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EARTH ETHICS
[Speech at the Earth Summit, Rio Centro on June 12, 1992 at the Special meeting to present the Declaration of Sacred Earth Gathering.)
It was a matter of great privilege for me to have been deeply involved in the drafting of The Declaration of Sacred Earth Gathering. As Rapporteur General of the Conference I was delighted to have the opportunity of interacting with all the participants, benefiting from their valuable advice and suggestions and learning from their mature wisdom and vast treasure of spiritual knowledge. I am also grateful to the committee of five, which helped me to give the final shape to the Declaration. On behalf of you all and in my own name, I would like to express on this occasion heartfelt thanks to Hanne Strong, our friend, philosopher and guide. It was due to her dynamic, all caring and helpful lead that our conference has been so successful and we have been able to bring a spiritual message to the U. N. Earth Summit.
Drafting the declaration has been a beautiful experience for me as it has convinced me more than ever before what unites the humanity is much more than what may appear to divide it. There is so much basic spiritual commonality of principles and purposes between different religions and philosophies. The declaration has united philosophers, priests, thinkers and diplomats from diverse backgrounds, cultural heritage and historical conditioning.
The most basic thrust of the Declaration is its emphasis on Non-violence as the guide-star for fashioning inter-human, human-nature and human-other creatures relationship. It is
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