Harness Spiritual Power
Amma gave the closing plenary address to a thunderous standing ovation on the final evening of the ten-day gathering of the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions.
She was joined at the ceremonies by Federico Mayor, the former UNESCO
Director-General, and Dr. Raimon Pannikkar, a respected Spanish
philosopher.
Amma's discourse stressed the importance of
harnessing "spiritual power" in an effort to rise above religious
differences. "The problem arises when we say my religion is right;
yours is wrong. This is like saying my mother is good; yours is a
prostitute." Amma emphasized that "love and compassion are the very
essence of all religions."
Amma's speech also drew applause when she spoke on
the importance of combatting poverty in our society. "Amma is alarmed
to see the direction in which the world is heading. If, in the future,
there is a Third World War, let it not be between countries, but rather
a war against our common enemy, poverty."
Following
the closing ceremonies, thousands of attendees, including government
officials and dignitaries, rushed to receive Amma's darshan. Amma
remained at the Forum in Barcelona, long after its closing, receiving
crowds well into the night, as word spread through the city about
Amma´s attendence.
The Parliament of the World's
Religions is one of the world's largest inter-religious gatherings with
participants from hundreds of religious and spiritual movements. The
Parliament, which began on July 7th, broght together nearly 7,000
delegates. Delegates participated in open and respectful dialogue and
provided a forum to build cooperation, both locally and globally.
The complete text of the closing address is here.
Earlier news on the invitation can be found here
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