#  Multifaith Space 

 





April 22, 2022

 

 

     ![Three HDS students talking with each other in a spacious room](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hds2/files/multifaith-space-news.jpg?itok=ofoRu_7C) 

Student Minahil Mead (from left), Hindu monk Vandan Ranpurwala, and student and Buddhist monk Mahayaye Vineetha meet in the multifaith space. / Photo credit: Kris Snibbe



 



 

*See the full* [*HDS Community Impact Fund Report*](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/hds-fund-community-impact-report)*.*

HDS’s new multifaith space reflects one of the primary goals of the recent Swartz Hall renewal project: to create a building that serves all members of the community. With students at HDS now representing more than 46 faith traditions (including those unaffiliated with a specific denomination), the multifaith space supports HDS’s mission to educate leaders who come from all religious and spiritual backgrounds, while ensuring they have the spaces to pray, reflect, and engage. With high ceilings and ample windows, the room is expansive and bright, while also feeling intimate. Its movable seating, prayer rugs, meditation cushions, and scriptures of many traditions allow those using the space for any practice to feel welcome. Near the multifaith space there is also a new ablution room (HDS’s second) for Muslims to use before daily prayers.

The minimalist beauty of the space lends itself to contemplative practice. The Ven. Mahayaye Vineetha, MDiv ’22, states: “When I first entered the multifaith space alone, the room itself made me sit and meditate for a few minutes. I felt that the space was like a Buddhist meditation hall in that it is not decorated with religious symbols.” For Sadhak Vandan Ranpurwala, a visiting Hindu monastic, the multifaith space made a lasting impression on his very first day at HDS: “It was orientation day, and at 8:30 in the morning, we had a music service there. I remember the calming and soothing effect the space provided for us, and that it continues to provide.”

Kerry Maloney, HDS chaplain and director of religious and spiritual life, writes that the multifaith space has been in high demand and constant use by many different groups since the opening of the building in August 2021. “The community has been deeply appreciative of this beautiful new resource,” she says. As of the middle of the spring semester 2022, more than 280 formal gatherings have taken place in the multifaith space since the start of the academic year. Friday afternoon meditations led by Rabbi Liza Stern, the Jewish denominational counselor, are among these gatherings. “This semester, I have been offering a weekly Jewish meditation on Friday afternoons, as preparation for Shabbat,” Rabbi Stern shares. “The multifaith space is a perfect space for this! We sit in a circle, I lead some chants, and there is time for deep breathing and sharing where people are ‘at.’ A half hour of meditation to prepare for Shabbat unites us all.” The multifaith space has quickly become a haven for the HDS community, and it will serve individuals seeking prayer, meditation, or rest for many years to come.

—*by Sarah Rubin*



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ HDS Fund Community Impact Report ](/topic-tags/hds-fund-community-impact-report)