Being Aware that fear andaggression are primarily mental events, and consequently, only aterrorised mind terrorises others;
Taking into account that individual and collective events occur as part of historical forces,developed over centuries and millennia, in which all parties havebeen participants in a continuous chain of actions andreactions;
Based on the fact that inthe sacred books of all religions there are equally commandments andadmonitions to take to the path of non-aggression, meekness, love,tolerance and forgiveness, that these truths are held equallyself-evident by the adherents of all religions, and many practicesare common to the followers of all religions;
Re-establishing that,contrary to above principles of harmony, the practice of makingderogatory statements concerning other religious and ethnic groups isa violation both of divine will which is good and benevolent towardsall living beings and of the basic human rights to live in peace andprosperity;
Observing the profuseevidence that in long periods and large geographical areas of theearth frequently no inter-religious strife has taken place and thesaid teachings of love have been successfully applied ininter-personal and inter-societal relationships;
Recognizing the power ofconfession and forgiveness as a common spiritual and ethicalprinciple, and its practice enjoined in all religions;
Be it resolved that theparticipants of this meeting of the World Council of ReligiousLeaders unanimously agree among themselves, and herewith recommend tothe Secretary General of the United Nations,
(1) That a study and researchprogramme, and the dissemination of its outcomes, be instituted withthe aim
* to look into the forces thathistorically brought about the success of the teachings ofnon-aggression, love and tolerance where such has been evident in thevarious periods and geographical areas of human history; and
* to find ways for consciouslyimplementing the patterns of such forces in our times;
(2) That the scholars andtheologians of all religions categorically state that the admonitionsto aggression against non-adherents are to be interpreted only asindicating an internal struggle towards the Good within a human beingand not to be directed against another individual orgroup;
(3) That the supreme leaders andthe councils of all religions advise their adherents to totallyrefrain from condemnation of others' belief systems;
(4) That the leaders andauthoritative councils of various religions find ways for seeking andextending forgiveness in order to support and deepen the mutualunderstanding and harmonious relationships in the present to lay afoundation for universal inter-religious harmony in thefuture;
(5) That as a naturalaccompaniment to the resolve to undertake and encourage such studiesas well as acts of mutual forgiveness and harmony, the participantsof this meeting of the World Council of Religious Leaders
* Exert pressure on the politicalentities, whether they are in power de facto or de jure , to preventall such vocal or physical acts as violate the teachings ofnon-violence and cause hurt or harm to individuals and groups of theadherents of other religions and societies,
* Encourage all in the field ofvarious systems of education that
----- the teaching imparted aboutother religions should be done so only by the adherents of theparticular religion and not by those who are unsympathetic to thesame, and
----- the teaching of the principles and the history of non-violence and the methods thereof bemade an essential part of the school and college curricula;and
* in that context Declare all actsof terrorism as violations of religious edicts and of humanrights;
(6) So that through such positivescholarly, educational and spiritual endeavours the entire humanitybe spared the scourge of intolerance, mutual condemnation,persecution, oppression and terrorism.
The Council of World ReligiousLeaders further recommends to the Secretary General that the UnitedNations General Assembly adopt such a declaration of mutual respectamong religions as an article of faith common to the entire humanity.
*
(1) No events in human life andhistory occur but within the context of interactions among perennialforces. It is therefore incumbent that for the prevention of therecurrence of any undesirable events, any action of choice needs tobe planned in the framework of a holistic view of history. Thismeans that in doing so we must address the long-term causes of theevents - and deflect their effectiveness - towards a true coursebeneficial to all.
(2) All human experience arisesfrom spiritual and mental sources and it is in the realm of spiritand mind, that any progress towards the ethical choice of individualand collective conduct can be made. It is therefore incumbent uponthe leaders in the religious and educational fields to set an exampleof love and tolerance towards those with whom they may happen todisagree. Thus all inter-religious communication needs to be free ofderogatory expression in which alone the rise of religion-basedviolence is rooted.
(3) Because of a strong aversionto aggression and violence in a human being, we tend to neglect thefact that the geographical areas, and periods of history where noviolence has occurred are far larger than the ones where suchunfortunate events have taken place. In order to arrest therecurrence of aggressive behaviours among societies, we need to studydeeply and research the causes of successful peace so that thepeace-generating forces of those time periods and societal areas maybe understood and encouraged and thus the experiences of such coursesin human history may be replicated for the present and thefuture.
(4) Acts of forgiveness begin withconsidering to seek forgiveness from others for the aggressions 'we'may have committed. Each religious group in the world needs toresearch into its history and seek forgiveness of others whom 'we'may have wronged. Only then would 'we' gain the forgiveness of othersand will cease to be subjected to terror arising fromanger.
(5) Social groups of peacefulindividuals cannot become violent. The contemplative paths inreligion are scientifically proved to generate peaceful inclinations.The pursuit of such contemplative ways will bring back to religionthe power to grant peace, instead of encouraging condemnation of andviolence towards others. The true antidote to terrorism is to freethe human mind from the tendency to be terrorised. As stated in theResolution, only a terrorised mind terrorises others.
(6) A statement declaringterrorism to be undesirable will be efficacious only with aspiritual, socio-psychological and educational change within thecontext of a holistic view. Only spiritual education incontemplative content of religion remains the way to bring aboutpeaceful conduct in the minds, words and acts, first amongindividuals and thereby among the societies. The Unesco Report"Learning: the Treasure Within" may serve as a good starting point inthis direction.
It is hoped that the Council ofWorld Religious Leaders will take steps to institute the necessaryprogrammes to realize the above ideals in the form of practical plansof study and action.
Association of Himalayan YogaMeditation Societies
www.swamiveda.org
Copyright 2003 West-Art, Prometheus88/2003