Uberoi Foundation Programs
The Uberoi Foundation for Religious Studies began to undertake its mission within its first year of operation by hosting more than a dozen renowned scholars in Denver on October 11, 2008. The scholars used their time together to sketch out the contours of the Foundation’s work. Representatives of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism were on hand in person, and a representative of Sikhism was present by conference call. Remarkably, the scholars noted how unusual it was for them to be together to reflect on the common threads that bind these Indic Dharmic traditions and that, as scholars, they rarely, if ever, have that opportunity. It was a wonderful and meaningful beginning to the work that the Foundation has launched.
In the Fall of 2009, the Foundation organized a second opportunity to meet with scholars. To participate in its “Uberoi Foundation Experts Meeting,” scheduled between October 30 and November 1 in Orlando, Florida, the Foundation invited twenty academicians to collaborate with its five-member board of trustees in three joint sessions. In the months leading up to the sessions, the Foundation announced its intention at the Experts Meeting to delve deeply into the commonalities of the four Indic Dharmic traditions as well as into the ways in which those traditions contribute to society. For the Experts Meeting, Shiva Bajpai prepared a paper on Theism: The Ultimate Reality and Arvind-Pal Mandair and Bal Ram Singh prepared a paper on Karma.
