The festivity has begun with the Christmas holidays, to celebrate the birthday of the savior of humankind, Jesus, and to remember the sacrifice he made, the sufferings he underwent, and the great message of love, peace, and harmony that he left behind for the world community to connect each other with an abundance of aatmiyata, the empathy with a heart full of compassion and care, such that no one is left behind without cheers and smiles to thank God Almighty for the great gift of life we all enjoy on the great planet Mother earth. It is this message of love, peace, and harmony that holds promise for everlasting peace for humanity, in all nations of the world, said Kulpati Prof PB Sharma, Past President of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) in his Christmas message 2022.

Knowingly, the world community is passing through one of the most testing times of our existence where the fear and sufferings of the horror of the COVID-19 pandemic are still fresh in mind and its variants are once again raising their head to jam the wheels of the economy that had begun to recover despite the severe blows it suffered during the COVID-19 lockdown. Nevertheless, the genius of man, its creative and innovative abilities, its capabilities of taking the challenges head on and transforming the great threats into great opportunities to revitalize its systems and processes to bounce back with great enthusiasm and interest in sustaining the march of humanity to the alters of even higher ladders of eminence cannot be undermined, now that we have learned how to handle the great devastative power of the microbial kingdom, during COVID-19 and thereafter.

This would however require a sea change in the mindset of the people in all nations of the world to align their lifestyle and their behavioral pattern including their consumption habits to serve the cause of sustainability, peace, and harmony to create a new world that shall in a true sense allow accelerated growth of economy while protecting the interests of people and that of the planet. Our forefathers sustained high level of happiness and lived a life full of divine bliss on the strength of their respect for nature and sustainable consumption patterns along the pathways of Aparigriha that inspired one and all to consume only as much as required for a sustainable habitat and a healthy life, and possess as much as necessary to live a life of bliss and happiness.

Aparigriha also gave them an opportunity to practice sustainability in all aspects of their human life for millions of years, maintaining the highest quality of air, that they regarded as the Pran Vayu and ensuring the holy labors of India carry the divine nectar, protecting its purity and the divine touch by negating early attempts to pollute the purest of the pure water that they regarded not less than the divine nectar. In fact, Pran Vayu the air and Amrut the water were the two great medicines of the soul that were given by god almighty free of charge to one and all irrespective of the creed and the level of economic prosperity. Thus assuring a healthy habitat in this large peninsula, India the Bharat. No wonder India was one of the happiest and most prosperous nations in the world that had mastered the key to true and lasting peace for the whole of humanity. Its universal calls for Satyamev Jayate, the truth alone triumphs and not the untruth, its prayers for peace all around including on earth, in the sky, in the vast variety of vegetables and herbs, dense forests, and in fact in the entire cosmos as in Om Shanti ShantiPrithvi Shanti, Antariksh Shanti, Aushadiya Shanti, Banaspatiah Shanti, SarvRishta Shanti, Shanti, ShantirBhavatu, still continues to invigorate the minds of we, the people of India having their roots to the Vedic spiritual civilization that founded the Sanatan Dharma on the universal pillars of peace, harmony, righteous conduct, compassion for one and all, Ahimsa and Aparigriha.

For Jesus Christ “the relationship with God was the foundation of living in harmony with all His creation” and not just with fellow humans. No wonder the call of peace, harmony, and “love thy neighbor” given by Jesus Christ echoed what the Vedic rishis mandated for peace and harmony on planet Mother Earth and in the entire cosmos, as the Vedic prayer for peace covered Antariksha Shanti along side peace in the community on planet Mother Earth.

It is however painful that the unholy minds of the leaders of some of the mightiest nations of the world are still engaged in devastation and war for petty gains, such as winning territories, despite having large countries for themselves which they were supposed to manage for economic recovery post-Covid and maintaining their commitment to peace, harmony and respecting the world as one family, being the respectful members of the United Nations. But it sounds totally mindless to destroy each other and also create times of uncertainty and economic recession that is now taking a big toll on jobs and businesses including that of multi-billion organizations.

In these testing times, while we pray to God Almighty to give wisdom to these unholy minds to mend their ways and respect the responsibility they carry as the leaders of scientifically advanced and technologically developed communities to devote their attention to nurturing peace and harmony and settle the grievances, if any, by dialogue and deliberations rather than destroying each other by mindlessly using the power of guns and missiles in the era of reforms and transformation on the strength of mind-boggling scientific advancements and technology innovations.

It goes without saying that true and lasting peace around the world would only become a reality if we, the people of the world march with conviction on the path of peace and harmony that passes through narrow lanes of communal harmony, and social cohesion which mandates universal acceptance of the principle of Sarve Dharma Sambhav, respect for all religions by the world community. Swami Vivekananda in his maiden address to the Parliament of Religions at the Art Institute Chicago on 11^th September 1893 is on record to proclaim that “I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true”. It is this conviction of the Sanatan Vedic minds of Sarva Dharma Sambhavthat forms the foundation of building the world as one family. Here again, all world religions have to rise above their traditions and rituals to mandate the practice of universal values of honesty, truthfulness, integrity, forgiveness, and compassion to create responsible global citizenship that respects diversity and takes pride in seeing ‘oneness in diversity’ and also ‘diversity of oneness’, as the cardinal principle for ‘living in harmony with all His creation’.

Let this spirit of oneness of diversity and respect for all religions be the mantra for creating a world of peace and harmony in all nations of the world as we prepare to greet the dawns of the New Year 2023, said Kulpati Prof Sharma, founder Vice Chancellor of Delhi Technological University and currently Vice Chancellor of Amity University Haryana.

About the author- Kulpati Prof PB Sharma