Committed to the progress and growth of women worldwide, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha celebrated its sixth annual Women's Conference in ten locations across North America on March 30, 2013. Building on past topics related to Hindu teachings, this year’s focus was on “Timeless Traditions: Celebrating the Past, Cultivating the Future”. The conference focused on understanding the glory of Hindu traditions, building bridges by communicating them with pride, and nurturing future generations by transmitting a priceless culture and traditions.
Connecting with the audience through their personal experiences and thoughts, the speakers refreshed an age-old subject in everyone’s mind. While Hinduism is rooted within scriptures, it is simultaneously relevant in every aspect of a Hindu’s life. Focusing on this quality of Hindu tradition, the speakers touched on maintaining pride for one’s culture and filling the role of being an ambassador of one’s culture to others. They also touched on the importance of keeping traditions alive and passing them on to future generations by learning to balance the speed of the future with the richness of the past.
Women of all generations attended the conference, each group finding inspiration in the talks for the current phase of their lives and finding priorities to help shape their future. Not only did the attendees experience a rejuvenation of pride in their heritage, they felt more informed to be able to better represent their faith and values.
BAPS, drawing inspiration from His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, hosts this annual conference as a stage to allow discussion of various topics important to women in society and to serve as a conduit for empowering women of all ages. Many women felt enriched by the discussion and identified the importance of implementing the message in their lives, particularly with their future generations.