Interfaith Meditation Garden

Rev. Dr. Khushnud Azariah has been a ardent advocate of interfaith harmony and ecumenism. From her youth, she engaged in ecumenical movements both nationally and internationally, driven by her experiences growing up as a member of a small Christian minority community within predominantly Muslim Pakistani society. This unique background provide her with a profound understanding and need of interfaith harmony, peaceful coexistence, and mutual respect between diverse religious groups.

Interfaith Meditation Garden in St. George Episcopal Church was the continuation of Khushnud’s effort for interfaith harmony. The idea of this garden was conceived by the Rev. Khushnud Azariah, Vicars of St. Georges Episcopal Church  in April 2014.  The ground breaking ceremony was held on Sunday, October 19, 2014. It has created and nurtured friendship and relationships amongest many faiths. It has helped cross religious, cultural, and ethnic boundaries. It helped overcome fears, hesitations and helped recognize that we all belong to one another. This garden is like a household. To ensure peace and harmony, the members celebrate each other’s joys and respect each other’s differences. This garden has taught human to coexist joyfully with each other. 

Sunday, September 27 marked the opening and blessing of the Meditation Garden. The event was attended by 140 people of diverse cultural and religious background. The service of blessing and thanksgiving was immensely enriching an inspiring. Faith leaders of six major religions graced the event through their presence and words of wisdom. The service was followed by a reception hosted by various friends and members of St. George’s. The people appreciated and commended this wonderful initiative taken by St. George’s. 

Inside the Garden: 

In this garden besides native plants, trees, a few inspirational quotes of great leaders and places to rest(grassy plots & benches), you will find sacred deities and icons of various faith traditions coexisting side by side.  As you enter the garden, you will find St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and ecology. 

Next to Father Assisi is the image of Lord Hanuman, a Hindu deity of great strength and abilities to over come demonic powers. 

Next to Hanuman is the statue of Gautama Buddha, a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. Next to Buddha is the statue of Kwang Yin, an East Asian female deity of mercy, and compassion. 

Next, you find Khanda, an icon of Sikh religion, which consists of three objects: a solid circle, to symbolize the whole creation as the object of their compassionate activities; two interlocked swords symbolizing divine justice, and the center double edged sword symbolizes destruction of all inequalities. 

 Next, you see two children (both male and female) reading a book. What are they reading? We leave it to your imagination. Perhaps, a religious book….may be a science fiction….may be a popular humanist book…. People of faith and No faith are welcome to come and wander, to explore the Truth, the Divine, which is very much permeates the entire creation. 

In the middle of the garden, you will see a water fountain, a symbol of life. The continuous flowing, represents the eternal nature of this mystical dimension and also the infinite nature of its source. On the right side of the fountain, you will see an icon of the sacred Book of Islam, “The Holy Quran”. By following the word of Allah, Muslims believe they can achieve happiness on Earth and peace in the afterlife. As you keep walking, on your left, you will see a nine branch “Hanukkah Menorah” . The Menorah stand for light, wisdom and Divine inspiration. It inspires Jewish people to illuminate the world around them. 

Next, you find an empty cross, a religious icon of Christianity symbolizing the risen Christ. The cross is a symbol of hope, peace and reconciliation. It reminds Christians Love God and Love others as Christ loved us…in humility, service and sacrifice. In the same area, you find icons of Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Lady of Guadalupe. Both symbolizing compassion, hope, faith and obedience through their humble, yet powerful leadership.

All these icons were presented to St. George’s by their devotees, and we are grateful to all of them. In the garden, you will also see stepping stones carved in the shape of a “turtle”. These turtles were presented by developmentally disabled clients of Easterseals Riverside. They remind us that we are all God’s children, and are called to embrace all, especially those who are weak in spirit, mind and body. 

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Building this garden is a corporate effort.  The dream of creating this sacred space is realized with loving support of our many friends and groups representing diverse cultural and religious background, with the purpose: 

• To provide a quiet place for meditation, prayer and relaxation, 

• To build a bridge of cooperation among people of varied experiences, faiths and beliefs, and 

• To promote tolerance, peace and harmony in our society. It is my hope and prayer that this garden will create friendships across our difference. 

May God of love keep enlarging this circle of love. May we have more such gatherings to address issues that threatens peace and unity of our community, our nation and the world May, we create many more gardens like this in our communities, and above all, may we create space in our lives, in our heart to welcome and reach out to all God’s people and to strive for peace, unity, religious freedom, tolerance and justice for all. 

Interfaith leaders who attended this event: 

 Brother Tajinder Sing, priest of Sikh Temple, Riverside

Venrable Tayano, Monk from Buddhist Temple of America, Ontario

Rabbi Suzanne Singer of Temple Beth-el Riverside

Dr. Mustafa Kuku, Director of Islamic Center, Riverside

Pandit Giriraj—–from Hindu temple, Riverside, 

Fr. Michael Augustine Amabisco, St. Andrews Newman Center

Bishop J. Jon Bruno, Diocesan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and President of the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders.

. Representative of Riverside Police Department

 . Representative of the Mayor, Riverside 

It was indeed a great honor to have the leaders of major faith traditions come together for the opening and blessing of Interfaith Meditation Garden, which is a gift of God to us all. 

May this partnership continue to grow for a better tomorrow. 

(Below are the words from the interfaith service)

Prayer.         All say together 

May God of many names and understandings, whose glory fills our lives bless and guide our steps to strive for peace & Justice, unity and understanding among all people.

All: Amen, Shalom, Amin, Insha’Allah, 

OM, Namaste​ ​​​​​​

We are one, we are one, in many ways we are one.

With our family we are one, 

with our community we are one.

With our country and our people, we are one. 

We are one!

Unity, unity, in many ways unity;

With our family, unity; 

with our community, unity;

with our country and our people unity. 

Unity, we are one.   (Judith Baity)