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Sacredness Transcends Time And Space Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - Pragati Mukhopadhyay Dr Pragati Mukhopadhyay is a Senior Principal Research Scientist in the Advanced Centre for Research in Electronics, IIT- Bombay. She was in TIFR as a visiting scholar. Pragati obtained her Ph.D from Chalmers Institute of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden in 1978. She returned back to India and joined IIT in 1979. She has been a very active volunteer for the Art of Living Foundation.

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who believes in One Humanity- One Divinity , had inaugurated the opening of the Museum of world Religions in Taipei, Taiwan with 20 other spiritual leaders all round the world on the theme Respect for all faiths, tolerance for all cultures, Love for all life in November 2001. He was introduced by the Ven. Dharma Master Hsin Tao to people present there from all races, religious and political convictions. The interview Sri Sri gave at the Millenium Peace Summit is named AWAKENING and played continuously at the hall of the museum.

Here are excerpts from the Inaugural Speech given by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for the opening of the museum of World religions, Taipei, Taiwan -

"Throughout the ages, in all cultures, time, places, persons and symbols were considered sacred. Whenever you consider a symbol, place, time, person or act sacred, your attention is undivided and whole. When things are ordinary and same, you tend to slip into awareness and inertia. The moment you consider something sacred, your inertia disappears and you become more alive. There is nothing as fulfilling as a sacred act. You put your heart and soul in a sacred act. When every action of yours becomes sacred, you become one with the Divine. Then every minute of your life is sacred, every place you go to becomes sacred, every person you meet is only your reflection, and every act of yours is sacred.

Today the younger generation is fast losing the sense of sacredness- we need to re instill that feeling. This generation has less reverence for sacred sites. Governments are doing very little to maintain such places and in some parts of the world, the sacred sites which are supposed to emanate peace and harmony, have been the cause of bloodshed. In some places sacred sites are desecrated and not honored. Though one must honor the sacred sites of ones own tradition, one must eventually regard all sacred sites as their own and eventually the whole globe needs to be considered a sacred place and all of humanity considered holy, as the Rishis of the ancient days did. They regarded the whole earth as the Divine consort of the Lord- calling her Bhoo Devi; and treated the whole world as one family - Vasudaiv Kutumbakam.

The preservation of global sacred sites has five aspects :

1. History : Sacred places keep alive the legends and traditions (history) for all future Generations. Sacred sites thus make man's journey towards truth and wisdom immortal.
2. Personal : Sacred places bring more awareness, reverence and honor in one's life.
3. Economical : Sacred places move the economy because of tourism and pilgrimages, local craft and hotel industries benefit from preservation of these sites.
4. Sociological : People from various parts of the globe travelling to these sacred places exchange their cultures and ideas. Cutting across language, national and traditional barriers people have a place to come together and celebrate. Sacred sites such as Mecca, Jerusalem, Banaras and Rameshwaram draw thousands of pilgrims each year for worship and social interaction.
5. Ecological : The ancient Rishis considered certain trees sacred- the Bodh tree, the Neem tree etc. When there is a sense of sacredness for a certain site or area, it has an impact on ecology- there is a desire to preserve that place.

The Native American Indians and the tribals consider the earth , sun, moon and all the directions as sacred. In the ancient traditions, the Rishis considered all the rivers, mountains and even animals, trees and herbs as sacred. What to say then about the people?- they are definitely sacred!

In different part of the world, certain symbols, certain places and different times of the year are considered sacred. Various cultures honor certain people and symbols and consider them sacred. For example, Christians consider the Cross, Jerusalem and the Pope as sacred. For Muslims, the crescent Moon, Mecca and the month of Ramadan are sacred. The Hindus consider the river Ganges, the Himalayas and the Swamis as sacred.

It is good to begin feeling that some symbols, places, time and people are sacred so that you can be awake and alive. But eventually you need to transcend and feel that the entire creation and your whole life are sacred. For the man of God, the whole world, with all its symbols, places and people are sacred at all times.
BE A MAN OF GOD !"

All your miseries surround the "I", "I'.."I'…" I want this, I like that, I don't like this……"
Just let go. The Sun rises and sets, the Grass grows, the River flows, The Moon shines and I am here forever!

~ ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Rishimukh, is the official magazine of the Art of Living Foundation. It is printed every month and contains news and articles from around the globe. It is sent out internationally and is a ready reference to what is happening in the Art of Living family across the world.

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