Newsletter Winter-5

The central tower,
like a church
spire, carries our
thoughts upward.
The Hindu temple
honors a pantheon believed to
represent the
many attributes of
God. The temple
itself is considered
an object of
worship, as well
as a place to
celebrate the
Gurdwara Shaib in El Sobrante
presence of God in
His universe. Hindus reflect this cosmic vision in
their greeting to visitors, telling them, “This is your
temple, too.”
On a hill in El Sobrante, adjacent to a quiet,
mature residential area, you can see the Sikh
Gurdwara Shaib, yet another form of sacred
architecture. This gurdwara has just received per-
E
mission from
Contra Costa
County for a
70,000-square
foot enlargement
of the existing
facility. Most
gurdwaras, like
this one, are
constructed with
entrances on all
four sides to
symbolize their
openness to all
without
discrimination.
Our own new sanctuary in the Saranap, with its
low, modest, curvilinear form, nestled within a
tranquil garden, is designed to express the
encompassing unity of all life. It is intended to
inspire and instill in the worshipper the sense of
the oneness of all forms of Creation and of the one
Truth that lies at its core.
Interfaith Council Welcomes
Sufism Reoriented
arlier this fall, two
representatives of Sufism
Reoriented, Robert
Carpenter and Pascal
Kaplan, were guests
at a meeting of the
Interfaith Council of
Contra Costa
County, where they
enjoyed the
opportunity to
converse with the
Council’s board on a
wide range of
spiritual and
theological topics. At the end of the
conversation, the board––
representing local Baha’i,
Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant,
Muslim, Sikh, and Unitarian
congregations––voted
unanimously to welcome
Sufism Reoriented as a
member of the Council.
It is with gratitude and
a sense of privilege
that we look forward
to joining our
energies with those
of the other 100plus members of the
Council in demonstrating that in the
new age that is
unfolding, the religions
of the world will indeed
learn to live and work
together “like beads on one
string.”