Guest guest Posted September 7, 2000 Report Share Posted September 7, 2000 H.H. SANT RAJINDER SINGH JI MAHARAJ ADDRESSED THE SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS AT THE UNITED NATIONS H.H. Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj is in New York City this week to participate in the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. The summit opened at the United Nations on August 28, 2000 with over a thousand religious and spiritual leaders from all regions of the world and all major faith traditions. Speaking in the UN General Assembly Hall, Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj said, "May we bury our weapons of war so they can be transformed into flowers of tranquility and bliss, may we lay down our arms to lift up our arms to the Creator. May our prayers and meditation transform this world into a garden of everlasting joy and may each of us spread light and love bringing peace to the whole world." Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj emphasized that unity and peace can be achieved through meditation: "Inner realization of the divine not only leads to lasting peace for ourselves, but inspires us to radiate love, unity, and peace, and be of service to all humanity." The audience in the huge hall sat in silence as Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj gave instructions for meditation and then led them in a brief meditation. Some of the other key speakers at the summit were: the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan; founder and owner of CNN Dr.Ted Turner; and Ela Gandhi, grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi. The goal of summit was to identify ways that the worldwide religious and spiritual communities can work together as interfaith allies with the United Nations. The leaders explored how to harness the power of religious tolerance and spiritual faith to educate their communities in paths toward peace. For the first time there was such as gathering of religious and spiritual leaders from more than 50 countries at the United Nations. The summit concluded on August 31. # # # NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE # # # Use the following URL or read text which follows: http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/global/090100un-religion.html September 1, 2000 World's Religious Leaders Sign a Pledge for Peace By GUSTAV NIEBUHR As an international conference of religious leaders ended yesterday in New York, many participants, representing a wide array of the world's faiths, pledged to work for world peace. Their commitment came in a statement titled "Commitment to Global Peace," which was the main document to emerge from their four-day gathering, the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, an event unusual for its religious diversity and for its having convened at the United Nations. The document, which briefly acknowledges that war and violence "are sometimes perpetuated in the name of religion," pledges its signers to work with the United Nations and "all men and women of good will" toward peace. It asks its signers to work for freedom of religion, toward narrowing the wealth gap between rich and poor, and on behalf of environmental protection. But how any of this will be carried out, or indeed, how a continued dialogue will be conducted among the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other leaders who gathered here, remain open questions. In attending the conference, whose sessions have been held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel since Wednesday, many of the hundreds of religious leaders who attended said they felt drawn by the event's association with the United Nations and by its theme of peace. Although not an official United Nations event, and largely funded through foundations' donations, the conference was held in collaboration with the office of the United Nations' secretary general. "I think the evidence is, they voted with the hearts in coming here," said Lawrence E. Sullivan, director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University, in an interview on Wednesday afternoon. But to engage in a continuing discussion with other religious groups and to work with international agencies on social issues, he said, the leaders here would have to "commit senior staff in their organizations" to those duties. "If the religious people want to bring a new voice, they really have to go to school on the issues," said Dr. Sullivan, who has served on an advisory board for this event. "Some of them have, most have not." Nonetheless, one of the speakers at the gathering, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of Great Britain, said there would be value for many participants simply in having met and become acquainted with people of other faiths. And some here said that the meeting, simply in bringing together such a diverse group, could ultimately have a wider spiritual effect. Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, an Indian meditation teacher who heads an international organization called (in the United States) the Science of Spirituality, said the conference was useful in introducing people who would otherwise have been more aware of their differences than what they might share in common. "When we sit and talk with them, we realize they are not much different," he said. The conference, he said, had created "a beautiful environment. I think if we can take it back to our communities, that sweetness will filter through." 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Guest guest Posted September 7, 2000 Report Share Posted September 7, 2000 In a message dated 9/7/00 4:57:58 AM, santmat writes: << But how any of this will be carried out, or indeed, how a continued dialogue will be conducted among the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other leaders who gathered here, remain open questions. >> One small way is that we will be having a concert for Peace inside the Pentagon in a couple of weeks, small, 200 people, some "important" <g>. L*L*L ~ rainbo ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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