To live together in peace and prosperity we must understand that beyond these many differences, we are one family who share the same origin in the Creator God.  The vision of One Family under God can unite us since it shows the pathway to true global unity in diversity, as the American experiment aspires to do on a national level. The alternative is continued conflict and chaos among warring power groups based on identity-based politics, rooted in our differences; and, eventually, forced to live under the tyranny of whatever power group wins out in the end.

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon
Global Peace Convention 2021

 

Today, societies everywhere have been dealing with the aftermath of the direct and indirect impacts of two years of grappling with a global pandemic.

While many have focused on economic and health impacts, the social consequences have also been alarming. According to a survey from Ipsos, of 20,000 people surveyed in 27 countries worldwide, only 21% feel “solid” in their sense of connectedness, social relations, or sense of the “common good.” Individually, this may not mean so much but attitudes of individuals are critical as they often translate into actions and behaviors that make up societal norms.

From a collection of Buddhist saying is a caution on the importance of thoughts and attitudes:

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

Likewise, the survey on the lack of social cohesion can become a catalyst toward a more positive social trend. During the pandemic, many came to realize the critical importance of social and familial relationships. Dr. Darrell Bricker of Ipsos noted that “Social cohesion is the bedrock for societies and economies to function. No country will evolve in a positive direction if its citizens are all rowing in different directions.” And while governments, organizations, businesses, and individuals may be working diligently to encourage cooperation, the resolution of many of our social issues cannot be bought, sold, packaged, or mandated.

The solutions are likely found in a different approach, one that works to engage people on the local and community levels. In fact, the problems we see today can be addressed in part by the approach taken in communities by the Global Peace Foundation throughout the last decade.

GPF has developed different peacebuilding models that help to, directly and indirectly, create social cohesion between people from different backgrounds. These models have been built in countries as different as Paraguay, Malaysia, Kenya, Nigeria, the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Mongolia, and more. This provides evidence that the approach can be applied in different contexts. Moreover, each specific country model has also garnered unique lessons that can be shared, contributing to the global peacebuilding efforts.

One of the key reasons this approach can be applied to different contexts is that we focus first on a common vision and goals. This can then lead to healthy conversations around universal principles, shared values, and a solid foundation for building agreements between people from diverse backgrounds. While diversity in terms of race, religion, etc., is often considered divisive, a disciplined focus on our commonalities can bring us together into sustained dialogue and cooperation for the greater good.

In this, many of GPF’s natural peacebuilding partners are leaders from different faith traditions in these efforts. This inclusive approach provides a platform where people can engage as one human family – regardless of their specific religion or background.

Today, we can take what is a dismal situation or challenge to make it into an opportunity for development, as individuals and on the level of societies and nations. The good news is that local community engagement based on a shared vision and focused on universal principles can help strengthen families and transform communities towards a positive end. The decision to do so can start today.

We can have these important conversations around principles and values then affect attitudes and behaviors, setting the stage for greater social cohesion and more positive, pro-social behaviors and relationships. These can include healing or resolving issues – big or small; creating and building new relationships with our neighbors – new or old, and reaching out and getting to know our community by engaging with people in ordinary and everyday ways.

This day-to-day kind of peacebuilding work is something we can all engage in, and every person can be a peacebuilder.

The vision of [One Family under God] can be a catalyst for raising up our spiritual consciousness to an even higher level beyond the individual level to that of family. Thus, it will provide us the ability to perceive more clearly the eternal principles governing human life, along with the resolve to live by them. Living in resonance with these principles is living under the sovereignty of God. It is the foundation for genuine freedom, lasting peace, and prosperity for the entire human family.

– Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon
Global Peace Convention 2021
August 15, 2021

 

Omar N. Bradley once thoughtfully observed that “Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.” 

Today, transportation and communication systems technologies have developed so rapidly that humanity is still – in many ways – catching up to these changes. The 24-hour news cycle, internet, and social media platforms have changed how we view the world. On the one hand, these developments have brought the human family closer together. For instance, these technologies have most recently helped mobilize global support and response in times of crisis in unprecedented ways. Yet, on the other hand, what often goes viral is not necessarily humanity at its best. In this kind of interconnected world, even the most minor interactions have the potential to have national and even global impacts, especially when considering the many longstanding issues that have not been adequately addressed.

To take this situation, which holds both great promise and danger, in a wholly positive direction, we need to be able to connect in ways that allow us to honor and celebrate our differences. In this endeavor for moral clarity, how can the faith and wisdom traditions become – true to their origins in God and the spiritual principles – be something that can inspire peace, service, compassion, and understanding between people regardless of their differences?

It is in first recognizing that we are one human family under God. Whatever words we might use, the idea of the Divine and an absolute transcendent order that should govern human life are essential aspects of all faiths and wisdom traditions.

This understanding would call spiritual and religious leaders to lead their families and communities to serve the larger community – together, side-by-side with those from different backgrounds. In that situation, the faithful can serve beyond the borders of their own religions because of their faith, not despite it. 

Additionally, respectful cooperation between the different religions can have more practical outputs. For example, sharing best educational practices and programs can strengthen families and help raise the next generation of moral, innovative leaders for a bright future of shared prosperity.

In Nigeria and Indonesia, the Global Peace Foundation is cultivating two very different models. Yet, in even these two very different contexts, GPF is demonstrating that any society can undertake this approach towards building peace in the communities when local leaders and stakeholders first acknowledge universal principles and shared values. These inevitably take much time and investment, but the work of creating these peacebuilding models and the opportunity to share the lessons of peace is well worth it.  

By doing so, we come closer together towards a shared dream of peace and mutual prosperity as One Family under God. 

The understanding that fundamental rights and freedoms are endowed to every human being by the Creator has endured. Just as Lincoln hearkened to the powerful assertions in the Declaration of Independence, so too did Martin Luther King Jr. a century later during the height of the Civil Rights movement in his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.  They recognized the self-evident truth of God’s sovereignty as the source of all fundamental rights and freedoms; that regardless of human failures and contradictions in America’s history, surely, that idea will eventually prevail.

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon
Global Peace Convention 2021

In 1630, a group of very determined people decided to move to the “New World” of the North American continent in search of a place to self-consciously build a “city upon a hill.” These famous lines from a sermon in 1630 by John Winthrop have since shaped American self-understanding. The idea originally came from Jesus’ Sermon on a Mount, encouraging followers to see themselves as models for others. And even before its official founding in 1776, this ideal that has shaped America in different ways through the years.

The American experiment started in the Old World, with a group dubbed the “Puritans” struggled with the local British government for their right to believe and worship as they saw fit. When they could no longer do so, they fled to the more religiously tolerant Netherlands, only to feel that the overly permissive social climate was detrimental to their spiritual lives.

For example, some scholars suggest that the first Puritan colony’s rules for self-governance, the Mayflower Compact, “undoubtedly played a role in future colonists seeking permanent independence from British rule and shaping the nation that eventually became the United States of America.”

The text from the Mayflower Compact underscores how central God was in the establishment of those first colonies:

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith, and the honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another; covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic…

Later, the American Revolutionary War was fought against the British colonizers with the understanding that it was their God-given right to challenge the authorities at the time. The seminal U.S. Declaration of Independence laid out the case for their separation from the British Crown in the idea that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The basis of these “Rights” was laid squarely in the idea of a transcendent Creator. Because these rights are endowed by the Creator there was no institution that could take them away.

All men, as created beings, all were afforded “separate and equal station.” In short, no man had the right to rule over another except by the freely given consent of the governed.

This understanding that fundamental rights and freedoms are endowed to every human being by the Creator continued to guide and shape American political life throughout history. For example, on his way to the capital as the newly elected U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln stated that “I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.” Even while he wished to avoid war and bloodshed, Lincoln felt it was his duty to protect the ideals of the Declaration, not only for the current generation of Americans but for “the world, for all future time.” He expressed his understanding that America existed not just for its own sake but as a model for the world and all future generations.

Roughly a century later, Martin Luther King Jr. saw himself furthering “God’s will” to ensure that America lived up to its promises. In his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, he proclaimed, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Both Lincoln and King recognized the self-evident truth of God’s sovereignty as the source of all fundamental rights and freedoms; that regardless of human failures and contradictions in America’s history, surely, that idea will eventually prevail. Both men worked to further this dream, giving up their lives in that process.

All this has led to what people have dubbed “American exceptionalism,” and whatever the case, America, unlike most nations in the world, was founded on the ideal of building a model of what a nation could and should be.

Today, we can honor the sacrifices of the people who came before us by advancing and even expanding that same dream for America into in one which the whole world could – together – live in peace and harmony as One Family Under God.

Global Peace Women Plenary 2021
Keynote Address
Dr. Junsook Moon
August 13, 2021

Ladies and gentlemen joining us from around the world,

Greetings! Welcome to the Plenary of the Women’s Leadership Track at the 2021 Virtual Global Peace Convention on Moral and Innovative Leadership in Peacebuilding for Our Changing World.

Hon. Samaniego, thank you for your kind words of support. I also want to extend my gratitude towards our other distinguished speakers: H.E. Dr. Hajiya, Amina Namadi Sambo, Dr. Nona Ricafort, and Dr. Eva Latham, who are not only incredible women leaders, but also active peace builders in their communities and around the world. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us today. I am so glad that we can come together virtually and continue working towards our mission of peace and development through service minded women leadership.

I miss seeing your faces and sharing the irreplaceable human connection that comes when meeting in person. Although the global pandemic has made it difficult for us to gather, I am grateful that the wonders of technology have enabled us to meet together today, even from far away.

Our theme for the Women’s Leadership track is Service-minded Women Advancing Peace in the Home and World During Unprecedented Times.

The pandemic is the first of its kind in our lifetimes. The world as we know it has been altered, perhaps irrevocably.

Undoubtedly, each and every one of us has been through loss and change. Some of us have lost loved ones. Most of us have had to stay distant from people we long to see in person, and confront the stresses of a new reality, including job loss, remote work, and markedly altered school and home life.

As we faced these emerging challenges, we have had to wrestle with how to find meaning in the sacrifices and turmoil around us. We have had to transform crisis into opportunity and turn despair into hope.

The question we must ask ourselves is, “How can we, as women, as leaders, contribute to opening a path to a brighter future?”

The pandemic has revealed how the well-being of family fundamentally affects the health and wellness of all people. What does your family mean to you? Family is precious. When times are good, it is where we thrive and share happiness with loved ones. When times are hard, our families can be the place where we offer support and draw strength from each other. Through every season of life, I believe, the family can be an enduring source of gratitude, service, and love.

A crucial ingredient sustaining successful families is gratitude. Family means that we will always be connected regardless of our differences in personalities, talents, and interests. Having a family to turn to when things are tough means that we are never truly alone. When we appreciate and express gratitude for our family, we strengthen relationships that endure through all the ups and downs of life.

Service is another key element that families offer. Choosing to serve provides comfort and healing while uplifting ourselves and others. When times are especially difficult, we rely most on the physical, spiritual, and emotional care that we receive from family members.

Lastly, the most defining characteristic of family is deep, intimate, and unconditional love. When children first enter this world, they completely rely on the love and sacrifice of their parents. Even as adults, we realize that family provides the deep-seated love and support that helps us to overcome life’s greatest difficulties. The unconditional love in our families equips us to love others outside of the home. Over the past year, women have especially stepped forward to selflessly love and care for their families and communities. They are transformative teachers of peace both in the family and in society.

During the pandemic, Global Peace Women around the world have turned their focus to supporting women and families as the wellspring of gratitude, service, and love. In 16 nations, Global Peace Women have organized webinars, workshops, hotlines and public broadcasts to provide expert advice, counseling, livelihood training, and small group support for the well-being of families. We also met basic needs – providing meals, diapers, clothes, and sanitation products. These programs focused on various dimensions of family health including spiritual, emotional, and physical wellness. We are proud of our women leaders who continue to give hope and practical support. Their efforts have helped families create stable, loving environments even in the midst of these uncertain times.

Ladies and gentlemen, every parent wants to create a happy, healthy, and peaceful family that cultivates gratitude, serves others and offers unconditional love. Every family member has an irreplaceable role to play in creating such a family.

In my family, my husband and I play different, but equally important roles. My family leans on my husband, Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, to cultivate self-discipline and strive for a high standard of excellence. He challenges all of us to grow past our own perceived limits and to accomplish so much more than we thought we could. He provides spiritual leadership for our family through his unabated dedication to building One Family under God. On the other hand, I am the one who observes how each of our children is doing. My children feel comfortable to tell me the details of their challenges and struggles. I usually know even before they tell me. At those times, I do my best to give support and encouragement to help my children take daily steps towards growing themselves, investing in their families and contributing to the world. Just as a father and mother offer complementary strengths in the family, I believe men and women have unique and important contributions to make both in the home and in society.

If my husband is the North Star that shows the ship where to go, perhaps I am the wind that fills the ship’s sails. If we take one step in the right direction every day, just as the winds blows the ship to safety through uncharted waters, I know that we can reach brighter shores together.

I invite you to find ways through which we can reach for deeper reserves of gratitude, service, and unconditional love in our daily lives. Global Peace Women strives to develop education, projects and initiatives that support women so we can nourish ourselves, our families, communities and the world with these gifts. 

The Family Volunteers for Peace initiative is yielding moving examples of women doing exactly this. In Nigeria, the Philippines, Uganda, and the United States, mothers have encouraged their families to serve. They have shared stories of how they have grown closer through volunteering together. Their families are also gaining important tools: problem-solving, character development, and skills for building healthy relationships to further peace in their homes and communities.  What beautiful examples of women leaders cultivating service-minded families who are rising above our current challenges.

Earlier this year, we hosted a webinar series entitled, “Women-led peacebuilding from the home to society.” The webinars sought to uplift and empower women who are cultivating seeds of peace in their homes and the world. Participants from around the world, representing countries from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe joined in engaging  conversations on teaching human rights in the family, bridging generations through music, practicing holistic health, cultivating service, and establishing family traditions to build a legacy of peace.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is true that we are living through unprecedented times. It has been profoundly difficult for our families, our societies and our world. But, let us not focus just on the challenges and pain. Let us look outward and find ways to serve together, and in doing so, we can bring healing and hope.

I know that the work of Global Peace Women is needed now, more than ever. We can serve as a platform to support and inspire incredible women leaders like yourselves. Let us work together towards a common vision of a world where every woman, man, child and family can pursue their utmost potential in peace.

Let us celebrate what we have accomplished, and also reflect on the question, “What more can we do?” I am certain that together, with our collective strength of service, heart and care, we will get through these times, and we will create a brighter, greater future.

Let us embark on the next step of this journey to build a peaceful world of One Family under God, one family and one community at a time.

May God bless you and your loved ones.

Thank you very much.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. – Seneca

We grow through challenges. It is a fundamental principle. If we want to grow in any particular area, we have to be challenged. If we are not, we are not going to grow.

If someone wants to be physically fit, they could work out with weights. What in essence are they doing? They are stressing their muscle fibers. That stress causes the muscles to break down. Eventually, after rest and recovery, the stress and breakdown result in more muscle. The same process applies to someone who wants to be a mathematician. They need continuously challenge themselves to master higher and higher levels of math. It is the same with someone who wants to be the most knowledgeable historian. They need to constantly challenge themselves.

How does this apply to parenting? All parents want their children to be better than them. How can we raise our children to be better than us? We help them overcome whatever challenges they have. Because we are there, we can help mentor them through that process so they are victorious. They can come out on the other end with a victory. Not only do they gain greater confidence in themselves; it also means they are growing on every level.

If we can digest and overcome the challenges of life, those same challenges can make us stronger and better overall. That is why an important tradition and standard for our families is to not make excuses. No matter how difficult something may appear to be, do not make excuses. We have the strength to overcome. Overcome, learn and grow.

You will notice that people who are very accomplished and who have exceeded the standards of most other people tend to be people with a very difficult past.

God teaches us through challenges if only we have the strength to overcome them. God moves in mysterious ways, and it is the challenges that we face that push us more and more towards God.

If we want to be good parents, we need to prepare our children for the challenges they will inevitably face. There will always be challenges in our lives and we should hold the view that we do not grow without them.

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

R.Buckminster Fuller 

In the field of peace studies, it has long been recognized that – while everyone wants peace, most people do not know what it actually looks like and the necessary conditions for peace.

As we all know, building peace from the ground up is not easy. All the hot and cold conflict zones that exist around that world attest to this. Yet, as idealists, we continue to engage in the peacebuilding process around the globe in efforts to apply a global vision, universal principles and shared values to address specific community issues.

In Southern Kaduna in Nigeria, one of the most diverse states in all of Nigeria, 2016 and 2017 were particularly fraught times. There were killings, reprisals, destruction of property and fear, anger and unrest. And most of all, the people were tired of the conflict.

It was late in 2017 that, through connections that had heard of Global Peace Foundation’s work with the One Family Under God campaign in other parts of Kaduna state, the GPF Nigeria team began to engage with communities in Southern Kaduna. Through the long and arduous process of dialogue with different groups, negotiations and agreements, the communities began to form a dialogue platform that they dubbed the “Southern Kaduna Peace and Reconciliation Committee.”

This committee is made up of Muslim and Christian representatives from youth, faith, women and traditional leaders of different tribes and has been critical in handling delicate situations that had plagued Southern Kaduna for months.

In a recent review of data collected by Crisis Watch, an organization that tracks global conflict, GPF was able to ascertain some of the results of the work with the Southern Kaduna Peace and Reconciliation Committee.

In the 18 months leading up to the formation of SKPRC, and the training and programs the GPF Nigeria team provided for them, killings in Southern Kaduna state made up 54% of the total number of killings in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria. And yet, in the 18 months after the GPF intervention, even while there was a 22% increase of killings as a whole, the number of killings in Southern Kaduna dramatically dropped to make up only 1% of the total number of killings.

These numbers are just one of the many remarkable results that we are beginning to see in Southern Kaduna. Increased dialogue and engagement between the community leaders and security agencies resulted in non-violent local elections and local communities have taken up the call to own the vision of One Family Under God for themselves, celebrating peace through a multi-cultural celebration of the International Day of Peace in 2018.

Models like this one allows us to test the validity and efficacy of this approach. The GPF approach of articulating a global and yet personal vision of One Family Under God and creating shared agreements on universal principles and shared values is something that can be applied to other contexts. Some of the critical lessons learned in Nigeria are even making their way over in consultation with key Korean faith leaders working towards Korean reunification and reconciliation.

Yet it is worth mentioning that programs like those conducted by GPF are emphatically not looking to make carbon copy communities but, in fact, are seeking its opposite: to encourage and inspire the development of a uniquely local model of peace and community-building. These models are intended to go beyond the one location by sharing lessons from different GPF “peacebuilding laboratories” around the world.

In this way, peacebuilding leaders intend the lessons learned in one model to allow them to then share practical, concrete lessons for our global family.

The prevailing view was that [German] reunification was a distant dream, and key leaders in Europe did not support a unified Germany. Despite these obstacles, President Bush worked behind the scenes in support of a grassroots movement that led to unification in a way that established a major ally in Europe at peace with its neighbors and a bulwark against totalitarian aggression. Significantly, President Bush was able to advance German unification without alienating key Soviet leaders as they struggled to navigate major transformation in the U.S.S.R. and its empire.

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon
Unified Korea: Strategic Framework for Resolving the Korean Peninsula Issue
December 12, 2018

Honoring Bush 41 and his role in German Reunification: Some lessons for Korea

Earlier this month the U.S. and much of the world mourned the passing of former president George H.W. Bush – Bush 41 as he is popularly known. During his presidency, he guided the U.S. and the world through momentous historic changes with wisdom, foresight, and a steady hand. As former president Obama said of him, “when democratic revolutions bloomed across Eastern Europe, it was his steady, diplomatic hand that made possible an achievement once thought anything but – ending the Cold War without firing a shot.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was born in an East Germany that was still part of the Soviet Bloc, said at the recent G20 Summit in Buenos Aires that she “probably couldn’t be standing here” if it were not for Bush’s role.

German reunification as the Cold War ended was by no means guaranteed. The prevailing view among Germans had been that reunification was a distant dream. When growing numbers of East Germans started to vote with their feet, ideas changed but elsewhere in Europe leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterand did not support a unified Germany.

Yet Bush did and so worked with the German chancellor Helmut Kohl to bring it about in a way that saw it wedded to the values and institutions of the Western liberal democracies, removing the Soviet influence of the past.

At the same time, he sought to use diplomatic persuasion to get Soviet leader Gorbachev to accept this change, always conscious of the reactionary opposition in Moscow that wanted to re-impose Soviet control throughout Eastern Europe. Bush supported Gorbachev in his reforms and never used “we are the victors” rhetoric against him in pursuing the goal of a Western-aligned united Germany. He was always patient and gracious.

He told Gorbachev at the summit in 1990, “I hope you noticed that the United States has not engaged in condescending statements aimed at damaging the Soviet Union.”  He took this line despite domestic criticism for supposedly being too soft on the defeated Soviets.

This is a striking historical example of broad and effective diplomacy achieving stability and the peaceful unification of a divided nation in circumstances that could have resulted in chaos and conflict. A lesson we can learn for Korea today is the need for a broad policy that has a clear end goal in mind – unification – and works towards it wisely and systematically. We cannot afford to focus narrowly on one issue, denuclearization, and expect to make overall progress.

We will simply find ourselves back in the same spot again a few years hence.

The following speech was delivered by Swami Shantatmananda, Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission in New Delhi, on “Global Ethics and Volunteerism” in Tokyo, Japan on September 29, 2018. Swami Shantatmananda shared stories that animated India’s age-old vision of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One World Family).

Like Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, there are expressions of the ideal of One Family Under God that are present and alive around the globe. This common aspiration opens the way to articulate a shared framework of ethics upon which to build social cohesion and shared prosperity.

---

I am extremely happy to be here this afternoon. This is my first visit to Japan. Although I have seen most of the globe, including Russia, I didn’t have an opportunity to come earlier to Japan.   So, thanks to Global Peace Foundation and our friend Kawabata San, I’m happy to be here.

I represent an organization called the Ramakrishna Mission. It’s a Hindu monastic organization. We are about eighteen hundred monks. We have more than two hundred branches, of which 150 are in India and the rest in other countries. We work in several fields such as medical service, educational work, relief and rehabilitation, rural development work, tribal development work, etc.

We stand for religious harmony; we accept all religions as true. In fact, among several monks of our Order are those with Christian background, Buddhist background, Muslim background, Jain background, and so on.

Swami Vivekananda at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions

This organization was founded by Swami Vivekananda, a great Hindu monk. He represented Hinduism in the first world parliament of religions held in Chicago in 1893. He was a very young monk, hardly thirty years old when he went there, and he had never spoken before from a public platform.

There was a huge audience of about several thousand people and he was very much nervous when he saw the crowd. So, whenever the organizer called his name, he said “later, later, later.” Finally, they said, “you have to speak now. There is no more later.”

He stood up, mentally offered a prayer to the goddess of learning called Saraswati in Hindu tradition.   He addressed the audience, as Sisters and Brothers of America. It resonated in the hearts of all those present there. They gave a tremendous applause for the next several minutes without stopping. Suddenly the unknown monk became a world celebrity. He gave a short speech on that day. His main theme was that all those people may be pursuing different paths, but they all lead ultimately to the same God.

He gave several speeches during that parliament and gave a very wonderful speech towards the end about religious harmony. He said we not only believe in toleration, we believe in total acceptance. Toleration means, “I’m superior, you’re inferior. I’m just tolerating you.”, whereas acceptance means, “I value you as equal.”

For the first time, a religious leader spoke from a world platform about the dire need for harmony of religions. He said that the Hindu is not to become a Christian, the Christian is not to become a Muslim, and the Muslim need not become a Hindu. But each must assimilate the good ideas of other religions, and integrate them into their own belief. He finally said “Upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance ‘Help and not Fight,’ ‘Assimilation and not Destruction,’ ‘Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.’”

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. We Are One Family

He gave a new message to the whole world as to how we can live together as a beautiful community. So, you know, the whole idea is as long as we identify the goodness in others, it’s always possible to live in harmony. In fact, that is true even in families, in our friends circles, in our business, everywhere this idea: identify the goodness or noble ideas and leave aside the differences, then we can live meaningfully together.

“…as long as we identify the goodness in others, it’s always possible to live in harmony. In fact, that is true even in families, in our friends circles, in our business, everywhere…”

These ideas are based on some great truths of Hinduism. Not only that, they resonate in the basic tenets of every religion. For example, all the religions believe in an ultimate God or Creator. So, if you’re all created by God, by whichever name that addresses that personality, you’re all brothers and sisters wherever you might live, in Africa, England, America, Japan, India or anywhere; we’re all belonging to one huge family. That is what they call in India Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. One Family. We are all members of one huge global family.

“…you’re all created by God, by whichever name that addresses that personality, you’re all brothers and sisters wherever you might live, in Africa, England, America, Japan, India or anywhere; we’re all belonging to one huge family.”

Imagine if we accept this one idea, how so much peace and harmony will be there in this world. There will be no need to go to war between countries. This is based on an even more fundamental idea, which our friend who spoke before me expressed in Japanese. But in Hinduism it means it is inside everyone. All goodness, power, knowledge, greatness, ability, strength— everything is in all of us. That is the basic point of Hinduism because Hindus believe that we are not just this body or mind, but we are beyond. We call it as “consciousness” Atman or brahman in Sanskrit. But 99.99% of mankind does not remember this. They have forgotten this idea.

So, religion or spirituality means awakening to this great potential within us. So that is the real work of all spiritual masters, or gurus, or teachers: awakening you to your own potential or greatness that is lying within you. But I know that people all over the world have forgotten this and they fight with each other in the name of religion. Without invoking any great philosophical idea, Swami Vivekananda brought this out in the parliament of religions using a beautiful story. He said, “Why do we disagree?”

The Frog and the Sea

There was a frog which was living in a well. It had never gone out of that well. So, he thought the whole world was his own little well. One day, another frog from the sea accidently fell into that well. So, the frog in the well asked the other frog, “Who are you? Where from have you come?” The sea frog said, “I am from the sea!” The well frog jumped from one end of the well to the other end and said, “Your sea? Is it as big as this?” The sea frog laughed and said, “My friend, how do you compare your little well with my sea?”

He said, “You have never seen the sea. Please come with me. I will show you the sea.” The well frog got angry and said, “You are a liar. You get out! You want to take me to the sea and occupy this well. There is nothing bigger than this well in the whole world.”

Swami Vivekananda said that is our problem. The whole audience erupted into a huge applause when they heard the story. He explained the Hindu sits in his own little well and thinks the whole world is his. The Christian sits in his own little well and thinks the whole world is his well of Christianity. Similarly, the Muslim sits in his own little well and thinks the whole world is his. Actually none of us have seen what is offered by the other religions.

That’s why he said every religion has produced men and women of great exulted character. Every religion has produced extraordinary men and women. Purity and greatness are not the property of any particular religion. These ideas of Swami Vivekananda were learned by him under his guru, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, a great saint.

The Common Goal or Religion

Swami Ramakrishna practiced several religions like Hinduism, Islam, Christianity— he observed meticulously all the practices of different religions. Based on his own personal experience, he declared “as many faiths, so many paths.” There are different paths leading to the same. He also used to give a beautiful example of a water reservoir. Hindus take the water and call it jal. Christians use the same water and call it water. Muslims call the same water Pani. He said ultimately, all the people of various religions reach the same goal but the path or the way is different. So, he said, “Let us not fight about the path. Let us talk about the ultimate goal.” That’s why he said religion is spiritual practice and the ultimate realization, the ultimate goal— that is important.

“Let us not fight about the path. Let us talk about the ultimate goal.”

So, Swami Vivekananda thought that all these should be made practical in life because we may discuss many good theories and ideas, but unless they are brought into our practical life, they will be of no use to mankind. That is why most of the people all over the world are generally moving away from religion. Even those who believe in religion think that it is just a ritual, or going to a temple, or a mosque or a church, and at other times doing what you like.

There is no connection between our outer life and our religious life. They are poles apart. In India the Hindus, when they advance in spiritual life, would give up society and go to the forest and practice Vedanta.  That would be a very small percentage. Maybe one or two percent of the population. So, Swami Vivekananda gave a new interpretation to religion. He said that religion, which has gone to the forests, should be brought to the marketplace. They should be part of our daily life. You may be a teacher, you may be a model, you may be an actor, you may be a musician, you may be a doctor, you may be a lawyer— all of you should be able to apply these principles we call Vedanta.

There should be a complete connection in our life: what we believe as true and what we practice by way of profession. There should be a complete link. There should be a flow. Otherwise life is meaningless. In fact, this is the basis for global ethics, morality, volunteerism and all that we think of as good and moral.

“There should be a complete connection in our life: what we believe as true and what we practice by way of profession…Otherwise life is meaningless. In fact, this is the basis for global ethics, morality, volunteerism and all that we think of as good and moral.”

I visited a school yesterday and they said they are teaching morality to the students. I asked them, “If the student asked you what is the basis, how would you answer them?” Because when you tell children, “You should be good, you should not steal, you should not tell lies” they turn back and say all those who tell lies, who steal, are living a great life, why should I not do too?

The Practice of Service

So, this principle, the world is one family, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, or the idea of the practical Vedanta, that we are all children of God, these are some of the ideas which are the basis of all ethics, morality, values, volunteerism, and all that. Because, if we are belonging to the same family, we cannot steal from our own brothers and sisters. We cannot cheat our own brothers and sisters. We cannot take bribe from our own brothers and sisters. We cannot be immoral with our own brothers and sisters.

So, to propagate this idea, Swami Vivekananda returned from America in 1897 and set up this organization called the Ramakrishna Mission. So he gave two objectives to this organization, Moksha or spiritual welfare of the individual along with welfare of the world; spiritual evolution, spiritual growth for the individual and welfare for humanity or the world at large. He said the two objectives are, first and foremost, my own spiritual evolution, “I grow spiritually.” All humanity should grow spiritually. That is the basic understanding of all religions. So this organization will promote individual growth in spiritual dimension. But this spiritual growth with come through the service of others.

You see, Swami Vivekananda used to say always, “The world does not want the least from you.” It is not expecting the least from you. So, all the service, etc. that you do, is for your own purification or spiritual growth. He will always say that the giver is more blessed than the receiver. Supposing no one wants to receive any help, then where will we go and do philanthropy? So that is why you say that the giver is more blessed than the receiver because he gets an opportunity to serve others.

The giver is more blessed than the receiver because he gets an opportunity to serve others.

So, you know, in this organization, all the aspects of human personality are practiced. There are four aspects of human personality.  Swami Vivekananda used to say that there are four types of human personality: the Jnana type or those that inquire or question; the Bhakta type or those that are soft and emotional; the Yoga or the meditative type; and the Karma or active type, those that believe in tremendous activity or work.  

He said that any path, either the path of knowledge, or jnana, the path of bhakti, or emotion or devotion, the path of yoga, or meditation, or the path of karma, or activity— any path will lead you to the highest goal of life, or realization of the highest truth.

So, unlike traditional Hindu monks who used to go away from activity into the forest to practice meditation, the Ramakrishna Mission monks live in the society and work intensely to serve others.  You must understand what is the basis of this karma yoga, or philosophy of work. You must also understand the difference between karma and karma yoga. Karma means any activity. Yoga means “union.” Karma yoga means union with the God or the highest truth using karma as the path.

So, this karma yoga can be a great basis for the whole mankind to serve others. See in the whole world, there is so much need for service in every part of society, rich or poor, irrespective of the economic condition. Whether it is America, or Africa there is need for service.  In different places, different kinds of service are needed.

But two ideas are to be remembered in our mind if our service is to be really fruitful to us.  If our service is to help us individually, the server should think “I am rendering service. How can I benefit? What will be the philosophy that can help me benefit?”  The principle is as I have already said, “I am serving. I am blessed. I am privileged.” Not standing on a higher platform and throwing relief materials. “I am superior! You are inferior! You are poor. You are deprived. I am giving you.” No, not that idea. The idea is, “I am serving the God in front of me in the form of a beggar, in the form of a patient, in the form of a depressed person, in the form of anybody needing service. In the form of all those persons, I am serving God.”

“I am serving. I am blessed. I am privileged.” 

Based on this principle, the Ramakrishna Mission is running a large number of hospitals and dispensaries, schools, colleges, and even a university. Probably one hundred thousand students study from kindergarten up to the level of doctorate in our institutions. More than ten million patients are treated every year through our hospitals and dispensaries.  

All of us are constantly struggling to remember this idea and work so that we serve and also progress spiritually but it’s not easy; it’s a hard task. So, you know the thought might arise in your mind, “Is it possible? Has anybody done it?”

The Monk Who Dressed Wounds

I want to share a real-life story with you. We have a poor men’s hospital in Varanasi, a very famous place for pilgrimage in India. It has a very minimal facility, nothing super special about it. Some sixty years back, a new monk of the order went to serve in that hospital. He was not much educated. He had come to our main center in Kolkata and the president of the order told him, “You go and serve the patients in Varanasi. Through that you will gain everything.”

He went there. He did not know anything about medical work. They gave him a small table, some scissors, medicine, and bandage material to serve in the OPD. His job was to clean the wounds of patients, dress them, apply medicine, and send them back. Slowly he became so famous, people would come from fifty, sixty kilometers to be dressed by him. His touch was miraculous. People would come with gangrene, very bad stinking wounds, but by his dressing, over a few days, they would recover completely and go back.

Varanasi is famous for a temple of Shiva called Vishwanath Temple. Shiva is a stone image and it is fixed. People would say that Shiva in the temple does not move; the moving Vishwanath is in this hospital, this swami who is dressing the patients. They would call him “the moving God.” Every day he would go at 8 a.m. to the outdoor department and come back at three, standing all the time dressing the patients. He served with no break for thirty years.

Slowly, he developed a serious rheumatism.  He could not walk but he would drag himself and go every day. He wouldn’t absent himself.

Finally, he could not walk at all but he said he would go in a wheelchair. And once he was made to stand up, he would again dress wounds for eight hours.

When it was impossible even to stand, finally he took retirement and at that time I went and saw him. His very presence would give you so much peace and happiness. His face would beam with so much peace and joy.

So, this philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, serving God in man, is something which can be adopted by all communities around the world. This can be the real basis for global, ethical volunteerism.

The Work of Ramakrishna Mission in Delhi

I want to tell you briefly about what we do apart from this, another great work of Ramakrishna Mission Delhi. That is, we are working with five thousand schools and giving a real basis for ethics, morality, and values for children. The children are responding beautifully. Even physically handicapped, visually impaired children are responding because we are giving them the real foundation or basis for ethics and morality.

The real foundation or basis of this philosophy is the intrinsic greatness, power, or equality of all individuals irrespective of powers of intellect or other physical abilities. In spite of whatever we are, wherever we might be— very bright, not so bright, intelligent, not so intelligent, physically powerful, physically weak or handicapped— all of us are intrinsically blessed with many great qualities and awakening them is the real purpose of education.

Thank you.

A group of college students from across the United States came together to participate in a week-long hiking trip in the iconic wildernesses of Montana. Emerging from barren hills spiked with burnt trees, snow-covered mountain peaks and shining crystal lakes, this group of young people changed in ways that were inevitably difficult to articulate. Afterwards, they wrote simple but profound reflections on how nature can be a crucible for leadership development and not just a picture on the background of their smartphones and computers.

 Arguably the best classroom for life, nature is the perfect space for youth to become the kind of leaders our world needs today. Without any fuss, nature forces all that engage with it to face themselves, leaving behind any pretensions or masks they may put up for those around them.

In the words of college youth post-hike, here is why time spent in nature can make you a better leader:

1. Good leaders do not strive to be comfortable; they take risks and face their weaknesses. Every team member was required to take on different leadership roles each day, like trail lead (orienteering and pace control) and medic (administrating first aid).

“Even with all the peace and beauty of nature that surrounded us, I often struggled from the discomfort that came with the responsibilities of my role. Stemming from my shyness, I continuously faced a weakness that I knew all too well — my fear of making mistakes.

I was unfamiliar with the tasks of my assigned role… As a result, I found myself doing the bare minimum. Although I was able to avoid making big mistakes, I soon became consumed by a sense of defeat that followed my escape from the challenge.

I now realize that such a challenge was precisely the gift that nature offered, presenting me with the opportunity to identify and observe my weaknesses.”

2. Leave behind distractions; focus on the present, the presence of the people around you. Montana mountains don’t come with power outlets. Leaving behind the constant availability of technological conveniences, the hikers quickly realized how much there was to live for in the moment, not surfing the web or playing games on their phones.

“In the mountains, we were without our phones and other man-made distractions. We were forced to use the natural things around us, to watch over and care for others, and ask for help if we needed. Even just after five days, I experienced that we literally had to live for the sake of others in order to survive. It is only natural that we worried for others and also depended on others.”

“In my daily life, surrounded by flashy technology, busy schedules and social interactions, it is easy for me to ignore the flaws in my character that hold me back. Making excuses was easy in such an environment filled with distractions.

‘I can forget about it for now.’

‘I have more important things to do.’

This constant delay in solving my problems led to negative emotions that I avoided by watching TV-shows and playing video games.

But, such tricks don’t work in nature.

When I was having a difficult time confronting my weaknesses, I couldn’t rely on a YouTube video and my favorite snack to distract myself. Instead, I had no choice but to face myself. The purity and simplicity of nature was such that I had to face my flaws and that helped me to set a sincere determination to overcome them. I came away on that day with a deeper understanding of myself.”

3. You already have everything you need to be a leader. There may be many improvements to be made within each of us that we must discover ourselves, but the materials we need to become great leaders are already available to every one of us. It takes grit, humility to learn from others, and a constant positive attitude.

“When out in nature, I also saw that it does not take much for us to live happily in this physical world. Even in the woods, God had provided us with everything we need to live. Besides the food that we brought with us (or could have gotten from hunting and fishing if necessary), we had streams for water, flat and grassy lands for comfortable shelter, trees to hang food away from bears, wood to build warm fires, and all of nature’s beauty to enjoy. As we hiked during the day and rested during the nights, we also had one another to interact with and learn from.

They say that people learn a lot about one another and bond closely when we live together in the mountains, and I think that is very true! It was very refreshing to talk to my brothers and sisters not just about how they are doing, but also have conversations on a deeper level.”

Turn off your phone. Nature is calling.

The vision of One Family under God has been inspiring faith, community and cultural leaders around the world to seek out solutions towards a peaceful and prosperous future. The following is a simple, but substantial example that reflects the change of heart and mind that takes place when people begin to see each other as family.

With a simple, all-inclusive and values-based platform, Global Peace Foundation is taking an interfaith approach in partnership with the Interreligious Council of Uganda to provide a much-needed space for religious and cultural leaders to discuss a common vision for the good of all people.

A key GPF initiative that resulted from these kinds of interactions between community leaders was one apple-planting program. In this program, families that had previously been in conflict were given an opportunity to meet together in peace and to make a shared commitment to move forward, using the symbolic act of planting apple seedlings together.

This initiative was inspired by a traditional Ugandan practice in which conflicts between families would be settled where a daughter would be married to a member of the aggrieved family. Here, instead, the families would plant apple trees together.

Apple trees are traditional cultural symbols of love and peace, and the joint planting represented the commitment to move forward, together. Beyond the act of planting, the families were encouraged to care for the apple trees together, and with increased interaction and cooperation, build ties and eventually— literally— reap the harvest of apple fruits.

These kinds of initiatives, although simple in concept and design, can be powerful models for reconciliation. Yet, to engage in such acts of forgiveness, requires deep reserves of faith, love, hope and commitment to a shared future. When families see themselves as part of One Family Under God, they were able to naturally seek out win-win solutions to conflicts to the benefit of the entire community.

Moreover, it is in the commitment of the interfaith and intercultural leaders towards building communities of peace and social cohesion that allows for this kind of initiative to take place.

When faith and cultural leaders take the lead, modeling behaviors and mindsets of leaders of a community of “One Family Under God,” other positive developments naturally follow.

The original post appears on Global Peace Foundation. Global Peace Foundation is an international non-sectarian, non-partisan, nonprofit organization, which promotes an innovative, values-based approach to peacebuilding, guided by the vision of One Family under God.  GPF engages and organizes a global network of public and private-sector partners who develop community, national, and regional peace building models as the foundation for ethical and cohesive societies. Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon is founder and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation.