On
August 28th through 31st of the year 2000, two thousand of the world's
preeminent religious and spiritual leaders representing the many faith traditions,
gathered at the United Nations, Geneva for a Millennium World Peace Summit of
Religious and Spiritual Leaders.
On 29th
August 2000 Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati, in the capacity of leader of the Hindu delegation, speaks
on the given topic of ‘Forgiveness and Reconciliation’.
The speech is transcribed below with a
few minor changes.
‘Respected
Chairperson, friends,
Salutations to all of you. We have listened to
a lot of learned people. One thing nobody had mentioned was about the wonderful
work done by a team of scholars from Harvard. In this very important document
there was a mention that the various religious leaders have to look into their
own theologies to find out whether the theologies themselves have caused
conflicts.
It is one
thing to forgive what has happened. Who am I to forgive for the cultures that
got wiped out in Egypt, in Greece, in Africa, in South America? Who am I to
forgive whom? I can’t forgive, because I am not in a position to forgive. Not that I don’t want to forgive. I have no
powers to forgive. I need to be forgiven, being a part of humanity that
mindlessly destroyed the cultures, live cultures. What was the culture which
made all those pyramids? What was the religion that moved the people to create
such wondrous monuments of human endeavor human ingenuity, human genius?
And we have
the great legacy of people who have destroyed those live cultures. in Greece we
have monuments. If any Egyptian government were to supposing , pull down a
pyramid to put up a housing complex, I don’t think United Nations Organisation,
the humanity, will allow that to happen. It is no longer the property of Egypt.
It is an ancient monument of human genius. And it belongs to all of us.
We have to
day live cultures. Let us not make monuments of these. Let us listen to those
scholars who had really put their heads into this. One pertinent suggestion was
– look into your theology ; see whether you have something which disturbs
people, which moves people to disturb, which has destroyed cultures.
I want to have
religious freedom. You must have that freedom. Everybody has a right to be
free, well you should let me. Otherwise I can’t be free. Or I have to resist
you. Here starts violence.We are free. We don’t need to stand on each other’s
toes. If you don’t let me be free, and I am constrained to fight you, I cease
to be a human being. I become a living being. I become a living organism which
has got this natural instinctual urge to survive. All my human values
disappear. And therefore I say, look into the theology.
Your practice
of freedom of religion definitely is only to live you religion. You cannot
destroy any other religion. You have no right. It is violence against other
religious sentiments. It is violence against cultures, violence against
religions and this violence has been going on for centuries and it continues to
go on.
Therefore
after ten years, when we meet, this subject should not be there, this subject
of reconciliation and forgiveness. We forgive
ourselves. OK. Whom do I have to forgive? We forgive ourselves for our follies,
for our mistakes.
A standing ovations greets the speech.
