C.L. Gulati
More commonly representing divisions, walls also offer protection and support, acting as defenses from invading enemies. History that chronicles the rise and fall of civilizations does not cite even a single example of a wall built to keep out the enemies within. The walls of racism, sectarianism, fanaticism and ignorance, religious or otherwise, are proving more dangerous to mankind than any other weapon on earth. Unless man transcends his own prejudices with regard to other faiths and cultures, he is just building suffocating walls around himself from which he can never climb out. It is the root cause of human misery in the world today.
Whatever the motivations behind the unfortunate9/11 (11 September 2001) breaking-news episode, it was claimed to be a “Religious Act”. In his revealing article, “Unite Against Violent Extremism”, H.H. Ban-ki-Moon, former Secretary General U.N. wrote, “Violent Extremism is a direct assault on the United Nations Charter and a grave threat to international peace and security.”
In the history of ‘Hate Crime’, the phrase “Ku Klux Klan” is used to describe groups which are intolerant or bigoted, secretive and indulge in hate crimes and react violently to those who belong to other religions and races. The terrorism fuelled by religious violence is the greatest enemy of human race today. In this background, Universalism and Peaceful co-existence are humpty-dumpty.
The Declaration of Independence of U.S. in July 1776 prescribes, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among those are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Since July 4, 1776, the day of its independence, U.S. has been aspiring for racial equality.
Religion essentially means realization of Fatherhood of God and Universal Brotherhood of mankind. But religion has lost its gravity and disgusting communal conflicts and clashes are taking place in quick succession and so routinely that man is getting immune to registering shocks. It is therefore, not divided atom, but divided mankind which is getting more difficult to deal with. The inherent unity needed in human society can best be explained with the natural example of rainbow vesture where all the different colors are distinctly distinguishable, but quite inseparable!
Oblivious of spiritual identity, the whole world is closed for renovation. Man has raised suffocating walls inter-se and do not freely mix up with men of other faiths. As a result, there is no mutual love and in the absence of love, there is no reciprocal respect. Lack of respect breeds distrust which ultimately culminates in hatred and widespread violence. For sake of renovation, to reverse the gear from hatred and violence to love and peace, there is certainly dire need of creating mutual trust between man and man. Trust presupposes mutual respect borne out of love. Natural love is possible when man treats and tolerates the other man like a brother. Coming round to this point, universal brotherhood and emotional oneness of mankind is the utmost need of the day and that is possible only through the realization of Fatherhood of God, a cosmic force unifying the whole universe.
ln Judaism, life is valued above almost all else. The Talmud notes that all people are descendants from a single person, thus taking a single life is like destroying the entire world, and saving a single life is like saving the entire humanity.
We are facing multiple problems exposed by Covid pandemic, humanitarian upheaval assuming alarming proportion and religious terrorism, where all can savor the joy of being alive. In considering this challenge, it is worth mentioning the candid words of U.N. Secretary General H.H. Antonio Guterres, “We heal together when we all get the care we need.”
Lord Jesus Christ the presiding deity and prophet of the New Testament, with his revealing teachings in the Holy Bible, carried a crisp message to the weary world:
“If God is all you have, You have all you need.” (St. John 14:8)
Human life is considered a unique and rare blessing, being the crown creation of the universe. This uniqueness lies not merely in the birth as a human being but in the achievement of purpose for which it is actually meant and that is “Awareness about Self”. He who is not aware about self cannot have peace and he who does not have peace cannot foster peaceful co-existence. This is the law of nature. There is no greater force than self-realization through God-realization. Man creates his identity by identifying himself with God, ingrained with divine virtues. To being this ascent to consciousness, the first step must be in the direction of self-knowledge. The perfection of self-knowledge establishes a man in God.
Walt Whitman mentioned in the first edition of “Leaves of Grass”, “We existed for ever for each other/waiting for that moment to be divinely aware”. This is the turning point in our life. Leo Tolstoy, a Russian was ardent believer that one should spread good in the world for every individual and do what one can do to resist evil.
It is believed universally that a healthy heart beat makes two sounds, “Lub dupp, lub dupp,” Time has come for all of us to consider if this can be changed into two more important and much needed sounds, “love deep, love deep”. We can surely hear the sound this way when we heartily pick up the Spiritual message, “God is love and love is God”.
There is no malady on the earth for which God has not provided a remedy. According to a folk-philosophy, each wrong carries within itself the elements needed for setting it right. It is some what like the wild plant which gives painful rashes over the body of a person who happens to get pricked by its thorns, but its green leaves, if rubbed on the affected parts bring quick relief. In the same manner, man’s self ignorance is a malignant curse and his spiritual enlightenment rids him of every curse.
Rudyard Kipling says, “There is no sin as great as living in ignorance and for the enlightened rich there is no sin greater than letting others living in ignorance.” Ignorance provides perpetuity to prejudices and eternity to errors. Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.
The Bible says, “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven”. The reference to the poor here in terms of humility is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. For the enlightened there is no line of demarcation where poverty ends and richness begins. From the viewpoint of spirituality, Saint Kabir, earning his livelihood by weaving cloth and living in a hutment, was socially and economically poles apart from King Janaka, who lived in palaces, but both were on the same ecstatic wavelength because of their spiritual enlightenment.
The economic terms ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ are seen as the ‘enlightened’ and the ‘ignorant’ respectively in spiritual vocabulary. Physical poverty is, no doubt, a curse but spiritual deprivation is worse. The human mind therefore requires a spiritual universe for itself, anything less will never satisfy a thinking person. Great philosopher saint Augustin of Hippo writes, “Restless are our souls until they rest in Thee my God.” This statement shows implicit relationship of soul with God like roots and fruits, explicitly summing up in the axiom:—
“No God, No Peace; Know God, Know Peace.”
The message of Her Holiness Satguru Mata Sudiksha Ji, Spiritual Head of the Sant Nirankari Mission, “Life gets a meaning if it is lived for others”, combines the theory of mutual relationship through spiritual awakening with the innate spirit of living for others. Thus, True Religion represents our love and worship of God in direct proportion to our dealings and doings with our fellow human beings. It is in this background we know that “Sant Nirankari Mission is an all-embracing worldwide religious, socio-spiritual and charitable organization which preaches the concept of One Formless God (Nirankar) and believes that God can be realized only through the grace of the living Satguru (True Master).” The Mission is a religious order and shall not associate itself with any political party.
The curves and contours of this definition run harmoniously into the teachings of all the past prophets and globally accepted scriptures, unfolding the concept of one earth, one family and demystify spirituality to promote and celebrate unity in diversity. Mission’s outstanding and distinguished socio-spiritual activities led to General Consultative Status by U.N. The hallmark socio-spiritual tenets of the Mission are hubs in the wheel of human life. Attaining the knowledge of Fatherhood of God, one spontaneously discovers Universal Brotherhood and shares his experience. “Spirituality breeds sense of charity, and charity sublimates spirituality”.
There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development. It is a world that must integrate and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development – the economic, social and environmental. Global sustainable development is an investment in all dimensions of peace and social cohesion.
To achieve such a holistic goal, the formation of a “Spiritual University can be a good bet. When charity joins hands with spirituality, there is a possibility of creating Spiritual University, where the sole aim of education will be to reawaken the soul. When education moves towards real education and real peace, it will bring forth a spiritually Brave New World.
With the growing impact of science and technology on our lives, spirituality has a game-changing role to play in reminding us of our humanity. Multi-reach methods are worth adopting to spread the divine knowledge at every place for all the persons. Let charity joins hands with spirituality, with the possibility of creating Spiritual University where the sole aim of education will be to reawaken the soul for creating a Brave New World. Peace not pieces is the bold message of the Mission which directly hits the final goal of knowing and becoming one with God in a single sitting. The fate of mankind is in the hands of spiritual education.
Now, for bridging humanity, piece by peace we have to work on the message of the Mission and to regain pristine human values, there is a need to cover distance between man and man by establishing his living relationship with the all-pervading God, the corner stone of all religions, ruling out conversions. It is therefore, imperative that concept of oneness becomes mission for the people of the whole world and feeling of ‘wholeness’ is inculcated along with the feeling of ‘oneness’ reaching the state of — “Finally we are one family”, inhabiting the world without walls, enjoying millennium on earth before long!
Till recently, science and spirituality were thought to be like apples and oranges they could never mix. The Sant Nirankari Mission believes that spirituality and humanity go cheek by jowl. The self-transformation through God realization, spontaneously and simultaneously helps in binding together the entire human race fostering real relationship between man and man, the sheet anchor of integrated human civilization. We can envision science, playing priest in the marriage of material reality and cosmic consciousness.
Having undertaken world wide salvation tours, Her Holiness Satguru Mata Sudiksha Ji Maharaj the Spiritual Head of the Sant Nirankari Mission says, “The world needs to be united as a family, tolerating, accepting and loving each other keeping in mind the watchword “God-fi-dence”, having complete faith and confidence in God, truly proving our image of God.Votary of ‘Peace not Pieces’ she cited the Mission’s motto, “Religion Unites, Never Divides” and stressed the key words — “Know One, Believe in One and Become One”.
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