Welcome,
loving viewers,
and Happy Father’s Day!
Father’s Day is a
joyous occasion observed
in many countries today.
On this Father’s Day,
we wish to pay tribute to
a special kind of fatherly
love that encompasses
a spiritual community.
In a church, a mosque,
synagogue or temple,
we can often see
an individual
fulfilling a special duty.
Today, we will meet
a Christian father,
a Muslim imam,
a Buddhist teacher,
a Hindu guru,
and a Jewish rabbi.
They are the modern-day
spiritual guides or fathers.
Meet Father Mauricio,
a warm-hearted
Roman Catholic priest
from Chile.
On a typical day,
he rises early at dawn
for prayer before beginning
a long day of meetings,
visits to schools,
the ill and the elderly,
evening prayers,
listening to confessions,
and celebrating mass.
Even at night, he must
be ready at any moment
to receive or go see
a person who calls
or knocks on his door.
He’s like, let´s see,
those doting parents,
who likes his people.
He is always
thinking about what to do
for the community.
He is like a parent
to his children, his flock.
When he started to come
and began
to motivate people,
many more people
began to attend church.
I as a priest feel truly like
a father of all people
who come here,
especially of young people,
of children, of the people of children, of the people
who most need us.
Today certainly we
have seen so many things
that separate us from God
and that do not
make us happy, that
basically fool youth a little.
I mean all ways
that are easy,
the path of drugs,
the way sometimes
of an unrestrained life
that basically
separates us from God.
And that is a path that
does not make us happy.
So what Jesus wants
to show, and our mission
is to show which is the way
to true happiness.
He has saved me a lot,
he took me
out of a huge hole
that I was living in.
But with the strength
that he gave me
I knew how to succeed,
I knew how to stand up.
Personally
I’m very grateful for that.
In Hinduism,
a Hindu priest is
reverently called “Guru.”
He is not just
a family counselor,
but also one
who has the power
to bless others and
to communicate to God
on their behalf.
Swami Siva Sri Nandakumar
is a cherished guru
in Malaysia.
As a Hindu priest
in our religion,
first thing, we have to
destroy our ego-ness.
Without destroying
the ego-ness,
we cannot reach God.
That’s why in our religion,
we need to dress up
like this.
Something funny,
like people see
(you) look funny.
That is, if people
laugh at you, you feel,
not comfortable, isn’t it?
So we have to
take all this in our life,
to take it easy.
And that’s why
we wear these ashes,
to remember always,
our body’s going to
be destroyed one day.
So we don’t do bad things
to people, don’t think bad
about people,
don’t say anything bad
about people.
So we keep on reminding,
reminding all this,
all this, all the time.
There’s many ways
he has helped me.
Like for me,
in my education-wise,
as always before an exam,
I’ll come and pray,
get his blessings, and then
only I’ll go for the exam.
And for my family,
let’s say like
any auspicious function,
we’ll come here,
get his blessings,
get the God’s blessing,
and then
we will continue with it.
It’s always we start
with the blessings
and then only we continue
with our journey.
Maya means something
will cover our mind,
and our thought
that we don’t know
what we are before.
So, who we are,
where we come from,
where we will go –
we don’t know that.
So in our religion here,
in Hinduism,
we pray that to find out
what is the main reason
why we come here, and
what we have to reach.
And when you come here,
you sit, you just
look at him and pray,
let him guide you
throughout the life.
And after that,
we go around the temple
three times.
Every round means
takes away your obstacles.
Before you leave,
you really feel peace.
Next, we will
find out more about
the special roles
of a Muslim priest,
or imam,
a Tibetan Buddhist teacher,
and a Jewish rabbi.
Our Father’s Day program
honoring the benevolent
modern spiritual mentors
in our world
continues when we return.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
In Islam,
an imam is a leader of
a Muslim congregation.
He leads prayers and
helps people understand
the word of Allah.
Well, Imam
has not helped me only,
helped all the Muslims,
because he’s speaking
from the Qur’an.
And the Qur’an
we believe in the Islam
is the word of Allah,
Glory to Allah.
And we believe
he has a lot of knowledge,
and he speaks
about the power of Allah,
Glory to Allah.
He has big knowledge.
And he always speaks
in Arabic, Qur’an
and Hadith in Arabic.
And his Arabic
is excellent, and
his English is excellent.
So, by the grace of Allah,
he is excellent.
We call him “big scholar.”
Imam Mirza Muhammed
Uzair Akbar memorized
the Holy Qur’an
at an early age in Pakistan,
where he studied with
many esteemed teachers.
He has been
the appointed imam of
the Holland Park Mosque
in Brisbane, Australia
for 14 years.
The message of Islam,
or the message of God,
is to recognize Him
in this short lifetime, and
once we recognize Him,
to respect his likes
and his dislikes,
and live a life of
righteousness and piety.
I started studying
at a very young age,
and, and because
I was brought up
in such an environment,
where we were learning
how to implement
and how to convey
the message of God,
so there is a greater
responsibility upon me,
if I compare myself
to others.
But this is
the responsibility
of every human being.
Imam Mirza Muhammed
Uzair Akbar leads a diligent
day-to-day life of service.
Every Muslim
should wake up
early in the morning
between the crack
of dawn and sunrise, and
he establishes his prayer.
As an Imam,
I will come to the mosque
and lead the prayer
in the morning.
We try to communicate
with our Lord
and our Master
through the Holy scripture,
known as the Qur’an,
so we will read
a certain portion of it,
and then we will supplicate
for our self,
for our immediate family
and for the entire humanity.
The imams
throughout the world,
they will prepare
for the programs
during the day, and then
back to the mosque
to conduct
the mid-day prayer.
There may be other groups
that come as well,
and then will question us.
And then
after the third prayer,
that is about
3:30 or 4 o’clock,
we have children programs.
And then after that
will be the 4th
and the 5th prayer,
and then back home
and pretty exhausted!
The Tibetan Buddhist
tradition uses the term
“Rinpoche,” meaning
“precious one,”
to describe a reincarnated
Tibetan lama (high priest).
The Thrangu Vajrayana
Buddhist Centre
in Hong Kong,
which was established by
The Venerable Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche,
is where we meet
Khenpo Tashi, a teacher
who himself was
in the care of Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche
since the age of 12.
Om mani padme hum
(mantra of Avalokiteshvara)
Om mani padme hum
(mantra of Avalokiteshvara)
Khenchen Thrangu
Rinpoche is different
from other people
in his loving kindness
and compassion.
I have spent a long time
in Rinpoche’s monastery
and received many
teachings and instructions
from him.
When he teaches,
his motivation is
the loving kindness,
compassion,
and bodhicitta
(wish for enlightenment
to help sentient beings)
that all sentient beings
may be happy.
He teaches solely
with the attitude
of love and altruism
for all sentient beings
that is like the affection
a mother feels
for her child.
I mostly try
to spend every day
serving the Sangha.
My hope is to help
the members of the Sangha
learn the subjects
they are studying
as well as
to serve the monastery.
I also wish to emulate
Khenchen Thrangu
Rinpoche by following
his example of loving
kindness, compassion,
and bodhicitta
(wish for enlightenment
to help sentient beings).
We now meet
our final fatherly guide
of the ancient religion
of Judaism.
Similar to his counterparts
in the other faiths,
a Jewish rabbi helps others
to remember that
what’s most important is
to live a moral way of life
that is pleasing to God.
I suppose it’s important,
I think, to have people
in a community,
who you can go to
who are older, wiser,
and able to impart
their wisdom upon you.
You know
that they are accessible,
and you know
they will step in
and approach you
if you ask them to,
be it a father figure or
community-type leader.
The word “rabbi”
means “teacher.”
I am here to educate.
But you know,
education is not just,
“Don’t do as I do,
do as I say,”
that doesn’t work.
We have to be an example
to other people as well.
Human beings
are created in two parts:
We have the physical body,
and we have the spirit
which keeps
the physical body.
What I’m trying to do,
is to make people
understand that you
have to look after the soul
and the spirit, as much as
you will look after
the physical body.
I always teach that you
should look in the mirror
at night, stand
in front of the mirror, and
do you like what you see?
Now people will say, “Well,
I didn’t like the weight.
I put on too much weight.
I am too thin.”
I said, “No, that’s not
what I am looking at.
I am asking you:
Do you like that person?
Would you want to be
friend with that person
you see in the mirror?
Are you satisfied
with the qualities
that that person provides
for the society?
Is it a selfish individual,
or is it a sharing and
a caring individual?”
I’m trying
to build a society which
considers everybody
to be part of it.
What would I want
with all my heart?
That hopefully
we have all the ability
to discern well about
what God invites us to live.
And that we can be happy
here now on Earth,
but especially
to prepare the heart
for the eternal happiness
that will be in Heaven.
The word is said in Veda,
said, “Sarve loga
samasta sukino bawanthu.”
That means, this world
must be in a peaceful
and all the living humans
and all the living things
in the world
must be in good condition;
we love each other.
So that is the main prayers
in our religion.
Happy Father’s Day!
May all gurus live long
and the world be peaceful.
Happy Father’s Day!
And for all gurus
and peace in the world.
To all the leaders of the
world’s religious houses,
we are grateful
for your blessings
and steadfast devotion
in humbly supporting
humankind on
their spiritual journeys.
Blessed be
your sacred responsibilities
as pillars of goodness
for our world.
To our viewers,
it was a joy having
your company today.
Now, please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television
for Our Noble Lineage,
coming next
after Noteworthy News.
May you
and your loved ones
be blessed.