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ROLE OF JAINISM IN PROMOTING INTER-FAITH CREATIVE
ENGAGEMENT
[Presentation at the 1999 Parliament of World's Religions, Cape Town (South Africa)]
We are on the threshold of 21st century. It is time for the input of spiritual vision to permeate our lives in order to stem the rot created by violent, reckless and exploitative mismanagement of Earth's resources for human greed.
Mahatma Gandhi, the 20th century Apostle of Non-violence used to say:
“The Earth has enough for everyone's need
But not enough for everyone's greed"
The human community needs to take the initiative to forge an alliance between science, development, environmental preservation and spiritualism. Human ingenuity must be reinforced by revitalized culture of morality and ethics. Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez has commented:
“Expect nothing from the 21st century It is the 21st century
Which expects everything from you"
Total earth environment has to be changed for the better to promote peace fostering and ecology-friendly way of life". The challenge before humankind is to shape a just, peaceful and sustainable future.
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