An International Seminar is held on Saturday, June 25th, 2022. It is hosted by Postgraduate Program Institut Agama Hindu Gde Pudja Mataram at Lombok Astoria Hotel. The participant is 100 people, including academicians from public and private university in Lombok, and religious figures such as the head of Hindu community guidance NTB, PHDI NTB, PHDI Mataram, WHDI NTB, and community leader.
The theme of the seminar is Religious Moderation in Cultural Diversity. Underlying the theme is the belief that we can live in peace and harmony in cultural diversity environment with the spirit of religious moderation.
In the welcoming speech, the rector of IAHN Gde Pudja Mataram, Dr. Ir. I Wayan Wirata A.MA., S.E., M.Si hope that through this seminar, we can reflect more on the spirit of Religious Moderation and make it our foundation in our interaction with diversity in Indonesia.
There are four speakers in the seminar. The first speaker is Dr. Tri Handoko Seto S.Si., M.Sc, The Expert Council of Indonesian Hindu Scholars Association. He delivered materials related to Hindu and Religious Moderation in cultural diversity. He stressed that the key to living in harmony in Indonesia is socialization, institutionalization, implementation, and integration of religious moderation.
The second speaker, Diane Butler, Ph.D., an associate professor of the doctoral program in cultural studies, Faculty of Cultural Science, Udayana University. In her material, she invited the seminar participant to reflect on peace and harmony in the world based on Pancasila and Bhineka Tunggal Ika.
The next speaker is Mrs. Ingela Elisabeth Jansdotter Borggren, who noted the moderation of religious life in a plural society. She says that we must appreciate what we have here, in Indonesia, where tradition and culture are still alive. We need to protect it. But, of course, people perceive things from different perspectives. Yet when we talk about God and religion, essentially, we talk about the one and same thing.
Last but not least, this seminar is closed by a presentation by the rector of IAHN Gde Pudja Mataram, Dr. Ir. I Wayan Wirata A.MA., S.E., M.Si. He stressed the internalization of religious moderation in diversity by learning and using Sad Dharma, Dharma Tula, Dharma Wacana, Dharma Sadhana, Dharma Gita, Dharma Yatra, and Dharma Santi.
All speakers come to the same conclusion that we must find a way to accommodate religious moderation in cultural diversity, like in Indonesia. Our responsibility is to keep people living in harmony, even though we come from various social backgrounds, including different religions.