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My
name is Lama Gangchen (Lama Healer) and I would like to talk about the
role of youth action in inspiring and empowering both the United Nations
and society in general, using the example of the proposal for the
creation of a United Nations Spiritual Forum for World Peace as an
example.
Firstly,
I would like to share the proposal with you before illustrating its
contents.
(reading of the proposal)
We
hope that you have all received a copy of the “A solution for theThird
Millennium” Spiritual Forum 1995
- 1999 report, to which we are refering here.
We,
as a collective of NGO groups and individuals ask that the spiritual
nature of all life be recognised as a shared understanding and be
incorporated intoall future discussions and documents of world
importance.
To
further this, we ask that the forthcoming Millennium Forum recognise the
need to create a deliberate strand for those people who feel called to
the United Nations from an inner knowingness that the spiritual
perspective can further a new culture of peace.
We
recognise a culture of peace as more than the absence of war and more
than positive values. We recognise that thespirit of each human being
must be nurtured even as the body is protected from hunger and from
violence. We further recognise that nature tells us that we must come
into balance to preserve the abundance of the web of life on this
planet.
Furthermore,
we accept all religions and honour them as expressions of divine truth.
Therefore,
we are requesting that the Secretary General Kofi Annan recognise that
spirituality must have a formal recognition at the United Nations, as it
will be an important key for all world issues that arise in the coming
century.
It
is recommended that a permanent Spiritual Forum be established of
willing individuals who come to the United Nations in altruistic service
for a common humanity. Let this group focus upon the understanding that
spirit permeate all ideas and resolutions. This forum need not be
another organisation, but rather an invitation for dialogue and
experiential learning for furthering this decade for a culture of peace.
Our
collective agreement is to support all efforts which inherently unify
diverse thinking to effect positive human values for the betterment of
all life. We are inviting spiritual leaders, religious leaders,
individuals who remember their spiritual nature and all interested
persons to participate in a spiritual forum dedicated to building the
Culture of Peace for the 21st century.
We,
members of the LGWPF, an NGO associated with the United Nations
Department of Public Information, and collaborating with the
International Association of Educators for World Peace (ECOSOC, UNESCO,
UNDPI, UNCED, UNICEF), as well as with the Legion of Goodwill and the
World Peace Prayer Society, have since 1995 brought to the public’s
attention, the fact that members of the spiritual traditions face a
glass ceiling in terms of their possible positive influence at the UN.
We are in fact trying to break through that glass ceiling, not for our
own benefit, but for that of the whole of humanity. To that purpose we
continuously hold and participate in numerous conferences and roundtable
discussions worldwide, to educate the public and also members of
governments, of this fact and to advocate for change. We feel this
change is necessary because it is fundamentally unwise that spiritual
leaders, people with incredible emotional intelligence and compassion,
are excluded from discussion or decision making on the future of the
planet.
The
planet as a company is almost bankrupt. Therefore, we should call in new
consultants, who can suggest a variety of new approaches to the
difficult problems now facing humanity.
The
LGWPF is not linked to any particular governement; as a humanitarian
organisation, it follows its ethical principles in working towards the
creation of a Spiritual Forum for World Peace to give a voice to all
spiritual communities at international levels, something they clearly do
not possess.
At
present, spiritual leaders are isolated and therefore powerless to act
or even express their opinions within the higher levels of the UN
structure, even though the Constitution of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation clearly states that
“Since wars begin in the minds
of men, it is in the minds ofmen that the defenses of peace must be
constructed”.
Surely
since the spiritual traditions have worked exclusively in the area of
healing the hearts and minds of men and women for thousands of years, to
exclude their expertise is somewhat strange to say the least.
Now,
after the end of the cold war, the various religious NGOs have an
unprecedented chance to improve their role in good governance. You are
the builders of the future of this planet, your generation can and will
make a difference. Let us unite wisdom, experience and youth together
and break through the glass ceiling that was erected in the aftermath of
the second world war. Together we can do it, and what a wonderful gift
to humanity that would be, at the beginning of the third millennium, to
have the various spiritual perspectives included in discussion and
decision making on all world issues that arise in the coming century.
Recognising
the spiritual dimension would be immensely empowering for the United
Nations, so please let us call upon all of you to get inspired and act
to help make this vision for a “Culture of Peace” a reality, please!
Thank
you very much.
Inner Peace and World Peace
Now and Forever
By the Attention of all Humanity
And all the Holy Beings Blessings
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