________________
people, animals, and the Earth which should most matter to religions. For the divine spirit has no meaning if it is thought to be separate from this world and its life-forms.
Besides the very practical goal of wanting to promote world peace and brotherhood through the conference, I also wanted to bring the leaders of the major world religions together, to promote harmony, cooperation and greater understanding between them. Since the World Religions Conference of 1957 was to be held in India, I invited the then Prime Minister of India, Nehru, to attend the meeting, knowing fully well that without his support and endorsement of the conference, it would not occur. At the same time, I knew that Prime Minister Nehru had little respect for religious people since he thought that they were narrow-minded, superstitious, and quarrelsome.
Since I, myself, have little patience with people who argue about the proper name of God and yet cannot love one another, I was not at all threatened or bothered by Mr. Nehru's presence at the meeting as were some of my peers.
In planning for the conference, I invited 16 other religious leaders who represented Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Taoists, Jews, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Jains and others, to attend along with Prime Minister Nehru. Before the first planning session I went into a deep meditation and called upon my great guru Shri Roop Chandji
42
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
