A beautiful two day conclave, entitled “Sach Bharat: the World Confluence of Humanity, Power and Spirituality. Enlightenment: A Journey Within Through Service” took place from 22-23 December, at the Westin Hotel, Kolkata.
The conference was inaugurated by Hon’ble Governor of Tripura, Shri Tathagata Roy, HE Rosalia Artega Serrano, and Former President of Ecuador, and blessed by Pujya Swamiji, Imam Umer Ilyasiji, Mananiya Indresh Kumarji, Acharya Dr Lokesh Muniji, Swami Supranandji Maharaj, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Sardar Paramjit Chandhok, Ven Bhikkhu Sanghasenaji, Archbishop Cardinal Teleshore Toppo and presided by Dr HP Kanoriaji.
The assembly of luminaries speaking also included: HH Princess Maria Amor DD, Founder President We Care for Humanity; Sir Mark Tully, Former Bureau Chief BBC; Dr M Aslam Parvaiz and many others.
Pujya Swamiji & Sadhvi Bhagawatiji addressed the August gathering in 2 sessions — the morning interfaith session on “Spirituality Unfolds Humanity” and the afternoon indepth session on “Spirituality & Climate Change” moderated by Sir William Mark Tully.
In the morning session, Pujya Swamiji inspired the distinguished audience by sharing that, “All religions tell us first and foremost to be better human beings. We must join our hands and our hearts together to protect Shakti, our divine feminine, the power of creation, in the form of our Mothers and our Mother Nature. To me the true form of worship is in the service of the creation- that is the true Confluence of Humanity, Power & Spirituality.”
He went on to share that, “We need to understand that in the world of internet we need to also be deeply connected with our inner net. In the world of facebook and looking at other’s profiles, we need to also face our own book and reflect on our own profiles- where do we stand as a human being, when we do that then automatically we will also take care of not only the inner climate but the outer one.”
Sadhvi Bhagawatiji said, “This is really Sach Bharat (True India): to celebrate spirituality, shakti and service. When we live truly spiritual lives, we see the Self in all. Thus, service becomes automatic and an extension of our deepest nature. Humanity is not just a random assortment of 7.3 billion people any more than the human body is a random assortment of 50 trillion cells. In order to experience the true divine possibility of humanity, those 7.3 billion people have to work together in harmony the way the 50 trillion cells of our bodies do. That is why we need spirituality to help us truly unfold the possibility of humanity.”
In the afternoon session with leaders of Islam and Christianity taking part as well to discuss what their religions say about protection of the Earth, Pujya Swamiji explained that Hinduism teaches us to live as a yagna, to live by giving and serving, to live with the mantra “Idam namam, not for me but for you.” He said, “Sanatan Dharma teaches us that life is not about getting more but about BEING more. It is about filling our Self, not just filling our shelves. When we focus on filling the Self not the shelves we will move back into a balanced and healthy way of living for all.” He ended by explaining that “When our focus shifts from selfish consumerism to living as a global family, when our priority shifts from “I” to “We” then Illness (of our own bodies and of the planet) becomes Wellness [when the I in Illness is changed to We then the word Illness becomes the word Wellness].”
Sadhvii Bhagawatiji gave an impassioned talk on the role of our actions and decisions on the state of the planet. She said, “Our scriptures and ancient rishis told us that the mind is the source of both our bondage and our freedom — that pertains both to our own spiritual lives and the life of our planet. As the mind yells “more, more,” industries race to supply to our demand, thereby destroying our water, land and air. Spirituality teaches us Santushti – contentment, how we can be deeply content in our inner world so we don’t have to destroy the outer world in our attempt to fill our emptiness.”
She spoke about the role of the meat industry on global warming and the world’s water resources. She emphasized that “We do not have a global water shortage, food shortage or land shortage. We have a global consciousness shortage, and spirituality is that which should restore and revitalize our consciousness so we can truly live as one global, healthy family.”