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Founder President, Ahimsa Vishwa Bharati, New Delhi

First, I want to congratulate Dr. H.P. Kanoria for organising this confluence that reflects unity in diversity. Unity in diversity is the foundation of our culture and civilisation. It is important to think righteously. A lot of problems can be solved through dialogue and peaceful discussions. The greatness of this confluence lies in uniting all religious leaders because religions teach us to be united.

There is no place for fear, hate or violence in religion. But we are seeing that unity among religious leaders is becoming difficult to attain. Political parties, who are often debating each other in parliament, are uniting to form alliances like NDA or UPA.  Then why we, the religious leaders not coming together?

Today in Kolkata, Swami Chidanand asked us to raise our hands in an attempt to spread the message of togetherness. Years ago, Swami Vivekananda had left Kolkata for Chicago and had given the message of unity. I strongly believe that again a message has been delivered from Kolkata that talks of unity, togetherness, universal brotherhood and we must welcome it.

Dharma has three pillars. They are upasana or prayers and rituals, ethics and spirituality. Today, Dharma is at threat as we are confining ourselves to ritual practices only, believing it to be Dharma. We go to temples and pray to God and think all our sins are being washed away. I am not against rituals. The pillar of Dharma and life should be composed of ethics and morality. The third pillar is spirituality, which is the topic of today’s confluence. When spirituality blossoms within a person, there is no place for immorality and corruption. In today’s clever world, life and our attitude towards life has changed. People say Delhi and go to Pune. This happens due to lack of spirituality. I believe for awakening spirituality, our vision needs to be right. In Jainism, there is a concept about samyak dristi or positive thinking because it does not take much time to change when thoughts are changed. If we think positive, nobody can make us unhappy. A positively thinking man can make the world happy. True spirituality is ignited when we can take care of other’s existence along with our own existence. We should respect others thoughts and opinions. Difference in thought and expression is natural. 

I was thinking why Dr. Kanoria has been arranging this confluence for the last ten years. We all have three kinds of consciousness – one pertaining to the self, second pertaining to others and third pertaining to the ultimate truth. Only a person who is aware of self can hear the call of others and that of truth.