Pujya Swamiji Inspires Ethics, Spirituality & Sustainability Conference

International Conference on Ethics, Sustainability & Spirituality was organized in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, on Friday, December 1, 2017 by Green Earth Alliance International (GEA) in association with the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance​ and Parmarth Niketan​ (Rishikesh).

Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji – Muniji​ blessed and graced the occasion. Sharing His words of wisdom about conscious “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)” rooted first in “Human Social Responsibility,” He said, “Our rishis and saints have said that life is not to HAVE more but to BE more. Having more on the outside does not bring us happiness, fulfillment of peace. However, there is nothing wrong with filling our shelves, it just should not be at the expense of filling the Self. Filling the Self comes from service and from giving back. When we uphold our responsibility to our planet and to humanity then we are filled from the inside. This is why ethics automatically and inevitably ensures that there is sustainability. When there is ethics then it is automatically rooted in spirituality. Hence, Ethics, Spirituality and Sustainability are not three separate things, but rather they are rooted, in the same sense that the world is one family and we are connected. It is rooted in the awareness that my consumption has a cost and hence becoming conscious of reducing that cost and upholding my responsibility to offset that cost is vital.”

Pujya Swamiji also quoted Mahatma Gandhi by sharing that there is always enough for everyone’s needs but not even enough for any one man’s greed. Pujya Swamiji inaugurated the conference by chanting a sacred mantra and lighting the lamp with other eminent dignitaries. He also gave a sacred Rudraksha sapling to the group to plant there at the premises of the conference as a symbol of their commitment to green and conscious business.

The conference was filled with rich discussions by experts, NGOs, and business leaders who deliberated on how the world has to understand that we are not here merely to make a living as a human being, we are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, compassionately & with greater vision that resonate with our common humanity. Global corporations in many ways hold the future of our planet in their hands & can contribute directly and indirectly to most of the 21st century’s ecological, political & social challenges.

In the age of globalization, sustainable goals (UN SDG) and strategies give corporations the choice to get ahead of the curve, defining and redefining new rules and being rewarded by stakeholders for behaving ethically, responsibly & consciously.

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