Professor Ved Nanda
The book Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and Spirituality: Perspectives from the Dharmic and Indigenous Cultures’s singular achievement lies in its contributors’ ability to present various aspects of human rights, religious freedom and spirituality and to shed light cogently on the nuances that are often missed.
This is an extraordinary group of renowned authors, including several scholars who are known nationally and internationally for their expertise in the areas covered in the book. Represented are all the Dharmic traditions – Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhi – and the traditions of several indigenous groups.
Two eminent scholars I have long known and admired for their stellar accomplishments have edited the path-breaking compilation,
I have enjoyed working on several projects with Professor Yashwant Pathak and Dr Adit Adityanjee and I can attest to the high quality of their scholarship, which is insightful and reflects intellectual rigour.
Pathak, an associate dean at the college of pharmacy at a prestigious US university, and Adityanjee, a widely respected executive medical director, are expert exponents of dharmic traditions as scholars and practitioners.
They are also actively engaged with issues related to human rights and indigenous, communities.
I have been teaching human rights for50 years and was a graduate student at Yale Law School in the first human rights law class taught in the world, and the subjects covered in the book are of special interest to me.
I have served for more than a decade, as chair of the board of trustees and am an honorary Trustee of the Uberoi Foundation for Religious Studies, whose goal is to enhance awareness and appreciation of Dharmic traditions in North America.
I also serve on the board of directors of the International Commission for Human Rights and Religious Freedom (ICHRRF).
Pathak was instrumental in establishing the International Centre for Cultural Studies, a pioneering international organisation that brings together Indigenous People it calls “elders” from all over the world. He has visited indigenous groups on every continent, and I attended gatherings bringing them together in an international congress every four years. Adityanjee serves as founding chair of ICHRRF.
The scholars include Dr Arvind Sharma, a giant among academic experts on human rights and Hindu philosophy and its treasured traditions. He writes on human dignity, a topic that is lately getting the recognition it deserves and which he considers to be the foundation of human rights, suggesting that “human rights (should) be anchored in human dignity”.
He notes the advantages of doing so: (1) “the concept of human dignity allows one to intermesh rights and duties,” and (2) the concept of human dignity is similarly able to connect several generations of human rights discourse, those consisting of “first generation civic and political rights, second generation social, cultural, and economic rights, and third generation environmental and developmental rights.” Also included in the book is a chapter on “African Perspectives on Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere”.
Pathak and Adityanjee begin this compilation with the first chapter they wrote on “Human Rights with Responsibility to Work in the Welfare of All Beings”.
Dr Gurpreet Singh Bhullar discusses “Understanding self from Eastern Philosophies with special focus on Human Rights, Spiritually and Religious Freedom”. Dr Bin Li discusses “The Scientific Meanings of Spirituality and humanity: How Can a human Be Modelled “Alive”’.
Dr Anil Sooklal presents a South African perspective on “Human Rights and fundamental freedom.” An attorney of the High Court of South Africa, Raksha Singh Semnarayan, presents “Religion used as a political tool to embed colonialism and Apartheid”. Dr Alex Percereia de Arauja discusses “Human Rights: Religious Freedom and the anti-racist fight in the Latin American Black Diaspora, and another chapter reviews “30 Basic Human Rights” included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The book also looks at the study of Dharmit issues related to Hinduism. This chapter looks at topics related to Karma, Bhagavad Gita, and Human Rights, “Vedanta Perspective in Understanding Human Beings and Human Rights, Religious Freedom and Spirituality,” Shri Aurobindo’s “Ideal of Human Unity in a Polarising World,” and “Vedic Perspectives on the Human Being with a Focus on Human Rights, Spirituality, Religious Freedom, and Ecological Sustainability”.
Dr Yashwant Malaiya explains “Freedom of Thought and Human Rights in Jain Tradition” and Dr Sulekh Jain clearly articulates “Bhagwan Mahavir: A Crusader for Women’s Rights”. Dr Frank Tedesco presents “A Buddhist Perspective on Human Rights, Spiritually and Religious Freedom” and Dr. Nirmal Singh and Dr. Devinder Pal Singh provide On Indigenous People and human rights, Dr. Yashwant Pathak studies the “United Nations View: Who Will Talk About Religious Freedom of Indigenous People”.
Dr T. Mocke- Maxwell and Dr. M. Gott share Maori perspectives on the “Right to Cultural and Spiritual End of Life Care”. Dr Elizabeth Haroop, Dr Samuel Hyde and Dr Olivia Roman discuss “How integrated conceptions of earth rights and human rights in Indigenous spiritual traditions can teach the West about true sustainability”.
Carl Clemens enlightens the reader on “Paganism, Polycentricity and Human Rights in the United States”. And Dr Olubukola (“Bukky”) Olayiwola discusses “Making Sense of Animist Philosophies: Enhancing Spirituality and Religious Freedom Through the Practice of Prayer Mountain Visit”.
I enthusiastically recommend the book not only to those interested in human rights, religious freedom and spirituality, but also the general readership who may have little or no interest or background in this area.
This is an edited extract of the Forward written by Prof Ved Nanda, from the book Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and Spirituality: Perspectives from the Dharmic and Indigenous Cultures. Nanda is a Distinguished University Professor and Thompson G. Marsh Professor of Law at the University of Denver. The book launch takes place on 10 September at 4.30 pm at the Laprativo Conference Venue in Durban.
