The Center for Interfaith Relations will host a special Festival of Faiths in advance of the visit to Louisville by the Dalai Lama.
The festival, called “Sacred Silence: Pathway to Compassion” is the theme for the May 14 to 19 event, which will be held at Actors Theatre of Louisville and at the Galt House Hotel.
According to a press release from the Festival of Faiths, programming for the May event “has been carefully planned to reflect its dedication to the historic 1968 meeting of Nobel Peace Laureate the Dalai Lama and Thomas Merton, the author and Trappist monk from the Abbey of Gethsemani.
“The festival will feature renowned experts on meditation and compassion representing the faith traditions of the world and recent scientific research on compassion,” the release said. Programs will include daily guided public meditations, keynote addresses, films and activities dedicated to Thomas Merton.
Participants will be molecular biologist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard; Father Richard Rohr, an internationally known ecumenical teacher; Rabbi Arthur Green, an authority on Jewish thought and spirituality; Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the world’s leading Islamic scholars; Argia Rinpoche, director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, Ind., and others.
The “Engaging Compassion” events surrounding the Dalai Lama’s visit will be held May 19 and 20, and will be hosted by the Drepung Gomang Institute. Tickets to the Festival of Faiths events are available through the Actors Theatre of Louisville box office and the prices for individual programs range from $10 to $25. Student tickets are half-price. Day passes are available for $25 and passes for the week are available for $100.
Information is available at www.festivaloffaiths.org.
