Siddhachalam NJ 1993 06 Acharya Sushil Kumarji

Author(s): Siddhachalam NJ
Publisher: USA International Mahavir Jain Mission Siddhachalam

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GLOBAL SPIRITUAL RENAISSANCE
GURUJI'S SPEECH AT THE GLOBAL EARTH
GATHERING MAY 31, 1992
We are coming to the close of our deliberations. It has been a highly stimulating and thought-provoking dialogue. The serene natural surroundings have inspired constructive thought in the directions of harmony, peace, wisdom and non-violence. In all the speeches that I have heard at the gathering, I have found acute awareness of reviving global spiritual consciousness in the discharging of our responsibilities and obligations to Mother Earth. Need for spiritual outlook The Sacred Earth Gathering has sounded a warning on the eve of the Earth Summit 1992 that humanity must prepare itself spiritually to face the tremendous task of saving the Earth from ecological crisis. Science has magnified the power of humanity in Earth and Space. Advances in technol- ogy have helped humankind harness natural resources with a level ofefficiency and productivity as never before. But we have abused nature and exploited her without thought of replenishing or preserving its bounties. This has occurred because we have tended to sidetrack matters of heart and soul, confining them to the churches, temples and mosques to tackle.
The spirit of religion must pervade our lives and must inspire the totality of our vision. Isolated economic, cultural, social, political or psychological approaches have given us a fragmented view of our life and its purpose. They have made us narrow-minded, materialistic, self-centered and egoistic. Love, compassion, universal brotherhood, harmonious understanding and cooperation have become mere slogans which we utter but then ignore.
Restore spirituality How can we restore spirituality to its rightful place in human life once again? It is only through the path of renewed commitment to global ethics and morality. Global ethics calls for peaceful co-existence and not confrontation. It calls for making non-violence a way of life in the interdependent existence between 8.4 million species (which inhabit the Earth as per Jain scriptures) and nature. Some of them may already be extinct, thanks to the callous self-centered, exploitative attitude of human beings. But it is never too late to take the right path of recreating a better world for ourselves and other living creatures. Need for fundamental transformation The world situation calls for a fundamental transformation in the way we look at, and seek solutions to those problems that come up in our daily lives of both individuals and societies. For instance, terrorism has become a serious problem for the modern world. It is in a sense, a manifestation of violence that resorts to the vehicle of violence in order to attain its goals. Give up violence Violence perpetuates violence that increases in intensity, viciousness and cruelty as it continues. The society and the world get caught in this vicious circle and the problems begin to look insolvable while brutal killings and the murder of innocent civilians goes on.
It is here that the bold and imaginative, timely and compassion oriented use of non-violence can be effective. I have walked into terrorist infested areas of Punjab in India unarmed and unescorted. I spoke to terrorists the language of Ahimsa, of love, of reason punctuated with sympathy, of forgiveness and forgetting. I touched their hearts and they are opening themselves to prepare for a positive response. Non-Violence: the only remedy A non-violent approach takes time to heal the deep wounds and scars which have been created due to communication gaps, misunderstanding, suspicion and mistrust. I have been speaking with both terrorists as well as the government, in an effort to amicably eliminate the evil of terrorism through a non-violent approach. But I cannot do it alone. We need a
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His Holiness Acharya Sushil Kumar Ji Maharaj
Jain Education Intemational