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Jews, Hindus and Buddhists have urged Santa Clara City Council to move to multi-faith opening prayers.

Currently, Santa Clara City Council meetings, held at least two times per month on Tuesday evenings, open with the same following invocation prayer, which had been read for over 25 years by the annually-appointed Councilmember: “Oh heavenly father on high we humbly seek thy blessings upon this meeting.  Grant us strength, courage and will to perform our obligations and duties to our people with justice to all.  Grant us wisdom so that we may act wisely and for the best interests of our people, our neighbors and our country.  All this we ask in thy name, who reigns the world without end.”

Prominent Jewish leader in Western USA Rabbi ElizaBeth W. Beyer, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed and distinguished Buddhist leader Reverend Jikai’ Phil Bryan, in a joint statement today, said that since Santa Clara City Council represented all residents irrespective of religion/denomination, it was quite befitting in this increasingly diverse city to do a rotation of prayers representing major religions and Native American spirituality.

Rabbi Beyer, Zed and Rev. Bryan argued that we all knew that religion comprised much more than our own particular tradition/experience. In our shared pursuit for the truth, we could learn from one another and thus could arrive nearer to the truth.

Moreover, City of Santa Clara should act on its award-winning self-developed Code of Ethics & Values, which clearly stated "extend equal opportunities"; Rabbi Beyer, Rajan Zed and Rev. Bryan pointed out.

From left to right are—Jikai’ Phil Bryan, Rajan Zed and ElizaBeth W. Beyer.

Meanwhile, City of Santa Clara has refused Rajan Zed’s request to read the Hindu invocation or a Hindu prayer supplied by him to be read by the assigned City Councilmember in the City Council meeting.

Zed’s queries “Is there a process to change this practice of reading the same prayer each time and instead replace it with reading prayers from different religions/denominations?” and “Is there currently any consideration to change the existing invocation set-up?” have also yielded “No” answers from the City.

Santa Clara, incorporated in 1852, is home to multinational semiconductor chip maker Intel, Santa Clara University, NFL football team San Francisco 49ers and is habitat for the burrowing owl. City has won an All-America City award and was honored in a White House Ceremony. Jamie L. Matthews, Lisa M. Gillmor and Ronald E. Garratt are Mayor, Vice Mayor and Interim City Manager respectively.

Chowchilla City Council in California to have 1st Hindu invocation in 89 years

Chowchilla City Council in California (USA), incorporated in 1923, will have its first Hindu opening prayer on July 24, containing verses from world’s oldest existing scripture.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before the City Council. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”, which he will then translate as “Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, and Lead me from death to Immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he proposes to urge councilmembers to keep the welfare of others always in mind.

Zed is a global Hindu and interfaith leader, who besides taking up the cause of religion worldwide, has also raised huge voice against the apartheid faced by about 15-million Roma (Gypsies) in Europe. Bestowed with World Interfaith Leader Award; Zed is Senior Fellow and Religious Advisor to Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, Spiritual Advisor to National Association of Interchurch & Interfaith Families, etc.

Chowchilla, which translates as “Murderers”, is known for soccer team Chowchilla Gladiators. For every 100 females in Chowchilla, there were 42.7 males as the population figures include inmates of two California women’s prisons located in the city. Janan Hebert, Jim Kopshever and Mark Lewis are Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and City Manager respectively of Chowchilla, whose vision includes “Community pride”.