QUOTES
The
essence of spirituality is the duty to live to its full the glorious destiny of
being human. The purpose of religion should be to empower all people in this adventure
of living with dignity and fulfillment.
Religions
have become a hindrance, rather than a help, to our shared pursuit of peace and
progress. They tend to make us meaner rather than better human beings, less sensitive
to the demands of justice, compassion and fellow humanity in our times.
Spiritually,
life is a festival, a celebration. Joy is of the essence of life;
...all
human beings have a right, and duty, to be joyful. Anything that thwarts this
spiritual human right goes against the very purpose of human being. Spirituality
mandates us to wage a relentless war to eradicate these forces of oppression and
disempowerment.
the
religions of the world must be assessed, not on the basis of their convoluted
theologies, but in terms of the extent to which they serve as forces of liberation
and empowerment.
First,
we must liberate people from religion, as religion is understood and practiced
today. Second, we must effect a paradigm shift from religiosity to shared spirituality.
Peace
among religions is a precondition for world peace. But religions, as religions,
can never be at peace with each other. To enable religions to be instruments for
peace we need to enable, first, religious communities to progress from religion
to spirituality. For the world order to be one of peace and justice, for the global
village to be a theater of right livelihood, it is imperative that a new and proactive
spiritual vision commensurate to the challenges of the emerging world order be
enunciated without delay. The challenge is to make “right livelihood” a universal
goal. Recognizing this value in a symbolic way through an award like this is a
significant step in the right direction. This is not, however, our journey’s end.
We must not rest until right livelihood is within reach of every human being upon
this earth we love and cherish. We all have a role to play in achieving this goal.
