Fresno State’s M. K. Gandhi Center organized a conference titled “Peace and Dharma: Constructive and Critical Explorations in Ethics, Nonviolence, and Justice in Religious Traditions of India International Conference” from Oct. 2–3, taking place in the Peters Business Building.

“Dharma can be simply described as love,” said Veena Howard, the director of the M. K. Gandhi Center. “Gandhi said, dharma, for me, is nonviolence.”

Howard organized the event and said that it came from a place of love.

“There are many people that came internationally: from India, from Pennsylvania, from Florida and from Canada,” Howard said.

The conference began with a ceremony in the Peace Garden, with a full address by President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval. Then, the Suri Sisters performed a traditional dance to the tune of a song sung by Fresno State master’s student Varun Raj. 

Professor Raja Rosenhagan also gave a statement of purpose.

“As the years have gone by in my time at Fresno State, students have become increasingly unfamiliar with the teachings of Gandhi, which is a disappointment considering how influential Gandhi was to me growing up,” Raja said

To conclude the ceremony in the Peace Garden, attendees decorated the bust of the Gandhi statue with a flowery garland full of warm colors. Then the crowd was directed to the Peters Business Building to attend the keynote presentation of the night.

The crowd gathered to hear Professor Francis X. Clooney from the Harvard Divinity School as he explained that the opposites of “traditionalist” and “reformer” must marry in order to make a difference in society. He used the words of Carl Gustav Jung, saying, “to give birth to the ancient in a new time is creation.”

The Peace and Dharma conference continued the next day, on Oct. 3. One of the most common subjects of the conference was nonviolence. 

“We’re seeing a rise of political violence right now, so it’s a pretty relevant message, and also sends a lot of hope for nonviolent methods when people are seeing violent methods as the only resort,” said Quinton Cooper, the vice president of the Philosophy Club on campus.

Another prominent theme in the conference across panels and panelists was self-control, following in the example of Gandhi, who taught that the war between good and evil is happening within ourselves.

“The big topic today is ‘look within first, and then go out,’ so if you can conquer violence within yourself then hopefully you can make a non-violent difference,” said Jayson Gonzalez, the treasurer of the Philosophy Club. “Be okay with people you don’t necessarily like, because their dignity is equal to yours.”

 After a day and a half’s worth of speakers, each followed by a Q&A session, the conference finished off in the Wahlberg Music Hall with a concert performed by Professor Juan Felippe Herrera and Professor Benjamin Boone.