HARI OM

Ellavarkkum Namaskaram.

Salutations to all of you!

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the

organizers for giving me this opportunity to address the Parliament of
the world’s religions.

I consider this a great privilege because it was the very first Parliament
of the world’s religions that the great Indian spiritual leader His Holiness
Swami Vivekananda addressed in Chicago in the year 1893.

This parliament of the World’s religions can truly be described as the

Religious Olympics, where the spirit is mutual understanding, acceptance,
friendship and global oneness.

Make a World of Difference: Hearing each other, Healing the earth -

This theme of the current parliament of world’s religions holds great
promise for the world of today and tomorrow. The choice of this theme
makes me particularly happy because it holds special relevance in the
religion or the culture that I represent – that is Hinduism which occupies
a mother’s place among religions.
The term “Hinduism” was introduced by the British to denote the
religious, philosophical and cultural traditions native to India. In
Sanskrit we call it “Sanathana Dharma” meaning eternal Law.
Hinduism is a way of life in India. This Indian way of life has been
moulded by the Vedas, which are also known as shruthis.

The Sanskrit word ‘shruthi’ means that which is heard. Śhruthi is

said to have no author; rather, it is believed to be a divine recording
of the “cosmic sounds of truth”, heard by rishis or saints.

The shruthis have thus evolved through hearing. Shruthi is the

very reason that the Upanishads exist. The word “Upanishad”
when literally translated is “sitting at the feet or in the presence
of a teacher.” This kind of teaching probably existed in India
ages before it was set down in any written form and was passed
down from the gurus to their disciples only through speaking and
listening. This art of listening can’t be more relevant and practical
than in the present situation. Everyone wants to talk and talk but
no one seems to listen anymore. Right from homes to big political
gatherings, everyone wants to voice his or her opinion. Nowadays
listening and mutual understanding is very less and the result is
dissatisfaction which has stemmed and snowballed into wars.
 A child wants a mother to listen and the mother wants the child
to listen; a husband wants the wife to listen and vice versa; the
employer wants his employees to listen and the employees want the
superiors to listen; When we see the global situation, India wants
Pakistan to listen and Pakistan wants India to listen. The same
thing is true of Iran Iraq and Israel Palestine. The United States of
America wants all these nations to listen to them and all nations
appeal to the US to listen to them.

Today’s world is full of talk, talk, talk. Back home in India, I saw
a big advertisement of a telecom company that says, “Talk more!”
As it is we talk too much, and because we are always talking, we
never listen; What saddens me is that because we never listen, we
miss out a lot of things in our lives especially what Nature is saying
to us. This is another sad consequence of our modern lifestyle. In
ancient times the sages were fine- tuned to Nature- they heard and
listened. Their deep and quiet wisdom was a result of hearing and
listening and this was reflected in their hymns and worship. They
heard, they listened and they sang in glory:
 “ Om bhadram karnebhih shrunuyaama devaah
Bhadram pashyemaakshabhiryajatraah
Sthirairangaistushtuvaamsastanoobhih
Vyashema devahitam yadaayuh
Swasti na indro vridhashravaah
Swasti nah pooshaa vishwavedaah
Swasti nastaarkshyo arishtanemih
Swasti no brihaspatir dadhaatu.
Om shantih, shantih, shantih!”

This shloka was recited by our rishis to nature through which they
appealed, “May our ears rejoice from hearing your voices”. “May
we see what is auspicious”.

To the Hindu sage ‘hearing each other’ means not just humans
hearing humans. It signifies hearing the whole universe with utmost
reverence, attention and concentration. When in meditation, one
can hear and see even the quiet blooming of a flower. Every bit
of Nature would have much to tell us – the seas, rivers, plants and
animals- even the tiny ant. And they would especially tell us how
much they suffer today and how this suffering would spell disaster
for the whole of mankind and the universe.
All the Indian scriptures took birth in the forests and among nature, in
the presence of plants, animals and all the forces of nature. Bhagavan
Sree Krishna says through the Bhagavad Gita,

“Bhumiraapo’nalo vayuhu kham mano bhuddhireva cha

Ahankara itiyam me bhinna prakritirashtadha”,

“Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and ego, these eight
together constitute my separate material energies…”.

The 5 basic elements of nature – Space, air, fire, water, and earth
– would have plenty to tell us if only we opened our sense organs.
This indeed, is what is meant by hearing each other. And I sincerely
believe that it is through such a hearing that we will be able to heal
Mother Earth.

Most Indian epics , puranas (mythologies) and scriptures begin with

an appeal for the Divine incarnation to heal and save the Earth. The 5
elements even assumed God like forms and were given names. Why!
Even names like Vishwamitra, which means friend of the universe,
are proof that the ancient wise sages and men respected, worshipped
and loved nature.
Lord Krishna, one of the most important incarnations of Vishnu,
comes to the world, to spread the message that the purpose of his
incarnation is indeed protection of Nature. Krishna’s actions carry this
message. The young Krishna notices that the river Kalindi which flows
peacefully through his land is getting polluted. Lives dependant on the
river are dying. Krishna sets out to find the cause and discovers the
serpent Kaliya polluting the waters with poison. In the encounter that
follows, Krishna overpowers Kaliya and then helps him to relocate,
thus restoring the purity of Kalindi.

In another striking instance, Krishna questions those who blindly

worshipped God. He points to Mount Govardhan and asks: “Is it not
this mountain that we should worship? It is here that our cattle graze;
it is from here that we get the water that sustains us. Is this not the God
who blesses us and whom we see before our very eyes?”

Thus Krishna questions his people and sets them thinking. Krishna
teaches his people that worship of Nature is indeed worship of
the Divine. These are perhaps the earliest and finest examples of
Environmental awareness campaigns that took place in India several
thousand years ago.

Campaigns that could make a difference

Coming back to the present: How can this Parliament of the World’s
Religions help to create a new and different world? This is the most
important question. The only answer I can think of is to worship and
respect nature and listen to mother nature.
I would like to quote my guru, His Holiness Swami Chinmayananda,
who in his message to the World Parliament of religions in 1993 said,

“The tradition of the world is that people come together in a spirit of

cooperation only in the political and economic fields, but never in the
field of social revival, nurtured by a purely selfless sense of reverence to
the past. Every community will have to lift itself by itself. This we can
achieve! We must achieve! We will achieve!”

From this moment onwards, let us take an oath, to preserve and worship
nature. In the coming years, let protection of nature be the true form of
worship to God. The religious ideals of the future must embrace all that
exists in the world and is good and great, and, at the same time, have
infinite scope for future development.

All that was good in the past must be preserved; and the doors must be
kept open for the future If the religious leaders of today could take up
this mission, I am sure that we can make a world of difference. And for
the creation of that New World, I pray that the bells toll right here in this
Parliament of the World’s Religions.

May God bless all of us and enable us for that sacred purpose.

Thank you!

Om shanthi, shanthi, shanthi