Aruni Marapane: A Prayer of Silent Stillness

Aruni Marapane: A Prayer of Silent Stillness

Welcome to Inviting Oneness, a podcast where we explore true stories from friends and members of EquaSion [https://equasion.org/], stories where the illusion of separateness gave way to the deeper truth of our shared humanity. Oneness isn't an idea, it's an experience. And today we continue listening for it one story at a time.  Our guest today is Aruni Marapane.  Aruni was the honorary chair of the 2025 Festival of Faiths. Based in Cincinnati with roots in Sri Lanka, she is a Buddhist Chaplain specializing in spiritual care for those in long-term care, hospice, and hospitals. She actually just returned from a 5 month stay in Sri Lanka where she served as a chaplain and witnessed the power of tolerance and connection across the Asian continent. We’re so happy to have her back. At EquaSion [https://equasion.org/], we recently launched a new small-group initiative called Faith & Friendship Groups. Throughout the summer, interfaith groups will gather around a range of themes and practices, including Having Difficult Conversations, Prayer, Belong Dinners, Faith Communities in Solidarity with Immigrants, and Sacred Connections, our Religious 101 group that visits different places of worship across the Greater Cincinnati region. Each gathering begins with a poem and a connecting question. The poem you’ll hear today was written by Aruni Marapane and it opened all four Faith & Friendship Groups last week. After sharing the poem, Aruni responds to this connecting question: What is one spiritual or religious routine you look forward to every day, week, or month? As you listen, we invite you to reflect on that question for yourself. If today’s story moved you and you’d like to get involved visit us at equasion.org [http://equasion.org/]. Until next time, may we keep inviting oneness—within ourselves, and with one another.

Ethan Weinstein: A Pious Call

Welcome to Inviting Oneness, a podcast where we explore true stories from friends and members of EquaSion [https://equasion.org/], stories where the illusion of separateness gave way to the deeper truth of our shared humanity. Oneness isn't an idea, it's an experience. And today we continue listening for it one story at a time.  Our guest today is Ethan Weinstein, a local high school poet and writer. At EquaSion [https://equasion.org/], we recently launched a new small-group initiative called Faith & Friendship Groups. Throughout the summer, interfaith groups will gather around a range of themes and practices, including Having Difficult Conversations, Prayer, Belong Dinners, Faith Communities in Solidarity with Immigrants, and Sacred Connections, our Religious 101 group that visits different places of worship across the Greater Cincinnati region. Each gathering begins with a poem and a connecting question. The poem you’ll hear today was written by Ethan Weinstein and it helped to launch these Faith & Friendship Groups last week. After sharing the poem, Ethan responds to this connecting question: What was the moment you first became aware of your own spiritual or religious identity? As you listen, we invite you to reflect on that question for yourself. If today’s story moved you and you’d like to get involved visit us at equasion.org [http://equasion.org/]. Until next time, may we keep inviting oneness—within ourselves, and with one another.

James Buchanan: Transformation through Gratitude

Welcome to Inviting Oneness, a podcast where we explore true stories from friends and members of EquaSion [https://equasion.org/]—stories where the illusion of separateness gave way to the deeper truth of our shared humanity. Oneness isn't an idea, it's an experience. And today we continue listening for it one story at a time.  Our guest today is James Buchanan. Dr. James P. Buchanan, Co-Chair of Faith Communities Go Green, was a longtime board member at EquaSion, and was educated at Yale University and the University of Chicago where he completed a Ph.D. in comparative religions and value systems. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, The University of Moscow, and the University of Beijing. His teaching and research has focused upon ethics, global systems, and interfaith dialogue. He held the first endowed chair in Ethics/Religious and Society at Xavier University before becoming the Executive Director of The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue. He is now the Emeritus Director. For those who have been in community building and faith-based spaces in Cincinnati, you’ll surely be familiar with James and his work. What you might not be familiar with is his life as a musician. In this episode we get to hear him marry these two worlds. Check out his book: Sacred Spaces: Experiencing Liminality by Thomas R. Schiff and James P. Buchanan [https://www.orangefrazer.com/store/p/sacred-spaces-experiencing-liminality] If today’s story moved you and you’d like to get involved visit us at equasion.org [http://equasion.org/]. Until next time, may we keep inviting oneness—within ourselves, and with one another.

Alfonso Cornejo: Special Times

Welcome to Inviting Oneness, a podcast where we explore true stories from friends and members of EquaSion [https://equasion.org/]—stories where the illusion of separateness gave way to the deeper truth of our shared humanity. Oneness isn't an idea, it's an experience. And today we continue listening for it one story at a time.  Our guest today is Alfonso Cornejo. Alfonso is the president of the Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA and is a board member at EquaSion. Mr. Cornejo started his business career with Procter & Gamble (P&G) in Mexico City, eventually bringing him to Cincinnati. After retiring from P&G, he began his consulting business and became a passionate cheerleader for Cincinnati and the region. Mr. Cornejo's strong support of small businesses and tireless advocacy for the Hispanic/Latino community brought him to the Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA, where he has served as President for the past 20 years. Through his leadership, commitment, and dedication, he has overseen the growth of HCCUSA with a small team and an all-volunteer Board of Directors. With over 600 members, the Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA is taking on new challenges to ensure the Hispanic/Latino community is a vibrant participant in the local economy. If today’s story moved you and you’d like to get involved visit us at equasion.org [http://equasion.org/]. Until next time, may we keep inviting oneness—within ourselves, and with one another.

Tamara Sullivan: Normal, Everyday Oneness

Welcome to Inviting Oneness, a podcast where we explore true stories from friends and members of EquaSion [https://equasion.org/]—stories where the illusion of separateness gave way to the deeper truth of our shared humanity. Oneness isn't an idea, it's an experience. And today we continue listening for it one story at a time.  Our guest today is Tamie Sullivan. Tamie is a community developer and innovative social entrepreneur with more than 30 years of nonprofit and small business experience. More recently, she has turned her attention to real estate development by founding Neighborhood Builds, LLC to scale innovative housing solutions using factory-built for urban infill construction. She formed a partnership in 2024 with InnovaLab, founded in Michigan to build modular and manufactured housing in that state, to replicate their success in her home state of Ohio.    At Neighborhood Builds, Sullivan is dedicated to increasing housing supply using off-site construction methods and scaling the advantages of modular and manufactured housing to increase middle housing more quickly and cost effectively. InnovaLab models designed for urban infill lots can easily be replicated throughout Ohio as zoning laws change and the need for density is incentivized.   Having held a wide varity of positions in both the public and private sectors, she knows how to get things done through development/communications strategy, government/community relations and collective impact. As a longtime consultant, she delivers streamlined project management and measureable results. Sullivan knows solving unique problems requires creativity and a pathway to measurable success. Now, she’s bringing that commitment to community and passion for problem-solving to the housing shortage in throughout the Cincinnati region.  Sullivan is a graduate of the UrbanLand Institute’s Real Estate Accelerator Lab (REAL) 7.0 and Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s Leadership Cincinnati Class 30. Tamie was also a board member at EquaSion for over a decade before recently stepping off. If today’s story moved you and you’d like to get involved visit us at equasion.org [http://equasion.org/]. Until next time, may we keep inviting oneness—within ourselves, and with one another.