Dear Friends,
Greetings of love and peace from Kuala Lumpur.
I arrived yesterday (Saturday) after 24+ hours in transit and had the joy of sharing dinner with Kay Lindahl and Patrick Nickish (URI Germany and part of the planning team for this consultation) and speaking with Dr. Amir Farid Isahak by phone within a few hours of arrival. One of the great gifts of URI is having a global family united in love, mutual respect and shared commitment to working for a better world in ways that manifest unity in diversity.
Kay and I shared breakfast this morning with Sister Joan Kirby, who is the UN representative of the Temple of Understanding. Sr. Joan was one of 55 people who gathered at URI’s first global summit at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco in 1996 to launch the URI on its chartering process. She has been a dear friend and colleague ever since. The Temple of Understanding is hosting a day-long consultation and a banquet later in October in New York City honoring the Temple’s remarkable founder, Juliet Hollister and 60+ interfaith visionaries.
We shared a delicious lunch an Indian vegetarian restaurant with Dr. Amir and his family and another local URI leader. After lunch, we picked up Swami Agnivesh, who had arrived from India at 6 AM and was resting at the hotel, and went to the Pure Life Society for a celebration of URI’s 10th Anniversary. The Pure Life Society was founded 55 years ago by Swami Satyananda, whose leadership has continued through Mother Mangalam, who embodies a spiritual brightness that infuses a life of practical service. The Society sponsors a home and school for orphans and underprivileged children, as well as a broad range of voluntary services for the upliftment of humanity.
In her message for the Society’s 50th Anniversary, Mother Mangalam wrote these words:
There’s always a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. It is with this confidence that we marched on for fifty years conquering every obstacle, enduring every pain, overriding every storm with full trust in the Highest Power, which, I must say, has never let us down. I find these important words at URI’s 10th Anniversary as we face a world full of challenges, victories and opportunities.
The celebration, which was attended by about 80 people, began with an opening prayer by Mother Mangalam, followed by a viewing of Saying Yes to the Dream, a video about URI’s first 10 years. We then heard reflections by Kay Lindahl, Swami Agnivesh, Dr. Amir, and myself. Common themes included the tremendous value and joy of being part of a global community, on both a personal and an organizational level. One participant commented that every organization, big or small, wants to have an international partner. We all also spoke of the importance of matching common values with common action to address the urgent needs facing our communities and the Earth.
The end of the day was the opening dinner for the International Consultation on Faith, Shared Wisdom and International Law that has drawn us all here and is described in the following way in the material we were given at registration:
The overriding objective of the Consultation is to translate the shared wisdom of the world’s major religious and ethical traditions into concrete steps to promote a peaceful and ecologically sustainable world order, supported by clearly articulated principles of international law. Its specific aims are:
• to address the tensions between the followers of different faiths, that endanger peace and security in many parts of the world, including the Middle East, the birthplace of the three Abrahamic faiths and the site of some of the world’s most intractable conflicts;
• to identify important values shared by the world’s major religious and ethical traditions, that can offer useful guidance in the further development of an international legal order conducive to peace, human security and a sustainable environment.
This Consultation is inspired by two convictions: first, that the wisdom and authority of the world’s religious and ethical traditions can help move the world in a more positive direction; and second, that we must approach this task with new thinking and great urgency.
The consultation has a strong though not exclusively Asia-Pacific focus and includes people of diverse faiths and vocations; and includes a former Prime Minister of Australia, the former head of the International Criminal Court, and the Grand Mufti of Syria, as well as many less highly placed people who have committed their lives to the important work, in URI’s terms, of creating cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.
I look forward to sharing more as this consultation moves forward; and I pray this finds all of you well.
Faithfully,
Charles
