A few days ago we participated in a very inspiring event. At our Ananda community near Assisi, Italy, we held a world peace conference with a Japanese organization, The World Peace Prayer Society, that promotes the Fuji Declaration, “calling for the rebirth of humanity’s sacred spirit and a new civilization in which all life is connected as one.” Devi and I were part of a panel of spiritual teachers that included a Buddhist monk, a Christian monk, the imam of Perugia, a leader from the Baha’i faith, as well as the founder of the International School of Forgiveness. As we sat together in our Temple of Light, we each spoke about how to promote peace and harmony among nations, religions, and individuals. The day ended movingly with a parade of flags and prayers for peace in every country on earth.
During my talk, I pointed out that respect for others is a theme addressed by all spiritual paths. Most scriptures have a version of the Golden Rule. Jesus Christ said it this way: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
But he was neither the first nor the last great soul to teach this truth. A friend recently gave me a card that made a deep impact on me. It had versions of the Golden Rule from many different faiths, echoing this simple truth, letting it reverberate again and again through time and space.
Our great master, Paramhansa Yogananda, repeated versions of the Golden Rule many times in his talks and writings. Here is a beautiful expression of the principle from his book, Whispers from Eternity:
Prayer for Expanding Love from Myself to All My Brethren
O Divine Mother, teach me to use the gift of Thy love, which I feel in my heart, to love the members of my family more than myself. Bless me that I may love my neighbors more than my family. Expand my heart’s feelings, that I love my country more than my neighbors, and my world and all my human brethren more than my country, neighbors, family, and my own self.
Lastly, teach me to love Thee more than anything else, for it is only Thy love that enables me to love everything. Without Thee, I could not love anything or anybody.
This teaching, though simple, has the potential to bring peace to the whole world. If we were simply to begin a personal practice of “doing to others what we would have others do to us,” there would be no more war, nor violence, nor poverty. Through the practice of meditation we can actually experience our unity with others and truly feel that we are one world family.
As Mahatma Gandhi said, “We must become the change we want to see.” If we want to help usher in a golden era for this fragile planet, let it begin with our very own daily practice of the Golden Rule.
In loving friendship,
Nayaswami Jyotish
View additional photos from the world peace conference here.
14 Comments
Many blessings!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience at Assissi. Again, Paramhansa Yogananda showed how He universalised the religions and faiths in His expanded statement of how loving self merges into loving the brethren of whole world.
Also, thank you for making such a monumental task so practical by referring to the practice of meditation!
Thank you for these important words. A renewal of thought and action in our every day life. Blessings to all
Dear Jyotishji,
Very inspiring and guiding post.Thank you for sharing!!loved it!!
We are all integral part of universal spirit or omnipotent God. In meditation we can see that we are a jyoti or a star in the universe. There is no way we can feel happy or achieve everlasting happiness without bringing everlasting happiness to those around us . And that covers all .All religions or prophets who have come on earth from time to time have preached the same . Their preaching may look different at the surface because of the time gap and circumstances in which they were required to preach but in essence they are the same.
Lovely! Thank you for this, Jyotish.
Pranam Ji
Thy Love that enables one to Love Everything, is the Ultimate. Thanks for the Inspiration.
With Gratitude
R Sundararajan
Namaste, my friend!
Dear Nayaswami Jyotish Ji,
Thank you for the blog :)
Its so joyful to see souls from different countries together praying for world peace. This is the most important and urgent thing required in this planet.
As Master said, one day we will have united States of the world.
How wonderful to host a event in Swamiji’s place. Masters wish for brother hood colonies were accomplished by Swamiji. Brother hood colonies are the way to bring peace amongst souls
We pray for peace in the world.
Aum
Prem
What a wonderful idea. REAL World Brotherhood. Thank you Jyotish. I can feel the energy from Christ, Master and the Saints of ALL religions. I recently secluded in Swamiji’s Dome at the Meditation Retreat and that Blissful energy has helped me feel, more sensitively, the common Light we all share. Namaste
Hope for Good.
That is true!!!
Thanks for reminding us about Love.We need to be always aware that Love is the medium that can work wonders.
JAI GURU!
Thank you Jyotish.
~~~Peace, Josette