Sunita Viswanath (left) with host Hannah Meholick
Our Guest:
We launch Season Three of Interfaith Matters with guest Sunita Viswanath, executive director of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus and co-founder of Women for Afghan Women. Sunita, a Brooklyn resident, has worked for over two decades in women’s rights and human rights organizations, and co-founded Sadhana in order to bring together her activism for human rights and her identity as a Hindu.
Podcast Episode Highlights:
Sunita, on her early motivations to engage in social justice work: “When I see faith-based justice work, I hunger for Hinduism to be a part of it. And I waited for that to exist in my world, and because I couldn’t find it, I guess I – along with friends – am making it.”
On the Hindu caste system: “In Hinduism, one of our deep, shameful, painful, horrible blemishes is the reality of the caste system. And so, for generations upon generations, people within our own human family have been dehumanized in the most unspeakable ways. What is the meaning of Hindu expressions of Oneness if we’re creating these divisions which are responsible for perpetrating the most extreme violence?”
On the meaning of “Sadhana”: “‘Sadhana’ means ‘the doing of Hinduism.’ [It’s] a verb, it’s an action word, and those of us that started Sadhana didn’t want to talk about the justice we wanted to see in the world, we wanted to be it, we wanted to do it, and so our name reminds us – every day – that whatever we are talking about, we want to be creating it, manifesting it, building it in the world.”
Our podcast is available on the following podcatcher services:
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We’re so pleased to welcome back One Spirit Learning Alliance as an underwriter of Interfaith Matters!
One Spirit Learning Alliance – an interfaith learning institute that trains spiritual leaders and offers workshops for the public to spark personal transformation. More information is at Onespiritinterfaith.org/Matters, where our listeners can find a free download of one of their teachings, “The Life We Are Called to Live.”
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Podcast Questions? Comments?
Have a question for our guests, or a comment on our podcast series? Please feel free to leave comments on your podcast player, or send us an email at socialmedia@interfaithcenter.org. And please be sure to rate us!
“Interfaith Matters” is hosted by Hannah Meholick, and engineered and edited by Jeff Berman. Learn more about Hannah and Jeff on our website.
Intro and outro music for this episode are edited excerpts of “Maximum Relax” by Lee Rosevere, used under CC BY 4.0 / Edited from original.
