Address to Peace Summit 2023
May 2-5, 2023
Dear divine souls, allow me to greet you in the Sikh traditional greeting Waheguru ji ka khalsa Waheguru ji ki fateh. Waheguru is the name used in Sikhism when referring to God. Khalsa means the pure one. When we say Waheguru ji ka khalsa, we are saying the pure one belongs to God, and when we say Waheguru ji ki fateh, we are saying all victory belongs to God.
First of all, I am truly thankful to Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and their entire team for putting together this grand event and dedicating their lives towards peace. Friends, like the previous speaker said, most of our religions [encourage] togetherness and unity, and they all talk about peace. I have not come across any religion that does not talk about peace and talks about hatred, anger and violence. The Sikh tradition is about 550 years old. Our founder, Guru Nanak, is one of the most traveled prophets or founders of any religion to date. Over 35 years of his life he traveled wherever he could by foot. He traveled across India and went to Sri Lanka, Tibet, China, Persia and all the way to Mecca and Medina. There are reports he also ended up in the Vatican.
Two of his most trusted friends was a Hindu and a Muslim. Guru Nanak's message was of universal brotherhood. Friends, as I have been allotted only five minutes to speak, so I will just focus peace and development in the modern world. There may be many paths that we follow. There are different languages, there are different traditions, there are different religions and faiths, and there all kinds of ways we can spend our lives. But at the end of it, we must realize that all creation emanates from the one Creator. In our Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the holy Sikh scripture, it says that there is one father and we are all his children.
Religion today is a major cause of conflicts in the world. The Pew Institute, an institute in Washington D.C. which conducts yearly surveys, recently said that over 85% of conflicts are due to religion. Brothers and sisters, religion is one of the most divisive elements in our lives today. But all of us religious leaders can transform that into a positive note by uniting our various followers, whoever we represent.
Politicians can pass laws. However, they are in office for only a few years. After that, they are gone and no longer represent their [constituents]. But, I feel religious leaders stay. So today, if all the religious leaders can unite, get together and bring back the message of a harmonious life, harmonious unity and harmonious peaceful life to our various communities and accept and respect diversity, it would make a difference in the world.
We say that we are human beings. There is a big difference between human beings and being human. Some people understand this, most do not. A lot of religious leaders feel that we have to follow certain traditions and ways and rules of other religions or our own. Yet, we forget that while the path we take to climb the mountain may be different, the view from the top of it, of the moon and the stars, is the same for all of us.
So, we must accept and respect diversity. We have to realize that we are one human race, not one religion. We must also accept that no one holy scripture or one religion has a monopoly over God. We are all His children. There must be diversity, there must be differences, just like the bouquet of flowers in front of us, a garden of flowers. We are all considered different flowers on this earth, our Mother Earth.
Sikhism is a new religion which came after many other established religions. Our concept is a very simple way of life. Our three principles are one, vand chakna: share your knowledge, share your food, share your belongings and share your assets. Two, naam japna, meditate on that one God. Three, kirat karni, honest living; live by the sweat of your brow. Those are the three major principles. We can communicate, share our teachings and participate with all of you so that we can all be harmonious. We are not looking for uniformity; we are looking for unity. Let us all unite and pray that there may be peace on earth.
Thank you so much again UPF and thank you all the team members. Thank you all.
To go to the Peace Summit 2023 Schedule page, click here.