Unity

By: Ramesh Maharaj, Chair 2010 Walk for Values

"Love leads to unity, Unity promotes purity, Purity leads to divinity"

Unity develops when there is a common bond and a common goal shared by all, whether in a community, a country or among countries. Looking at our personal situation in our lives, our homes and our communities, we can easily discern that common ideas, common beliefs and common goals bring us together and keep us together. Different ideas, different goals and different practices divide us and set us apart in non-cooperative and even opposite situations in life. And the most common bond among all beings is love. Love is the undercurrent of all the values and the core of our very being.

Even a casual perusal of the condition of our world today will clearly show that our world peoples are not united. There is no true unity in this world of ours. Today we have beliefs based on the different religions, cultures, castes, classes and countries. Each religion believes that its principles are the best and must be followed by all human beings. Any group or community which does not believe in its principles are considered heretics or infidels and must be brought, even by force if required, into their own fold and their own beliefs and practices. Each country believes that its way of life, its systems and goals are the best and other countries should be educated into these systems and beliefs. Any country which believes different needs to be brought in line even if force has to be used.

Every culture believes and professes that its ways and traditions are the most valid and most important, and other cultures are backward and retrograde, and so must be made to realize by the hook or the crook, that their ways are false and deceptive and must be saved from their false beliefs, traditions and practices. The caste and class systems divide its people and perpetuate that division by constant promotion of their differences, strengths and weaknesses. The very fact that we speak different languages, practise different traditions, eat different foods and wear different clothes will continue to emphasise the differences in society and perpetuate the sense of disunity in the community. This current condition has no apparent end in sight.

But there is a ray of hope for mankind. If we can establish a common bond and a common goal, the hope of unity and peace in the world can be kept burning, and can eventually be achieved. The proper understanding of the basic universal human values of truth, right conduct, peace, love and non-violence, along with their host of associated values of honesty, compassion, respect, integrity, character, courtesy, gratitude, responsibility, caring, forgiveness, tolerance, understanding, humility, equality, cooperation, patience, kindness etc. etc. present a great opportunity for the oneness of our world and our humanity. This is the common bond we must establish - the understanding and acceptance of these basic human values as the way of peace now and the future. We all share these values with each other already. These are "Values without borders", transcending the barriers of caste, class, country and creed, and offering, when they are practiced, the sweet promise of individual and social renewal. We must establish a common goal and a common bond, to share the knowledge and understanding of the values and to put into practise in word and spirit these values in our daily lives, within the self, the family and the community. We must surround the planet with human values!

In this context, at present Walk for Values has been slowly but surely spreading across the Nations and across the globe. Canada and Australia have been conducting Walk for Values on a national basis. In Canada, it is being conducted in the cities of Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary while in British Columbia groups from several cities including Vancouver and Coquitlam meet at Coquitlam and join hands with the Teddy Bear Parade, bringing the message of Human Values to the entire province.

This Walk has also taken on an International characteristic upon being successfully conducted in Australia on a National scale in the cities of Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney , as well as New York, Missouri, Seattle, Austin, Dallas, Houston and Richmond of the USA, Chandigarh-India, Auckland-New Zealand and Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia. For the first time, Hong Kong also completed "Walk for Values" on December 20th 2009 making this a truly international event, thus bringing about the beginning of the process of surrounding the planet with Human Values!

These human values can help us establish the common bond and the common goal required to bring about unity in the world, and can give us a lasting peace and prosperity unseen before in the history of mankind, because these values are common to all countries, creeds and cultures. These human values have the potential when practised to bring about world unity and world peace.

May the Lord God guide us and lead us through and from our differences to this ideal of world unity, love and peace.


"United We Stand" artwork created by Shyana Shaiskandan, Grade 1