‘The last and seventh law of peace brings us back to what we said in the beginning: ‘peace in the world is impossible without peace among religions in the world’. As seen earlier, more than 80% people all over the world still follow one religion or the other. In India it is more than 95%’. The Baba began, and he continued ...
‘For a deeply religious country like India with a diversity of religions, interreligious understanding and co-operative action are divinely ordained imperatives for her very survival as a living force…
‘There will be no peace in India unless religions in India learn to live in peace with one another. Development and prosperity will elude India as long as there is no peace and cooperation among religions in the country….
‘It is very important that religions in India understand the real crises facing the nation today and respond to them creatively and collectively…..
‘Peace among religions can be found only when they work together with mutual respect for a culture of peace in the world….. We had already discussed about this earlier…….
‘Gandhiji adopted a five-pronged methodology to promote inter-religious understanding and cooperation. Rootedness, openness, simplicity, prayerfulness and nonviolence constituted this five-pronged Gandhian methodology. This was found to be very effective in promoting mutual understanding and cooperation among religions. Hence, you can also adopt it in your mission….
‘This Gandhian methodology demanded that one be rooted deep in the truth, goodness and beauty of one’s own religious tradition. This will in turn help one to open his or her heart and mind to the truth, goodness and beauty in other religions…
‘We also need to be simple in our life-style. Gandhiji’s life was very simple. His needs were very few. Simplicity of life will help us to save on our expenses, and we will be able to spend more for others...
‘Prayerfulness implied depending on divine grace, more than on mere human efforts. It implies that we do everything prayerfully. Gandhi began and concluded his day with prayer. He launched and organized all his public campaigns prayerfully. This prayerfulness was the true basis of his non-violence. He tried to remain non-violent in his thoughts, words and deeds with the power of prayer…
‘This was the five-pronged Gandhian methodology for a culture of peace in the world, especially for peace among religions. We need to re-discover and apply this five-pronged methodology effectively in our present context.….
‘We have already studied carefully Dr. S. Radhakrishnan’s thought and philosohy. After a deep study of religions, he came to the conclusion that unity among religions can be found not through uniformity in code, creed and cult, but through a shared vision and mission…
‘An inclusive vision and a shared mission with a concrete action plan for the realization of that vision are needed to unite religions on a common platform for a great common nation-building mission. We had already discussed this in detail earlier……
‘In the present context of India, religions are also called to unite for the economic, social and moral freedoms that are yet to be won for our motherland. Without winning her economic, social and moral freedoms, the destined role of India on the world stage cannot be fulfilled.….
‘Winning the economic, social and moral freedoms that are yet to be won for India will need a Second Freedom Struggle much more challenging than the first that had won political freedom for us from the British in 1947. In fact, I feel we will need nothing less than an Integral Revolution to achieve this goal…..
‘For details of this Second Freedom Struggle, you can refer to the book titled ‘The Second Freedom Struggle of India – An Integral Revolution for a Hunger-free, Caste-free and Corruption-free India’. You have already read it. No?’, the Baba concluded with a question and looked at Atma Prakash.
The Baba continued: ‘A socio-spiritual educational initiative to promote these seven spiritual laws of peace is necessary for developing and providing a strong inter-religious spirituality and philosophy for building a great new India of peace, prosperity and power…
‘All peace-loving and spiritually-inclined citizens and religious communities in India need to understand, practise and promote these seven spiritual laws of peace constituting the holistic philosophy of ‘Dharmodaya’. This is an essential part of their nation-building efforts …..
‘These seven spiritual laws of peace, my son, are not exhaustive. But they contain within themselves the seeds of a great new India and of a new Wolrd Order of peace, prosperity and happiness….
‘Adherence to these spiritual laws will make one a sovereign spiritual person who will be able to transform the world into a ‘New Creation’ of love, unity, peace and joy. This is the vision of ‘Kingdom of God’ on earth. The future of humanity will be in the hands of such sovereign spiritual persons…..
‘You are called to be a great and powerful sovereign spiritual person, an instrument of God for a civilization of love and a culture of peace in the world…
‘Keep these seven spiritual laws of peace close to your heart. Think about them, work on them…. Develop them further.. You will become a son of God…..
‘I have termed the spiritual philosophy represented by these seven spiritual laws of peace as ‘Dharmodaya’….Dharmodaya will provide a holistic and ecological socio-spiritual philosophy for the ‘Kingdom of God, ‘Dharma Rajya’, of our vision and for the Integral Revolution for a new World Order and for a great new India of peace, prosperity, power and happiness....
‘Go forth, my son, be a great and powerful sovereign spiritual person, and work towards a culture of peace in India and the world. You are the ‘crown prince’ of spiritual India....”
Excerpts from Integral Revolution
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