GTU Center for Dharma Studies

03/27/2025

Just three days until our conference on Posthumanism & The Politics of Sentience! Join us live on Zoom!

03/25/2025

The GTU Center for Dharma Studies and Journal of Dharma Studies invite you to attend a conference on Posthumanism & the Politics of Sentience happening this weekend, March 29 & 30. Learn more on our website: https://www.gtu.edu/events/posthumanism-politics-sentience-conference

02/27/2025

Happy Shivaratri!! May the Night of Shiva bring peace, awakening, and auspicious transformation for all.

11/01/2024

Happy Diwali to all! May you all be showered with blessings this Festival of Lights, and may your paths be always illuminated!

11/01/2024

Please join us at the Graduate Theological Union on Thursday, November 7 at 5:00 PM to hear Dr. Rita D Sherma, founder of the Center for Dharma Studies, deliver the 49th Annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture!

Event Details:

1) Join IN-PERSON ~Please register for a joyful, in-person experience with RECEPTION with food & fellowship:
https://events.gtu.edu/event/707900

2) Join REMOTELY by Zoom:
https://events.gtu.edu/event/70796

Full information at https://www.gtu.edu/events/2024-distinguished-faculty-lecturer-dr-rita-sherma

Join the GTU on Thursday, November 7th for “The Sensual & the Sublime: The Liberative Arc of Ecological Justice” with Dr. Rita Sherma. Each November, the GTU faculty honors a distinguished professor who embodies the high scholarly standards, excellence in teaching, and deep commitment to ecumenism that define the GTU. As this year's award recipient, Sherma will address the entanglement of religious life and the natural world, an issue that is at the core of her academic and spiritual life.

Learn more and register: https://www.gtu.edu/events/2024-distinguished-faculty-lecturer-dr-rita-sherma

10/11/2024

Happy Durga Puja to all! May the Divine Mother bestow her blessings upon all her beloved children!

Durga Puja is the worship and adoration of Mahadevi, the supreme Divine Feminine or God the Mother. She is worshipped in the vision of Her protective and loving aspect as Ma Durga. The canonical text Devīmāhātmyam, is the focus of the liturgical experience of the festival. The festival includes a plethora of contemplative arts and aesthetics. In 2021, the United Nations Educational and Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed Durga Puja on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In announcing the recognition of Durga Puja, UNESCO stated:

"The worship begins on the inaugural day of Mahalaya...It ends on the tenth day, when the icons are immersed in the river from where the clay came. Thus, the festival has also come to signify ‘home-coming’ or a seasonal return to one’s roots. Durga Puja is seen as the best instance of the public performance of religion and art, and as a thriving ground for collaborative artists and designers. The festival is characterized by large-scale installations and pavilions in urban areas, as well as by traditional Bengali drumming and veneration of the goddess. During the event, the divides of class, religion and ethnicities collapse as crowds of spectators walk around to admire the installations."

The festival is a reminder of the incalculable role that the arts play in spiritual life across traditions. The multi-day festival of worship and remembrance of the Divine concludes with visarjanam, when the icons are returned to the river, reminding worshipers that the Divine is beyond the limits of form, space, and time, because she permeates and soaks the physical universe, and infuses every moment of being and becoming, with Her love and luminescence.

09/09/2024

Happy belated Ganesh Chaturthi! May the Lord of Good Fortune bestow abundance and prosperity and remove all obstacles from your path!

08/26/2024

Happy Krishna Janmashtami!! Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna on Earth.

05/03/2024

Congratulations to Dr. Rita D Sherma, founding director of the Center for Dharma Studies, for being named the 2024 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer at the Graduate Theological Union! Every year, GTU honors one professor, nominated by fellow faculty, to deliver the Distinguished Faculty Lecture in November. In her lecture, Dr. Sherma plans to address the entanglement of religious life and the natural world.

Please join us in applauding Dr. Sherma's well-deserved recognition!

The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is pleased to announce that Dr. Rita D. Sherma will be recognized as the 2024 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer this November.

04/22/2024

On Thursday, April 18th, CDS students and guests gathered in Berkeley for a "Pūjā, Potluck, and Peace Event." Wolf led a Tibetan Buddhist sadhana honoring Chenrezig, a form of the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara, followed by a vegetarian potluck dinner. Thank you to Kristine and Charissa for your leadership in organizing this uplifting event, and to attendees Athena, Mahendra, Jill, and Setu!

Interfacing with the Graduate Theological Union's Interfaith Weaving Prayers of Peace Project, we were honored to host the Peace Tapestry collaboratively woven out of prayers from diverse faith traditions. The tapestry was passed on the next day to the Jesuit School of Theology with a written blessing authored by Charissa:

May the profound peace of the Divine infuse your life and your ways so that others experience that peace through you.
May you be aware of the infinite love of the Divine that abides with you always.
And may you always remember that love is more powerful than hate.
OM, peace, peace, peace. 🙏🙏🙏

(photos courtesy Kristine Bell)