15th Mar 2024: The Global Spirituality Mahotsav, hosted by The Ministry of Culture in collaboration with Heartfulness, recently convened a transformative Main Plenary session centered on the theme “Inner Peace to World Peace.” This event brought together renowned spiritual leaders, scholars, and practitioners from around the world to explore the profound connection between personal well-being and global harmony. The Main Plenary session on “Inner Peace to World Peace” at the Global Spirituality Mahotsav offered profound insights and inspiration for individuals and communities seeking to cultivate a more peaceful and harmonious world.
The session commenced with a heartfelt welcome from the organizers, highlighting the significance of inner peace as the cornerstone for fostering a more peaceful and compassionate world. Speakers delved into various aspects of spiritual practices, mindfulness techniques, and the role of inner transformation in creating positive ripple effects in society.
One of the key insights shared during the plenary was the notion that true peace begins within oneself. Spiritual leaders emphasized the importance of cultivating inner stillness, self-awareness, and a sense of interconnectedness with all living beings. Through meditation, introspection, and ethical living, individuals can nurture a deep sense of peace that radiates outward, influencing their interactions with others and the world at large.
The discussions also underscored the urgent need for collective action to address pressing global challenges. Participants highlighted the role of spirituality in promoting empathy, tolerance, and understanding across diverse communities. By embracing shared values of love, compassion, and non-violence, individuals can contribute to building bridges of peace and cooperation on a global scale.
Moreover, the plenary session emphasized the transformative power of spiritual practices in navigating adversity and fostering resilience. In times of uncertainty and turmoil, inner peace serves as a guiding light, empowering individuals to respond to challenges with wisdom, courage, and compassion.
As the session drew to a close, participants expressed a shared commitment to continue promoting the values of inner peace, harmony, and spiritual unity in their respective communities. The Global Spirituality Mahotsav served as a catalyst for deeper dialogue, collaboration, and collective action towards a more peaceful and sustainable world.
Key Quotes – Main Plenary Session
Ms. Ranjana Chopra, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Culture: When we look back into our civilization and heritage, we understand the fountainhead of the knowledge is the revealed word by Brahm himself. Ours is a spiritual civilization, and to celebrate the civilization of land the Ministry of culture thought, structured and envisaged a programme where we are all a part of the programme today. We have been able to prove a platform where divine solus have come together for harmony and peace. This programme will reflect its success in how the message of unity and peace will echo throughout the world.
Daaji – Guide of Heartfulness and President of Shri Ram Chandra MIssion – The world has witnessed faith and religion dividing people but we should not blame faith. Problems arise with faithful ones not faith. We need to rejoin with each other, only when we are rejoined with each other, we can reunite with God. We need to find answers within our hearts. There’s more than 100 references to heart in Geeta. Every religion is using two weapons – fear (of hell) and temptation (of heaven). The real spiritual seeker will not fall for this and he will say I don’t even know whether God is there or not, he will say he wants to experience God’s presence in his heart. My only request is you believe, develop faith only when you have experienced. Pray to God to reveal that.
Gaur Gopal Das (ISCKON) : We should be able handle anything in our lives. Spiritual or no spiritual, as humans we are all going to experience problems of different kind. Problem is with life, not with death. Life is more bothering every day with challenges issues, calamities, difficulties running inner peace. Definition of peace is absence of problems for many. Peace is equal to absence of problems. Problems will never end. Find your peace. If I am not peaceful, how will the world be peaceful. If you cannot listen to your own voice, the whole spiritual path is a failure. Don’t waste your energies on that cannot be changed. Learn to share with your own share of troubles before trying to solve the world problems. If you are a believer, turn to God, if a nonbeliever, turn to universe. Turn to somebody whom you can connect. In this world, let religions not divide us as Daaji remind us.
Brahmakumari Usha Ben: Mahotsav is celebration. This celebration is unique as it empowers ourselves and we recharge our soul batteries. People might go mountains to experience peace, but while living in our place and living a life full of challenges, we need to be peaceful where we are. We need to empower ourselves with spiritual wisdom, enhance our internal power of peace. When the spiritual immunity comes up, no matter whatever comes up in life, nothing can disturb me mentally or emotionally. In the essence of Bhagwat Gita, it is said that all that has happened is for the good and whatever will happen is for the good. Let us see life with this perspective. Finding peace with ourselves and other, let us radiate peace outward.
Chinna Jeeyar Swami – Shri Vaishnavism: It is practical when the governance is great, when the laws are prefect. Ramarajya is expected. We want Ramarajya where every citizen is respected and every part of the nature is also respected. Rama appeared on this earth during Tretayuga that is 1.75 million years ago. It is said Rama’s avatar is to make a modern human being and show to the society as to how an ideal society should be. We must take Rama’s qualities as ideals. Rama entered the real world in the forest and found the real world where people are not happy, people are enveloped with terrorism in animal kingdom and thus in human kingdom and he thought it’s not something that I need to practice to set these things right. There should be dealth with properly and for that he dealth with Vali, he dealt with Ravana in another way to control him. Then he returned and then started incultcateing that peace among human beings which was called Ramrajya. As long as there was Vali, Ravana, Rama was not able to spread the message of peace.becasuse to practice something from withing, the body should copoperate. And the body should be secured, protected and that was lacking due to persons like Vali and Ravanas. Until that terrorism was strongly taken care and perfect system was establish tto take care of rest of thepeole, he wasnot able to establish the peaceful life which we called inner peace. We need to understand how to respect each individual. Rama has given a chance to rectify himself and not become a terrorsit and be cohesive witama was not interested in taking over Ravan’s kingdom and never wanted to impose his own things on the subjects there. He allowed them to rule their own people. Today people across the world are under the clutches of terrorists. If it is a just a sprouting level of terrorism,, it can be addressed with inner peace. But when it started spreading its branches and roots so wide and strong, then the need is the rulership, and then perfect and stringent loss and the bureaucratic system to follow that very strictly then only the people of the eland will be able to practice whatever you say, otherwise if pressure and violence is there, who will anybody practice. People need kind of a security for their food, clothes, shelter. If the rulers of that land are able to these things to the people first. Bharat was a place of good culture and civilization and have open hands for anybody from across the world. Bharat believed that we need to worship whatever we believed and respect the systems of the world. People of rulership in this country today are able to understand that they need to provide all kinds of security to their people of the country and empower them. Under Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojna, our beloved PM assured people that one can get minimum of 5 kgs of food for another five years. Assurance for their living is important, so that they need not be allured by others. Rulership is great, strong, stringent with laws, then people will have the security to turn inwards and excavate peace. As long as the ruling of the country is not strong enough to protect their own law of land and common code for everybody, terrorism will definitely take place. The creator of human beings created them with two faults – domination and possessiveness. These two are manufactural defects of human beings. When the rulers understand the value of following ones own law of the land and respecting every other from across the world, then there wont be any problem. We are fortunate to be in the ‘Amrit Kaal’. After 75 long years of independence, we have government who understand the culture of this land and civilization of human race on this earth. The inner core of the culture must be brought out by bringing people together. Spirituality has so many facets, We need to respect each way. A theist and atheist must work together for the benefit of the society.
Swami Atmapriyananda (Ram Krishna Mission): Swami Vivekananda asked – Is God’s book ever finished? It is a continuous evolution going on – one page is Gita, one page is Quaran, one page is the Bible. All the quarrels begin by saying my perception is better. Nobody can assert that there his is the only way to look at Divinity. Individual peace and world peace – Swami Vivekananda referred to it as oneness of microcosm and macrocosm. If we want to find joy, it is only in the Infinite. Without peace there cannot be joy. Vedanta tells you to realise your infinite true nature. Conditioned mind will always put you in sorrow. The trouble is how you perceive it.