HUMAN FELLOWSHIP

NILAKSHI RAJKHOWA is the Director, Office of Public Affairs, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i Faith in India. During the Mahotsav, she challenged everyone to join together to overcome our current crises, by starting with the heart.

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Heartful greetings on behalf of the Baha'i Community to each and every one of you. I'm delighted and honored to be part of this Global Spirituality Mahotsav. Thank you for bringing us all together.

I would like to begin with a quote from the Baha'i writings, "O SON OF SPIRIT, my first council is this: possess a pure, kindly, and radiant heart that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable, and everlasting."

It all starts with the heart, and what Heartfulness is trying to do is unlock the hearts of everyone so that we can embrace love, unity, compassion, and break our barriers of caste, religion, and gender. I'm so happy to be part of this, and want to share a few thoughts from the Baha'i community.

Friends, we see many factors keeping India together as a nation. One vital cohesive force binding the nation is spirituality. It finds expression in valuing human beings as the creation of the Divine, and is open and accepting of people of all backgrounds who view the reflection of the sacred in all living beings. This enjoins respect, gentleness, and nonviolence in relationships as the ideal way of life. It is this spirit of all-embracing oneness that is conveyed in the ancient ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam-the world is one family.

The unity of nations will be a stage in the progressive manifestation of oneness in the social and political realms. It will reach its fruition when the principle of oneness of humanity is established in the consciousness of people, and when nations across the world unite as one family.