A Wisdom Archive on Oneness Festival

India needs rejuvenation. This rejuvenation will come only with the revival of our great Indian ideals. India needs shakti. For this, extensive re-building needs to be initiated for the country to acquire physical, mental and spiritual strength.
 
For creating this stupendous energy, India needs a new spiritual awakening. A new direction. The inspiration for such an awakening could come from a prophet of peace, for instance, someone like Guru Nanak, who proclaimed: "Love the saints of every faith, Put away the pride! The essence of religion is Humility, service, and sympathy.  Not fine clothes, Not the yogi'sgarb and ashes, Not the blowing of horn, Not the shaven head, Not long prayers...".

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Situation Vacant - Saviour Wanted

The tradition of sanctifying various trees and plants dates back to the Vedic period. Though wood as a fuel was a basic need and trees in general were treated with care and respect, some trees such as the Peepal, Banyan and Neem, commanded more respect than others.
 
The Tulsi (Basil) plant was grown in every household in the centre of the courtyard and ritually watered. The rituals served an important purpose - they made people aware of the environment and its importance and so indirectly helped preserve and nurture it.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Man and Environment: A Symbiotic Bond

It was said of Prophet Mohammed that God wanted him to be an example of how to live peacefully among others like a simple man, to nurture a family, to work for a living and to accept equally the joys and sorrows of life.
 
But there are some who, while professing loyalty to Islam, are actually doing more harm than good. For instance, Osama bin Laden's brand of "Islamic jehad" is utterly un-Islamic and goes against all tenets of Islam. In Islam, taking an innocent life is equated to killing the whole of humanity.
 

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Peace Is Life, War Is Death

In India, many civilisations have come together over the years, creating new patterns of universal oneness. Raja Ram Mohan Roy ushered in the age of new thought in 1828. He wrote: "All mankind is one great family of which numerous nations and tribes existing are only various branches".
 
All religions tell us that the divine is within us. The Gospel according to St Thomas says: "He who has heard and assimilated my word is as I". In Sanatana Dharma it is Tat Tvam Asi. To find divinity within oneself it is important to act with compassion towards all beings.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Time to Rekindle Passion for Unity

For Gandhi, non-violence meant an overflowing love for all humanity, a way of life that emanated from the very marrow of his being. But for many of his followers, non-violence was simply a political strategy, a tactic for winning India's independence from Britain. The more earnestly Gandhi pursued his religious beliefs, the deeper his love for humanity grew.
 
This love made it all the more impossible for him to ignore the political realities that shaped people's lives. At the same time, contact with these political realities strengthened his conviction that nothing is more essential than the love for humanity that religious faith can inspire. He walked the middle way.
 
 

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Explode Spiritual Bomb of Compassion

It is very easy to advise others. Only the one who suffers knows the extent of the pain. At the same time there is no difference between one person'spain and another"s, whether that person is rich or poor.
 
No philosophy, sermon or concept will help relieve that suffering immediately. It is useful, however, to remember that at the core of any pain-causing conflict there is duality. We are part of a cycle that contains both pain and pleasure, creating a split between mind and body, delaying the healing process.
 
Duality is all-pervasive; it is present in everything around us. Even that oft-quoted line from Shakespeare reflects this: "To be or not to be".
 

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Find the Oneness Beyond Duality

In pre-Mandalised India of the seventies, Prof A L Basham, the author of The Wonder that was India, and I were colleagues at 'El Colegio de Mexico". He once observed that despite innumerable divisive factors of caste, creed and language, the fact that democracy was a functional reality in India, made India a living wonder. Today, I ask myself, are we truly a democratic country?

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Politics is Lowest Form of Leela

It is a paradox that Gujarat, the state which gave India her greatest son, Mahatma Gandhi, should defile his memory and what he stood for with a terrible violence fuelled by communal frenzy, resulting in large scale death and destruction.
 
Those who react in anger to the recent violent incidents in Godhra, other parts of Gujarat and neighbouring states need to consider Gandhis "talisman". Will anger and revenge help erase the distress? Anger is a negative emotion; it can neither bring peace nor put an end to the cycle of violence.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Mahatma's Talisman Can Exorcise Anger

In the 60s, a communal riot shook a certain town. I was surprised, for it was a new settlement grown around a huge industry. The population was largely labourers and officials from all over India. There was no tradition of animosity between communities; they were united by a common existential necessity.
 
One winter evening, on a visit to the town, I asked my friends, "Where did so many violent people come from, all of a sudden?"

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Individual Will No Match for Mad Mobs

In the name of God we ask you, the blood-thirsty actors in the tragedy of India, to have done with it. You have had your day. And have played your hellish part to perfection.
 
The land is littered with too many corpses already. Columns of smoke from fires of hate choke the air. The sun hides its face from this shame. Stars have fled from our sky.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Let's Build A Temple To Tolerance

The gory massacre at Godhra and the subsequent retaliatory slaughter throughout Gujarat underlines how easily communal passions can be aroused among otherwise normal people.
 
A major cause for such behaviour is a mindset, found both among Muslims and Hindus, that believes that tolerance is a sign of weakness. Convinced about the infallibility of their own faith, they are totally intolerant to the views of others. Bolstered by the exhortations of their religious and political leaders, they feel no compunctions in smashing all that stands in their way including the laws of the land.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Tolerance the Key To Lasting Peace

There'sa crooked line drawn on land: One side of it is called India, the other side, Pakistan. People living on either side of this human made line could well kill one another - in fact, precious lives have been sacrificed to ensure that the line stays where it is.
 
You cannot have only peace, only love or only light, how much ever you wish it were so. Yin and Yang, Shiv and the Shakti, Krishna and Radha, are in perfect equilibrium in the cosmos. Their play is this universe, without and within. This unceasing play of opposites generates infinite hues. Murder and mayhem exist; so do loving and caring.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Drawing The Line - LoC To Infinity

On this day in 1893, Swami Vivekananda addressed the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. At the opening address, Charles Bonney, the Chicago lawyer who organised the congress, said: "The very basis of our convocation is the idea that the representatives of each religion sincerely believe it is the truest and best of all." In this context, Vivekananda 's "talisman of tolerance" was a vibrant civilisational message to the world from the soul of India.
 
Vivekananda's words gave the World Parliament a defining focus. He began by saying he was "proud to belong to a religion which had taught the world tolerance and universal acceptance". He explained that "we believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true". He said he was proud that his nation had always sheltered the persecuted - like it had, for instance, fleeing Israelites and Zoroastrians.
 
 

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Universal Acceptance For Lasting Peace

Now more than ever, we require those qualities that Mahatma Gandhi so remarkably embodied - qualities which are crystallised in the philosophy of ahimsa or non-violence that he bequeathed to us: Optimism, activism, love for people, and a holistic, embracing vision.
 
"I remain an optimist," he said, "not because I give evidence that right is going to prosper, but because of my unflinching faith that right must prosper in the end."
 
For Gandhi, at the deepest level of the human spirit, non-violence is never defeated. Violence, in contrast, inevitably ends in defeat.
 
 

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Ahimsa: Rooting for Ahimsa In Troubled Times

Recently, this sentence stopped me short: "Before we can live in peace, we have to be able to imagine, to image peace." On similar lines, sculptor and activist Dana Toomey writes of how once, reading the newspaper, she counted 50 different kinds of war around the globe.
 
Why is it when most of us want peace, war is so prevalent, she wondered. Trying to envision a new culture without war, she asked herself - since humanity has never experienced life without violence, what would peace be like? How would we get the things we want? Who would be our heroes? Is anyone or anything pointing the way?

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Waging Peace Through Constructive Images

Buddhism advocates tolerance - to accept that there are differences in human experiences; that diversity is part of life, whether in experiences, cultural backgrounds or religions/faiths. Buddhism is the religion of compassion, mercy and forgiveness for all life forms.
 
It does not preach the superiority of its belief systems over those of other religions, nor does it believe in any sort of hierarchical ordering of faith systems; it does not discriminate against anyone, least of all on account of faith or belief. The recognition and embracement of diversity and pluralism and the resulting absence of any coercive or violent means for proselytising is the very essence of the humanism of Buddhism.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Compassion and Peace Go Hand in Hand