshipped as ‘Mokshdayini’ (enabling people to attain salvation). Research: Visitors also include scientists from around the world, as the Ganga water has always been a major source of study for research on issues like its sacredness, resources available, medicinal implications on living beings and pollution. Tourists: The Ganga also provides an attraction for tourists to give them a historical, cultural and traditional insight into India. Conclusion:

As the Ganga travelled to the nether-worlds, it created a different stream to remain on Earth to help purify unfortunate souls here. It is the only river to follow from all the three worlds - Swarga (heaven), Prithvi (earth) and Patala (hell). Thus it is called “Tripathagâ” (one who travels the three worlds) in Sanskrit. Rivers have been an important reason for the rural prosperity of India. Carrying a wider importance in cultural, economical, geographical as well as religious development, the numerous rivers of India are of great value to us. Some of the most prominent rivers in India include Ganga, Yamuna, Krishna, Godavari, Narmada and Kaveri. It is believed by all the Hindus that bathing in the Ganges generally or on certain occasions causes the remission of sins and facilitates the attainment of salvation (Moksha). So Hindus travel from distant places to take a holy dip in Ganga 97 waters. Hindus also immerse the ashes of their kin in the sacred waters of the Ganges.

References

1. Talageri, Shrikant. (2000) The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis 2. Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature. 3. Indian Religion - Peter Hees. 4. The Hindu View of Life - S.Radhakrishna 5. God Makes Rivers Flow - Eknath Easwaran 6. Hindu Culture - An Introduction 7. Bhagwad Gita –M.R. Yardi 8. Shrimad Bhagwad Gita - Kishorchandra Shastri 9. Websites- www.varanasicity.com & www.templenet.com. 98 Hindu Perspective on Water

Elcy Pinto Introduction

Vedic philosophy which is the structural basis of Hinduism identifies that water and the human body in the Hindu social system are not merely physical entities. Hindus give a lot of importance to water in their day to day life, because water is seen as source of physical and spiritual cleanliness and well-being... a striving to attain purity and avoid pollution. This widespread aspiration lends itself to a reverence for water as well as the integration of water into most Hindu rituals. Water in Hindu Ritual

Water is very important for all the rituals in Hinduism. For example, water is essential as a cleaning agent, cleaning the vessels used for the poojas (rituals), and for Abhishekas or bathing of deities. Several dravyas or nutrients used for the purpose of bathing the deities and after use of each dravya. Water is used for cleansing the deity. Water offered to the deity and the water collected after bathing the Deities are considered very sacred. This water is offered as “Theertha” or blessed offering to the devotees.

Poorna Kumba literally means a full pitcher (“poorna” is full and “kumbha” is pitcher). The Poorna Kumbha is a pitcher full of water with fresh leaves preferably of mango tree and a coconut placed on the top. Poorna Kumbha is an object symbolizing God and it is regularly used during different religious rites. The water in the jar is said to be of divine essence.

Many of the poojas in Hinduism start with keeping a kalasa which is a brass, silver or gold pot filled with water adorned with a coconut amidst mango or other sacred leaves. Kalasa symbolizes the universe and becomes an integral part of the Mandalic-liturgy as it still forms an indispensable element of certain poojas in Hinduism. The pot is the first mandala into which the deities descend and raise themselves.

One of the religious rituals is tarpana, which means to please or to gratify. Specifically, tarpana is the act of pouring water through the hands with the use of sacred grass as a symbolic gesture of recognition, thanking and pleasing Gods, sages, and fathers. 99 During all purification rites water is sprinkled on the objects which are to be purified. Water used to be sprinkled on any offerings to the deities.

Before starting a meal Hindus sprinkle water around the leaf or plate in which the meal is traditionally eaten. In times past, a King was sprinkled with water in order to purify him during his coronation. This was believed to ensure an auspicious beginning to his reign.

There is also an important ritual called Sandhyopasana or Sandhyavandana which is a combination of meditation and concentration. Sandhya is an obligatory duty to be performed daily for self-purification and self-improvement. Regular Sandhya cuts the chain of old Samskaras and changes everyones old situation entirely. It brings purity, Atma-Bhava, devotion and sincerity. The important features of this ceremony are: Achamana or sipping of water with recitation of Mantras, Marjana or sprinkling of water on the body which purifies the mind and the body, Aghamarshana or expiation for the sins of many births, and Surya Arghya or ablutions of water to the Sun-god (the other two non water-based elements of the ceremony are: Pranayama, or control of breath which steadies the wandering mind, and silent recitation of Gayatri; and Upasthana, or religious obeisance). The first part of Arghya consists of hymns addressed to water and its benefits. The sprinkling of water on the face and the head and the touching of the different organs (the mouth, nose, eyes, ears, chest, shoulders and head) with wetted fingers, are meant to purify those parts of the body and invoke the respective presiding deities on them. They also stimulate the nerve-centres and wake up the dormant powers of the body. The Arghya drives the demons who obstruct the path of the rising sun. Esoterically, lust, anger and greed are the demons who obstruct the intellect from rising up (the intellect is the sun).

Water, Social Stratification and Hinduism

The core concern of Hindu ritualism is concerned with the manipulation and maintenance of purity and impurity. Purity is increased by associating or coming into contact with things and actors assigned pure status and by reducing association with things and actors of impure status. There are essentially two ways to bring about a condition of purity, one is to distance oneself from objects signifying impurity and the other is to purify oneself by things recognised to have the ability to absorb and thus remove pollution directly. Water is the most common medium of purification. It is considered to have an intrinsic purity and the capacity to absorb pollution and carry it away

To unfold the context of social stratification in Indian Hindu society and to determine the role of water in the regulation of social order it is essential to go 100 back into history to trace the origin of the institution of these belief systems and forward into existing social and cultural contexts to identify whether the institution of the caste system still exists and if it does then in what shape, context and pattern in relation to water use practices. The Vedic Period - the Sanctification of Water

In Vedic texts, water is referred to as Apah, or literally the Waters. The Waters are considered to be purifying in a spiritual context.

‘Hail to you, divine, unfathomable, all purifying Waters…’(Rig Veda).

The Rig Veda identifies the Waters as the first residence or ayana of Nara, the Eternal Being and therefore water is said to be pratishtha, the underlying principle, or the very foundation of this universe.

‘Water may pour from the heaven or run along the channels dug out by men; or flow clear and pure having the Ocean as their goal…In the midst of the Waters is moving the Lord, surveying men’s truth and men’s lies. How sweet are the Waters, crystal clear and cleansing…From whom… all the deities drink exhilarating strength, into whom the Universal Lord has entered…’(Satapatha).

Early Vedic texts also identify water as a manifestation of the feminine principle, known commonly as Sakti. ‘I call the Waters, Goddesses, wherein our cattle quench their thirst; Oblations to the streams be given…’(Rig Veda). It is said that the primordial cosmic man or Purusa was born of the Waters. Similarly later Vedic texts identify that, ‘Water is female…’(Satapatha).

Vedic philosophy thus bestows a sacred character on water, which is then identified as a medium to attain spiritual enlightenment. The concept of purification in early Vedic texts was essentially spiritual, rather than moral and/ or physical. Understanding the primary meaning and force of water was considered to supersede all ritual and rite. The Vedas identify water as the very essence of spiritual sacrifice or ‘the first door to attain the divine order’(Atharva Veda). The use of water in daily life as well as in ritualistic ceremony was referred to as spiritual sacrifice, a process of attaining eternity.

A cleansing bath was believed to liberate one from sin and impurity: ‘…Whatever sin is found in me, whatever wrong I may have done, if I have lied or falsely sworn, Waters remove it far from me…’ (Rig Veda). 101 The act of bathing was considered intensely spiritual and it was believed that physical acts of imperfection were removed and spiritual oneness with the Eternal Self was attained during the process. According to the Vedas, it was not the act of taking a bath itself, but the coming into contact with the sacredness of water, and the attainment of such knowledge and proximity that made one sinless and guided the individual to the Eternal Self. Water was considered sacred but it was clarified that man does not pray to water, the physical entity, but to the source of life and spirituality within water. ‘Water is the purified as well as the purifier, the real and spiritually conceived source of life. Social Order in Vedic Philosophy

In the early Vedic period, social stratification in human society existed on the basis of colour, class, individual capacity, occupational aptitude and moral and intellectual worth, rather than on the later determined caste system, which is based on inheritance-based rights and privileges. The first instance of social distinction is made on the colour and culture differences between the fair skinned Aryas and the dark skinned Dasas. Then, the division of mankind into four varnas from the Purusa or the Eternal Man is described in the hymn, Purusa Sukta of the Rig Veda:

‘When they divided Man, how did they make him? The Brahman was his mouth; his arms were made the Rajanya (Kshatriya); his thighs were the Vaisya; from his feet the Sudra was born.’

Social hierarchy in the early Vedic society is believed to have been divinely- ordained. Historians argue that the varna system was an ‘open class system’ of flexible membership and the construction of castes and the rigid caste system did not begin in the early Vedic period. ‘The Vedic quadripartition of classes or colours (Varnasrama) is not to be confused with the notion of caste or jati as this was merely a social model based on a cosmic paradigm of hierarchy’. However the system of social stratification was established in the early Vedic period, even if it was flexible and not inherently binding. The Rig Veda defines varnas and designated occupations, ‘One to high sway (Brahmana), one to exalted glory (Kshatriya), one to pursue his gain (Vaisya) and one to his labour (Sudra).’

‘Brahmans were to be the teachers of mankind, Kshatriyas were to carry weapons and protect people, Vaisyas were to provide food for the people and the Sudras were to be the footmen or servants of the other varnas, even if they had all originated from the same Eternal Man’. 102 The Post Vedic Periods and the Institutionalisation of Water-related Social Inequality In contrast to the notion of spirituality in early Vedic texts, Smrtis or post Vedic literature constructed the notion of ritualism. Water governed the ritualistic or bodily purification of human existence. Ritualism was related to the construct of Dharma or moral law and the most authoritative text on the subject of Dharma is the ‘Laws of Manu’, or Manusmrti. Manu is blamed for creating the caste system, however some authors argue that he may have simply recorded the system of social order that existed then. What matters though, is that Manu and other lawmakers of this period codified the social order as morally appropriate social behaviour, social duties and obligations. Social obligations and duties were classified as contributing to religious ritualism, which explains why the religiously inclined Hindus tenaciously practise Dharma as their culture. ‘Dharma persists steadfastly in Hindu society, despite the fact that there is no watchdog, like the Western Church, to enforce moral regulations’

The law books or Dharmasastras defined in very clear terms how Sudras were, on the basis of their inherited status to undertake defiling and/or polluting tasks. In order to maintain purity, the Sudras who were essentially bound to undertake polluting tasks were excluded physically, socially and morally from the larger village commune. Sudras, identified in the Dharmasastras as the very essence of pollution, were required to live outside the village confines. Fa Hein, the Chinese traveller to India, writes about how in a public place, the Candalas had to give notice of their approach by striking a piece of wood, to warn others to avoid contact with them). Any physical association of a Sudra, especially a Sudra male with women of other castes, was a severely punishable act for the Sudra, which could lead to castration or even death, even if the association was mutually desired. Purification of touch by a Sudra involved taking a cleansing bath; talking to a Sudra was purified by talking to a Brahman; and the sight of a Sudra was purified by looking at the sun, moon or stars and rinsing the mouth with water (acamana). In the Dharmasastras, water was identified as a medium to purify the pollution obtained through the Sudras. The Manusmriti also elaborates how water and food cooked in water, offered or touched by the Sudras, was polluting. It was stated that when Sudras touch a well or any other stagnant water source, the source and the water is polluted.

According to Manu, apart from the eternally polluted Sudras, all persons became polluted and therefore ‘untouchable’ during birth and death in the house. Those touching members mourning during death, touching the corpse and/or carrying the corpse to the cemetery were identified as polluted. Drawing parallel with the notion of pollution accorded to death, Sudras were likened by him to ‘a living 103 cemetery’. Women, on account of their bodily secretions during their menstrual cycle and immediately after childbirth, were identified as polluting regardless of their caste. During this period, all of the restrictions detailed for the Sudras were exercised on them. Those touching menstruating women or touching women during the first ten days after childbirth were also considered as polluting. Water was ascribed as a medium to purify all these forms of pollution. Conclusion

We see that water has played a very important role in Hinduism from ages and continues to do so even today. It is looked with reverence because of its ability to purify and be a source of life .All the important rituals in Hinduism like poojas, marriage, birth and death of individual water is treated sacred and source spiritual cleansing. The social hierarchy of Manu also dwelt on how the usage of water was restricted to the Shudras as they were seen as polluted, because of their work. The Brahmins had privilege to access the most pure form of water whereas the Shudras were left with polluted sources of water which the Brahmins thought unfit for human consumptions. Thus we see that water has played a key role in spiritual, physical and social life of the Hindus in a big way.

References: 1 Rig Veda 2 Science Reporter, August 2010 3 Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam- Del Byron Scneider 4 Animal Welfare and Nature : Hindu Scriptural Perspectives-G Naganathan

5 Hinduism: A Religion to Live – N.C. Choudhari 104 Boire et Manger en Méditerranée

Paul Balta etiens à remercier M. Giuseppe Musumeci, organisateur de cetterencontre sur la convivialité, pour son aimable invitation à y participer. Ilm’a demandé de vous présenter Boire et manger en Méditerranée, publié par Actes Sud. Il donnesoixante recettes, mais c’est surtout une évocation historique de la Méditerranée des origines ànos jours à travers le boire et le manger. 1 Mer des Miracles

Permettez-moi de vous lire, en introduction, des passages du chapitre intitulé”Mer des miracles” qui résume bien l’esprit du livre. « Essentiellement périssable, précaire, évanescente parce que quotidienne, la cuisine est, paradoxalement, l’art qui perdure par excellence. Dans cette Méditerranée, berceau des trois religions monothéistes révélées, le boire et le manger sontprésents dans les livres sacrés - Ancien Testament, Évangiles, Coran- comme dansles ouvrages profanes. Inséparables de la musique et de ladanse, ils inspirent laplupart des autres arts.Expression d’une culture enracinée dans l’histoire, la gastronomie est fille de la civilisation. Les habitudesalimentaires –reflet de l’environnement et de la religion - sont si profondément ancrées chez les peuples que ceux-cirépugnent à en adopter de nouvelles. Étrangement, plus qu’ailleurs, la Méditerranée confirme et dément, tout àla fois, cette réalité remontant à la nuit destemps.

« Merdes miracles, des migrations, de toutes les migrations... des hommes, desplantes, des plats, des mots, des parfums, des modes. Ces modes qui exprimentsi merveilleusement les hasards de la vie, les humeurs d’une société, le goûtdu plaisir. Fruits et fleurs venus de mondes lointains se sont acclimatés siparfaitement sur ses rives qu’ils y poussent, croit-on, de toute éternité oupresque, à l’instar du figuier, de l’olivier et de la vigne ! Nous l’éprouvonschaque jour sansnous en rendre compte, en effectuant un fabuleux voyage dans l’espace etdans le temps, que nous avalions le matin un jus de pamplemousse, que nousdégustions un melon à midi ou que nous prenions, le soir, un «café blanc»,l’infusion de fleurs d’oranger des Libanais. »

Jerappelle ensuite que les Arabes ont introduit, au VIIèsiècle, melons, pastèques et oranges amères, les narinj qu’ils ont greffées au Portugalpour en tirer la douce appelée bortucal. De même, ils ont introduit laculture en terrasse et des systèmes de répartition de l’eau encore en usage. Jereprends ma citation: 105 « À l’origine, comme le note Fernand Braudel, îles et rives de la Méditerranéeétaient très pauvres. Nombre de plantes originaires de Chine ont étéacclimatées dans divers pays d’Asie centrale, comme l’amandier en Afghanistan, le pêcher en Perse, l’abricotier en Arménie, avant de parvenir autour dubassin. Par ailleurs, le blé nous vient du Kurdistan, le gombo de l’Inde, le café d’Éthiopie, sans parler des épices aux multiples origines... D’autres apports, relativement récents, ne sont pas moins amples. En effet, si 1492 estl’année de la chute de Grenade et du reflux arabo-berbère d’Europe, c’est aussicelle où Christophe Colomb, partant à la recherche... de l’Inde et de sesépices, découvre l’Amérique ! D’où nous viennent, entre autres, les figuiers debarbarie, si bien intégrés dans le paysage méditerranéen, les haricots rouges,le manioc, la pomme de terre dont Antoine Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813),pharmacien militaire, a vulgarisé la culture en France, les tomates qui n’ontvraiment prospéré qu’après leur adoption par l’Italie, les courges et lespiments respectivement transformés par les Méditerranéens en courgettes et enpoivrons. Quant à l’eucalyptus qui paraît, lui aussi, si familier, il n’a étéimporté d’Australie qu’en 1869. Néanmoins, comme dans d’autres domaines -maisnous avons tendance à l’oublier- c’est notre héritage oriental qui est leplus considérable».

Je doissignaler aussi l’immense apport de la Turquie. Jusqu’aux croisades, la riveNord ne connaissait que le miel pour donner de la douceur. C’est en Turquie queles Croisés découvrent le sucre qui a permis de préparer les fruits confitspuis la confiture. La Turquie est le premier exportateur mondial de fruits secs(figues, raisins, pistaches, amandes...) C’est aussi le paradis de l’onctueux loukoum, et de la helva ou halawa, en arabe, à basede sésame et de sucre. Paradis aussi des pâtisseries à base de pâtefeuilletée, que les Viennois ont adoptée lors du premier siège de leur ville en1529, pour faire les croissants et autres viennoiseries qui se sont répanduesdans toute l’Europe et en Méditerranée. Elle a inventé aussi une grande partiedes gâteaux orientaux comme les baklawas, les kadaifi, les kourabiyé. J’en profite poursignaler aux membres de la Fédération alimentaire que Giuseppe Musumeci et moi-même sommes prêts a répondre à leurs questions sur les thèmesqui les intéressent.

La Méditerranée est aussi la mer de la diversité car aucune autre région dumonde n’a vu, dans un espace aussi limité, apparaître et s’affirmer autant depeuples et de civilisations: Égyptiens, Hébreux, Phéniciens, Crétois, Grecs,Romains, Byzantins, Gaulois, Ibères, Berbères, Ostrogoths, Wisigoths, Slaves, Arabes, Turcs, Européens... Pour le Méditerranéen que je suis par mes racineset par vocation, il y a six rives avec leurs spécificités, leurs oppositionsmais aussi leurs complémentarités, y compris pour la nourriture et la boisson. 106

! La rive Est, Euro-asiatique, ancienne Asiemineure grecque et byzantine devenue la Turquie, premier État musulman a avoir proclamé la laïcité en1923 ; ! La rive Est, Asiatique, berceau des Phénicienset des trois religions monothéistes révélées, comprend cinq pays : Syrie,Liban, Jordanie, Palestine, Israël, à dominante arabe et musulmane avec desminorités chrétiennes et juives et non arabes : Arméniens, Druzes, Kurdes ; ! La rive Sud Estafricaine, celle de l’Égypte, le plus vieil État-nation du monde, copte et musulmane, pivot entre Machrek et Maghreb ; ! La rive Sud Ouest, celle duMaghreb, qui veut dire Occident en arabe, de la Libye au Maroc et à la Mauritanie atlantique, à vieux fond berbère, islamisée et arabisée; ! La rive Nord Ouest, Arc des “soeurs latines”, catholique en majorité ! La rive Nord Est enfin, celle des Balkans et dela Grèce, à majorité d’orthodoxes et des minorités juives, catholiques et musulmanes.

Je reprends et termine ma citation : « La Méditerranée est enfin la merdes paradoxes. Zone de rupture et de confrontations, elle n’a jamais cesséd’être, depuis quelque dix mille ans, un carrefour d’échanges où commerce etculture se sont toujours conjugués. C’est sans doute pourquoi, malgré leurfrugalité légendaire, imposée à l’origine par la nature, les riverains ont faitde mare nostrum le principal berceau de la gastronomie et de l’art de vivre. Le miracle decette mer ne consiste pas seulement à assimiler ce qui lui vient d’ailleurs, mais aussi à le transfigurer et à donner à ce qu’elle adopte, qu’elle adapte ouqu’elle crée, la dimension du mythe ! » 2 Le Vin, L’ivresse...

Je voudrais maintenant commencer mon voyage en gastronomie par le vin et l’ivresse. Il y a beaucoup de clichés etd’idées reçues dans ce domaine. Ainsi, selon une croyance très répandue cheznos contemporains, le vin est méditerranéen alors que la bière serait l’apanagede l’Europe du Nord. Or des tablettes d’argile de Mésopotamie, découvertes aumilieu du XXè siècle, ont révélé que la première boisson fermentée fut labière, kash, pourles Sumériens, shikâru, “l’enivrante”, pour les Akkadiens. Breuvage courantdes riches et des pauvres dès 3200 av. J.-C., elle fut aussi de toutes lesfêtes bien avant le vin. En effet, le premier texte qui fait état du vinest de 2350 av. J.-C. soit 900 ans plus tard. En outre, les Mésopotamiensfurent aussi les inventeurs des tavernes où ils aimaient se retrouver pourboire seuls ou avec des amis. La taverne que nous avons adoptée est l’ancêtrede nos bars. 107 Des textes hiéroglyphiques et des bas-reliefs confirment que l’Égypte pharaonique consommait aussi la bière, heneket et seremet, et le vin, sous trois formes : ordinaire, sucré ou cuit. Dans l’Antiquité, les deux boissons ont coexisté en Méditerranée orientale puis dans le bassin occidental, surtouten Gaule, où les Celtes buvaient la cervoise, devenue la cervesa des Espagnols.

Les Mésopotamiens croyaient déjà que l’ivresse permettait d’entrer en contactavec les divinités, mais ce sont les Grecs qui, les premiers, ont hissé le vinau rang de breuvage divin consacré par Dionysos, dieu de l’ivresse. Cettenotion de l’ivresse favorisant l’union de l’âme avec Dieu se retrouve dans lapoésie des mystiques chrétiens et des soufis musulmans. C’est le cultedionysiaque qui a introduit le sens du mystère dans la religion, lapoésie lyrique en littérature et le mouvement passionné dans les artsplastiques.

Grands poètes, les bédouins d’Arabie étaient aussi de grands buveurs.Aujourd’hui, avec la montée de l’intégrisme, les rigoristes affirment quel’islam interdit l’alcool. En réalité, le Coran nel’interdit pas. Un verset lui estmême, sans conteste, favorable : « Vous retirez une boisson enivranteet un aliment excellent, des fruits du palmier et de la vigne. Il y a vraimentlà un signe pour un peuple qui comprend. » (XVI, 67). Ailleurs, le Coran déconseille. D’abordmodérément : « O Croyants ! Ne priez point lorsque vous êtes ivres, / attendez de savoir ce que vous dites ! » (IV, 43) ; les malicieux en ont déduit qu’ils pouvaient boire etmême être ivres, en dehors des heures de prière. Puis il condamne plusfermement mais pas de façon absolue : « O Croyants ! Le vin, les jeuxde hasard, les statues et la divination par les flèches sont une abominationinventée par Satan ; abstenez-vous en et vous serez heureux »(V, 90-92). En effet, le Coran, parole de Dieu pourl’Islam, fait la distinction entre ce qui est déconseillé et ce qui estinterdit catégoriquement : dans ce dernier cas, le coupable doit subir unchâtiment, comme les 100 coups de bâton pour l’homme et la femme adultères, ouil est menacé du feu éternel et envoyé en enfer. En tout cas, lescondamnations sans appel n’ont pas empêché de se développer, chezles musulmans, une brillante poésie bachique à l’Est jusqu’à l’Iran et au-delà,à l’Ouest jusqu’au Maghreb et en Andalousie.

Comment ne pas parler de Ziryab (789-857) et de ses multiples apports ?Arbitre des élégances et du bon goût, ce chanteur de Bagdad s’était installé àCordoue à la cour du calife. Alors qu’on mangeait dans le désordre, il a fixél’ordonnance des repas : entrée, plat principal, desserts. Il a remplacé legobelet d’or ou d’argent par le verre à pied, parce qu’il met en valeur lacouleur du vin. Avec lui, la tradition du banquet connaît un nouvel âged’or. L’alimentation étant liée à l’art de vivre, Ziryab a inauguré lamode saisonnière : étoffes légères de couleurs vives 108 au printemps, vêtementsblancs l’été, manteaux et toques de fourrure l’hiver. Il a ouvert un institutde beauté d’une étonnante modernité pour les hommes et pour les femmes,restauré l’usage du parfum, introduit le jeu d’échecs et créé l’École demusique andalouse. Pour clore le thème du vin, je vais vous lire ce quatrain dupoète persan Omar Khayâm (1047-1122) qui était aussi un grand mathématicien :

O toi qui ne bois pas de vin, ne blâme pasceux qui s’enivrent. Entre l’orgueil et l’imposture, pourquoivouloir tricher sans fin ? Tu ne bois pas, et puis après ? Ne sois pas fier del’abstinence Et regarde en toi tes péchés. Ils sont bienpires que le vin. 3 L’alimentationdans Les Trois Religions Monothéistes

Cethème mériterait à lui seul une conférence. Contrairement aux Évangiles quin’édictent pas de tabous alimentaires, les textes sacrés juifs et musulmansimposent une série d’interdits. Plusieurs passages de l’Ancien Testamentconcernent “les règles relatives au pur et à l’impur” et les produitsdont la consommation est « licite », « kasher »,« halal »en arabe, ou « illicite », « haram ».Pourqu’animaux et volailles soient kasher, licites, il faut qu’ils aient étévidés de leur sang en leur tranchant la gorge. Pourquoi me direz-vous ?Parce que le sang est jugé impur. Né à Alexandrie, j’y ai passé ma jeunesse. Jepeux vous assurer que les Chrétiens d’Égypte et du Proche-Orient égorgent aussileurs volailles. La Bible et leCoran interdisent la viande de porc, parce qu’elle est impure. En effet, avecles fortes chaleurs, elle ne se conserve pas et elle se digère très mal. Jesuis né dans une famille chrétienne à Alexandrie. Nous mangions un peu de porcà Noël, c’est tout. Toutes les familles chrétiennes du Proche-Orient ne mangentguère du cochon ! En tout cas, avec Jésus, nombre de tabous tombent pourl’alimentation. Lors de la dernière Cène, le Christ a levé les interditssur le sang et le vin, en disant : « Prenez et buvez, ceci est monsang ». 4 Le Régime Crétois

Je poursuis ce voyage en gastronomie avec le régime crétois, appelé par extension régime méditerranéen. Il remonte à la nuit des temps et caractérisele style de vie des riverains, même s’il ne faut pas généraliser. Petiteanecdote : il est devenu célèbre aux États-Unis depuis qu’ils l’ontdécouvert le 5 novembre 1991 ! En effet, une émission télévisée de la CBS, Sixtyminutes, « Soixanteminutes », avait pour thème The French Paradox, le « Paradoxefrançais », titre d’un ouvrage collectif devenu un best seller alors que la France était déjàla première destination touristique du monde. L’émission révélait auxAméricains ébahis que si les Français, réputé pour faire bombance, avaientmoins d’AVC, Accident vasculaire 109 cérébral, qu’eux, c’est parce qu’ils buvaientdu vin à table. Elle mettait l’accent sur le régime méditerranéen ainsirésumé : vin, huile d’olive, poisson de préférence à la viande, légumes,céréales, fruits, longs repas et petites siestes.

Réunisle 16 novembre à Nairobi, capitale du Kénya, les experts de l’UNESCO ontplanché sur 51 candidatures. Ils en ont retenu 46 qu’ils ont inscrites aupatrimoine culturel immatériel de l’humanité. Excellente nouvelle : surproposition conjointe de votre pays, de l’Espagne, de la Grèce et du Maroc, ils ont retenu la “Dièteméditerranéenne” que je viens d’évoquer. Un regret : la France ne s’était pas associée à cettedémarche alors qu’elle a lancé l’Union pour la Méditerranée ! Il est vraiqu’elle avait proposé son « Repas gastronomique » : les expertsont estimé qu’avec ses rituels et sa présentation, il remplissait lesconditions pour rejoindre la liste.

D’unefaçon générale, les Méditerranéens étaient jusqu’aux années 1995, beaucoup moins exposés que les Européens du Nord et les Américains aux MCV, maladiescardio-vasculaires, aux cancers, à l’ostéoporose, au diabète et à l’obésitéqualifiée par l’OMS de « épidémie du nouveau siècle ». À titred’exemple, les MCV sont liés à un fort taux de cholestérol dû aux graissesanimales qui représentent 20% de l’énergie totale d’un repas en Italie contre40% aux États-Unis. En outre, l’huile d’olive a de multiples vertus et contrairement à ces graisses (beurre, saindoux, lard, etc.), elle réduit letaux des MCV. Les Anciens savaient déjà qu’elle est facteur de santé parcequ’elle protège l’estomac et le foie, favorise le transit intestinal, bref,prolonge l’espérance de vie. Hélas, l’obésité, apparue récemment enMéditerranée, a tendance à augmenter au Nord et encore plus au Sud. Elle affecte les adultes etde plus en plus d’enfants en raison du snacking, « grignotage » àl’américaine endehors des repas, de la consommation de produits jugés « trop gras, trop sucrés ou trop salés », et des boissons gazeuses « tropsucrées », accessibles aux distributeurs des écoles.

Le Partenariat euro-méditerranéen, le PEM, qui a vu le jour à Barcelone en 1995, aouvert la voie à d’heureuses initiatives. Une innovation, essentielle pournotre thème : la création, à Marseille, en 1998, du CICM, le Conservatoireinternational des cuisines méditerranéennes. Il compte sept pays (Espagne,Grèce, Italie, Liban, Maroc, Tunisie, Turquie) liés par une charte que lesnouveaux adhérents s’engagent à respecter.

Lieu de réflexion et de sauvegarde du patrimoine culinaire des pays riverains,le CICM met en valeur et promeut des produits et des lieux de production. Illabellise des produits locaux et des restaurants, encourage une agriculture etun tourisme soucieux de protéger l’environnement, illustre et défend dans lemonde ce patrimoine. Pour y parvenir, il organise des séminaires et descolloques 110 pluridisciplinaire, des rencontres entre professionnels. Il assureaussi la formation de jeunes cuisiniers sur tout le pourtourméditerranéen. Ces actions, cette mission devrait-on dire, sont jalonnéesde multiples événements dont des festivals de cuisine et des banquetsphilosophiques. Le CICM contribue enfin à créer, sur les six rives, desConservatoires des cuisines méditerranéennes, CCM, qui sensibilisent les populations locales et assurent la transmission des savoirs et des savoirsfaire à la jeune génération. C’est très important parce que les pays riverainsvoient avec inquiétude de plus en plus de restaurants renoncer aux platsnationaux pour satisfaire les touristes. Je rappelle que la Méditerranée est lapremière destination touristique du monde.

En outre, il se présente aujourd’hui un problèmemajeur pour les années à venir : nos saveurs méditerranéennes sontfonction de nos productions agricoles. Or celles-ci sont menacées, selon desexperts du CIHEAM (Centre des Hautes Études agricoles méditerranéennes), dontl’Italie fait partie, à la fois en quantité – sur la rive sud – et en qualité –un peu partout pour des raisons environnementales. Mais cela devrait fairel’objet d’une autre conférence…

Auterme de ce voyage dans le temps et dans l’espace, j’ai le sentiment de vousavoir convié à un festin où il manque bien des plats sans parler de l’art dedresser la table. J’espère toutefois, si je vous ai laissés sur votre faim, quece périple gastronomique vous aura au moins mis en appétit pour un vrai banquet! 111 Le Partage de la Table dans le Monde Juif : Histoire et Identité

Dr. Dan Jaffé

J’axerai mon propos sur différents exemples de partage de la table dans l’histoire du peuple juif et je tenterai d’analyser les rites et les comportements qui lui sont liés. J’essaierai de dégager des pistes de recherche sur les pratiques liées à la table et à la prise de repas avec comme problématique la préservation de l’identité et l’élaboration de la mémoire collective.

Dans la longue et tumultueuse histoire des juifs européens, l’histoire des marranes d’Espagne et du Portugal intéresse particulièrement notre sujet. A partir du XIVe siècle et des grandes émeutes espagnoles de 1391, les juifs sont pourchassés, assassinés et le plus souvent convertis de force. Comme on le sait, les marranes vivent leur pratique religieuse de façon dissimulée, de peur d’être découverts par les autorités inquisitoriales. Cependant, ces mêmes marranes –surtout ceux de la première génération- continuent de pratiquer scrupuleusement les rites liés à la cacherout, c’est-à-dire aux règles alimentaires du judaïsme. Ils s’évertuent même à trouver un abatteur rituel (shohet) afin d’égorger leurs bêtes de consommation. Soulignons d’ailleurs avec l’historien Cecil Roth que souvent cet abatteur rituel poursuit son activité bien après le baptême chrétien qu’il a accepté pour avoir la vie sauve. Plus tard, l’observance d’une pratique si voyante aurait été suicidaire. La chair d’animaux impropres mentionnée dans la Torah pouvait cependant être évitées sans trop d’embarras. C’est pourquoi l’Inquisition était particulièrement attentive à repérer ceux qui s’abstenaient de manger du porc, du lapin et des poissons sans écailles, qui sont chacun proscrits par la Torah. Cédant à la pression, les marranes finirent par abandonner l’idée de se procurer de la viande abattue selon les préceptes du judaïsme. Seules une ou deux pratiques alimentaires restaient possibles. Ils pouvaient lire dans la Bible (Gn 32,33) que les enfants d’Israël ne mangent pas le nerf de la hanche, chaque fois que la chose était possible, ils ôtaient donc ce nerf avant de faire cuire la viande. Lorsque les volailles étaient tuées à la maison, on prenait soin de leur couper la tête plutôt que de la tordre, ce qui était une approximation de rituel. Certes, même si le rituel juif n’était pas rigoureusement respecté dans cette pratique d’abatage rituelle, l’esprit en était préservé, ce qui d’ailleurs était capital pour le monde marrane. L’esprit importait plus que la lettre de la loi ; le semblant de rituel, l’accomplissement cérémonial importait davantage pour ces juifs déjudaïsés que la pratique formelle de la loi. Il s’agissait pour eux de préserver une activité qui pouvait leur rappeler leur identité juive déchue, le rite se teintait donc d’une coloration anthropologique et identitaire. Il devenait le marqueur communautaire de cohésion sociale et d’identité collective. 112 Pour en revenir à notre dossier, notons qu’il existait même une prière que l’on récitait avant de tuer les animaux propres à la consommation. Dans une conformité exagérée à l’ordonnance biblique, les marranes refusaient de toucher à toute graisse animale. Ceci était pour eux un moyen d’une part de s’identifier, et d’autre part de se retrouver en communauté avec des rites édificateurs. On peut dire que ce qui prime n’est pas la compréhension rationnelle du rite mais sa pratique uniformisée et communautaire. Cette pratique (dans notre cas, il s’agit de règles alimentaires) permet de conserver sa propre identité (même reconstituée) contre l’adversité. En ce sens, les règles alimentaires du judaïsme véhiculent à l’évidence un sens fortement anthropologique.

Les marranes cuisaient donc exclusivement à l’huile, ce qui finit par être considéré comme une pratique spécifique au judaïsme. Toutes les viandes étaient lavées pour en ôter la moindre trace de sang.

Les premiers marranes essayaient de s’abstenir de la consommation de porc, allant jusqu’à détruire un récipient contaminé et enseigner à leurs enfants que ceux qui mangeait du porc seraient transformés en cochons. Enseignement grotesque qui met parfaitement en relief la volonté de l’individu en quête d’identité, à extrapoler, voire, à inventer de nouvelles pratiques (dans ce cas, il s’ait d’une identité que l’on cherche inconditionnellement à préserver). Dans ce contexte, les aliments et le partage de la table deviennent les remparts protecteurs de l’identité du groupe en période de crise. On assiste à une affiliation entre pratique ritualiste et modèle comportemental afin de constituer une défense contre l’adversité. Dans ce cas de figure qui est le fruit des vicissitudes de l’histoire, le sens de l’aliment cacher (littéralement « licite ») est revisité pour se doter d’une toute nouvelle portée. Il ne s’agira plus d’aliment licite par la loi mais d’un aliment que l’homme rend licite afin d’établir les fondements de sa communauté identitaire.

La pratique rigide de l’abstinence de porc finit par devenir impossible, d’une part à cause de l’extrême soupçon qu’elle éveillait et d’autre part, parce que la viande de porc, sous une forme ou sous une autre, constituait la base de l’alimentation populaire dans la Péninsule Ibérique. Les lois qui y étaient attachées ne disparurent pas pour autant. Forcément « contaminés » par des nourritures « impures » pendant le reste de l’année, les marranes les évitaient pendant les fêtes. Ils s’abstenaient donc de consommer du porc le shabath, avant la Pâque et le jour de Kipour ; ils ne consommaient aucune viande pendant les sept jours de deuil qui suivaient le décès d’un parent, ainsi qu’avant et après un jeûne. L’origine de cette coutume finit par être à tel point oubliée qu’elle était considérée comme l’observance intégrale des règles du judaïsme. Lorsque quelqu’un observait un 113 jeûne mineur, on se nourrissait de poisson et de légumes, tandis que le reste de la famille qui n’avait pas jeûné mangeait de la viande sans scrupules.

Nous assistons là à une phénomène éminemment intéressant de la relation dialectique entre nourriture et identité : l’origine d’un précepte lié à l’alimentation est oublié mais reste cependant préservé car le groupe social lui a conféré un nouveau statut. Ce nouveau statut permet au groupement humain de s’identifier et de restaurer une mémoire oubliée. Ainsi, dans ce contexte, c’est la pratique mimétique qui est porteuse d’identité. On peut donc dire que le partage de la table s’avère souvent l’objet d’un rituel recomposé dans le but d’édifier une mémoire collective.

Dans le célèbre Manuel des Inquisiteurs (Directorium Inquisitorum, XIVe siècle) de Nicolau Eymerich et Franciso Pena , voici ce qu’on peut lire sur les rejudaisants:

« Aux fêtes juives, ils mangent avec les juifs. Ils ne touchent pas à la viande de porc. Ils mangent de la viande le vendredi. Ils observent le samedi ».

Ce passage est très intéressant. Il nous renseigne sur les pratiques inquisitoriales menées contre les infidèles. L’un des signes distinctifs qui permet d’identifier les juifs est celui de leur façon de manger et la nature de ce qu’ils mangent. Soulignons que l’alimentation est juxtaposée à l’observance de rites particuliers tel le respect du sabbath où l’on mange plus copieusement et notamment de la viande. Bien entendu, l’abstention de viande de porc tient une place de choix parmi ces rites alimentaires. A la suite de ce texte, certains glossateurs chrétiens plus tardifs se sont interrogés sur ces pratiques : suffisent-ils à classifier l’usage d’un infidèle ? A ce titre, on peut lire à la suite : « Il y aurait suspicion très grave si les fils ou descendants du converti continuaient à s’abstenir de certaine viande : pourquoi s’en abstiendraient-ils, sinon par respect et révérence envers cette satanée secte judaïque ? » On observe donc un double enseignement dans la façon de s’alimenter : les rites alimentaires servent à identifier le groupe honni et permet à ce même groupe de préserver son identité collective.

Dans ces nombreux travaux, l’historienne Béatrice Leroy a montré que dans l’Espagne chrétienne avant 1492, les communautés juives (aljamas) ont entretenus abattoir et fours à fromageries, ce qui était loin d’être facile dans les agglomérations où l’espace était limité et où surtout la vie quotidienne des chrétiens permettait ou favorisait tous les échanges. Il est très intéressant de constater qu’avant le XIVe siècle, les juifs et les chrétiens pouvaient partagés un même étal de boucherie ou vendre leurs produits au sein d’un même local. L’initiative de la séparation est venue le plus souvent des autorités chrétiennes, 114 et ce tardivement, au XIVe siècle seulement, au moment même où se renouvelait l’antique interdit de partage du même repas par les chrétiens invitées chez des juifs (Concile d’Elvire - IVe siècle). Ainsi, à Montblanch en Catalogne, on trouve cet acte de Jacques II d’Aragon :

« Nous comprenons que dans la ville de Montblanch, les habitants juifs abattent et achètent leur viande en utilisant la boucherie et l’étal des chrétiens, et nous demandons et voulons que ces juifs achètent et reçoivent la viande dans une boucherie séparée. C’est pourquoi nous vous disons et vous ordonnons de réserver dans la ville de Montblanch un site qui vous semblera adéquat et conviendra à notre entourage et d’y autoriser la construction d’un abattoir. Les juifs devraient posséder dans certaines conditions un bâtiment pour la viande où ils pourront abattre et vendre. C’est pourquoi nous confirmons la décision selon laquelle vous devez dresser ledit étal de cette façon et nous voulons qu’il en soit ainsi à jamais.

Donné à Geronne aux ides d’août de l’an 1321 ».

Ce texte nous amène à penser notre problématique sous un autre aspect : la ségrégation établit par autrui engendre sur le groupe ségrégé un repli identitaire. Dans notre cas de figure, les autorités espagnoles interdisent aux juifs de côtoyer des chrétiens dans l’abattage et la vente de la viande, ce qui va entraîner de la part des juifs une recomposition communautaire et une volonté plus accrue de se conformer aux règles alimentaires. En ce sens, on peut d’ores et déjà tirer une première conclusion à notre propos : la partage de la table et souvent un partage de l’identité ou plus exactement une acceptation de l’autre. Comme l’a montré le grand ethnologue français Claude Levi-Strauss, le partage de la nourriture cuite (qui a souvent longtemps mijotée) est un signe d’acception d’autrui et une ouverture à faire partie du groupe qui accueille. Cela prend tout son sens dans les rites du judaïsme à propos de la consommation de vin. Dans l’Antiquité juive, le vin revêt une importance capitale, en effet il est couramment utilisé pour des cérémonies de libations et occupe une place privilégiée en monde païen. Devant ces pratiques à caractère polythéiste, les Sages du Talmud interdisent formellement de consommer le vin des païens. La source de cet interdit peut donc se regrouper en plusieurs points fondamentaux :

1) Le fait d’éviter que les païens en viennent à exercer une influence néfaste sur les communautés juives (ou les individus) avec lesquels ils sont en contact. 2) Le fait d’extraire toute pratique polythéiste considérée par l’esprit biblique comme une abomination. 3) Le fait d’éviter toute forme de mélange entre païens et juifs afin de se préserver d’un quelconque élan syncrétiste. 115 Nous avons là un interdit ancré dans l’histoire qui va toutefois se modifier au fil des générations. L’interdiction va s’étendre et concerner le vin produit par un non juif voire touché par un non juif, ce qui –il est inutile de le préciser- est une mesure draconienne. De fait, il ne s’agit plus de pratiques idolâtres mais de séparation d’ordre sociale qui n’a plus rien à voir avec le polythéisme. Notons que jusqu’à aujourd’hui dans le judaïsme orthodoxe –à la différence du judaïsme masorti (Conservative Judaism) et du judaïsme réformé et libéral- les juifs consomment exclusivement du vin cacher et observent ces rites. Le vin dont on sait quelle place il occupe dans les rituels juifs et chrétiens a fait l’objet de plusieurs amendements au fil de l’histoire juive. En effet, dès le Moyen Age en Europe occidentale (et tout particulièrement en France et en Allemagne), les rabbins se sont interrogés sur la pertinence de ces rites. Il convenait de permettre aux communautés juives de vivre avec leurs voisins chrétiens ; dans ce contexte, l’observance de telles pratiques devenait impossible à réaliser. De plus, la question du sens historique de des préceptes prenait tout son sens. Les païens de l’ Antiquité n’étaient pas les chrétiens que les juifs côtoyaient au quotidien. Il 91 est clair que le fait de s’abstenir de consommer du vin avec des païens véhicule un caractère anthropologique, l’objectif est d’éviter de s’attabler et de s’enivrer avec un non juif de peur d’en venir à transgresser les observances ou bien de créer un rapprochement social. Comme l’a montré le Professeur Jacob Katz, l’ordonnance la plus spectaculaire a été sans nul doute édicté par le Rama (Rabbi Moïse Isserles, grand décisionnaire du XVIe siècle, Cracovie, a rédigé un code de loi qui est encore en vigueur pour les communautés ashkénazes) selon lequel si le commerce du vin avec les contemporains non juifs est autorisé, c’est bien parce que ces dernier ne sont pas considérés comme des idolâtres, par conséquent, on ne peut pas interdire la consommation de leur vin. Cette approche que l’on retrouve également sous la plume d’autres auteurs comme le Maharal (Rabbi Bezalel Livaï, XVIe siècle, Prague) remet en question les préceptes antiques des lois alimentaires. L’objet de cette injonction est fascinant, l’ouverture à l’autre passe la reconsidération du rite.

Qu’il me soit à ce titre permis de citer Paul Balta, ici présent, qui écrit dans son ouvrage Le boire et le manger en Méditerranée : « C’est ainsi que chez mon camarade Isaac, j’ai appris l’alphabet hébreu en mangeant les gâteaux en forme de lettres que préparait sa maman pour le goûter. Invitations aussi à l’occasion des fêtes qui étaient ainsi une initiation à des spécialités nouvelles et aux rituels religieux et alimentaires des autres. J’aimais monter chez nos voisins musulmans, pour la rupture du jeûne, pendant le mois de ramadan ; parfois, après le repas, Aïcha, dix-huit ans, nous rassemblait autour d’elle, ses soeurs et moi, pour nous raconter la vie de Mahomet ou expliquer des versets du Coran. Nourritures terrestres et nourritures spirituelles me paraissaient inséparables et tout 116 naturellement je m’imprégnais des différentes cultures ». Il est des moments de l’histoire ou l’exigence rituelle n’est plus envisageable et ou la nourriture, le boire, le manger, servent de pont entre les cultures…Un peu comme cette initiative des décisionnaires juives précités.

Pour conclure notre propos, je dirai que le partage de la table dans l’histoire du peuple juif d’Europe occidentale a permis d’assurer l’identité du groupe collectif. Comme j’ai très brièvement essayé de le montrer, les rites et les comportements se revêtent d’une forte coloration anthropologique et deviennent un marqueur identitaire. Le partage de la table permet tour à tour d’accepter ou de refuser l’autre. Ce qui semble avéré est que l’on ne peut dissocier partage de la table et identité collective.

On peut même dire que le partage de la table correspond à une certaine vision du monde : le mot « qalqala » qui désigne en hébreu moderne l’économie vient du mot « lekhalkhel » qui veut dire « digérer ». Ainsi, organiser le monde c’est d’une certaine façon savoir manger et ouvrir sa table. 117 Anthropological and Culinary Customs of Some of the Major Religions in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christian Religion

Dr. Marie Fernandes 1.0. Introduction

India is a multi-cultural country in which some of the major religions of the world flourish. It has a sizeable number of three of the biggest world religions, Christianity Hinduism and Islam. India, the second most populated country in the world with over 1,190,619,020 (that is, over one billion) (IndiaStat.com) has the largest population of people adhering to Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world (80.5% of Indian Population), Zoroastrianism (less than 0.2 % of India’s Population) the oldest revealed world religion and the Bahâ’î faith (2.2 million people in India) anywhere in the world. The Muslim population in India (13.5% of Indian Population) is the second largest in the world. The Christian Population of India (2.3% of Indian Population) is the third largest religion of India. India is also home to Sikhs (2%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%) and Jews (less than 20,000 people).i The largest concentration of Jews in India still remains in Bombay (particularly in Thane, a suburb of Mumbai) - but they are only about 4000 in number - a mere fraction of the vitality they once generated in the city. One of the unique aspects of Indian culture is the tolerance and peaceful coexistence of so many religions existing side by side with one another.

Diversity of religions and multi-faceted social environments that have shaped dietary laws, food and rituals associated with them has made it difficult for cultural anthropologists and historians to analyze culinary customs internationally. However, most scholars of religion today would agree that religions provide humans with meaningful structures that often involve food.ii Customs surrounding food are among the principal means by which human groups maintain their distinctiveness and help provide their members with a sense of identity.iii Food customs and dietary laws vary according to culture or to religious tradition. Different types of food regulations are characteristic of groups at different levels of cultural or socio-technological development. Each society has its own symbolic value to different foods.

Examining connections between food and religion demonstrates how religion functions in cultures, and why religious experiences are important for believers. Clifford Geertz in The Interpretation of Cultures asserted that religion provides 118 meaning, identity, and structure within cultural systems. Religion reflects the human desire for order, but it provides order because people believe it has its origins in the divine.iv Food often figures prominently in functional interpretations of religion. Claude Lévi-Strauss, the father of modern anthropology, described food as a kind of language that helps human beings express their basic perceptions of reality. He observed that rules about eating cooked and raw foods in some cultures are dictated by sacred stories, myths, and prohibitions. These rules reflect underlying notions about differences between nature and culture.v Food and drink are almost universally associated with hospitality. In most cultures there are explicit or implicit rules that food or drink be offered to guests. In fact, food is seen as a material expression of building social relationships in human society. At the same time there is the belief in every religion that there are foods and drinks that are in some way polluting or defiling.

Religion plays a major role in the Indian way of life. India is the birth place of four of the world’s major religious traditions, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, and boasts of so many other religions including Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and the Bahá’í Faith. The vast majority of Indians engage in religious rituals, worship, and other religious activities. Dietary habits are significantly influenced by religion. The majority of Hindus, and so the majority of Indians are vegetarianvi and this can be traced back to the Rig Veda which proclaims “Do not harm anything”.vii This came to prominence during the rule of Ashoka, a promoter of Buddhism. With this in mind we shall study the influence of food on four Indian religions, viz., Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity. 2.0. Culinary Customs in Hinduism

2.1. Cultural significance of meal in Hinduism

According to the Bhagavad-Gita, all beings come into existence from food viii which is a gift from God, to be treated with great respect. In the words of the Laws of Manuix, “food that is always worshipped, gives strength and manly vigor; but eaten irreverently, it destroys them both.” Hindu Scripture repeatedly uses food as a symbolic expression having a variety of contexts and meaning. There is food for the organism, food for the eyes, food for thought, food for the soul, food for the dead, food for the gods, food for the elements, food for the sacrifices and finally food for Brahman (the Ultimate Reality).x Further, Brahman is food (Taittiriya Upanishad III, 6).xi In another passage of the Taittriya Upanishad, food is seen as the first, middle and final stage of all beings: “From food are produced all creatures which dwell on earth. Then they live by food, and in the end they return to food. For food is the oldest of all beings, and therefore it is called 119 panacea (sarvaushadha, that is, consisting of all herbs, or quieting the heat of the body of all beings)” They who worship food as Brahman, obtain all food. For food is the oldest of all beings, and therefore it is called panacea. From food all creatures are produced; by food, when born, they grow. Because it is fed on, or because it feeds on beings, therefore it is called food (anna).xii

The Maitri Upanishad attempts to give one of the many important meanings of food: “That form of the blessed Vishnu which is called the All-supporting— that, verily, is the same as food. Verily, life (prâna) is the essence of food; mind, of life; understanding (vijñâna), of mind; bliss, of understanding.’ He becomes possessed of food, life, mind, understanding, and bliss who knows this”.xiii

The basic meaning of food in Hinduism is seen in the parable of the creation of food by Prajapati, the Lord of creatures, who exclaimed “Here are the worlds and the guardians of the worlds. Let me create food for them…”.xiv The connotation here implies that only food that is digested and assimilated by one’s digestive breath (apana) is food.xv Another important meaning of food is that, “All creatures live by food, and in the end they return to food”.xvi One can infer from this text that there is no being that is for itself and every being is seen as food for something else or someone else. Yet another meaning of food is given in Maitri Upanishad which states that “Verily, all things here fly forth, day by day, desiring to get food. The sun takes food to himself by his rays. Thereby he gives forth heat. When supplied with food, living beings here digest. Fire, verily, blazes up with food.’ This world was fashioned by Brahma with a desire for food. Hence, one should reverence food as the Soul (Âtman)”.xvii This implies that to be food is to be subject to the one who eats the food.xviii When we consume food it shows that there is an intimate union with the earth, a deep communion with all things that grows from the earth. It is important to realize that the process of eating food is akin to a baby clinging to the feeding breast of mother earth.xix Indian families usually eat in silence but is often accompanied by rituals and prayers. In the Bhagavad-Gita, the consumption of food is understood as appeasing the divine fire (vaiœvãnara) in the body of living beings.xx The family meal eaten together strengthens the bonds and fuses the human and the divine dimension. Women would offer food to their ancestors before they would sit down to eat. They would give food to the birds to eat or to the cow. Sometimes food would be given to the bhikshu (monk) as a symbolic gesture of offering to the poor.xxi

In the Hindu tradition, the earth has an important place. The altar is placed as close as possible to the earth and the introductory prayer recited is “Forgive me, mother earth, for keeping my feet on your breast”. As an expression of their self- 120 gift to the Lord, devotees offer fruits, flowers, cereals and grain and the priest who accepts them places them on the altar showing deep gratitude for the earth (prthivi).xxii Pure water (apas), the juice of the earth is used for purification. The entire ritual revolves around the sacred fire (agni) and awakens in the devotees a consciousness of the entire cosmos of which they are integral parts and to which they have a sacred duty and responsibility.xxiii

At the very heart of Hinduism is the belief that the Almighty permeates everything. Some Hindus offer their food to their personal God mentally before eating it. Others never eat their daily food without consecrating a small portion to God, and also giving a portion to a needy person passing by or a cow. This involves a great amount of cleanliness. Why do devout Hindus offer food to God? First, it makes the act of eating a sacrificial ritual and signifies internalization of sacrifice, thus making one’s body a sacrificial altar. Second, it is believed that offering food to gods is a mark of self-surrender and devotion.xxiv Some Hindus offer food to five vital breaths (pranas), namely prana, apana, vyana, udana, samanaya and then to Brahman seated in the heart.xxv On specific days in a year, food is offered to the departed souls.

Certain rituals are followed before eating food. Food is eaten only in clean places since the Hindu law books forbids eating food in unclean places. When food is served, water is sprinkled around it, accompanied by some mantras or prayers. This is meant to purify the food and make it worthy for the gods. The offering to God is usually done on a plate reserved for making offerings by ringing a bell and chanting verses and prayers. After the offering is made to god, the plate is usually washed and kept aside before Hindus eat the food. Many devout Hindus consider it their daily duty to worship at the dawn after bathing (at a family shrine, and would include the lighting a lamp and offering foodstuffs before the images of deities) and recitation from religious verses.xxvi

There are slokas that praise the act of giving and sharing. “Teiha dattan appradayobhyo bhunkte stena eva saha”. This means that ‘whatever we have are God’s bounties and the one who enjoys them without sharing with others is verily a thief.’ The concept of welcoming strangers and sharing every last bit of food and water with them is a noteworthy aspect of Hindu philosophy.xxvii There are sacred Hindu texts that emphasize the importance of serving guests before one’s self. The Vedas emphasize that ‘Food is life’ and therefore food should be given to others, because it is the highest offering one can humanly give.

Hinduism has in its philosophy the rigid social stratification of a caste system, reinforced by aspects of religious thought. The Hindu caste system is understood 121 primarily in terms of who can cook for and who can eat with whom. Eating with others implies social and ritual equality. If the rules for eating are breached, it represents a threat to the social order and to the individual’s sense of identity. Religious purity is attached to the maintenance of social boundaries. One who cooks for and serves food to another must be the recipient’s equal or superior in rank. Only in this way can the latter avoid pollution. Violation of these eating taboos constitutes defiance of caste and observance of the etiquette is indication of the acceptance of caste.xxviii Brahmans, the highest caste, maintain their purity by avoiding foods touched by those of lower castes. Till the middle of this century, Brahmins ate only food prepared by people of their own caste, since it was thought that the qualities of the cook enter the food by a kind of osmosis. Yet Brahman- prepared food is permitted to everyone. In ancient Hindu sacred myth, Brahman created the world by cooking it in sacrifice, thus performing a priestly act. A Brahman’s privileged status in society still is still enforced by his role as priest. He stands between the gods and rest of the world. As the ancient Hindu texts declare, the world cooked by the Brahman is to fulfill its duties to him.xxix

It may help to remember an old Indian saying: Dane dane pe likha hai khane wale ka naam - “On each grain is written the name of the eater.” The people who turn up on your doorstep are meant to be there, part of your karma, part of the big cosmic play. A guest is God, not an intruder. All Hindus have a heart to receive the guest as God. In traditional Indian culture, as soon as a guest visits you, you are given a glass of water.

Lavina Melvani writes: “Hospitality is an important Hindu value. She tells the story of Lord Krishna. When his boyhood friend, Sudama – hungry, impoverished and in rags – arrived at the palace, the guards almost did not allow him in. But Lord Krishna, overjoyed to see his old friend, received him with open arms and joyfully led him to his throne. He personally washed his feet and fed him with his own hands. Sudama had brought him a humble gift, a handful of parched rice tied onto the corner of his shawl and was too ashamed to give it to him in front of all the fine courtiers, but Lord Krishna opened the pouch and ate the grains with pleasure and appreciation. To him, the true value of this valueless gift lay in the affection with which it had been offered.”xxx

“If Lord Krishna was the perfect host, then Sri Ram embodied the perfect guest. During his exile in the forest, he visited Subari, a lowly woman who in her devotion and anxiety to give him only the very best, tasted each berry before she fed it to him. With grace Sri Ram accepted her offering, seeing the love with which it was given. There are so many stories of God Vishnu himself donning beggar’s raiment and coming to the door for alms. So, the next time the doorbell 122 rings, welcome your guests with an open heart. Look beyond the facial features, the clothing and the physical bodies into the eternal soul which glows within each of us like the purest of gold. This is the Self that scripture says is immortal, the one that water cannot wet, sword cannot cut nor fire burn. And so, bending low, with folded hands, welcome the divine Paramatma, the God who is within each of us”.xxxi

Food is served to guests and the poor at important ceremonies and festivities. Serving food to the poor and the needy, to the pious and the religious and to the birds, insects and animals is very good karma.xxxii “Whenever you happen to come across any of these, don’t fail to offer any thing suitable - food, cloth, vehicle, money, jewellery etc as appropriate - to a saint or a monk, a cow or such animal, a student (bachelor), temple, a worshipper, pregnant woman, child, hungry person, beggar, destitute, a dead body being carried. The help you do comes back in multiples later...”.xxxiii In ancient India it was a religious duty to serve food to the begging students and sadhus and to the Brahmanas. According to the Rig Veda, “He who, possessed of food, hardens his heart against the weak man, hungry and suffering, who comes to him for help… He is liberal who gives to anyone who asks for alms, to the homeless, distressed man who seeks food… He is no friend who does not give to a friend, to a comrade who comes imploring for food”.xxxiv Food is also distributed to people at the end of many religious ceremonies. Many Hindu temples distribute food freely every day to the visiting devotees.xxxv

2.2. Hindu Feasts

In Hinduism, birth, marriage, and death involve sets of religious customs. The Hindu year, using the lunar calendar, is studded with a number of religious feasts (utsava). Major life-cycle rituals include annaprashan (a baby’s first intake of solid food). On the eight day of the dark half of Úrâvana (July-August), the Vaisnavas all over India (and particularly in Bengal) celebrate the birthday of the child-god Krishna. This feast is called Krishna-Jayanti or Gokulastamî and dishes of sweets are presented to Krishna and then eaten by the family members. On the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapada (August-September), all classes except the strict Vaishnavas celebrate the feast of Ganeúa Caturthî. Ganeúa, the elephant god is invoked for wisdom and patience. Rice puddings, of which the god is said to like, flowers and dûrvâ grass are presented. During the Navarâtra festival (called the nine night’s festival), celebrated from the first to the tenth day of the bright half of Âsvina (September-October), devotees will take only one meal of fruits and milk-sweets a day. On the last three days of Navarâtra. Sarasvatî, the gentle wife of Bramâ, is more elaborately worshipped. An image of the goddess or in its place a dish of rice topped with a coconut is brought into the house; toys and books are displayed around it. In the evening Sarasvatî’s 123 praises are sung and sweets and pân are distributed. A strict fast which is kept thus far is broken by a lavish feast. Dîvali or Dîpâvali (“row of lights”) is a major Hindu festival which takes place from the 13th of the dark half of Âsvina (September-October) to the 2nd of the bright half of Kârttika, and is a complex festival of five different feasts. On the 13th day of the dark half of Mâgha (January- February), the festival of Mahâúivarâtri (“the great night of Úiva”) is celebrated all over India. It is dedicated to Úiva under the symbol of the Linga. A fast is kept during the whole tithi and a vigil at night, especially by all unmarried girls who wish to secure a husband as accomplished as Úiva was for Umâ. At every third hour of the vigil, the Linga is worshipped by means of rituals and sacred formulas. The Linga is bathed in milk and honey and ketakî flowers and betel leaves are offered. The day is devoted to feasting.xxxvi

2.3. Hindu Fasting, Marriage rituals and Funeral rites Fasting has been practiced worldwide by the founders and followers of many religions. In the religions of ancient peoples and civilizations, fasting was a practice to prepare persons, especially priests and priestesses, to approach the deities. Zoroastrianism prohibits fasting, because of its belief that such a form of asceticism will not aid in strengthening the faithful in their struggle against evil. Hindu fasting is done to purify the mind and body and to develop the quality of detachment. Many Hindus fast on special occasions as a mark of respect to their personal gods or as part of their penance. On Durga Navami festival day, many Hindus observe a strict fast and pray. The diet of such a person would include potatoes without turmeric, garlic, ginger or onion. On this day of fast, one may also eat fruit and root vegetables. Curd, tea, coffee, milk, and water are also permitted. According to some Hindu texts, observing the right kinds of fast can alone give one liberation from the cycle of life and death.

Hindus in general value animal life because of the concept of respect of all creation. They practice strict vegetarianism, often with reference to ahimsâ (non-violence).Most Hindus will not consume beef or beef products since they venerate the cow. More than that is left to the personal choice of the Hindu, whether to be strictly vegetarian or showing preference for vegetarian dishes over meat dishes. Sometimes there is social pressure on an individual to refrain from eating certain foods that are considered unclean or unacceptable. Violations of such dietary rules and regulations are treated as polluting the individual and has its own consequences on the family.xxxvii Hindu marriage rituals vary according to region and caste. Even the modern Hindu law has left this matter to family custom. A Hindu marriage takes place at an auspicious time and place and Agni, the god of fire is the heavenly witness of a marriage. The spouses walk around the fire seven times (called the 124 mangalphera rite) and pledge total support to each other. During this time, the ritual of saptapadî (called seven steps) occurs where the couple takes the seven steps together and the bride steps on seven heaps of rice. With every step one taken, a vow or promise is chanted by the priest who asks the bride and bridegroom to repeat after him. The last step seals bride and groom in holy matrimony. In South India, the wedding meal is always vegetarian and served on a banana leaf. Banana leaves are used by Hindus and Buddhists as a decorative element for auspicious functions, marriages, and ceremonies. The banana leaf is also used as it is believed that the hot rice will release the coating on the banana leaf, which aids in digestion. Some Indians also believe that the banana leaf gives a special taste to the food served on it. There are multiple courses of food. There is a particular sequence in which the food is served and a specific place for every food item on the leaf.xxxviii The wedding feast is generally a lunch. Guests are made welcome into the venue of the meal and invited to sit down on the floor, cross-legged, as is traditional, or else at tables for the modern Hindus. Normally, no forks and spoons are provided for the meal. One has to eat with one’s hands.xxxix For the Hindu, to completely enjoy Indian food, it must be eaten with one’s fingers. Moreover, it is the belief that many Indian foods such as naan or roti (types of flat bread) are best eaten in this way. What some Indians do is that they break the bread, dip it in one of the condiments — curry or chutney — before eating it. Hence, one has to wash one’s hands before eating and on completion of the meal. Death is inauspicious in Hinduism, and cremation is the usual way of disposing bodies, preferable on the day of death itself. During the days immediately following the funeral, the family is highly polluted and remains so till the final rites (úrâddha) are performed. These úrâddha rites are offerings of rice balls (pinda) to the deceased for ten days, (recapitulating the ten lunar months of the embryo’s gestation).xl This is done to construct a body for the deceased in the next world, the world of the ghosts. After this ten day period, the ghostly body is complete and with the rite called sapindikarana, it moves into the realm of the ancestors (pitr-loka).

2.4. Hindu Shrines Pûjâ is offering vegetarian food, flowers and incense to a deity. All deities accept these offerings. In the temple, a pûjâ might take place in an elaborate manner, with the recitation of sacred verses (mantras) by the temple priest (pûjâri) and the offering of a variety of foods to the god. Plates of boiled rice and sweets are offered to the deity (naivedya) accompanied by the strong smell of incense and loud ringing of bells. The rice is later consumed by the priests and the temple 125 officials. Many people present such pûjâs to gaze upon the deity, to have its darœana (vision of the deity) and to receive back the offered food blessed by the god (called prasâda).xli 3.0. Culinary Customs in Buddhism

Focusing on food and gender expands our understanding of the scope of religion. Feminist scholars have shown that women may be religious experts through their control of food in societies where previous scholarship has focused on the male exclusivity of sacred knowledge.xlii According to Van Esterik, it is the women whose feeding of the Thai Buddhists monks and deities that primarily determines the attainment of merit and thus shapes the eternal destiny of the living and dead Buddhists.xliii

Though Buddhists have always claimed to be vegetarian, not all Buddhists were or are vegetarians. At the time of Buddha, eating meat was not forbidden. However, members of the s¡mgha were not allowed to kill animals for food. But they were allowed to eat meat given to them by householders if it had not been killed specially for them.xliv According to Peter Harvey, in Thervâda countries, vegetarianism is usually admired but little practiced. The Buddhists Eightfold Path is considered the right livelihood and the wrong livelihood list includes a slaughterer, a butcher and a hunter, all of which have been considered despised jobs in both Theravâda and Mahâyâna Buddhism.xlv The Lankâvatâra Sûtraxlvi clearly states: “The bodhisattva who regards all beings as if they were his own child cannot indulge in flesh eating”.xlvii The food of a bodhisattva includes rice, barley, beans, clarified butter, oil, honey, molasses and sugar. Today, a number of monasteries, including Namgyal Dratsang, the monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, no longer allow meat to be cooked in their kitchens and there are a small but growing number of monks and nuns have abandoned meat eating altogether.xlviii Many Buddhists prefer not to be dogmatic and do not want to absolutely forbid the eating of meat. It is left to the conscience of the individual to take into account the intention and with the guidance of precepts, to make a mature decision.xlix 4.0. Culinary Customs in Judaism

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s “Tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you who you are”l translates in the words of one woman recently interviewed after cooking a family meal, “Food is Judaism for me. I don’t think about it. It is who I am”. Social anthropologist Mary Douglas has demonstrated how food communicates ideas about holiness that provide identity and order. A person is affiliated to and belongs to a certain group through a set of rituals, customs and sacred meals 126 eaten. The family or clan would not consume certain foods and drink because they considered them to be polluting or defiling. The ancient Hebrew dietary laws functioned as controls on one’s identity in a context in which aggression by other tribes and their gods was a possibility. According to Douglas, to be holy is to be wholly separate. Israelites were “clean” because apart from obeying God’s covenantal order, they were not mixing with outsiders and their gods. This separation was also seen in dietary restrictions such as the prohibition against eating pork. The Israelites who considered themselves as the chosen people of God, did not make an animal that is not clearly like other grazing animals part of itself by consuming it. Purity of food and body helped to strengthen the boundaries of Israelite society and religion. The Jewish dietary laws of kashruth have continued to be among the distinguishing marks of Jewish identity and lifestyle through the centuries.li

In Israeli kibbutzim (communal settlements), the communal dining room is a keystone institution, and commensality is one of the hallmarks of kibbutz life. The decline of communal eating and the increasing frequency of refrigerators, cooking gadgets, and private dining in kibbutz homes are seen as a sign of the decline of kibbutzim. In many communes in the United States, there is a single facility for cooking and dining. Dinners must be taken communally and private dining is taken as a sign that one would like to leave the group.lii

Judaism, which developed many dietary laws and customs, observes several annual fast days, primarily on days of penitence (such as Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement) or mourning. Thus on the Day of Atonement, which falls in September or October, the Jew makes a total examination of his or her behavior. The day is spent in prayer and repentance in the synagogue. And neither food nor drink are taken for a full twenty four hours. The dietary laws and customs of Judaism are based on the prior assumption of social stratification or, at least, of a sense of separateness as seen in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Further, according to Mary Douglas the prohibition to eat pork (see Leviticus 11:1-8) arises because pigs do not meet all the criteria of “normal” farm animals: cattle, sheep and goats, which all had cloven hooves and chewed their cud. Pigs have a cleft in their hooves, but they don’t chew their cud. Therefore they are unclean. Thus, forbidden foods that may not be consumed include all animals, the products of animals that do not chew the cud and do not have cloven hoofs (e.g., pigs); fish without fins and scales; the blood of any animal; shellfish (e.g., oysters, shrimp, crabs) and all other living creatures that creep; and those fowl enumerated in the Bible (e.g., vultures, hawks, owls). All foods not stated in these categories may be eaten.liii People who eat food that is unclean are themselves unclean and are prohibited from approaching the Temple. 127 In the many covenants made between Yahweh and His people, it was a meal often sealed the covenant. In the Book of Exodus 24:9-11, on Mt. Sinai, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders “beheld God, and ate and drank.” It was within this setting that the Gospel of Luke records the table fellowship of Jesus.

One of the characteristics of the Passover holiday in Judaism is the eschewal of all foods containing leaven, the consumption only of foods that have been designated as Kasher la-Pesach, “kosher for Passover,” and the use of special sets of utensils during the seder dinner that have not been used during the rest of the year. But these too are post biblical customs that have been given the status of law. The Bible prescribes only the eating of unleavened bread during the Passover season.

Jewish women, whose ritual and secular status was considered inferior to men, were not to make or touch pickles, wine, or beet soup if they had not been ritually cleansed after their menses. If a Jewish woman violated this customary rule, these foods would get spoilt. Further, it is the duty of housewives to make sure that meat and dairy foods are not mixed, that ritually slaughtered meat is not blemished, and that cooking equipment and utensils for meat and dairy are separated.liv

According to Jewish rabbis, biblical texts indicated that humanity was vegetarian before the Flood, but after the Flood, God gave humanity permission to eat meat explicitly. Sacrificial programmes that existed in the Temple times involved not only sacrificing animals but also eating them. Both meat and wine are essential to a celebration and not eating meat signifies that one is mourning.lv

Table fellowship for the Jews was more than a simple social event. To eat together with others meant to belong together (cfr. 2 Kings 25: 29). Sharing a meal led to the building of trust and brotherhood (cfr. Gen 26: 30; Gen 31: 54). Further, a guest who was invited for a meal was somehow considered to belong to that family. It was the meal that cemented the ties and bonds of fellowship between the host and the guest. Yet another aspect of ancient Jewish table fellowship was the recitation of a prayer before the start of the meal called berakah (an expression of praise or thanks directed to God). The Jews do not eat any meal without praising and thanking God. A Sabbath meal is only an augmented form of an ordinary Jewish meal. It is characteristic of the Sabbath observance to have a specially fine family dinner at which the best silver and china are used. Special braided breads called the halloth are blessed together with the wine. Prayers over bread and wine are recited in Jewish homes as a grace before meals – such as, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast created the fruit of 128 the vine”. There is also a long doxology after the meal to thank God for the food.lvi 5.0. Culinary Customs in Christianity:

5.1. Cultural significance of meal in Christianity

Functionalist understandings of religion are useful for exploring the relationships between religion and food in particular contexts like ancient Israel. They demonstrate the connections between religion, food, and other cultural systems such as gender norms. Scholars such as Corley have shown how Graeco-Roman table etiquette affected the development of women’s roles in early Christianity and may help to explain the tension around women’s leadership in early Christianity.lvii Carolyn Bynum’s study of medieval Christian mysticism shows that women exercised control and spiritual power through refusing to eat or eating only in a spiritual manner.lviii Mircea Eliade affirms that religion is primarily about belief in the supernatural, which for him, lies at the heart of the sacred. Religion gives one a sacred experience and includes sacred time and sacred space, narrative (myth), and activity (ritual). Hence religion according to Eliade, essentially concerns the otherworldly expressed and responded to through patterns, which often involve food. Meals can return even the most secular person to another time and place. For example, Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., a secular holiday that celebrates consumerism, still centers on a meal modeled on sacral elements such as the sacrificial fowl and harvest fruits, where the sacred survives in the stuffed turkey and the mashed potatoes.lix However, believers today may or may not reflect on the importance of food for their religious practices. The religious traditions and customs of diet and food were so essential in the past, but is there a waning of these religious influences in Christianity today? Does food still play an important role in Christianity today?

From the very beginning of Christianity, food and drink have indicated the fact that the Christian religion is not only personal but also communal. In the First letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians he wrote: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians: 10: 17). “My brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another” (1 Corinthians 11: 33). The invitation to break bread together emphasizes that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a communal prayer: as we eat the bread, drink the wine, and praise God, we are constantly aware of our humble presence together before God. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together lx stated: “So long as we eat our bread together, we shall have sufficient even for the least. 129 Not until one person desires to keep his own bread for himself does hunger ensue”. His powerful words bring out the community dimension of food: “The table fellowship of Christians implies obligation. It is our daily bread that we eat, not my own. We share our bread. Thus we are firmly bound to one another not only in the Spirit but in our whole physical being. The one bread that is given to our fellowship links us together in a firm covenant. Now none dares go hungry as long as another has bread, and anyone who breaks this fellowship of the physical life also breaks the fellowship of the Spirit”.

In Biblical times, almost every covenant was sealed with a common meal. Parties ate together as if they were members of the same family or clan. Conversely, refusal to eat with someone was a mark of anger and a symbol of ruptured fellowship. In fact, if after sharing a meal, the person turned against the host or the one who provided the meal, it was considered the greatest act of betrayal (cfr. Mathew 26: 23 when Jesus foresaw that “the one who dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me”)

Often during his public ministry Jesus shared meals with various people – friends, public officials, tax collectors and sinners. Each of the meals with Jesus either as host or guest, had their own particular significance and message. The banquet at the home of Levi the tax collector (Luke 5: 27-39), Jesus welcomed all who responds to his call, and showed that he came precisely for the social and religious outcasts and not for those who considered themselves righteous. At the meal at the home of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7: 36-50), Jesus forgave the sins of the sinner woman who repented and became his disciple. Jesus showed that the person is acceptable to God who sees the interior attitude no matter what past the person had. In the breaking of bread for the five thousand at Bethsaida (Luke 9: 10-17), Jesus showed his disciples that their mission was to nourish the crowd, not only in word, but also in deed.

When Jesus was offered hospitality at the home of Martha and Mary (Luke 10: 38 -42), he demonstrated that, like Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet, genuine care for persons is far more important than attending to conventions and preparing delicious food. In a second meal at the home of a Pharisee (Luke 11: 37-54), Jesus challenged the mindset of the Pharisees who focused on the external observance of the law with the priority of interior attitudes. During a Sabbath meal at the home of a leading Pharisee (Luke 14: 1-6), Jesus cured a man afflicted by dropsy, indicating that his presence, specially on the Lord’s day, restores one back to health.

At a meal in tax collector Zacchaeus’ house, (Luke 19: 1-10), Jesus declared Zacchaeus to be like the prodigal son who was lost but is now saved. At the 130 Last Supper (Luke 22: 14-38), a formal meal between Jesus, the host and his disciples as his invited guests, Jesus cared for and loved each of them, he washed their feet and was ready to lay down his life for all of them, including the one who betrayed him.

This Last Supper was the climactic part of Jesus’ mission for the kingdom of God.lxi Jesus’ appearance to the disciples at Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-35) shows how disheartened disciples who were not able to recognize him in their midst till the breaking of the bread. Encountering the entire community in Jerusalem (Luke 24: 36 – 49), Jesus asked them – “Have you anything to eat?” The disciples then recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread and eating with him became witnesses to his passion-death-resurrection. The deeper message of this was that only those who accept the gospel of the passion-death- resurrection (which includes a call to repentance) can recognize the living Jesus in the breaking of the bread.lxii

These incidents in the life of Jesus show us how Jesus used the setting of a meal to put forth his message of the forgiveness of sins and the possibility of a new relationship with God and with one’s fellow humans.lxiii Hence Jesus’ table- fellowship had a profound salvific meaning. “The inclusion of sinners in the community of salvation, achieved in table-fellowship, is the most meaningful expression of the message of the redeeming love of God”.lxiv By habitually dining with the religious and social outcasts of society, demonstrated in a most convincing way that God’s love is not conditional, not restricted to the religious elite, but reaches out to everyone. There are no outcasts for God.lxv

5.2. Christian Fasting

Some Western religions, viz. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam emphasize fasting during certain periods. Roman Catholicism has a forty day period of Lent, a period of mortification (including practices of fast and abstinence) and is meant to be a period of penitence before Easter. This Lenten observance had been modified since the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council to allow greater individual choice, with mandatory fasting only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Protestant churches leave the decision to fast to individual church members. 6.0. Conclusion

The various religious traditions of India share with one another a common history, a common way of living and a common outlook, all taken together and called Indianness. There is much unity in spite of the rich cultural and religious diversity. There are certain human and humane values and a sense of the sacred that shows 131 our distinctiveness as Indians. Hospitality permeates Indian culture, both on a personal and institutional level. One cannot go to even the humblest home in India without being honored with food and drink. It is these aspects that keep us together and give us the feeling of brotherhood. This is so well reflected in our National Anthem, a poem addressed to God. Even though we don’t have anything to eat, the guests are never left hungry and are always looked after by the members of the family. Elders and the respect for elders is a major component in Indian culture. It is a for people of every religion to ritual to pray to one’s God, whether for success in a job, whether before or after a meal, whether to praise God for his marvels. There is always an association with the Sacred in one’s life. In India, the family culture is all about love and concern for one another. Family traditions are unique in terms of cooking, rituals and beliefs. It is usually the woman who does the cooking and again it is the woman who eats a meal last, after everyone is served. These rich values in a person always remain unchanged because they are deeply rooted within our hearts, mind, body and soul which we receive from our culture. Even though India is a country of various religions and caste our culture tells us just one thing ‘phir bhi dil hai Hindustani ’.

It is our hope that these sterling qualities of Indians, visibly seen in our culinary customs, help us to forget our differences and bring peace and harmony to the entire Indian sub continent. The Cardinal Paul Poupard Chair at St. Andrew’s College, Mumbai is striving to do its best to promote inter-religious and intercultural dialogue among our youth through our courses and cultural activities.

End Notes: i Nationmaster.com (Statistics of the year 2000). Indian census of 2001 counted 69,601 Parses in India. ii Corrie E. Norman, Religion and Food in Food and Culture Encyclopedia. The Gale Group, Inc, 2003. iii Yehudi A. Cohen, Ed. “Article on Dietary law” in Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010. iv Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973. v Lévi-Strauss, Claude; Peter Brooks (tr.) (2008) [1997]. “The Culinary Triangle”. In Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik. Food and Culture: A Reader (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 36–43 (28–35 in first edition). Originally published as Lévi- Strauss, Claude; Peter Brooks (tr.) (Autumn 1966). “The Culinary Triangle”. The Partisan Review 33: 586–96. vi Sketches of India: with forty photographic illustrations By Joan Valérie Bondurant.

vii Akshoy Kumar Mazumdar, The Hindu History.

viii Bhagavad-Gita 3:14: Food comes from rains. Rains originate from the performance of sacrifices. And sacrifice is born out of doing prescribed duties. 132

ix ‘The Laws of Manu’ or ‘Manava Dharma Shastra’ is one of the standard books in the Hindu canon, and a basic text for all gurus to base their teachings on. It is one of the supplementary arms of the Vedas. This ‘revealed scripture’ comprises of 2684 verses, divided into twelve chapters and includes norms of domestic, social, and religious life in India (circa 500 BC) under the Brahmin influence. These laws are fundamental to the understanding of ancient Indian society. See Laws of Manu, Ch II, no. 55. Further “Excessive eating is prejudicial to health, to fame, and to (bliss in) heaven; it prevents (the acquisition of) spiritual merit, and is odious among men; one ought, for these reasons, to avoid it carefully” (Laws of Manu, Ch II, No. 57). x Chandogya Upanishad VII, 9, 2 xi The Taittiriya Upanishad is one of the older, “primary” Upanishads commented upon by Shankara. The mystical idea of the union between food and the person eating it matches the union between the sacrifice and the Supreme Being. In the following text, Brahman is food and the concluding words express the mystical rapture of the sacrificer; “Oh, wonderful! (3) I am food! (3) I am a food-eater (3)!” (Taittriya Upanishad III,10.5). This verse is recited in weekly temple liturgy in Vishnu Temples all over the world. The Vedic sacrifice after describing Brahman as food, identifies himself with Brahman both as food and as eater. (Vasudha Narayanan, “The Hindu Tradition” in World Religions. Eastern Traditions, ed. Willard Oxtoby, Oxford University Press, Ontario, 1996, p. 90-91. xii Taittiriya Upanishad, II, 2 (i.e. Second Valli, Second Anuvaka). xiii Maitri Upanishad VI, 13. Namely, the one who recognizes this will come to possess food, life, mind, understanding and bliss. See also Francis D’Sa, “Christian Eucharist and YAJÑA” in The Eucharist and Life, ed. Kurien Kunnumpuram, St. Paul’s Publication, Bangalore, 2006, p. 259-260. xiv Aitareya Upanishad 1,3, 1-10. xv Francis D’Sa, Ibid., p. 261. xvi Taittiriya Upanishad, II, 2. xvii Maitri Upanishad VI, 12. xviii Francis D’Sa. Ibid., p/ 262. xix Sebastian Painadath,The Eucharist as Sacrament of the Earth in “Body, Bread, Blood: Eucharistic Perspectives from the Indian Church”, ed. Francis Gonsalves, Vidyajyoti/ ISPCK Contextual Theological education Series, 21, Delhi, 2000, p. 140.

xx Bhagavad-Gita 15: 14 (in Sanskrit): aham vaisvanaro bhutva, praninam deham asritah, pranapana-samayuktah, pacamy annam catur-vidham meaning “I am the fire of digestion in the bodies of all living entities, and I join with the air of life, outgoing and incoming, to digest the four kinds of foodstuff.” xxi Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, The Passion of the Womb: Women Re-living the Eucharist in “Body, Bread, Blood: Eucharistic Perspectives from the Indian Church”, ed. Francis Gonsalves, Vidyajyoti/ISPCK Contextual Theological education Series, 21, Delhi, 2000. 133

xxii Painadath, Ibid., p. 143. xxiii Sebastian Painadath, “Hindu Rites of Passage and the Christian Sacraments” in The Way Supplement 94 (1999): 131-140. xxiv Jayaram V, Hinduism and Food (www.hinduwebsite.com ) xxv Jayaram V, Hinduism and Food (www.hinduwebsite.com ) xxvi Country Studies. The Library of Congress. September 1995.http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+in0055). Retrieved on 19-04-2007. xxvii Lavina Melwani, “Hindu Hospitality: The Gods Amongst Us”, in Hinduism Today, Himalayan Academy, Sep 27, 2009. xxviii Encyclopedia Britannica, “Dietary law”, 2010. xxix Malamoud, Charles. Cooking the World: Ritual and Thought in Ancient India.Translated by David White. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

xxx Levina Melvani, Hinduism Today, Himalayan Academy, 2007. xxxi Melvani, 2007. xxxii Karma is the concept of action or deed. In Indian belief, the karmic effects of all deeds are viewed as actively shaping past, present, and future experiences.

xxxiii Kamandakiya Niti Sara is a work on polity by Kamandaka, based mainly on the Arthaúâstra. The Arthaúâstra is a comprehensive treatise on statecraft that gives cohesion to the political thinking of Kauùilya’s predecessors.

xxxiv Rig Veda 10.117.1-6. xxxv Jayaram V, Hinduism and Food (www.hinduwebsite.com ) xxxvi A. Huart, Hindu Calendar and Festivals in Religious Hinduism, ed. E. De Smet and J Neuner, The Bombay St. Paul Society, 1996, p. 182-189. xxxvii Werner Menski, “Hinduism” in Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions, eds. Peggy Morgan and Clive Lawton, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2007, p. 38. xxxviii See Vibha Karnik, “A Taste of South India – Bisi Bele Bhaath” in One Life to Eat by Sabera, 30 June 2010 (http://onelifetoeat.com). As narrated by Karnik: “The first dish to be served is the payasa, a milk-based sweet dish. It is always served on the lower right hand corner. One must eat this first as it is symbolic of the happy event. Then follows multiple courses of sumptuous, delicious food. The payasa is followed by salt, pickle, a salad dish called kosambari, and playa which could be vegetables like cabbage, beans or eet root cooked with mustard seeds and coconut which are all served on the leaf. A flavored rice dish such as lemon rice, tamarind rice or mint rice comes next. This is served on the left hand side of the leaf. The meal ends with the main course (no, not dessert), which consists of rice eaten with a lentil preparation. Bisi Bele Bhaath, which literally translates to Hot Pulse Rice, is a common lentil dish served as the main course”. 134

xxxix One has to use only one’s right hand throughout the meal and never touch any food with one’s left hand. In Indian culture, many people see the left hand as “unclean” and are offended when people use it to touch their food and mouth. xl Knipe, “Sapindikarana: The Hindu Rite of Entry into Heaven”, in Reynolds and Waugh, eds., Religious Encounters with Death (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977), p. 111-124. xli Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996. The word prasâda literally means clarity but means ‘divine favour’, a gift from the deity. xlii Food and Culture Encyclopedia on “Religion and Food”. xliii Van Esterik, Penny. “Feeding Their Faith: Recipe Knowledge Among Thai Buddhist Women.” In Food and Gender: Identity and Power, edited by Carol M. Counihan and Steven L. Kaplan, pp. 81–97. Newark, N.J.: Harwood Academic Press, 1998.

xliv Peggy Morgan, “Buddhism” in Ethical issues in Six Religious Traditions, ed. Peggy Morgan and Clive Lawton, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, p. 90. xlv Peter Harvey, Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 161. xlvi The Lankâvatâra Sûtra is a sutra of Mahâyâna Buddhism. The sûtra narrates a teaching between the Buddha and a bodhisattva named Mahâmati (“Great Wisdom”). xlvii D.T. Suzuki, Studies in the Lankâvatâra Sûtra, London: Routledge, 1930, p. 369. xlviii Tsofdruk Rangdrol Shabkar, Food of Bodhisattvas, Buddhist Teachings from Abstaining from Meat, Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, 2004. xlix Peggy Morgan, Ibid., p. 91. l Brillat-Savarin, The physiology of taste, or Meditations of transcendent gastronomy, 1826. In the original French: “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es.”

li Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge, 1966. lii Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010 liii Ibid. liv Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010. lv Clive Lawton, “Judaism” in Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions, eds. Peggy Morgan and Clive Lawton, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2007, p. 189-190. lvi Alan Segal, “The Jewish Tradition” in World Religions. Western Traditions. Ed. William Oxtoby. Oxford University Press, Ontario, 1996, p. 108-109 lvii Corley, Kathleen E. Private Women, Public Meals: Social Conflict in the Synoptic Tradition. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993. 135

lviii Bynum, Carolyn Walker. Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. lix Corrie E. Norman, Religion and Food, Ibid. lx Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Gemeinsames Leben, 1938. lxi Eugene LaVerdiere, The Eucharist in the New Testament and the Early Church, Dining in the Kingdom of God: The Eucharist in Luke’s Gospel, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1996. The message of the passion-death-resurrection was a call to repentance promising the forgiveness of sins. All those who shared the table of the Lord were to preach this message “in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem”(Luke 24: 47). p. 94. See also Sr. Teresa Joseph, fma, “Dining with Jesus” in The Examiner, Mumbai, 22 March 1997, p. 22-23. lxii LaVerdiere, Ibid., p. 93-94. lxiii Norman Perrin, Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus,( London: SCM Press, 1967)107. lxiv Joaquim Jeremias, New Testament Theology, Vol. 1, The Proclamation of Jesus. London: SCM Press, 1967, p. 116. lxv George Soares-Prabhu, “The Table Fellowship of Jesus: Its significance for Dalit Christians in India Today” in I. Padinjarekuttu, ed.) Collected Writings of George M. Soares-Prabhu, vol. I, Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, 1999, p. 233-234.

Bibliography: Grassi, Joseph. Broken Bread and Broken Bodies. The Lord’s Supper and World Hunger. Maryknoll, NT: Orbis Books, 2004. Knuuumpuram, Kurien, ed. The Eucharist and Life. Indian Christian Reflections on the Lord’s Supper. Mumbai: The Bombay St Paul Society, 2006. Gonsalves, Francis, ed. Body, Bread, Blood. Eucharistic Perspectives from The Indian Church. Delhi: Vidyajyoti/ ISPCK Contextual Theological Education Series 21, 2000. Deiss, Lucien. It’s The Lord’s Supper. The Eucharist of Christians. London: Collins Liturgical Publications, 1986. Morgan, Peggy and Clive Lawton, eds. Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008. Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. De Smet, R and J. Neuner. Religious Hinduism. Fourth Revised Edition. Mumbai: The Bombay St Paul Society, 1996. O’Flaherty, Wendy, ed. Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1988. Oxtoby, Willard, ed. World Religions. Eastern Traditions. Ontario: Oxford University Press, 1996. 136

Oxtoby, Willard, ed. World Religions. Western Traditions. Ontario: Oxford University Press, 1996. Smith, Dennis. From Symposium to Eucharist. The Banquet in the Early Christian World. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. Puri, Bahrati. Engaged Buddhism. The Dalai Lama’s Worldview. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006. Thomas, P. Hindu Religion, Custom and Manners. Bombay: D.B. Taraporevala Sons & Co, 1956. Fernandez, Erasto.The Bread that we Break. Bombay, St Paul Press Training School, 1980. Reynolds, Frank and Earle Waugh, eds. Religious Encounters with Death. University Park: Penn State University Press, 1977. Counihan, Carol M. and Steven L. Kaplan, eds. Food and Gender: Identity and Power. Newark, N.J.: Harwood Academic Press, 1998. Malamoud, Charles. Cooking the World: Ritual and Thought in Ancient India. Translated by David White. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Shabkar, Tsofdruk Rangdrol. Food of Bodhisattvas, Buddhist Teachings from Abstaining from Meat, Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, Amsterdam: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 2004. Suzuki, D.T. Studies in the Lankâvatâra Sûtra, London: Routledge, 1930. Harvey, Peter. Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge, 1966. Corley, Kathleen E. Private Women, Public Meals: Social Conflict in the Synoptic Tradition. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993. Bynum, Carolyn Walker. Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. Perrin, Norman. Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus, London: SCM Press, 1967. Jeremias, Joaquim. New Testament Theology, Vol. 1, The Proclamation of Jesus. London: SCM Press, 1967. Padinjarekuttu, I, ed. Collected Writings of George M. Soares-Prabhu, Vol. I, Pune: Jnana- Deepa Vidyapeeth, 1999. Lavina Melwani, “Hindu Hospitality: The Gods Amongst Us”, in Hinduism Today, Himalayan Academy, Sep 27, 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica, Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.2010. Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme. The physiology of taste, or Meditations of Transcendent Gastronomy, Washington D.C.: Counterpoint, 1826. 137 Eat, Pray and Love

Prof. Sharmila Dhote Religion

Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, or human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.

The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but religion differs from private belief in that it has a public aspect. Most religions have organized behaviors, including congregations for prayer, priestly hierarchies, holy places, and/or scriptures. Culture

Culture means civilisation comprised of beliefs, customs, behaviour, conduct and traditions. It encompasses the vital characteristics and elements of governance, administration, traits of people and their behaviour and habits. Culture means belonging to a community and preserving the heritage. Culture embodies the values, beliefs and norms of a group of people. Religion and culture lay voluntary restraints on our conduct and behaviour. A set of ethics and code of conduct arise out of religious and cultural values.

Religion and culture have deep rooted merit and relevance to the physical, mental and material development of mankind, and to the moral, spiritual and philosophical aspects of life. Religion in India

India is the birth place of four of the world’s major religious traditions; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Throughout its history, religion has been an important part of the country’s culture. Religious diversity and religious tolerance are both established in the country by law and custom. A vast majority of Indians associate themselves with a religion.

According to the last census, Hinduism accounted for 80.5% of the population of India. Islam (13.5%), Christianity (1.3%) and Sikhism (2.9%) are the other 138 major religions followed by the people of India. This diversity of religious belief systems existing in India today is a result of, besides existence and birth of native religions, assimilation and social integration of religions brought to the region by traders, travellers, immigrants, and even invaders and conquerors.

Zoroastrianism and Judaism also have an ancient history in India and each has several thousand Indian adherents. India has the largest population of people adhering to Zoroastrianism.

The following is a breakdown of India’s religious communities (2001 census):

Religions of India

Religion Population Percent

All religions 1,028,610,328 100.00% Hindus 827,578,868 80.5% Muslims 138,188,240 13.4% Christians 24,080,016 2.3% Sikhs 19,215,730 1.9% Buddhists 7,955,207 0.8% Jains 4,225,053 0.4% Bahá’ís 1,953,112 0.18% Others 4,686,588 0.32% Religion not stated 727,588 0.1%

Importance of religion in India

Legal Aspect

The Constitution of India declares the nation to be a secular republic that must uphold the right of citizens to freely worship and propagate any religion or faith (with activities subject to reasonable restrictions for the sake of morality, law and order, etc.). The Constitution of India also declares the right to freedom of religion as a fundamental right. Citizens of India are generally tolerant of each other’s religions and retain a secular outlook, although inter-religious marriage is not widely practiced. Inter-community clashes have found little support in the social mainstream, and it is generally perceived that the causes of religious conflicts are political rather than ideological in nature. 139 Political aspect

Communalism has played a key role in shaping the religious history of modern India. Since its independence, India has periodically witnessed large-scale violence sparked by underlying tensions between sections of its majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities. In recent decades, communal tensions and religion-based politics have become more prominent. In recent decades, communal tensions and religion-based politics have become more prominent.

Economic aspect

Religious thought and economic activity have been closely linked throughout the history of India.

In the medieval period the caste system, one of the predominant features in Hinduism, became inflexible, and, consequently, impacted significantly on the economic system. Fundamentally, the rigid caste system limited labour mobility. It prevented individuals from employing their own particular talents irrespective of their caste, and also generated distortions in the economy by granting particular castes monopolies in specialized activities. Thus, the caste system furnishes a clear instance of religious thought having profound economic consequences. However the influence of the caste system diminished with the advent of Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism which did not accept the caste system. The consequences of the caste system are still felt in modern India.i

Social aspect

Religion plays a major role in the Indian way of life. Rituals, worship, and other religious activities are very prominent in an individual’s daily life; it is also a principal organiser of social life. The degree of religiosity varies among individuals; in recent decades, religious orthodoxy and observances have become less common in Indian society, particularly among young urban-dwellers.

The vast majority of Indians engage in religious rituals on a daily basis. Most Hindus observe religious rituals at home. Observations of rituals greatly vary among regions, villages, and individuals. A notable feature in religious ritual is the division between purity and pollution. Religious acts presuppose some degree of impurity or defilement for the practitioner, which must be overcome or neutralised before or during ritual procedures. Purification, usually with water, is thus a typical feature of most religious action. Other characteristics include a belief in the efficacy of sacrifice and concept of merit, gained through the performance of charity or good works that will accumulate over time and reduce 140 sufferings in the next world. Occasions like birth, marriage, and death involve what are often elaborate sets of religious customs. Several rituals mark the first days of life and most coming of age rites such as entry in to puberty and adulthood. Religious festivals are widely observed and hold great importance for Indians. Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Durga puja, Ugadi, Dussehra, and Sankranthi/ Pongal are the most popular Hindu festivals in India. Among Muslims, the Islamic Eid festivals of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha are the most celebrated and the day of Ashura which is the tenth day of Moharram is commemorated in memory of Husayn ibn Ali. Some notable Sikh holidays are birthdays of Gurus,Vaisakhi,Bandi Chorr Divas (also known as Diwali) and Hola Maholla. Christmas, Buddha Jayanti are key holidays among the remaining religious groups. Religious festivals provide a platform for bringing people together to participate in rituals like prayer and devotional worship in the form of song and dance. Community eating also becomes an integral part of all religious celebrations. Most festivals are typically marked by an array of delicacies associated with that festival. Many religious festivals observe a period of fasting before feasting and foods permitted during this period of abstinence are also regulated by the dietary laws of the religion. Gastronomic aspect Claude Lévi-Strauss, the French anthropologist, described food as a type of language that helps human beings express their basic perceptions of reality. Rules about eating are dictated by a community’s beliefs and taboos. ² For example the Jain belief in ahimsa or non violence is reflected in their diet which prohibits non vegetarian food or subterranean vegetables.ii British anthropologist Mary Douglas has shown how food communicates ideas about holiness that provide identity and order. These ideas also illumine the connections between religion, food, and other culturally constructed systems such as gender norms.iii In medieval India, the status of women is evident in the eating etiquette of the time where women served the men and only ate after. Religious food rules may also be codes for class distinctions. The Hindu caste system, for example, is communicated primarily in terms of who can cook for and who can eat with whom. Religious purity is attached to the maintenance of social boundaries. Brahmans, the highest caste, maintain their purity by avoiding foods touched by those of lower castes. Yet Brahman-prepared food is permitted to all. Sacred time, sacred space, ritual, and myth give the general flavour of a religion. 141 Sacred space Sacred space often focuses on food and table setting. For example, the most holy point of some Christian churches is the altar where the sacred meal of Christ’s body takes place. In Hindu temples, devotees are often separated from images of the deities by a rail from which they offer food to the gods and receive it in turn. Sacred space is the place where the divine and human communicate, very often over a meal. Domestic eating spaces can be sanctified as well. Hindu and Buddhist homes may have shrines that are miniature temples for deities who are fed daily.

Sacred time

Sacred time is also often delineated by food. In many religions, time is marked by periods of eating and abstention. Eating in sacred space and at sacred times is a primary mode of ritual activity. It is first of all feeding the deity, rather than feeding on the deity, that sanctifies Hindus who present foods to the gods for their consumption. The gods then return the leftovers as sacred prasadam for devotees to eat.

Ritual Food symbols are among the most powerful because they connect the reality of life in a place to the holy in tangible and vital ways. Ghee, clarified butter from the sacred cow, feeds deities and humans in India. Rice is frequently used as a symbol of fertility and prosperity in all auspicious Hindu rituals such as marriage, worship, or a Hindu house warming ceremony.

Myth Some scholars hold that sacrifice, which literally means “to make holy,” is at the root of religion. Much mythic vocabulary associates death and food in the service of life. Many religious groups deal with the death-giving-life paradox by sanctioning killing as a gift to the gods, of which humans may share and become holy themselves. The Muslim festival of Bakri Id is symbolic of such a sacrifice.

Sharing a Meal - Different forms Sacred rituals reintegrate believers with each other as well as the gods; this is often accomplished in commensality. The concept of sharing a meal has different manifestations across religions. Eating the same foods, often from common vessels, draws boundaries around community, making it holy and like family. Food exchanges or ceremonial meals are common in marriage rituals. Rituals often extend outside the bounds of community through food. The Christian Eucharist concludes by sending believers who have been fed “into the world in peace” to help sanctify 142 it. Making the world holy is often accomplished by the extension of community through charitable feeding. Devotees of Lord Krishna, for example, are famous for their temple feeding programs. By feeding the outsider, they serve Krishna by extending his presence through food that has been sanctified by him. Muslims are required to practice charity and often do so by giving food to non-Muslims. The Sikh langar or community meal is offered to God and then shared with people from different communities. Significance Individual perspective

The power of foods to evoke strong memories and feelings, essential to the efficacy of religious ritual, is related to the sensory experience of food. Most people harvest, kill, eat, cook, serve, hunger for, or otherwise encounter food and holiness primarily through physical action and sensation, rather than through belief and interpretation. Food rituals recall not just abstract ideas, but smells or tastes that bring back another time or place. Because religious experience via food is a physical experience, it can vary widely even while following the same ritual practices. This does not make ritual less powerful; rather, it helps to bring it alive for devotees. Paradoxically, religious expression is all the more real, meaningful, and transcendent because it is new each time even if it is as old as the world. Each time a religious act involving food is performed, it is experienced by the body in the moment of receiving, smelling, and tasting, and this strengthens feelings and beliefs about the presence of holiness in the activity.

Familial perspective

Globalisation has had an impact on the lifestyle and subsequently the food habits of the urban population in India. The transition from joint family to a nuclear family has led to a loosening of family ties and traditions. Religious celebrations like marriages and festivals play an important role in offering family members an opportunity to come together and feel connected. Preparing and feasting on delicacies, which are part of a traditional meal, are also a strong reminder to people of their roots and their traditions.

Social perspective

Sharing a meal also offers a platform for people of different religious denominations to exchange ideas and provide a deeper insight into each others’ religious beliefs. This helps to cultivate tolerance and understanding across communities which are the need of the hour and thereby promote world peace and solidarity. 143 This paper addresses the traditional concept of sharing a meal and the anthropological and culinary customs in the context of four Indian religions, namely Islam, Sikhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism. Islam

Islam is the second most popular religion in India. The meaning of Islam is submission to God. Islam is based on five pillars, iman(faith), salaah(prayer), sawm(fasting) zakat(charity), and hajj(pilgrimage). The Holy book of the Muslims is the Quran Sharif that contains the word of God/Allah as revealed to the Prophet Muhammed.

Eating Habits

In the case of Muslims, the nutritional practices are predominantly determined by the injunctions and regulations of Islam as outlined by the Holy book of the Quran. More than 90 million Muslims of different nationalities, societies and cultures of the world make this nutritional practice unique. The religion Islam has one of the most comprehensive eating and dietary habits.

Eating like any other act of the Muslims is a matter of worship according to the Islamic guidelines. The following habits were recommended by Prophet Muhammad and are practiced by Muslims all over the world:

! Du’a’ (Supplication) before and after each meal: This practice has been well researched to increase nutrient absorption and allows the body to introduce the correct and healthy enzymes to break down the foods. True, blessings, prayer or silent contemplation before eating will improve digestion, assimilation and well being on all levels. ! Eating less: Overeating is discouraged and wasting of food is condemned. Eating less was emphasised as a method of preventing sickness and diseases. Islam recommends one-third of your stomach to be reserved for water, one-third of your stomach should be filled with food, and one-third with air. ! A balanced diet is one of the principles of good health. Islam highly recommends foods like halal meat, figs, honey, fish, dates, olive oil and milk since they have a high nutritive value. It also suggests a diet of natural as opposed to genetically modified foods. ! Eating slowly: Eating slowly is recommended for good health as it facilitates the food being thoroughly chewed and hence easier to digest. It also reduces consumption of food. ! Eating with the right hand: The left hand is considered unclean for Muslims and both eating and drinking with the left hand is considered sinful. 144

! Moderation and sharing: A Muslim is advised to avoid extremes and to choose a moderate course in all his affairs, including his eating habits. Muslims are cautioned to avoid greed and to enjoy the pleasures of sharing, especially in regard to eating. Sharing of food with relatives, neighbours, the needy and destitute is emphasised in Islam and relates to the third pillar of Islam namely zakat- charity in the form of food. ! Eating together: Eating with others brings about harmony and understanding among people. Eat together and not separately for the blessing is associated with the company.iv

It is interesting to note that this is the only religious community where the practice of sharing a meal is literally observed. The meal is served and eaten out of a huge platter to separate groups of men and women.

Halal and Haraam

For Muslims all types of food are considered lawful unless prohibited by the Quran. The Quran uses the term halal for lawful food which has dual significance; food to be earned lawfully, food that conforms to the Islamic laws related to the mode of slaughtering. An animal should only be slaughtered for consumption and not for sport. The slaughtering involves mentioning the name of Allah, before severing the throat, windpipe and the jugular veins without cutting the spinal cord. Slaughtering should be done facing Mecca. A sharp knife should be used to minimise pain. This prescribed method of slaughtering is called Tabiha.

Blood is a medium for bacteria and therefore forbidden or haraam. Along with blood, pork, all by products of swine, and animals that die a natural death are forbidden. Intoxicants and food on which any other name has been invoked are not permitted in Islam.

Some foods may be regarded as masbu which means that they could be either halal or haraam depending on the ingredients used, for example ice cream with gelatine would be haraam since gelatine could be a by product of pig.

Feasting and fasting

Ramadhan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar when it is believed that the Quran Sharif was revealed to Prophet Mohammed. It is considered the holiest month for the Muslims. Most devout Muslims fast during this month from sunrise to sunset abstaining from food and water. The fasting period comprises of very 145 organised and regulated rituals. It is not simply a disorderly skipping of meals. Rules that govern fasting stress the importance of safeguarding physical and mental health. Children, the infirm, the elderly people and pregnant women are all exempt from fasting. The meals are taken at specific times with a caution against gluttony.

Iftar is the breaking of the fast at sunset. Muslims usually break the fast with dates and a sip of water. Special delicacies like fried cornflower, boiled grams and lentils, meat kebabs and sweet meats are prepared and shared with neighbours, friends and family. People at an iftari congregate as equals irrespective of their social status. Before sunrise the late midnight meal is called sahar.

Fasting in Ramadhan is not only associated with physical hunger and thirst. Its essence is a spiritual exercise in prayer and meditation and philanthropic pursuits. Ultimately fasting plays a constructive role in refining human character. Before the day of Eid, during the last few days of Ramadan, each Muslim family gives a determined amount as a donation to the poor. This donation is of actual food— rice, barley, dates, rice, etc.—to ensure that the needy can have a holiday meal and participate in the celebration. This donation is known as sadaqah al-fitr (charity of fast-breaking).

In Mumbai, Ramadhan and iftar dinners are not the monopoly of the Muslim community. Muhammadali road, a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood, becomes an eating hub during this month and attracts people of different religious faiths who flock here to savour specialties like malpua, phirnee, mawa jalebi, bheja fry etc. A relatively recent trend emerging in elite Mumbai is the hosting of iftari parties ostensibly for people of different religious faiths but these have an underlying political interest.

The celebration of Bakri Eid is also called the festival of sacrifice. During this festival Muslims sacrifice their domestic animals like goat, sheep, camel etc. The day begins with a breakfast of sheer korma, milk pudding with dates which is a traditional sweet served for Eid. Soon after the breakfast the animal is sacrificed and then the meat of the slaughtered animal is distributed. It is believed that the meat must be distributed in three equal parts among neighbours and friends, family members and poor people. The basic idea behind this sacrifice is being able to give up or renounce something that you have cared for and nurtured. In olden days what was possible when people had their own livestock is no longer practical for most people in an urban multicultural environment. Muslims today buy a portion of a sacrificial animal. It is customary to divide animals differently; a goat and a cow are divided in to 7 portions while a camel yields 10 portions. 146 Another practice that involves sacrifice and sharing of food is the Hakika. Once in a lifetime Muslim parents are enjoined to sacrifice an animal in the name of their offspring. Two goats are sacrificed for a son while a girl demands one goat to be sacrificed. The meat is then distributed.

Islam through its injunctions regarding food appears to promote a healthy personality, sound in body and mind as well as a strong community spirit. Sikhism

A progressive religion well ahead of its time when it was founded over 500 years ago, the Sikh religion today has a following of over 20 million people worldwide and is ranked as the world’s fifth largest religion. Sikhism preaches a message of devotion and remembrance of God at all times, truthful living, equality of mankind and denounces superstitions and blind rituals. Sikhism is open to all through the teachings of its ten gurus enshrined in the Sikh holy book and Living Guru Sri Granth Sahib. The key distinctive feature of Sikhism is a non anthropomorphic concept of God to the extent that one can interpret God as the universe itself.

A Sikh place of worship is called a Gurudwara or guru’s door. All Gurudwara have a room where people meet for worship. Many Gurudwara also have a community dining hall (langar) and a kitchen. Usually at the end of a service kara parshad is distributed to the congregation. Kara Parshad, the most important food in the Sikh religion, is made and eaten both in the Gurudwara and the home. The preparation of kara parshad requires that it is cooked by a person who has recently bathed and who is wearing clean clothes, in a clean kitchen. Sacred songs are often recited during the preparations.

Kara Prasad is a sweet made from flour or semolina, sugar and water. In the Gurudwara the kara parshad is put into a bowl and covered with a clean cloth and taken to stand near the Guru Granth Sahib. The kara prashad is cut with a kirpan or two-edged sword at the end of the service and distributed to all those present, where it is accepted with two hands cupped together and eaten immediately. Sharing the parshad is a symbol of the equality of all people in the sight of God.

Sharing a Meal

In Sikhism the concept of langar powerfully reflects the relationship between religion and sharing a meal. The langar is a strong practical symbol of Sikh equality and service to Sikhs and non Sikhs in the community. All members of 147 the congregation are involved in all aspects of the meal: preparing, cooking, serving, eating and cleaning up.

After a Sikh service everyone is expected to sit and share a meal (langar) which is prepared by volunteers of the congregation. Both the meal and the dining hall where it is served are called langar. The idea behind langar is to remind Sikhs that all people belong to the same human family and therefore should be treated equally. It was Guru Nanak who started this practice. The langar is run by donation and voluntary labour. Most families from the Gurudwara take their turn and consider it an honour to cook and serve langar. The food is always vegetarian so that all can take part. Usually the meal which is also called Guru ka langar consists of dal (lentils), a vegetable curry, raita (yoghurt), rice and chapattis. Helping in the langar is one example of sewa which means service to others. This is one of the important principles of Sikhism.

Diet in Sikhism

In Sikhism, only vegetarian food is served in the Gurudwara, but Sikhs are not totally bound to be meat-free. The general consensus is that Sikhs are free to choose whether to adopt the vegetarian or meat diet. But if meat is to be taken at all, Guru Gobind Singh enjoined on the Khalsa Panth not to take kosher meat ie. Halal meat slaughtered and prepared for eating according to the Islamic practice.5 Alcohol is also forbidden in Sikhism.

Within the Gurudwara, the Guru ka Langar (Guru’s community kitchen) serves purely vegetarian food, freshly prepared from all natural ingredients for all people, at all times. The reason for serving vegetarian food is that the langar is open to all. Since many faiths and people have varying taboos on what to eat and how meat should be prepared etc and since Sikhs accept these restrictions and accommodate people no matter their faith or culture, the safest option thought by the Sikh Gurus was to adopt vegetarian food for Langar. The exception to vegetarian langar is when Nihangs, (a minor but oldest Sikh sect in India) serve meat on the occasion of the Holla Mohalla fesival, and call it Maha Prashad. The first Sikh Guru Nanak Dev said it was a pointless argument to debate the merits of either not eating or eating meat in the context of religion, as maintaining a strict diet does not make one blessed or elevate one to a superior status, spiritually or otherwise, over another.vi

Being a member of a religion incorporates not merely one’s dietary customs but the entire way in which they govern their lifestyle. By the same token, fasting is not practised in Sikhism since Guru Nanak taught that it did not necessarily make people closer to God. 148 Sikhism emphasises the importance of sharing food as a way of reminding people of their humanity and brotherhood. There are few dietary restrictions since this religion believes that an individual’s lifestyle is important to his spiritual well being rather than his food choices. Jainism

Jainism believes in one caste, which is the caste of humanity, a religion of love and compassion-respect and the right to live for all living beings. It teaches conduct- the conduct of truism. Jains practise the five vows: non violence in action, speech and thoughts; speaking the truth; non stealing; celibacy (purity of mind and body) and non possessiveness. The cardinal teaching of Jainism is non-violence. These tenets have a direct implication for the dietary habits of Jains. A Jain diet is a strict vegetarian diet. Jains believe in giving a minimum amount of pain to plants and animals. A Jain diet is based on the fact that a simple natural diet will help keep the mind peaceful and pure.

Jains believe that the type of food eaten influences the mind and the body. Therefore they recommend eating only sattvic foods like fresh fruits, nuts, juices, vegetables, milk, cereals etc. These foods keep the body in a peaceful state and allow it to function at full potential while observing ahimsa or non violence.

Dietary laws Many eating customs in Jainism have a medical relevance so it could be regarded as a scientific religion. According to the Jains the body is an important instrument for religious practice, spiritual development and ultimately self realisation. Hence it must be nurtured through healthy eating and drinking practices. Nutritive value is emphasised rather than the taste. Traditionally, Jains are very particular about eating before sunset because lights attract night insects that might fall in to the food and be consumed, affecting health. This practice also supports their belief in ahimsa or non violence to any living thing. Ahimsa The reason Jainism espouses vegetarianism is the first principle laid down by their god, Mahavir- namely ahimsa.

Jains go out of their way so as not to hurt even small insects and other tiny animals because they are convinced that harm caused by carelessness is as reprehensible as harm caused by deliberate action. Hence they take great pains 149 to make sure that no minuscule animals are injured by the preparation of their meals and in the process of eating and drinking. Vegetables and fruits that grow underground are prohibited as a general rule. The reason being uprooting the plant destroys the entire plant and with it all the micro organisms around the root.

Fresh fruit and vegetables should be plucked only when ripe and ready to fall off or ideally after they have fallen off the plant. In the case of food grains, such as wheat, rice, maize and beans these are obtained when the plants or the pods are dry and dead. Mushrooms and fungus are not eaten by Jain families because they are parasites and grow under unhygienic conditions. Alcohol, meat, honey, vinegar, molasses and wine are taboo as are vegetables like jackfruit that bleed on cutting and when cooked look like meat. Vegetables like cabbage are peeled layer by layer, each leaf cleaned and washed before cutting and cooking, in case there are insects and worms in between the leaves. Similarly leafy vegetables must be cleaned well before consumption.

Jains do not eat fermented foods to avoid killing of a large number of micro organisms associated with the fermenting process.

Traditionally Jains have been prohibited from drinking unfiltered water. In the past when wells were used for the water source, the cloth used for filtering used to be reversed and some filtered water was poured over it to return the organisms to the original body of water. Jains today may filter faucet water in the traditional fashion and a few Jains continue to follow the filtering process even with commercial mineral or bottled drinking water.

Fasting

Chaturmaas represents the four months of the monsoon and is a period of abstinence, fasting and purification for the Jains. During this time, there is a proliferation of life in plants, insects and micro organisms and therefore they abstain from a consumption of foods derived from them. Leafy vegetables, yam, potatoes, and other root vegetables are avoided during Chaturmaas. Vegetable curries are made from dried ingredients like lentils and cooked in a sattvic way with less spices and oil.

During some specific fasting periods in the Jain religious calendar Jains refrain from consuming any green coloured vegetables.

The Jain approach to vegetarianism is comprehensive and rigorous. The scrupulous and thorough way of applying non violence to everyday activities 150 and especially to food shapes their entire lives and is the most significant hallmark of Jain identity. Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is one of the most ancient religions in the world. At one time it was the dominant religion of Iran and adjoining regions. Its popularity declined when Islam was introduced by the Muslim invaders. The total number of people practising Zoroastrianism in the world is 250000 out of which 80% live in India and are called Parsis.

Zoroastrianism is based on the teachings of the first prophet Zarathushtra. Zarathushtra gave three commandments to his followers to enable them lead perfect lives and work for their own evolution. These are humata (good thought), hukhta (good word), and havarshta (good deeds). Good thoughts are very important in the spiritual journey of man but thinking good alone is not sufficient. One must have the courage to speak the Truth at all times. Performance of good deeds is equally important. Good actions include Sraosha or service.

Dietary Laws

Prophet Zarathushtra also known as Zoroaster lived in a pastoral society, where cooked meat was eaten. From the earliest times, the Iranians ate the flesh of domesticated animals and birds. Meat, poultry and fish was roasted, cooked or fried before eating and eaten with various kinds of vegetables, fruits, and dry fruits and consumed with milk, yogurt drink and alcohol. Animal food was used in sacred feasts and festivals or in funeral repasts.

Feasting and sharing a meal

The most important festival in the Zoroastrian year is the Iranian New Year known as Navroze or NoRuz, which is celebrated on the day of the Spring Equinox. On the day of Navroze or NoRuz, Zoroastrians wear new clothes, visit families and friends, visit the fire temple, then go home or to the community centre for the New Year feast, which consist of a thanks giving prayer ceremony known as the Jashan, followed by eating, drinking, dancing and merriment.

During festive celebrations like Parsi New Year or Navroze, sweets in the form of vermicelli pudding or custard are prepared. Fish is a very important dish of any celebratory meal and is regarded as auspicious and is served with a dal or lentil preparation and plain boiled rice. 151 Dhanshak which is identified as a popular Parsi dish is not associated with feasts at all. On the contrary it is served on the 4th day of mourning. Dhanshak is a wholesome ‘meal in a bowl’ packed with lots of nutrients coming from rice, lentils, a variety of cereals, vegetables and meat.

Sharing a meal during the mourning period following bereavement is a common practice in most of the above religions. Among the Parsis this practice takes the form of gahambar. These gahambars or seasonal festivals were celebrated by the community as a whole six times a year and were originally tied to the agricultural cycle. Today, the tradition of gahambar refers to community meals that are hosted by wealthy Parsis for all members of the community in memory of their family’s ancestors. Rich and poor gather together and share a simple meal.

Dietary restrictions

There are no forbidden food products in Zoroastrianism although traditionally pork and beef are not consumed. Drinking alcohol, especially wine is considered a religious duty.

Zoroastrians are extremely finicky about cleanliness, especially the kitchen and toilets. To a Zoroastrian, cleanliness is not next to Godliness, it is Godliness!

Fasting

The Parsi community is known to be extremely food-loving. Unlike a majority of religions in India, the Parsis do not have the concept of fasting. To be constantly alert against evil, excess – gluttony, and deficiency – fasting is forbidden. Fasting is forbidden as deficiency diminishes our ability to be constantly alert against evil and our strength to practice active virtues. “The person who abstains from food, or takes insufficient food, has neither enough strength to practice active virtues, nor can he till the earth, nor beget children, nor is he able to withstand hardship and pain.”vii The community has a month in their calendar during which they abstain from eating meat. This month, known as Bahman Mahino, is dedicated to the Bahman Ameshaspand (angel) who is the guardian of the animal kingdom. It is a mark of respect for this divinity. However most of the community just follow four important days in the month. For three days after death the family abstains from meat, and takes food chiefly consisting of vegetable and fish, which is called “parhîzî” (abstinence). Not only do the family, but even nearest and dearest friends abstain from meat diet. The 152 abstinence is observed as a sign of mourning. Up to recently in Mumbai, and even now in some of the small towns, no food is cooked in the house where death has taken place. The nearest relations of the family prepare the food for the bereaved family and send it over. It is not unusual among the Parsis, that on the third, fourth, tenth, and thirtieth day after a bereavement, and on the anniversaries after death, they give food and clothing to the poor of their community, and sometimes give various sums in charity.

Zoroastrianism unlike other religions has no food restrictions and does not advocate fasting. It emphasises the importance of eating well to remain alert and to fulfil the three commandments of their prophet namely good thoughts, good words and good deeds. Conclusion

In the past the rigidity of the Indian social structure led to a segregated society where strong religious stereotypes prevailed. Urbanisation has led to the lowering of social barriers and greater opportunities for social interaction with people from other religious communities. Food has become a gateway in to other cultures and a medium of deepening understanding and respect for other faiths.

Macro level

The cosmopolitan nature of urban housing has brought people of different religions together. Residents of these housing communities or neighbourhoods celebrate major festivals in the form of community meals.

Eateries that serve a typical Jain, Muslim or Parsi cuisine have emerged and are popular among the masses. Typical Indian families are beginning to incorporate a lot of variety into their own daily cooking.

Festivals of different religions are more inclusive and are celebrated on a larger scale. These gatherings serve to unite people of diverse faiths raising awareness not only about food but also associated beliefs. As such, they play a significant role in promoting communal harmony. A negative outcome however is the commercialisation and politicisation of these religious celebrations. Pollution is also fallout of this extravagant use of resources.

Micro level According to behavioural psychologists behaviour is learned. This is also true of religious behaviour. In contemporary society various factors like mass media, peer pressure, parents, teachers, can influence an individual’s religious beliefs. 153 Exposure to other religions through food or festivals can lead individuals to examine their own faith more closely. Some individuals may experience internal push and pull when their beliefs are contrary to those of another religion. This conflict can be healthy because in spite of superficial differences expressed through dietary laws, rituals, festivals, etc. logical reasoning reveals many commonalities among religious principles. Most religions espouse good deeds, good words and good thoughts. People who live by this code regardless of their religion are contributing to peace and solidarity in the world. Let us all forget our differences and focus only on similarities in different religions because that will bring us closer as companions and ultimately closer to the realisation that we all belong to one and only one race, the human race. It is a common saying that ‘one should eat to live and not live to eat’. However, in order to promote a healthy mind in a healthy body let us reverse the saying and instead Live To Eat, Pray And Love.

Endnotes i RH Dehejia- American Journal of Economics 1993 - Wiley Online Library Religion and Economic Activity in India: An Historical Perspective. ii Claude Levi-Strauss -The Raw and the Cooked -1964 iii Mary Douglas, Food in the Social Order, 1984 iv Ibn Mâjah, was a medieval scholar of hadith. He compiled the last of Sunni Islam‘s six canonical hadith collections, Sunan Ibn Mâjah. v HS Singha and Satwant Kaur, Sikhism, A Complete Introduction, Delhi ISBN81-7010-245-6 vi S R Bakshi, Rashmi Pathak, ed (2007) Punjab Through the Ages vii Vendidad is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta, the Holy book of the Parsis, Chapter 3 Verse 33

External Links: www.islamtheabsolutetruth.com/eating.html Retrieved 2010-04-18www.islamicbulletin.org/newsletters/issue_16/diet.aspx Retrieved 2010-04-20wiki.answers.com/Q/What_foods_are_there_in_sikh_festivals Retrieved 2010-06-15https://www.edulink.networcs.net/sites/teachlearn/RE Retrieved 2010-06-17 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism Retrieved 2010-07-15www.fatfreekitchen.com/diet/jain-diet.html Retrieved 2010-07-17http://www.hinduwebsite.com/zoroastrianism/beliefs.asp 154

Retrieved 2010-10-12www.faithandfood.com/Zoroastrianism.php Retrieved 2010-10-14

Primary Source: Informal Interviews

References: S R Bakshi, Rashmi Pathak, ed (2007) Punjab Through the Ages G.S. Sidhu, Shromini Sikh Sangat, Toronto, Introduction to Sikhism, 1989, ISBN 0900692073 I.J. Singh, Manohar, Sikhs and Sikhism,Delhi, 1998 ISBN 9788173040580 H.S Singha and Satwant Kaur, Sikhism, A Complete Introduction, Delhi ISBN81-7010-245-6 Kanwaljit Kaur-Singh, Sikhism for Today, 1998 Mohd. Mazhar Husseini, Food and Nutrition in Islam, 1981 Navin Dedhia,Maintaining and Representing Our Religious and Cultural Identity as Jains in America W.Owen Cole and Piara Singh Sambhi, A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism, England ISBN 978- 0844204246 155 Meals and Celebrations in Asian Cultures

Dr. S. M. Michael svd

1. Introduction

Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are,” wrote renowned gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in 1825. Food is a very important and necessary part of our lives. It sustains us, giving meaning, order, and values to our lives. Food reflects the symbolism in our ideological systems. Sharing food has been a way for people of all cultures to create and sustain a bond with others. It also plays an important part in our identity construction, our religious practices, and our socialization. It is a vital part in our celebrations.

We use food for a variety of purposes and the food that we choose to eat is selected because of many different influences. In many religions, food is a communicative symbol where we experience and perceive God’s love and life. Foodways can thus tell us a lot about the society in which they play a part. This paper will highlight the facts that we communicate messages by means of as well as about food, and we can look at foodways to discern cultural presuppositions underlying our communicative styles and religious experiences.

2. Food, Meals and Culture

All living organism need to sustain themselves to be alive. But, our human sustenance takes a form of culture. Food becomes a meal through a process of culture. Even animals need to eat food but this food becomes a meal for human beings because of its cultural moorings. It is in the first few years of a child’s life that the mother and other members of the family teach it to discriminate between food and non-food, and how, when and in what order to eat it. These rules we carry with ourselves throughout our life though we might modify or change them as we go along.

Consuming food is a cultural activity, which has several symbolic meanings. We eat food because we need it to live, it is what gives us the nutrients that we need for our bodies to grow. Another reason we eat food is because of psychological reasons. If we are happy, we eat; if we are sad, we eat; boredom, depression, and loneliness are other reasons that we eat. Communities are kept together with the cultural and symbolic meaning of food (Humphrey, 1991.). We use food for social needs. When we have friends, usually we have some form of food to offer them, 156 whether it is a light snack or a full meal. Food items themselves have meaning attached to them.

Normally, People who have the same culture share the same food habits, that is, they share the same assemblage of food variables. Peoples of different cultures share different assemblages of food variables. We might say that different cultures have different food choices (Brown, 1984). All the same, within the same culture, the food habits are not at all necessarily homogeneous. In fact, as a rule they are not. Within the same general food style, there are different manifestations of food variables of a smaller range, for different social situations. People of different social classes or occupations eat differently. People on festive occasions, in mourning, or on a daily routine eat again differently.

Different religious sects have different eating codes (Penner, 1991). Men and women, in various stages of their lives, eat differently. These variations may be influenced by the natural resources that are available for its use. All the same, food is not everything in the environment which can be used for sustaining and nourishing the human body. The enviornment only sets the limits and provides challenge to human ingenuity. Certain items, animal, vegetable and mineral, are selected by the culture as fit for human consumption and many others as not. In most cases, the selected items are consumed after being processed in certain ways which are again prescribed by culture. 3. Food, Culture and Communication

The role of food in different cultures throughout time and in all parts of the world is very interesting and revealing how societies and cultures have been communicating with the symbolism of food. Beyond merely nourishing the body, what we eat and with whom we eat can inspire and strengthen the bonds between individuals, communities, and even countries. There is no closer relationship than kin, and food plays a large part in defining family roles, rules, and traditions.

What we consume, how we acquire it, who prepares it, who is at the table, and who eats first is a form of communication that is rich with meaning. Food participates in multiple symbolic systems in a society. To discern some of the meanings that can be read into the patterning of food in a meal will reveal to us the communicative characteristic of food and meal. Choices people make with respect to what, when, where, and how they eat is related to the cultural communication of that community with regard to social relationship of that society. 157 Nations or countries are frequently associated with certain foods. People also connect to their cultural or ethnic group through similar food patterns. Immigrants often use food as a means of retaining their cultural identity. People from different cultural backgrounds eat different foods. The ingredients, methods of preparation, preservation techniques, and types of food eaten at different meals vary among cultures.

In addition to impacting food choices, culture also plays a role in food-related etiquette. People in Western societies may refer to food-related etiquette as table manners, a phrase that illustrates the cultural expectation of eating food or meals at a table. Some people eat with forks and spoons; more people use fingers or chopsticks. However, utensil choice is much more complicated than choosing chopsticks, fingers, or flatware. Among some groups who primarily eat food with their fingers, diners use only the right hand to eat. Some people use only three fingers of the right hand. Among other groups, use of both hands is acceptable. In some countries, licking the fingers is polite; in others, licking the fingers is considered impolite (and done only when a person thinks no one else is watching). Rules regarding polite eating may increase in formal settings.

The amount people eat and leave uneaten also has symbolic meaning in cultures. Some people from Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries might leave a little bit of food on their plates in order to indicate that their hunger has been satisfied (Kittler 2001). Cooks from other locations might be offended if food is left on the plate, indicating that the guest may have disliked the food. Similarly, a clean plate might signify either satisfaction with the meal or desire for more food.

Even the role of conversation during mealtime varies from place to place. Many families believe that mealtime is a good time to converse and to “catch up” on the lives of family and friends. Among other families, conversation during a meal is acceptable, but the topics of conversation are limited. In some Southeast Asian countries it is considered polite to limit conversation during a meal (Kittler 2001). 4. Symbolic Meaning of Food in Asian Cultures

Food has many symbolic meanings. It has a symbol of hospitality, status, welcome and acceptance. In her book Welcoming Ways, Andrea Alban Gosline describes dozens of culinary customs from around the globe. In Uzbekistan mothers whisper these words to their new babies: “My little meat, my little fat, my little honey, my grasshopper, my tiny moon, light of my eyes.” 158 In China Red eggs are incorporated into the naming and welcome ceremony when the baby is one month old. In the Chinese tradition food and health go together. Food not only affects health as a matter of general principle, the selection of the right food at any particular time must also be dependent upon one’s health condition at that time. Food, therefore, is also medicine. The Chinese way of eating is further characterized by the ideas and beliefs about food, which actively affect the ways in which food is prepared and taken. Indeed, perhaps one of the most important qualifications of a Chinese gentleman was his knowledge and skill pertaining to food and drink (Simoons, 1991).

In India, food is not exchanged between unequal castes. Food is a symbol of hierarchical status as well as equality. There are minute rules as to what sort of food or drink can be accepted by a person and from what castes. Traditionally, the practices in the matter of food and social intercourse divided the people of India into different segments. Social customs relating to food divided the people of India into five groups. First, the twice born castes consisting of mainly Brahmins; the second, those castes at whose hands the twice-born can take “Pakka” food; third, those castes at whose hands the twice-born cannot accept any kind of food but may take water; fourth, castes that are not untouchable yet are such that water from them cannot be used by the twice-born; last come all those castes whose touch defiles not only the twice-born but any orthodox Hindu. All food is divided into two classes, “Kachcha” and “Pakka”, the former being any food in the cooking of which water has been used, and the latter all food cooked in butter (“ghi”) without the addition of water. As a rule a man will never eat “Kachcha” food unless it is prepared by a fellow caste-man, which in actual practice means a member of his own endogamous group, whether it be caste or sub-caste, or else by his Brahmin “Guru” or spiritual guide. But in practice most castes seem to take no objection to “Kachcha” food from a Brahmin. A Brahmin can accept “Kachcha” food at the hands of no other caste. As for the “Pakka” food, it may be taken by a Brahmin at the hands of some of the castes only. A man of higher caste cannot accept “Kachcha” food from one of the lower, though the latter may regale himself with similar food offered by a member of one of the castes accepted to be higher than his own (Ghurye, 1932:7). Thus food is a symbol of hierarchy of castes. 5. Participation in a Meal is the Celebration of Renewal of Relationships

Eating is a social act, and one of the marks or symbols of a family is eating togther. Food is also a part of our many celebrations. In many cultures in Asia, eating together by its family members is an important value. Similarly in American 159 Samoa most family activities and ceremonies center on eating. A host family demonstrates its prosperity or societal rank by providing large quantities of food (Shovic 1994). However, the way that food is used in celebrations varies from home to home, state to state, and country to country. The celebrations that we have and the ways that we celebrate them are affected by our culture (Fieldhouse, 1986: 3).

Thus, gathering around a table, uniting as friends and family is an important aspect of food and celebrations. Food and celebrations unite people in the same family, giving them a common bond. A celebration of all sorts, and the food that adorns them brings people from all over the world closer together around one table. When we celebrate it is usually with people we love and trust, or are trying to get to know. Food is a powerful element that can bring together many different people. The smell of food also is powerful in that it is able to bring old memories and events to mind, a certain meal and its smell can remind a person of home. 6. Meal is a Celebration of Life Linked to Rites of Passage

We have pointed out that the food we eat is intrically linked to our culture and geography. Our festivals, marriages, pregnancies, births and deaths are ruled by the special food to be made, eaten or fed to others. Even seasons are defined by the type of food and drink that should ideally be consumed at that time of the year. Thus meal is a celebration of life linked to rites of passage. i) Life is a Celebration

Celebrations in families and societies are marked with rites of passage, and at the height of every rites of passage there is a celebration of a community meal. Participating in the meals of the celebration of a family (rites of passage) or any other celebration means participating in the joy and sorrows and the very struggle of life of a family or a community. Let us elaborate on this point.

In all cultures, life is a celebration of giving meaning to different events of human existence. Life is experienced as pulsating and rhythmical. It is a combination of breaks and re-unions. Rituals and rites are the means by which these experiences of life are communicated. Most of these rites and rituals are filled with meaning, giving an interpretation to the process of life. Hence, experiences of humankind are heavily embedded in cultural symbols, particularly those of rituals and celebrations. These rites and rituals help the members of the community to encounter the changes in their own life and in the environment. As it will be shown shortly, meal is an essential part and the culmination and completion of 160 the celebration of the rites of passage of a community. Community meals are connected to these rituals, symbols and myths.

In order to be alive and active a culture has to relive its experiences. This means the experiences which are stroed in rituals must be enacted, myths recited, narratives told, events of importance celebrated. These enactments, recitals, tellings and performances transform and enable the people involved to re- experience the heritage of their culture. “Life consists of retellings” (Bruner 1986:12). It is in this sense that meals which form a part and parcel of a community ritual is a celebration of that community. ii) Meals and Celebrations are Essential Part of Rites of Passage

Every invidual in a society undergoes different phases of life such as birth, puberty, adulthood, old-age and death. From birth till death human beings take up different positions in life such as childhood, youth, marriage and parenthood. All these changes and positions in life involve different responsibilities and each such change disturbs the individual’s equilibrium in relationship within his family and society. A person’s ability to handle these situations are marked with uncertainities. Hence, these distrurbances which involve marked changes in the habitual interaction rates of an individual are known as crisis (Chapple and Coon 1942:484). Every culture meets these crisis situations through various rituals so that an individual may pass through these stages without much stress and strain. These rites and rituals are called rites of passage by the well known social scientist Arnold van Gennep (Cf. Gennep 1960). These rites and rituals literally mark the passage of an individual from one state in his relations with other people to an another state.

The purpose of these rituals and celebrations are to transform an individual from one stage of life to another. These rites and celebrations are seen as both indicators and vehicles of transition from one socio-cultural state and status to another – childhood to maturity, virginity to marriage, childlessness to parenthood, sickness to health, death to ancestory, and so on. These ceremonies and specific rites also pay an important role in the ordering and reordering of social relations (Gluckman 1962:4).

For example, in the Dravidian cultures when a girl comes of age, her m ovements and interactions are restricted; she is confined to her home for a certain period of time until a number of rites and rituals are performed (Diehl 1956:185). These rites and rituals are aimed at changing the quality of time and staus for the girl who has come of age as well as for the members of the family. The girl is no more an ordinary small girl. She is different now. This change of status in her 161 life and for the members of the family and relations mark with rituals of Rites of Passage. In the words of Kimball, “The person who enters a status at variation with the one previously held becomes “sacred” to the others who remain in the profane state. It is this new condition which calls for rites eventually incorporating the indiviudals into the group and returning him to the coustomary routines of life. These changes may be dangerous, and at least, they are upsetting to the life of the group and the individual. The transitional period is met with rites of passage which cushion the disturbance” (1960:ix). Similarly, in other life-crisis rituals such as marriage, death, etc. the rites of passage changes the quality of time for the people who are undergoing these rituals. At the culmination of every rites of passage there is a celebration marked with a community meal.

Van Gennep saw “regneration” as a law of life and of the universe: the energy which is found in any system grdually becomes spent and must be renewed at intervals. For him, this regeneration is accomplished in the social world by the rites of passage given expression in the rites of death and renual of lfie. The essential part of this regeneration is a community meal which renews the community itself and the intimate relationships of the members of a community.

Let us take an example from Korean Culture. Naming of a child is a rite of passage which accompanies a festive meal. In Korean culture, there are prescribed rules, timing, rites and procedures in the naming of a child. After a lapse of some time a child is named. For a boy a temporary name, called a birth name, was to be replaced by a proper name upon attaining majority. A girl would have no childhood name.

On the 100th day after the birth, a sumptuous banquet is held. If the child is the first and male, the banquet is especially elaborate. Many varieties and large quantities of food are prepared and a large number of guests are invited. Parents also present rice cakes to the neighbours. The guests invited to the 100th day party come with presents, often in the form of gold rings.

On the first birthday of a child another big party is given, which is called the “tol” banquet. The child is dressed as resplendently as possible, often to its dismay and discomfort, and is set before a “tol” table with an assortment of rice cakes and symbolic items such as a hank of yarn, money, stationery, and a book. The adults enjoy predicting the child’s fortune as the child picks one of the items. If it picks the yarn it is supposed to live long; if the writing- brush it is presumed to possess a scholarly talent, and if money it will be blessed with wealth, etc. (see Korean Overseas Information Service, 1978:328-329). 162 When this routine is over, relatives and acquianintances are invited to enjoy the food, and the congratulations and presents of the guests are given.

Similarly celebrations of other rites of passage also follow a festive meal. In Korean culture, marriage is considered the most important single event for the entire family as well as the bride and groom, to be witnessed by many acquaintances and close relatives. The marriage celebration is marked by a family meal with relatives and friends (see Korean Overseas Information Service, 1978:328-329).

The food chosen during these celebrations will depend upon the cultural meaning of food in each society. To narrate this point, I darw examples from India and China in the next section of this paper. iii) Meals and Celebrations are Essential Part of the Cyclical Rituals

Van Gennep applied his system of “regeneration” to the analysis of feast and festivals in all cultures. Every feast and festival is characterized by the celebration of a community or a family meal. As we just saw, Van Gennep found regeneration is very essential in every society. Cyclical rituals are part of this regeneration.

In almost all human societies work and life tend to be governed by seasonal and ecological rhythms. Changes in the environment, such as the alteration of the seasons and even the succession of day and night, the phases of the moon, or the progression of the seasons in their annual cycle involve a disturbance of all the members of a group. They are crises because in many societies, the food supply and the means of livelihood are so dependent upon the vagaries of the environment and its climatic conditions that these human groups live in a perpetual state of anxiety and uncertainty. Moreover the changes in nature exert an alteration in the occupational rhythm of life. Consequently, these changes involve a readjustment of the interaction rates.

For example, in a country like India which is predominantly agricultural, important crisis, that is, crisis which involve relatively great changes of interaction rates, come in the spring at planting time, and in the fall at harvest. Some of the extensive cyclical rituals, such as the harvest rites, mark the end of a period of technical activity; others like planting ceremonies, mark the beginning of such a period. The ritual techniques used in these crisis enable individuals affected by the changes to build up the new interaction rates needed to restore their equilibrium. Human life need to be adjusted to these changes in nature. Accordingly every culture marks culturally recognized 163 points in the passage of time such as first fruits, harvest, mid-summer, new year, new moon, etc. (cf. James 1961).

Normally, the “Rites of Passage” are associated with non-periodic changes such as birth and death, illness, and so on. The “Cyclical Rituals” on the other hand, are usually connected with the periodic changes; the daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly changes which are associated with changes in technology through the alteration of day and night and of the seasons. Most characteristically, however, the non-periodic changes producing the rite of passage affect a single individual specially, and the rest of the group only through their relations with him, while those producing the Cyclic Rituals affect all the members of the group together. These rites, coming periodically, help to reinforce the habitual relations within the society. E.D. Chappell and C.S. Coon (1942) call these rites and rituals as “rites of intensification”, since the goal of these celebrations is the strengthening of group unity.

These rites which accompany and bring about the change of year, season, or month are also, according to Van Gennep, ceremonies of passage. Certain feasts and festivals in different parts of Asia and in other geographical areas of the world may include rites of expulsion of winter and incorporation of spring – the one dies and the other is reborn (Gennep 1960:178-180).

Invariably the celebration of these feast and festivals are marked with food symbolism in the meals of their culture. We will study some of them in Asian Cultures. 7. Quality of a Meal Influences the Personality of People

As pointed out above, the food chosen during the community celebrations at the rites of passage will depend upon the cultural meaning of food in each society. Many cultures in Asia consider that there is an intimate relationship between the type of meals (food) we take and our personality. To narrate this point, I darw examples from India and China. i) Food and Celebration in Indian Culture

In India food is classified into different psychological qualities based on the nature of food into hot and cold. There is also a classification of diets on the basis of their compatibility with certain life-styles which are arranged hierarchically. Satva (righteous), rajas (energetic) and tamas (inactive) are three dominant qualities or virtues, and one who aspires to. Hence according to the hierarchy of caste, and according to the psychological qualities expected in their 164 behaviour, different castes will choose food items in their meals in any celebration. An individual or a caste group which aspires to lead a satvic life- style must be vegetarian, teetotaler, and s/he or the caste group has to avoid, among other things, garlic and onion. They must also avoid chillies, and highly spiced food. Many upper caste Hindus, especially Brahmins, people who follow Jain religion and holy men regard vegetarianism as the only diet compatible with that condition of living.

‘Rajas’ food includes meat-eating and the spices, and is regarded as appropriate to those doing manual labour, and for soldiers and others who have to live by using physical force or violence.

‘Tamas’ is gluttony especially in spicy meats and liquor. This type of food is regarded as part of an overall sensuous life-style.

The different caste communities according to their caste regulations choose food which is appropriate in their celebrations (Srnivas, 1984:107). ii) Food and Celebration in Chinese Culture The Chinese meals in celebrations are based on its distinctive understanding of food and health. The Chinese’s underlying principles in meal preparation is based on the bodily functions the yin-yang principles. Many foods are also classifiable into those that possess the yin quality and those of the yang quality. When yin and yang forces in the body are not balanced, problems result. Proper amounts of food of one kind or the other may then be administered (i.e., eaten) to counterbalance the yin and yang disequilibria. If the body were normal, overeating of one kind of food would result in an excess of that force in the body, causing diseases. Hence, food selected in celebrations take the above aspects of dietary principles (Simoons, 1991). At least two other concepts belong to the native Chinese food tradition. One is that, in consuming a meal, appropriate amounts of both fan and ts’ai should be taken. In fact, of the two, fan is the more fundamental and indispensable. The other concept is frugality. Overindulgence in food and drink is a sin of such proportions that dynasties could fall on its account (Simoons, 1991). 8. Meals and Celebrations at Cyclical Rituals in Asian Cultures As pointed out above, in Asia too, the different cultural communities have developed their own rites and rituals for centuries to giving meaning to their life experience in terms of linear and cyclic rituals. The culimination of these 165 celebrations are marked with community or family meals. We will see some of the meals connected to cyclical rituals in Asian cultures. i) In Chinese Culture Celebration of the New Year is a cyclical ritual in all cultures. In Chinese culture, it is very elaborate. This is celebrated with a special festive meal. It is a time to gather with family, honor ancestors and celebrate with a big banquet that symbolizes prosperity in the New Year. Most of the dishes served during Chinese New Year (also known as Spring Festival) are symbolic of something positive, hopeful and indicating newness of life. Chicken and fish, for example, symbolize happiness and prosperity— especially when served whole. Dishes made with oranges represent wealth and good fortune because they are China’s most plentiful fruit. Noodles represent longevity; therefore, they should never be cut! Duck symbolizes fidelity, while eggs signify fertility. Bean curd or tofu, however, is avoided because its white color suggests death and misfortune. Dishes are also chosen based on homonyms—words that either are spelled the same or sound the same as other words. Fish (vu) is served because it sounds similar to the Chinese word for plenty; whole fish represents abundance. Turnips are cooked because their name (cai tou) also means “good luck.” Another popular Chinese New Year dish is jiaozi, dumplings boiled in water. In some areas of China, coins are placed in the center of jiaozi. Whoever bites into one of these dumplings will have an exceptionally lucky year. The Chinese celebrations include certain specific items of food. This food in celebrations is related to the symbolic meaning of that food item. The symbolic significance of a food may be based on its appearance or on how the Chinese word for it sounds. Here are several symbolic Chinese foods: a) Eggs Eggs hold a special symbolic significance in many cultures, and China is no exception. The Chinese believe eggs symbolize fertility. After a baby is born, parents may hold a “red egg and ginger party,” where they pass out hard boiled eggs to announce the birth. (In some regions of China the number of eggs presented depends on the sex of the child: an even number for a girl, and an odd number if a boy has been born). b) Noodles Noodles are a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture. They are as much a part of a Chinese birthday celebration as a birthday cake with lit candles is in 166 many countries. Since noodles do symbolize long life, it is considered very unlucky to cut up a strand. c) Fish Although westerners sometimes balk at the sight of a entire fish lying on a plate, in China a fish served whole is a symbol of prosperity. In fact, at a banquet it is customary to serve the whole fish last, pointed toward the guest of honor. Fish also has symbolic significance because the Chinese word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for riches or abundance, and it is believed that eating fish will help your wishes come true in the year to come. d) Duck Chinese wedding banquet is marked with a mouthwatering platter of Peking duck on the banquet table. Ducks represent fidelity in Chinese culture. Also, red dishes are featured at weddings as red is the color of happiness. (You’ll find them served at New Year’s banquets for the same reason.) e) Chicken In Chinese culture, chicken forms part of the symbolism of the dragon and phoenix. At a Chinese wedding, chicken’s feet (sometimes referred to as phoenix feet) are often served with dragon foods such as lobster. Chicken is also popular at Chinese New Year, symbolizing a good marriage and the coming together of families (serving the bird whole emphasizes family unity). f) Seeds (lotus seeds and watermelon seeds) During the Chinese New Year celebration Chinese eat snacks with different types of seeds in them. The seed-filled treats represent bearing many children in Chinese culture. g) Fruit - Tangerines, Oranges and Pomelos Tangerines and oranges are passed out freely during Chinese New Year as the words for tangerine and orange sound like luck and wealth, respectively. As for pomelos, this large ancestor of the grapefruit signifies abundance, as the Chinese word for pomelo sounds like the word for “to have.” h) Cake The sweet, steamed cakes are so popular during the Chinese New Year season. Cakes such as Sticky Rice Cake have symbolic significance on many levels. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich, sweet life, while the layers symbolize rising abundance for the coming year. Finally, the round shape signifies family reunion. 167 ii) In India Culture

In India there is no one New Year celebration. Each cultural groups have their own New Year in their respective annual calendar at different times of the year. Hence, it is impossible to narrate meal pattern for all the cultural groups of India. Hence, an example of only one cultural group is given here, namely Maharashtra.

Maharashtra is one of the linguistic states in India located at the middle west of Indian subcontinent. The people of this State speak Marathi as their mother tongue and belong to that culture. Among them celebration of a new year is to mark a new beginning. It is known as Gudhi – Padawa. It is the first day (Shuddha Pratipada) of the month of Chaitra. This new beginning is marked by a custom of erecting a long bamboo decorated with a silk-cloth and silver-vessel, a garland of sweets and neem-leaves. This is called Gudhi. After worshipping the Gudhi, it is taken down in the evening after sunset and sweet from the garland is distributed among the children. The meal of that day contains sweets. One peculiar custom, which characterizes Gudhi-Padawa, is the eating of neem-leaves before taking of the sweetmeats.

Celebration of the New Year teaches us that we need a constant transformation, renewal and rejuvenation. We need constant revision and criticism of our previous orderings of thought and behaviour. It is the celebration of life and death. During the celebration of the Gudhi-Padawa eating of neem-leaves before taking of the sweetmeats is very special. This reminds people, at the beginning of the New Year, that life is made up of both joys and sorrows, and we need to be ready to face both (Thomas, 1971:3-4). 9. Divine Meal in Asian Religions

Food has a symbolic meaning in almost all religions. In some religions such as Judaism, Hinduism and Christianity the eating of regular meals is intertwined with ritual acts. In the Hindu family, among the higher castes the morning meal is first offered to the domestic deities before being consumed. Eating must also be undertaken wherein a ritually pure condition, and a greater degree of purity is required while cooking. The kitchen is one of the “purest” places in a Hindu house (Srinivas, 1984: 103).

Around the world, Muslims fast during Ramadan, believed to be the month during which the Qur’an, the Islamic holy book, was given from God to the Prophet Muhammad. During this month, Muslims fast during daylight hours, eating and drinking before dawn and after sunset. Orthodox Jews follow dietary laws, 168 popularly referred to as a kosher diet, discussed in Jewish scripture. The dietary laws, which describe the use and preparation of animal foods, are followed for purposes of spiritual health ( Rhodes, Web online).

Many followers of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism are vegetarians, in part, because of a doctrine of noninjury or nonviolence. Abstinence from eating meat in these traditions stems from the desire to avoid harming other living creatures. Though not more than about 28 % of the population are vegetarians in India, in spite of this vegetarians have a high ritual status in India, and are extremely articulate (Srinivas, 1984:105).

Meal binds the members of a religious community. It is a custom among the Muslims to sit for a common festival meal along with the guests around a large plate, in the middle of which all the food is kept. The guests as well as hosts eat together by drawing the portion that each one likes to consume. On feast days, Muslims will normally send a piece of cooked mutton also to the houses of the neighbours who may belong to other religious traditions.

In India, among some tribes, there is a ritual meal around a reconciliation experience. It could happen that a boy from one clan has fallen in love and eloped with a girl from another clan, which union is normally forbidden. This makes the tribes enemies of each other, and tensions rise. If normalcy has to be restored, it is arranged that the elders first come together and discuss what has happened and how the problem is to be solved. When the dialogue succeeds, both the clans celebrate with a meal as a sign of reconciliation and mutual trust.

In the South of India there lives a tribal community known as Todas. Two basic principles rule their community, namely a) A woman is impure, b) The buffalo is very sacred. In their culture, the buffalo is normally is not killed and consumed for food. However, once a year, a prize buffalo is killed and the entire communities consumes it as a festival. It is believed by them that this meal helps them to have the life of the divinity within themselves.

The Sikh religious community in India has a special community meal in their tradition. The Hindus have a concept of “Prasad” (Divine Food) in their religious traditions. Let us elaborate on these two types of Divine Food. a) Langar (Community Meal of the Sikhs) Langar (in Punjabi language) is the term used in the Sikh religion for the free, vegetarian food served in a Gurdwara and eaten by everyone sitting as equals. Langar is also a fundamental element of Sufism, especially the Chishti Order. Langar is served in the precincts of a Sufi Dergah in the Langar Khana and is 169 served out of a massive pot called a “Deg,” and is not necessarily vegetarian. Langar is also a practice of the Ravidasi faith, and follows the same format as the Sikh practice (^ http://www.searchsikhism.com/institution.html ). The Sikh Langar or free kitchen was started by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak. It is designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people of the world regardless of religion, caste, colour, creed, age, gender or social status. In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of Langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind. “..the Light of God is in all hearts.” At Langar, only vegetarian food is served. This is done to ensure that all people, with whatever dietary restrictions will feel welcome to eat as equals. The institution of “Guru ka Langar” has served the community in many ways. It has ensured the participation of Sikhs in a task of service for mankind, even Sikh children help in serving food to the participants of Langar. Langar also teaches the etiquette of sitting and eating in a community situation, which has played a great part in upholding the virtue of sameness of all human beings; providing a welcome, secure and protected sanctuary.

Everyone is welcome to share the Langar; no one is turned away. The food is normally served twice a day, every day of the year. Each week a family or several families volunteer to provide and prepare the Langar. This is very generous, as there may be several hundred people to feed, and caterers are not allowed. All the preparation, the cooking and the washing-up is also done by voluntary helpers.

The Sikh Gurus exhorted their followers to regard everyone as their own brother. We are brothers born of the same father. ‘Our Father is one and we are all his children.’ We are members of one family. All the Gurus showed in actual life how this percept of the ‘Brotherhood of Man’ was to be lived out; the free kitchen is perhaps the best demonstration of the same Love and active sympathy for the downtrodden. The free kitchen is an institution where these noble ideals can be practiced. A Sikh Gurdwara is a central place of worship and langar is a place for serving each other. In a langar a mingling of all classes is provided and in dining together realization of the truth ‘all food is gift of God and that prejudices about it are entirely invalid’. b) Prasad (Hinduism – Prasad- Divine Food)

Prasâda (Sanskrit), prasâd/prashad (Hindi), Prasâda in (Kannada), prasâdam (Tamil) or prasadam (Telugu) is both a mental condition of generosity, as well as 170 a material substance that is first offered to a deity (in Hinduism) and then consumed. Prasada is the sacred food offering of the Lord. During Kirtans (Singing hymns), worship, Puja, Havan and Arati, the devotee offers sweet rice, fruits, jaggery, milk, coconut, plantain and such other articles to the Lord, according to his ability. After offering them to the Lord, they are shared between the members of the house or the Bhaktas (devotees) in a temple. From ancient Indian tradition the sharing of food has significance also for the personal relationship between those who partake in the food. To take only the remains of the food, what is left over after the other person has eaten, is a sign of humility, an expression of honour to him who eats first. Hindus believe that the prasad has the deity’s blessing residing within it. In contemporary Hindu religious practice in India, the desire to get prasada and have darshan are the two major motivations of pilgrimage and temple visits. Prasada is that which gives peace. Water, flowers, rice, etc., are offered to the Lord in worship. When a sacrifice is performed, the participants share the Prasada which bestows the blessings of the gods. Prasad is extremely sacred. There is no restriction of any kind in taking prasad.

Tukaram, the great mystic and poet of Maharashtra in the 17th century, makes abundant use of food and meal to express divine experience in his sacred poetries (abhangas). Tukaram sees in the meal not only the symbol of communion with God but also the bond of mutual spiritual fellowship. Devotees are drawn together by the common gift which they receive from God. Their devotion becomes a source of social solidarity and integration (Neuner, 1987: xvi). 10. Conclusion

Human life is a pilgrimage to one’s eternal destiny. One cannot proceed on this pilgrimage without the food required day by day on this journey. Cultural and spiritual traditions have developed a language of symbols to express the importance of food in human life. Food and meals have much significance in the social and cultural life of a community. Family, community and village bonding takes place through eating together. Food also plays an important role in the renewal of relationships and reconciliation. Life is a journey, rites and rituals are the means by which a family and society reaffirms its members to face the challenges of life. At the height of all these rites of passage there is a community meal which bonds the members of a community. Similarly, according to the ecological changes in the environment, feast and festivals are organized to meet the tensions arising from these changes. Here too, festive meals play an important 171 role in strengthening group solidarity and community fellow feeling. There is an intimate relationship between food and religious experiences of people in different cultures. In many religions meal is a symbol of communion with God and also the bond of mutual spiritual fellowship. The food offered at religious places become a source of social solidarity and integration.

As a concluding remark it may be said that there is an intimate relationship between food, culture and religion. There is a community dimension in this relationship.

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Neuner, J. 1987, “Introduction” in The God-Experience of Tukaram. A Study in Religious Symbolism. By Thomas Dabre, Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth., pp. xv-xxi. Nabhan, Gary 2004. Some Like it Hot. Island Press ISBN 1-59726-091-6. Penner, Lucille Recht. 1991, Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners. Macmillian Publishing Company, New York, NY. Pollan, Michael. 2006. Omnivore’s Dilemma. Rhodes, Peg. “Jewish Cuisine: Rich in Symbolism and Tradition”. [On-Line] Simoons, Frederick 1991, Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry. CRC Press, Boston, MA. Srnivas, M.N. 1984, “Some Thoughts on the Sociological Aspects of Food in India” in Anthropology as a Historical Science. Essays in Honour of Stephen Fuchs. Ed. M. Bhuriya and S.M. Michael, Indore: Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra Thomas, P. 1971, Festivals and Holidays of India. Bombay: D.B. Taraporevala Sons & Co.

Web online

1. ^ http://www.searchsikhism.com/institution.html 1. ^http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1478- 1913.2005.00115.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=muwo 2. ^http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft3p30056w&doc.view=content&chunk.i d=d0e5583&toc.depth=1&anchor.id=0&brand=eschol

3. ^ Guru Granth Sahib pg. 282 173 About the Editors

Archbishop Felix Machado: He has a Licentiate in Catholic Theology from the Catholic Theological Faculty, Lyon, France (1974-76). He has an M.A. in Theology (with specialization in Catholic Missiology) from the Maryknoll School of Theology, New York, USA (1980). He holds a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Catholic Dogmatic Theology from the Fordham University, New York, USA. He has been Professor of Catholic Dogmatic Theology, Missiology and formator of future priests at St. Pius X College, Mumbai from 1984 to 1993.

From April 1993, he had been called to Rome in order to work in the Roman Curia (Holy See, Vatican) at the Asia Desk of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. On 1 October 1999, he was nominated Under- Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican, by Pope John Paul II and confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI.

He has been visiting Professor of Catholic Dogmatic Theology and Missiology at: Pontifical Institute, ‘Regina Mundi’ in Rome; Pontifical Institute of the Sciences of Education, ‘Auxilium ‘ in Rome; Rome Centre of the Loyola University in Chicago, USA., and at the Pontifical Urban University, Rome.

He has published three books: Jnaneshvari, Path to Liberation; Journeying Together (in English, French and Italian), a Marathi translation and short commentary on the Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium. He has also published over a hundred articles in various international academic journals of theology. On 16 Jan. 2008, Pope Benedict XVI has appointed as Bishop of Nashik with personal title Archbishop. He is now Archbishop of Vasai Diocese.

Rev. Dr. Stephen Fernandes is resident Professor of Ethics and Moral Theology at St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He has a Doctorate in Moral Theology from the Accademia Alfonsiana, Rome, Italy. He also holds a Master of Commerce (M.Com.) and Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree from the University of Bombay. For two terms he was the Secretary of the Bombay Priests Council. From the year 2008, he is the Executive Director of the F.I.A.M.C. Bio-Medical Ethics Centre, Mumbai. From the year 2000, he is Theological Consultor, C.C.B.I. Commission for Doctrine and Theological Consultant, Catholic Medical Guild of St. Luke, Mumbai. He is also a Life Member of the National Catholic Bioethics Centre (NCBC), Philadelphia, USA. He is a Member and Consultant, International Association of Catholic Bioethicists (IACB), Toronto. He is the Secretary, Permanent Diaconate Programme, Archdiocese of Bombay. He has presented research papers on Ethics and Justice issues at local, national and 174 international conferences. He has to his credit publsihed articles in various journals on Ethical issues and issues of justice and peace. In May 2006, he received the Pope John XXI International Award “Premium Deontologiae” for research on the occasion of the XXII World Congress of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) in Barcelona, Spain. In January 2008, he received “The Iustitia et Pax Medallion” from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Vatican City in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the promotion of Justice and Peace. 175 About the Contributors

Paul Cardinal Poupard was born in August 1930 in Anjou (France). He was ordained in 1954 and nominated Cardinal on 25 May 1985. He completed 2 doctoral theses at the Sorbonne in theology (on the links between faith and reason) and history (on Church-State relations). He is currently a member of the Congregations for Divine Worship, Evangelization of Peoples, Catholic Education, and of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Besides having been awarded various civic, political and religious honours and decorations, he is a doctor ‘honoris causa’ of several universities including: Aix-en-Provence, Fu Jen, Louvain, Quito, Santiago de Chile, and Puebla de Los Angeles. He has made numerous contributions to collections and articles in periodicals and encyclopaedia. He was principal editor of the Dictionnaire des Religions, now in its 3rd edition in its French and Italian versions, its 5th in Spanish.

His own works have been translated into Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and other languages, Cardinal Poupard became President of the Pontifical Council for Culture in 1988. In 2006 he was also the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Adv. Giuseppe Musumeci graduated from the University of Milan, Italy with great honour. He belongs to the Bar of Milan, Italy; He has his own law office in Milan and Rome, Italy and avails of seven assistants. The nature of the practice of the firm is the following: litigation including arbitration and mediation, corporate and contract law.

He graduated from Harvard Law School, where be obtained his Master in Law. Thereafter admitted as Special Student to Harvard where he succeeded for credits in the following courses in corporate finance, accounting for lawyers and contracts.

He also studied at Luigi Bocconi Business University where he obtained a Master in International and Local Tax as well as the Master to be qualified as General Council of private and public companies.

He was General Secretary, Office of the European Economic Community Commission in charge of the relations with the European Council where he was entrusted to attend various international meetings with European Prime Ministers and Ambassadors and prepare the relative reports. 176 During the past 15 years he has been appointed by the Judges of the Court of Milan, Italy, President of several and important arbitration courts.

President of the Foundation Cardinal Paul Poupard existing under the Italian law. By virtue of such role he has created and manages several Chairs in Mumbai, India, Paris and Marseille and grants scholarships. Further he organizes international meetings on different cultural international topics. His publications include:

! Commento all’articolo 22 della Convenzione di Vienna sui contratti di vendita internazionale di beni mobili del 1980 », Le Nuove Leggi Civili Commentate, 1989, n. 1-2 (CEDAM); ! Sui presupposti della risoluzione del contratto di vendita e del contratto d’appalto », Giurisprudenza Italiana, 1993; ! Commento agli articoli del Codice civile sull’Ordine dei Privilegi, Artt. 2777- 2783 bis Cod. Civ. », in Codice Civile commentato in breve, diretto dai Professori ALPA e IUDICA, Torino, UTET, 1996; ! La garanzia per difetti dell’opera nell’appalto », Responsabilità Comunicazione Impresa, 1997 (Giuffrè); ! Il problema dell’esposizione in bilancio delle spese di studio e di ricerca », Le Società, n. 3, 2001. ! La violazione dei principi di chiarezza e precisione nella redazione dei documenti contabili », Le Società, n. 5, 2003. ! Discrezionalità degli amministratori nella redazione del bilancio e piano di ammortamento », Le Società, n. 5, 2004.

Scientist Niranjan Vasant Bilgi IETE, designed and built the first solid state electronics Inverter system for RDSO operational on Rajdhani Super Express Trains. Helped designed and built electronics control systems for payload trajectory in Ballastic Missiles. Helped designed and built signal delimiter system used in advanced electronics related to tactical assaults by Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV). Helped designed and upgraded electronics for P19 Radars to enable dynamic multiple controls.

He has designed and built several other key projects in the fields of Electronics, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering.

Dr. D. K. Sankaran, Retired Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra, joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1970, after completing MA in Economics from Loyola College, Chennai. He also taught at the same college for a short time. 177 In the I.A.S. he held many important positions like Collector of Nagpur and Thane Municipal Commissioner. He was deputed to the East West Centre, in the USA, where he completed a Ph.D. in Economics. He also did a Masters Degree in Defence studies from the National Defence College in New Delhi in 1990.

He worked as the Chief Election Officer of Maharashtra for 7 years. He retired as Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra in 2007 after working as Secretary to the Government of India, in the Union Home Ministry.

Dr. Marie Fernandes is Principal of St. Andrew’s College, Mumbai. She is also a member of the Board of Studies in English at the University of Mumbai and a recognized Research Guide. The title of her PhD thesis was “The Animal Fable in Modern Literature”. This was subsequently published in 1996. She has to her credit a number of research articles published in journals both in India and abroad. She was awarded the prestigious – ‘International Visitor’s Leadership Award’, funded by the US. State Department in 2010 and visited colleges and universities across the US.

Dr. Sr. Teresa Joseph, fma belongs to the Bombay Province of the Salesian Sisters. She holds a Master’s in Science of Education with specialization in Catechetics from Auxilium Rome and a PhD in Missiology with specialization in Inter-religious Studies from the Gregorian University Rome. She is on the Executive Committee of St. Andrew’s College for the Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation Chair of Inter-Religious and Inter-Cultural Dialogue. She is also the animator of Auxilium Convent Pali Hill and the Manager of Auxilium Convent High School. Teresa has been recently appointed Secretary, CBCI Office for dialogue and desk for ecumenism. Besides being a visiting professor to a few Faculties she conducts seminars, orientation programs and retreats for .teachers and young people.

She is a freelance writer and contributes articles for various journals in India and abroad. Her published works include Dream Big Dream True (BYB Mumbai 2004), Family of Truth: The Liminal Context of Inter-Religious Dialogue (Rome 2005), Teachers are Like Stars (BYB Mumbai 2009) and Family of Truth: The Liminal Context of Inter-Religious Dialogue an Anthropological and Pedagogical Enquiry (ISPCK Delhi 2009). She has launched and co-edited an animation book for the family titled Stay Connected in the Circle of Love (Media House, 2007) and another one titled: Teen Q’S (Media House, 2009) John Paul II A Pilgrim on the Roads of the World Celebrating 25 Years of the Paradigm of Assisi (ISPCK Delhi 2011). 178

Dr. Fr. Leo D. Lefebure, Professor and Matteo Ricci Chair, Department of Theology, Georgetown University. He obtained his Ph.D in 1987 from University of Chicago Divinity School, Christian Theology. He has authored five books and published over 60 articles in renowned journals. His books include: The Path of Wisdom: A Christian Commentary on the Dhammapada. (2011), Revelation the Religions, and Violence. (2000), The Buddha and the Christ: Explorations in Buddhist and Christian Dialogue. (1993), Life Transformed: Meditations on the Christian Scriptures in Light of Buddhist Perspectives.(1989), Toward a Contemporary Wisdom Christology: A Study of Karl Rahner and Norman Pittenger.(1988).

Dr Kala Acharya is the Director of K.J. Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham since its inception in 1989. She is a versatile Sanskrit scholar with outstanding merit.

She has been honoured by the Best University Teacher’s Award for the year 2010 - 11 by the Government of Maharashtra. She has also been honoured as ‘Sanskrit Pandita’ by the Government of Maharashtra in 1994.

She is recognized as a Ph.D. guide. She has presented more than 50 research papers in National and International seminars in India and abroad. Many of them are published. She has independently authored two books and edited fourteen books on topics related to Religion, Philosophy, Culture, Comparative Religion and Sanskrit Language.

Kala Acharya has edited and contributed two chapters to a book ‘The Concept of God in Indian Mediaeval Philosophy’ which has been published by the University of Navarra, Spain in Spanish.

She has represented her institute in US, UK, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Vatican, Spain, Korea, Italy and spread the message of Indian Culture.

During her tenure as a Director K.J. Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham is developed as a Center for ‘Inter-religious Dialogue in Hinduism Christianity and Islam’. She has been working as the member of the core group of the ‘Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions’ in Kazakhstan. She has been attending the Congress as a Hindu representative since 2003. Kala Acharya was appointed as the ‘Ambassador of Parliament of World Religions 2009’ and has been also appointed as the ‘Ambassador of Parliament of World Religions’ for the next Parliament. 179

Dr. Lalita Namjoshi, Assistant Director, K.J. Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham has a very good academic record. She has presented more than 30 papers in National and International Seminars in India and abroad. She has participated in many Inter-religious Dialogue activities. She has worked as co editor for many publications of the Institute. She is recognized as Ph.D. guide by Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Ramtek and University of Mumbai. One of her students has received Ph.D. and 6 students are pursuing Ph. D. under her guidance.

She is a member of the Managing Council of Chatrapati Shikshana Mandal , Kalyan ,an educational society committed to offer education to underprivileged children in remote areas.

Suhas Paranjape is Senior fellow, Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM)

Zuhair Nathani studied at St. Xavier’s College in Bombay. He has worked in several places around the globe in Calcutta, Geneva in Switzerland, Lusaka, Zambia, Nairobi, Kenya and Colombo Sri Lanka and Mumbai. He is involved with several charitable Trusts, including Alimaan Charitable Trust whose many activities cover education, housing, medicine, and rural development for the minority community. He is also a Trustee of Raza Foundation which give micro- financing to the Economically backward in the community to start small business’.

Zarina Tajani completed her B.Sc (Micro Biology) from Sophia College, B.Ed (Maths and Science) from St Xaviers Institute, She has taught Maths and Science in Rosary High School and Canossa Convent Night School for 24 years. She was associated with MESCO (Member of Managing Committee) for 25 years, an association which promotes education and health care. She has been involved in teaching the meaning of Quran in Hindi and English since the last 12 years at Quran Class at Hoor Manzil at Perry Cross Road, Bandra and at Shamiyana, Verinoca Road, Bandra

Dr. Avinash De Sousa is a Consultant Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist, Consultant HRD Trainer, Corporate Trainer and Life Coach, Consultant School Psychiatrist & Counsellor. He works with over 15 mainstream and special schools in Mumbai as a Visiting School Psychiatrist, Counsellor and School Mental Health Expert. He conducts workshops on Psychological Problems in Children and Adolescents, Mental Retardation, Autism, Developmental Disabilities, Sex Education, Study Skills, Stress- Behavioural Management and Time Management & Brain Based Education for Students, Teachers and Parents. 180 He is a Director – Institutional Development and Head of Academics of the Institute of Psychotherapy and Management Sciences Mumbai. Founder Member & Trustee – DE SOUSA FOUNDATION a charitable organization focusing on mental health awareness across all sectors.

Has over 95 publications in national and international journals and is the author of 6 books on the subject. One of the few psychiatrists who has in addition to a psychiatry degree – has a Masters in Counselling & Psychotherapy, an M Phil in Applied Psychology, an MBA in Human Resource Development and also doing an M.A. in Religion and Philosophy.

Pof Jyoti Bhatia is a Post Graduate in Commerce and a Graduate in Law from Mumbai University. She has cleared the National Level Eligibility Test (NET) for lecturership conducted by UGC. She is also an Associate Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. She is a full-time faculty in Accountancy Department at the St. Andrew’s College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai. She is a regular contributor of papers at seminars and conferences conducted by various educational bodies. Her recent papers includes Consumer Protection Act : State Commission Goa on theTtop (jointly with Surendra Kanstiya), Women Entrepreneurs-Issues & Challenges and Derivatives, Futures & Options-Future in India.

Along with over 9 years of experience as a Professor, she takes active interest to visit new places. Driven out of her experiences of one such visit at the Holy river Ganga, she presented an article that explores new dimensions on Religious significance of Water.

Ms. Elcy Pinto has completed her graduation and post-graduation in Arts from K.J Somaiya College affiliated to University of Mumbai. She has trained herself in the field of Education by completing her B.Ed. In addition to this she holds Master’s degree in Hindi from SNDT Women’s University and a Master’s degree in Education from University of

Mumbai. She has around 13 years of teaching experience at St. Andrew’s Junior College, Bandra.

Paul Balta, né en 1929, à Alexandrie (Égypte) a vécu près de vingt ans au Proche-Orient avant de terminer ses études supérieures à Paris où il vit depuis 1947. DES de philosophie, licence d’histoire de l’art.

Spécialiste des mondes arabe et musulman et de la Méditerranée, qu’il a parcourus en tous sens, il a effectué de nombreux reportages du Maroc à l’Afghanistan. Il 181 a été journaliste à l’agence Associated Press (1960-1965) à Paris-Presse l’Intransigeant (1965-1970) et au journal Le Monde (1970-1985). Sous chef du service Proche-Orient, il a été correspondant au Maghreb, en poste à Alger de 1973 à 1978, puis chef de la rubrique Maghreb. Il a également couvert les grands événements du Moyen-Orient dont le conflit israélo-arabe, les guerres du Kurdistan, la révolution iranienne et la première guerre du Golfe (1980-1988).

Auteur ou co-auteur avec Claudine Rulleau, ou directeurs de plus d’une vingtaine d’ouvrages, dont La politique arabe de la France (Sindbad, 1973), il a collaboré à de grandes revues internationales comme le Middle East Journal (Washington) et a assuré une chronique mensuelle dans El Pais (Madrid) et Le Libéral (Casablanca) de 1990 à 1995. Il est membre du Comité scientifique de la revue trimestrielle Confluences / Méditerranée.

Directeur du Centre d’études de l’Orient contemporain à l’Université Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle (1988-1994), il a animé le Séminaire de politique étrangère consacré au monde arabe et à l’islam au Centre de formation et de perfectionnement des journalistes de Paris (1985-1998).

Membre du Conseil d’administration de la Fondation René Seydoux pour le monde méditerranéen, du groupe “Observatoire Méditerranée et Moyen-Orient” de la Fondation pour les études de défense (Paris), de la “Section Méditerranée” (1998-2001) du Conseil économique et social de PACA (Marseille) et du Comité international du Forum civil euromed (Barcelone), président du FEMEC (Forum euro-méditerranéen des cultures), d’Omar Le-Chéri (la cyber-école de journalisme des jeunes de la Méditerranée), et de SELEFA (Société d’études lexicographiques et étymologiques françaises et arabes).

Distinctions Chevalier dans l’Ordre du Mérite, 11 mai 1968 Officier des Arts et Lettres, 6 mai 1988 Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, 14 juillet 2006

Mr Dan Jaffé. Areas of specialization and research include Early Judaism and Early Christianity. In 1999 he obtained his M.A inJewish History from Bar- Ilan University (Israel). In 1999-2003 Education in Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes - Sorbonne (Ve section : section des sciences religieuses : Sorbonne) in Patristics Studies and Early Christianity. In 2004 Ph.D in Religious Studies : Paris X Nanterre University and EPHE- Sorbonne University : Magna cum Laudare. He has published several articles in renowned journals. Some of his books include: 182

! Le judaïsme et l’avènement du christianisme. Orthodoxie et hétérodoxie dans la littérature talmudique, Ier-IIe siècle, Editions du Cerf, Collection « Patrimoines judaïsme », Paris, 2005, 484 p. ! Le Talmud et les origines juives du christianisme. Jésus, Paul et les judéo- chrétiens dans la littérature talmudique, Editions du Cerf, Collection « Initiations bibliques », Paris, 2007, 227 p. ! Il Talmud e le origini ebraiche del christianesimo. Gesù, Paolo e I Giudeocristiani nella litterarura talmudica, Edition Jaca Book, Milan, 2008, 229 p. ! El Talmud y los origenes judios del Cristianismo. Jesus, Pablo y los judeo- cristianos en la literatura talmudica, Editions Desclée de Brouwer, Bilbao, 2009, 235p. ! La quête de Jésus parmi les historiens juifs du XXe siècle. Approche historique, analyses méthodologiques, perspectives historiographiques, Editions du Cerf, Collection « Patrimoines judaïsme », Paris, 2009, 412 p. ! Studies in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity. Text and Context, Leiden/ Boston, E. J. Brill, « Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity » 74, 2010, 248p.

Prof. Sharmila Dhote is a senior member in the faculty of Psychology at St. Andrew’s College and has completed 18 years of teaching in college. Apart from her academic duties she held a number of portfolios assigned to her. She worked as a member of the Examination Committee, Quiz Committee and Canteen Committee. At the University level she has been appointed as an Examiner for the TYBA exams and as a Moderator for the SYBA exams.

Currently she is in charge of the Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation for Inter- Religious and Inter-Cultural Dialogue which she actively co-ordinates. She has organized International seminars and symposiums on inter-religious and inter- cultural issues and various other activities and programmes to make the organization vibrant and meaningful. She has also presented a paper at Milan, Italy titled “Eat, Pray and Love”.

Prof. Dhote is also a private practising Counsellor.

Rev. Dr. S.M. Michael SVD, is Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the Department of Sociology, University of Mumbai. He is the Chairman of the Bombay Archdiocesan Commission for Interreligious Dialogue. He is also a Consulter to the Pontifical Council for Cultures, Vatican City. Among his several books, Dalits in Modern India: Vision and Values was the best seller of Sage for the year 2000 and has seen three editions and has been translated into several Indian languages.