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The 11th edition of the World Confluence of Humanity Power and Spirituality was concluded on December 21 and 22, 2018, at The Westin Hotel Kolkata, India. This spiritual gathering was jointly organised by Srei Foundation and Kanoria Foundation and the theme for this year was ‘Spirituality and Humanity’. Many religious leaders representing Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism were present at the confluence including representatives of the Ramakrishna Mission, Ahisma Vishwa Bharati, Divine Shakti Foundation, All India Imam Organisation, Paramarth Niketan Ashram, and Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre, Ladakh.

The ‘World Confluence of Humanity, Power & Spirituality’ aptly christened ‘Enlightenment, a Journey Within Through Service’ is aimed towards motivating people to cultivate and integrate the inner virtues with the outer being and to imbibe a strong value system coupled with a rich cultural and religious heritage. The first day session of the 11th Edition of the World Confluence was inaugurated by the honourable Governor of West Bengal, Keshari Nath Tripathi.

 

Welcome Address by Dr. H. P. Kanoria, Chairman, Kanoria Foundation

 

Good Morning! Jai Hind! Jai Vishwa! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Honourable Governor of West Bengal Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, Swami Suvirananda Ji and other dignitaries on the dais, respected religious leaders, respected political leaders, eminent guests and speakers, divine brothers and divine sisters. I welcome you all to the 11th World Confluence of Humanity, Power and Spirituality, at the Westin Hotel in Kolkata. I extend my grateful thanks to all the dignitaries and distinguished guests and students for gracing the confluence for the last 10 years. Through your presence, we promote spirituality, humanity, peace, harmony, unity in diversity, selfless hard work, righteousness, fearlessness, truthfulness, simplicity, austerity, cooperation, and the realisation of God in all beings. Various religions are flowers of different colours to be tied with a cord of love to form a bouquet of love which is to be offered at the altar of truth. We are all manifestations of God in various forms.

God said, “I am alone, let there be many of me. Bahushyami.” In the Bible it is said that God manifested human beings in his own image. Religions of the world are complementary and not contradictory. God is seated in the hearts of all beings. God is the force within us. We are born as perfect and divine. I have called today all divine brothers and divine sisters and divine youth. Our souls are parts of the Universal soul. There is no upper and lower class, no inferiority and superiority in man and woman; all are equal. All rivers flowing from several countries merge into the ocean and the ocean returns water in the form of rain to nurture God’s creation. Lord Krishna had said – “The entire Universe has been manifested from my form. All beings are dependent on me but I am not dependent on them.”

The sum total of all the cosmic energy is all with the same. Science is in finding this unity and its goal is to aid in the creation of perfect unity. Physics describes a single source of energy out of which all are created, manifested, expanded and subdued. Chemistry’s goal is to discover one element out of which all others could be created. God is everywhere and in everything. Conversion from one religion to another religion cannot lead one to salvation or liberation. For attaining salvation, liberation has to come from within. It is essential to work selflessly to provide basic needs of the growing population. Spirituality ensures that. 

Let us march ahead with firmness and determination, keeping high the flag of humility and spirituality to overcome global hunger, global warming, and to ensure harmony and peace and to reaffirm our collective belief in co-existence.

Swami Suvirananda Maharaj, General Secretary Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

Swami Suvirananda Maharaj started his speech by chanting a shloka. He mentioned a book which has been published by Harvard University, named “The Gift Unopened” written by a scientist couple – Mr. and Mrs. Eleanor Stark of Harvard University. The book, which is about Swami Vivekananda, was well-received by Swami Suvirananda Maharaj.

Quoting from that book, Swamiji enumerated the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. He  stated  that how the world today is speaking about spirituality being the end result of religion. He reminded the audience that this was stated clearly by Swami Vivekananda in the past. Vivekananda had stated that mankind must reach a stage where there will be no need for separate religions as mankind will associate religiosity with spirituality. 

Hemant Kanoria
Chairman and Managing Director, Srei Group

I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all of you on behalf of my father and our Foundation. I hope that today and tomorrow will be two days of enlightenment and also a process of self-evolution for everyone.

I was in Moscow and returned this morning. I want to share an experience. I met a gentleman the day before yesterday. He was a very interesting person. He was born sometime in the early 1960s in the communist regime and therefore he grew up as an atheist. Then when Perestroika was introduced and churches reopened, this gentleman embraced Christianity. Later he became a Buddhist. So in the last 35 years, this gentleman has gone from being an atheist to a Christian and then to a Buddhist.  I told him you are the same body, you are the same soul and there is no change in your body and there is no change in your soul. Your soul is remaining as it is and your body is ageing. It is your attitude and mind that are changing.

Whether it is the Bible, the Quran, or the Vedas, they teach us the same thing; that the process of self-evolution and self-realisation is in our attitude and mind.

There is this famous story about King Janak. I am sure all of you know about King Janak. I usually take stories from King Janak, because I think it is appropriate in today’s world. King Janak was the father of Sita and the father-in-law of Lord Rama. He was supposed to be an ascetic king. Therefore, all the monks used to come to him and many spiritual gurus used to send their children. It is even said that sage Vyas, who was a rishi, sent his son Sukhdev to King Janak. 

But Sukhdev was critical. He was the son of a sage and questioned the ability of a worldly king to teach him anything. King Janak asked Sukhdev to carry a pot of oil on his head and observe all the rooms of his palace. Reluctantly, Sukhdev set out on his task. On completion, King Janak asked him what he had seen.  Sukhdev vividly explained each and every path and each and every room of the palace he visited. Then King Janak asked him how he could observe so much with a pot of oil on his head. Sukhdev replied that though he went from room to room, his mind was always on the pot of oil on his head.

King Janak wanted to teach Sukhdev that one can be involved in many worldly things but his mind must not be involved in them. That is the start of self-realisation. The goal of our lives must be to attain self-realisation. I think the goal of this confluence organised by my father is to help in that process. I hope after listening to the erudite speakers from different faiths, we will be able to enhance the process of our own self-realisation.

Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi
Honourable Governor of
West Bengal

Dr. Hari Prasad Kanoria, the Chairman of World Confluence on Spirituality, Power and Humanity, Swami Suvirananda Ji Maharaj, General Secretary Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Shri Hemant Kanoria, Vice-Chairman of the confluence, Shri Sunil Kanoria, the other Vice-Chairman of the confluence, Madhumanti Moitra, the anchor, distinguished invitees, ladies and gentleman and friends from the media. I am happy to be here at this inaugural session of the 11th World Confluence of Humanity, Power & Spirituality organised by Universal Spirituality and Humanity Foundation. This is a timely initiative and I must congratulate all those who have taken up this initiative of building a Sach Bharat and India that stands glorified through spirituality, devotion to work, welfare, humanity, righteousness and self-governance. These can be essential components for a Sach Bharat, Swastha Bharat and Shikshit Bharat. India has always laid great emphasis on spirituality in life. Vedas, the most ancient book in the world and the Upanishads are full of messages for spirituality and humanity. From ancient times to the modern age, India has been a beacon among nations when it comes to spiritual leadership. Throughout our history or even now, we are blessed to have great spiritual thinkers and teachers such as Lord Shri Krishna and Lord Ram, Buddha, Mahavir, Kabir, Ashok, Guru Nanak, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and many more. This is a nation where Dharma Rajya existed at one time. This is also the country that fought its battle for freedom and attained independence using non-violence to a great effect. This spirituality is for us. To me spirituality is not merely worshipping in a chosen way but also living by the values that we have always upheld throughout our history. Embracing diversity with unity, which is open and inclusive.

Living by virtues of tolerance and acceptance, striving for achievement, personal growth for balance and for a deeper meaning that have always epitomised our culture and tradition. Our philosophers and spiritual guides have always spoken of the need to strive for a higher level of being; to strive towards self-actualisation, being compassionate human beings. As changes are taking place in the political, economic and socio-cultural landscape around us it seems incumbent upon the influential business community and all far-sighted organisations to lend weight to the concept of spirituality, bringing together business leaders and activities for attaining the overdue goal of actualising the potential of one and quarter million people in India.

As we strive for economic development and social upliftment we need to ensure that we remain connected to values and culture to guide us to grow in a way that makes us rich in spirit and wisdom. Such an effort augurs well for business, for the nation, and the world. Humanity, harmony, peace, interfaith harmony, creation of wealth and elimination of poverty are the essence of this confluence.

Truth was there at the beginning of the universe, truth alone will be there at the end of the universe. Today also there is truth but it is obliterated by the lack of vision. Such is the basis of our existence. It was never created and can never be destroyed. Truth is the basis of every religion. Time has come to make spirituality the basis of our education, our public life, and personal life. It will make our society and our governance more humane and more caring. Swami Vivekananda had said and I quote, “Manifest this spirituality within you, mark, if you give up spirituality, the result will be that in three generations you will be extinct.” The confluence has seen the convergence of ideas and principles to build on the strong and wide sense of spirituality that permeates the personal lives of millions across the globe. Eminent scholars from different walks of society came together with a belief that the fundamentals of universal spiritualism can be inherited into the work place in order to benefit society and humanity at large. Businesses are increasingly becoming the core source of community for people in societies. Business leaders are also recognising the aspirations of employees in the course of business and spirituality is becoming a very important aspect of life.  The message of spirituality is to find delight in hard work, devotion and righteousness. God is the giver, share fruits of hard work, be noble, perform noble deeds, diligently, be happy, make others happy. Have heart full of generosity, kindness and love. Arise, Awake, and Work, enlighten the souls with divine words. Enjoy riches, sharing these with all.

In the last century, humanity had made phenomenal material progress but there was moral and spiritual slide. This has been evident by both increasing corruption in our work place and moral decay in our society. It is manifested in the form of greed, corruption, stress, violence against women, exploitation of the poor. Spiritualism is the path to self-consciousness. The layer of material success in a competitive world sometimes becomes so strong that it over-powers one’s senses and makes blind to what is right and what is wrong. It is spiritualism that can help one stick to the path to righteousness. One must not renounce one’s duty or work but renounce the desire for the fruits they are of. Spirituality in work place has to be driven from the top of the management. Spirituality helps to ignite self-governance from within. Sustainability, creativity, principles, vocation and sincerity in work are the prime factors for restoring trust and confidence in the new idea of India rooted in our culture. We live in exciting times, a moment of history when we are at the cusp of responding to Swami Vivekananda who had said “Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.”

My best wishes to the organisers for propagating the message of work hard with righteousness, harmony, peace, realising the care for humanity which is the essence of all religions. Spirituality ignites divinity in all. With these words I conclude. Thank you for inviting here. Thank you. Jai Bharat!

The first session ended with the release of Dr. H. P. Kanoria’s book entitled ‘Enlightenment – All in One, One in All’ by Keshari Nath Tripathi, Honourable Governor of West Bengal. A vote of thanks was proposed by Sujit Kanoria.

The second session started with the felicitation of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Honourable Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha and Padma Vibhushan Dr. Sonal Mansingh, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Founder-President of the Centre for Indian Classical Dances. The session also witnessed the release of the book ‘Spiritual Humanity’ written by Dr. H. P. Kanoria.

Dr. Farooq Abdullah
Honourable Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

The world is changing and so is India but this change is towards the wrong direction. We visit temples, mosques, gurudwaras but many of us remain far from God. If God doesn’t exist in yourself then it doesn’t exist anywhere for you.You go to any traffic light in India and you stop your car, what do you find? Small kids and mothers begging. When will this nation rise? When will the time come when they will have a roof over their heads and farmers will not kill themselves because of low remuneration?

Religion is being used for winning elections. When you talk about spirituality, how many of us are really spiritual in our daily lives? How many of us really work for improving the lives of other people? We need to get rid of hatred. And so long as we don’t give up this hatred, we will never make this nation as great as we want it to be. No religion is great and no religion is less great.

I had once told Narendra Modi when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat that I wanted to see such an India that when I look into his eyes, I see my God in them and when he looks into my eyes, he sees his God. God is the same. He is the same creator. He is the same sustainer and he is the same destroyer.  He is the same power, who controls the Sun, the Moon, the Earth and every other planet in this Universe.

Have we really built that India? Have really developed an India where we love each other? No. We are creating an India of hatred. This India is not the country that our forefathers fought for. Disparity is increasing every day.

Love each other. No religion teaches you hatred. No religion teaches you to be the enemy of your neighbour. Today we are not beggars for food. We are giving food to other nations. But we have lost the basic Indian philosophy. We have created conflicts for our survival as politicians. Let us pray and hope that this confluence on spirituality would bring some vision into people and they will start realising that we will have to live together as brothers and sisters. May God help us and may he guide us.                     

Padma Vibhushan Dr. Sonal Mansingh
Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and
Founder-President of Centre for Indian Classical Dances

This is a confluence of humanity and spirituality. And humanity is a very big word. Humanity is understood as a collective. A gathering of good people, caring and considerate people who can live in harmony not only with each other but also with nature, which includes all beings which again includes birds, animals, plants, trees, rivers and mountains, indeed every part of mother earth.  It includes the solar system and everything in it. And this humanity intrinsically related to spirituality.

All religions and religious leaders speak of the same spiritual essence. The journey of life is a spiritual experience and we should keep remembering that for leading meaningful lives. India will do well to celebrate its unity in diversity and nurture humanity. The session ended with Sunita Kanoria felicitating the guests.

The third session was marked by a panel discussion on the topic ‘Spirituality for Peace and Harmony’. Dr. Satinder K Dhiman, Dr. Lokesh Muni, Sd. Paramjit Singh Chandok, Rev. Swami Suparnananda Ji Maharaj, Dr. Brikha H.S. Nasoraia, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza, Rinpoche Phurba Dorjee, Swami Nikhileshwarananda Ji Maharaj and Prof. Meher Master-Moos, participated in the panel discussion.

 Dr. Satinder K Dhiman, Professor, Woodbury University’s School of Business, Burbank CA (USA)

The congregation which Dr. Kanoria has arranged here is very rare. I will take this opportunity to quote a simple line of Guru Nanak Devji Maharaj which translated in English would mean, “As long as you live in the world, you listen and then speak.” I am going to follow that advice as I have been entrusted with the duty of moderating this session that revolves around the central question regarding the universal core values at the heart of all faiths.

Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muni
Founder President, Ahimsa Vishwa Bharati, New Delhi

There is no place for jealousy and hatred in Dharma. All of us should respect our own religion, but at the same time we should also respect others’ religion too. This is our culture. I feel that Dharma starts with recognition and acknowledgment of others’ existence along with our own existence. The human race is not a production of any machine. At the end I would like to say that we should communicate with each other and stay together honestly. Let’s meet with our own selves.

Sd. Paramjit Singh Chandok
Chairman, Bangla Sahib Gurudwara New Delhi

To address today’s subject, I will mention Guru Nanakji’s philosophy. Guru Nanak has directed us to be self-dependent and not to leave a job for anyone else. We should all chant the name of Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak has said that we should divide our income or earnings among every one rather than keeping it only to ourselves. He has said that there are people from various castes in our country. We should know and respect all of them.

Rev. Swami Suparnananda Maharaj
Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture

We are all human beings and we need to assimilate five basic qualities namely ahimsa, satyam, asthyom, soucham and sangyam. When these five good qualities are inherited, we arrive at the doorstep of divinity. We are spiritual when we pray consciously. We cannot attain spirituality when we believe in something but do not live up to that. Swami Vivekananda had said a true Hindu is a true Christian, a true Christian is a true Mohamaden. You have to accept and harmonise all faiths in you.

Prof. Dr. Brikha H.S. Nasoraia
Professor, Mardin Artuklu University & University of Sydney, Australia

I will start from where my colleagues end. They would be asking what spirituality is. I would ask why we need spirituality instead of what is spirituality. Why do we need it? I just finished in publishing my book about the outage around holy rivers and had the privilege to visit the Ganga River yesterday. I was watching the people who had come to worship this river, immerse themselves to connect to something unknown, this connects to my central question - Do we feel insecure and need to sell spirituality to have some security? I think we need spirituality to connect with the divine or with the source, which is the knowledge of truth.

Archbishop Thomas D’Souza
Archbishop of Calcutta

It’s an opportunity for all us to be part of this programme and deepen our insights of humanity, spirituality and have power to remain what we are called to be. I remember a story of the Vietnam War. There was a small poor child, perhaps seven years old and she was carrying a small boy in her arms. Someone asked her, is it not heavy? No she said. He is my brother. When he is my brother he can’t be heavy. When she is my sister she can’t be heavy. Those are feelings we have today when we come together to reflect on humanity, spirituality, and peace.

Jesus Christ gave a set of attitudes; we called them in the gospels beatitudes of Christ. All these beatitudes influenced people and one of them was our father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi was specially influenced by these beatitudes of Jesus Christ. Today all of us have that common denominator that we are human beings. Value of services is what spirituality is about.

Swami Nikhileshwarananda Maharaj
Adhyaksha Shri Ramakrishna Ashram, Rajkot

Let God come in the form of the poor, let God come in the form of the sick. If there is God within a poor and sick person, worshipping them is the real mark of spirituality That spirituality will bring peace and happiness to us and that spirituality will be bringing harmony and peace into the whole world. The UNESCO preamble says that since wars begin in the minds of people, it is in the minds of men that peace must be constructed in.

Venerable Rinpoche Phurba Dorjee
Buddhist Master, Professor and Film Maker

Human beings suffer because we live in an unrestful society and there is need to inculcate a sense of oneness and unity. No matter what is our religion, faith or geographical location, we must learn to live in unity. 

Dame Prof. Meher Master-Moos
President of Zoroastrian College, Mumbai

In the words of poet Ravindra Nath Tagore, “Humanity is my family and the world is home.” And that is why we are all here. Righteousness of thoughts words and deeds produces the best results not only for ourselves in the present, or for our future but also for all around us. It uplifts not just humanity but everything in the earth and in the universe.

Champa Devi Kanoria welcomed and felicitated Brahma Kumari Usha Didi and Sister BK Kanan, who guide people to be connected with God with the way of meditation. Shruti Kanoria felicitated Haji Syed Salman Chishty, Chairman – Chishty Foundation – Ajmer.

 Brahma Kumari Usha Didi

Om Shanti and greetings from Mt. Abu and I welcome everyone. Human life goes through many challenges and wishes to help people, wishes to move forward with other people together. But due to certain things even if one wants to do good deeds, one is not able to do so. It is then, that spirituality is required. Since inception, there is a question and it is, “Who am I?” If this question is asked to anyone now, there will be basic answers, what is the name, what does the person do, etc. But there is also an identity before his name is given to him. People need to understand that there is a soul in a human body, which is a never dying energy. But what is its identity? It is important to understand this.

Everything has its own quality. If we boil water, it will become hot, however during a fire, if we spread that same water over fire, it will help to destroy that fire. It is not, that by adding hot water it will increase fire, irrespective of how much we boil that water, it will not forget its actual ‘dharma’. This human body is made of five elements, so for survival it demands these five elements only. A person does not know how much water to drink, but when the water level in the body is sufficient the body automatically stops drinking water. Similarly, nature has made the necessary  five elements for all without any discrimination.

Every person first and foremost requires knowledge. Today in this world there is ample knowledge, in spite of that it is said in a prayer that ‘gyaan se hame gyaan ki aur le chalo’. We require the knowledge of spirituality. Because it is spirituality that will take us to that level, where we become one. In that level where we are all children of that father, that God. That is why this knowledge is important, so that we are able to connect with God. Ego is the greatest ignorance and curse in human life. There is so many fights due to this ego. Because of the absence of spiritual knowledge, these fights are happening. Spirit in its originality is so pure. When a baby is born, he is so beautiful, gentle and pure. That is his original identity. The same way we are all pure beings in our eternal nature. When we reach towards that pureness, we are able to connect with all. We rise above all the barriers. Similarly, when there is ego, there cannot be love. Another identity of a human being is love. Everybody needs love. When there are all the three qualities - understanding, purity and love - there is peace.

Today in this world, we have to get back to our original identity in order to have peace. We can win every struggle when we get back to our original qualities. When there is peace there is happiness. These days, people are not even able to feel happy, they have to join laughing clubs. One should not require any reason to smile and to stay happy. The day when we club ourselves with our own identity, we will realise how happy we are. Everybody needs to be in a happy state. Today everyone has gone too far from our originality. They need to find the right path. When we all start living in that state, such conferences will not be required. All struggles will be over. And when all struggles will be over, everyone will start progressing with happiness.

In this world, everything has the nature of giving. Trees are giving to us, river is giving to us, even the things made by humans are also giving to us. Only humans are taking instead of giving. One day, try to give instead. Give respect, give good feelings, give positive vibrations. The day we start giving, we’ll start getting more and more happiness, life will change for the better, and the world will change for the better as well.

Sister BK Kanan

Everyone of you must be visiting temples and you must have seen the idol in the temple. To that idol, you tell all your stories from your heart, good ones and bad ones. But what does the idol tell you? With the eyes of mercy, it absorbs all the pain and sadness. And with the eyes of affection, it satisfies your soul. With the help of hands it gives you blessings.

To give we have to first collect whatever we have to give. For example, to give clothes, we have to first collect clothes. When you wake up in the morning, pray for the good health and well being of others. This will help to realise your true spiritual self.

Haji Syed Salman Chishty
Chairman – Chishty Foundation – Ajmer

Salaam, aadaab, to everyone on the dais, I extend my humble gratitude and regards to the Srei Foundation, Kanoria Foundation and the entire team of brilliant youth and the elders of the Kanoria family, so humbly headed by Sri Hari Prasad Kanoria Saheb, and all the volunteers for creating this platform and expressing the virtues of unconditional love.

In beautiful words, Brahma Kumari Didi Sahebaan, who is very close to Ajmer Sharif in Mt Abu, expressed her experience. I tell you with assurance that whatever a spiritual guru, or any elderly person expresses, they do not just tell with words, but also express their own feelings and experiences. So when Brahmha Kumari Didi was expressing herself with her words, I could connect with her every word. She expressed that one should give rather than take, but in order to give, we have to take as well.

This abode is the land of peace. There is divine shower of grace, those who are intoxicated with love, they have no fear, and no sorrow.

You all must have seen the get-up of Maulana Rumi. He meditates in a white dress. And when he revolves during his meditation, his one hand is up and the other hand points towards the ground. The reason behind this is that, from his one hand which is up, he takes from God and with the other hand, he gives it to those who requires it.  Khaja Gareeb Nawaz had said, “In order to serve the creation, develop the attributes of the creation so that you may serve the creator. You need river like generousity, sun like bounty, and an earth like hospitality.”

Panel Discussion Topic: Spirituality & Management

Paul Palmarozza
Director, IF I Can…CIC (Community Interest Company); Partner, Principled Business UK.

The analogy we use is that our true nature is like the sun, but it gets covered over by our own ego, ideas and thoughts and our task in life is to remove the covers so that the light which is there all the time can shine. Positive values, love, patience, and compassion are natural to us.

I am a guest lecturer at Regent’s University. Using new technology based approaches like e-learning we try to show how business can be ethical and effective. Conscious and commercial. You’ve got to have the practical dimension but spirituality applies to all aspects of life and that is something we are trying to communicate.

There is hope that a number of young entrepreneurs and courageous business leaders like the Kanoria Family will help in changing the rigid patterns that exists in businesses with their calibrated emphasis on short term financial gains, and more focus on values. This will help in creating responsible, sustainable businesses and we want to help in that process.

Dr. Satinder K. Dhiman
Professor, Woodbury University’s School of Business, Burbank, CA (USA)

Bhagwat Gita is a Samvaad. Shri Krishna-Arjun Samwaadey is - a conversation between two friends. At one time in Mahabharata, there is an incident where Arjun says to Lord Krishna, “When you gave me that Upanishad I was distracted, during the time of war, so please repeat it.” Lord Krishna refused to repeat it as it was said and was relevant at that juncture in time. The beauty of Bhagwat Gita is that it gives us a way through which our whole life can become “bhagwatmay”.

Dr. A. D. Amar
Professor of Management, Stillman School
of Business, USA

Good Evening. Well, what I am going to do here this evening is to tell you how can you apply the concept of Bhagwat Gita, Upanishad, Vedas, Quran and all ancient Indian writings because they are more relevant now than ever. I am going to tell you how you can apply these things and get the highest productivity and innovation from your employees or from your business.

We are now moving from the technology based era to the knowledge based era. Gita tells how to manage knowledge. Upanishads, Vedas tell us exactly the same. And I use Vedas, Upanishads, for my presentations on leadership. Do not lead your employees. Leave them alone but make sure they have the required knowledge and they will surely perform well.

R. P. Jain
Vice President, National Research and Resource Foundation for Indian Heritage

We have all spoken here about spirituality, but from gather is, the understanding of spirituality should come from within. If it does not come from inside, then it stays incomplete. Unless we get inner nourishment we cannot achieve the desired level of spirituality.

I would like to say, if we are given two flowers, one flower which is without smell and another with smell, then which will we select? We will surely select the flower which has the smell. In life, that same smell, brings values to us and those values are rooted in spirituality.

Ashwini Kumar Chaubey
Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India

We feel proud that India is the sole country which is called as a mother. India is a rich country.

The most unique quality of India is respecting all religions and that is humanity. If you want to see humanity, then see India. Sharing the pain of others is humanity, and we practice that here in India.

Panel Discussion Topic: Spirituality for the Happiness of the Family

P C Lahiri
Saccidananda Society Bengaluru

I am going to go directly to the point which I have heard from a Shri Shri Baba Thakur. We have forgotten the greatness of this nation. We have forgotten what has been discovered in India. The only way to go back and recall is to remember and realise your ownself, who you really are. Ultimately, we have to realise that the unity of one and all is our culture. We must also believe that all creatures in the universe are reflections of the same perfect truth.

Raj K Purohit
Hon’ble Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly

I have come from Mumbai which is the finance capital of India. This conference, not only shows path to humans, not only to the society, but shows a path to the entire nation. I want to say to Kanoriaji, “God has given you so much of light. Whenever I have met you, you are so concerned for the society, you are so concerned for the country. Some people only are concerned, some people only think, however Hari Prasad ji is not only concerned, but he also acts and the outcome of that is this conference. It is my pleasure that I could attend this confluence and thankful for getting the opportunity to hear many erudite speakers.

Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma

In our Bhagwat Gita, the first mention is about Dharma. When we can describe Dharma and truth, then only then we can think about humanity. Sukhdev Maharaj, who narrated the Gita in seven days stated that there is nothing greater than Dharma and Truth. And what is Truth? It is the God. What is Dharma? Dharma protects us in every way.

Whenever you are in tension, whenever you are in doubt, I suggest you remember Dharma. Close your eyes for 15 minutes, meditate, you will find the answer.

Vote of thanks by Dr. HP Kanoria - Chairman, World Confluence of Humanity, Power & Spirituality

This session ended by a vote of thanks presented by Dr. H P Kanoria and a cultural performance staged by acid victims.

 Panel Discussion Topic: Women of Substance

Padma Vibhushan Dr. Sonal Mansingh
Hon’ble member of Parliament., Rajya Sabha; Founder President of Centre for Indian Classical Dancers

I do think that this topic is a little passé. I would also want men of substance, because its always that the woman have to prove that they have substance. I’ve never heard a panel discussing men of substance. I think every woman, by the virtue of inhabiting the biological body of a woman and by the virtue of the values and qualities attributed to her, is a woman of substance.

HRH Princess Asharaje Gaekwad
Chairperson & MD, Princess Asharaje Gaekwad Education Foundation/Gaekwad Art

Talking about women of substance, it is very difficult to define really, because there are so many woman who have done so much and are like unsung heroes, many woman in the villages have put their money together to build little toilets so that their family can have a better life. People who have got into the villages and made well so they can have water over there, these are the unsung heroes, and they are people of substance and let me tell you, the honour and things we get because we are lucky to be recognised, so many people are there who need to be recognised more than we are.

Padma Shri Santosh Yadav
First & Youngest Indian Mountaineer (Lady) to climb the Mt. Everest twice & a Motivational Speaker

In this panel discussion, we are talking about women. One of the most beautiful representations of a woman is a mother. Mother is one of the most responsible role in the world. And the mother is responsible for protecting her children.

When one farmer farms crops, he protects it from insects and pests. He sees that the crops are getting water and sunlight. Similarly, a mother nurtures her baby.  Many things have been stated about spirituality. But no one has spoken about pre-birth parenting. We should pray when the child is in womb.

Session Moderator Princess Maria Amor DD
Founder President of We Care for Humanity, USA asked Dr. Sonal Mansingh, Princess Asharaje Gaekwad and Santosh Yadav, the question – “With your stature being highly decorated woman of our time having so many people looking up to you as role models what would you say is your greatest contribution to humanity and what is the scale of that impact?” The speakers shared few of their valuable experiences and all emphasised in their answers on believing in one’s own self, pursuing one’s dream, faith on humanity.

 

Alokananda Roy
Choreographer and Odissi exponent

ASWWF has brought changes to the lives of many acid attack victims by giving them back their confidence through various activities. They organised a beautiful cultural performance by the acid attack victims on the first day of the 11th World Confluence of Humanity, Power and Spirituality. The event was conceptualised and choreographed by the famed Odissi exponent Alokananda Roy. She told BE, “I was enriched while working with the acid survivors. They came out of the situation bravely and portrayed courage and confidence through their public performance. They performed beautifully considering the fact that none of them had learned how to dance before.  I am thankful to the Kanoria Foundation, to Madhulika Kanoria and to Dr. H. P. Kanoria to give me this opportunity.”