The Panel Conference

Towards the Unity of Conscience

Dr Angelo Fernandes, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Delhi, outlines the steps

If you take the religious experience of man down the centuries, the different aspects of facets that figure in all them constitute a seven-dimensional organism containing doctrines, myths, historical events, ethical teaching, rituals, social institutions, and religious experience of various kind … If you have rituals without personal impact, that is disastrous. But it is ritualism that unfortunately seems to be unduly prominent in the world today; and that is not good enough. Spirituality is not some of this, some of that; it should be all, it should be a wholeness. A truly Spiritual Person is not just one who is given to Spiritual Exercise or who has opted out of society for prayer or contemplation, or one who pursues the path of austerity, or is solely committed to ethical or moral enterprises or social work and social service. Here too there must be a harmony, for the person is concerned at three levels physiological, supernatural; all these come into play.

Since we are here in a Spiritual Conference, we can say that holiness is this wholeness of life, and it must be seen and put into effect with regard to all aspects of religion described above – we can’t pick and choose. Man must grow; we are here, and our only business is to help each other to grow. I am saying these things in the hope, under God, that they may help us to grow. Man must grow simultaneously in his mastery over himself, the closeness of his relationship with God our Father, and in Love and service to his neighbour. A Spiritual Person is a whole person; such a person enjoys and grows in fellowship with God and man in a positive, active dynamic, ever-increasing way.

This is more than just not doing wrong, or any sin, or any harm against one’s neighbour – that’s negative and that’s why this world is in a sorry mess: there are far too many people today, so-called good people to pull the chestnuts out of the fire. And they say to themselves, and perhaps to the world,

as if we were not all concerned about each other. A correct attitude seems to be to call for an open, expansive, Love is in joyful service attitude, which is at once the recipe for happiness and the best contribution to society.

What is fellowship? It can stem from religion understood in his quest for wholeness of life. True fellowship should derive from the wholeness of approach taken in both these ways. The world is very rich; it is we who have been very poor in our attitude to the existing riches; we who have been limited in our grasp, appreciation and understanding of the problems facing us.

The second part of this approach is collaboration between all living faiths all together working to bring about these possibilities: the possibility of wholeness of life for each individual – as a whole man, and as man on his Way to God – for all men everywhere. We should be committed to such an approach of fellowship; only then could we say we are really Spiritual People, otherwise we are not.

The second point is to focus all this on man. If you want to apply this, notice that down the centuries there has been a common belief in all religions that there was a golden age when men lived in peace and innocence; and the something happened that disrupted this blissful existence and ever since man has lived in misery and turmoil. The fact is that greed, selfishness and stupidity continue to plague the dealings of men with each other at all levels of life. And religion today, if it is to be relevant to the young people groping and questing for meaning – if what we are all here talking about is to be relevant, then this multi-dimensional experience of God must relate to God’s children everywhere. We can’t limit it to a purely individualistic approach; we cannot just be concerned about ourselves. We can’t pretend to be having a loving experience of God who is the Father of all, and ignore any single person who goes by the name of man.

And I now want to ask you to pause a while and ask yourselves: What are we doing to each other in the world of today? No man is an island. In an independent world, it is a common good of all men that must be part of the quest if we are wedded to any religion whatsoever. Material progress today has outstripped the mind, and threatens to do so even more. It is time the spirit caught up with the race, to give the much-needed soul to society and the world and this whole entire enterprise in which we are engaged. Such a goal, which must always have this in mind – wholeness of life, for each and all – is a consummation devoutly to be wished,

There are many obstacles to be met with, and they must be faced. But when the world is burning and rotting to pieces, how can we profess a religion and an experience of God – how can we sit on the sidelines and watch? Isn’t it for all to enter the fray? In whatever way they can, to contribute their insights, their vision, their dynamism, their motivation, whatever they have, in the service of God’s children as a religious experience? Stemming from the personal intercommunication which they have with God Himself?

Religion – our experience of God and our dealing with each other – has to be situated in the reality of today’s world. We cannot afford to bypass the legitimate hopes and aspirations and striving of the working class, for instance; their aspirations to equality and to responsible participation in the economic and cultural fields and in political activity. You may wonder how I am deliberately straying into these fields and in political activity. Man and his life are intertwined with all these activities; and if we want wholeness of life for each man, and all men, and wholeness of life in our approach to God, then we have to touch all these. But: with a breath of the spirit.

In India, the U.S., and Europe today we have secular states – naturally so – where no premium is put on any religion and all are free to worship in their own way and follow their own paths. In India, our constitution guarantees your freedom to practise, preach and propagate, within the limits of law and order, your own religious convictions and faiths. The United Nations is also a secular organisation. But isn’t it sad that in this whole process of the modern, secular world, which is trying to create some sort of cooperation and brotherhood, striving after peace in a variety of ways – isn’t it sad that religious motivation is not in the picture? Isn’t it almost futile for people to think that this development in its true sense – wholeness of life for each an all – can be had without bringing in the insights, the values, the vision, the strength, the force, which comes from religion in one way or another? The harnessing, therefore, of religious motivation for the process of development, brotherhood and peace, is one of our big challenges in the world today: not just that we personally relate well with God, ourselves, and each other, but that we reach out in ever-widening circles to bring people of all faiths together in this fashion.

What is the quality of life today? Who has this wholeness? Three-fourths of humanity can’t have it because they lack the simple precondition for human existence. And those who have too much, they cannot be said to have wholeness of life; they have to be cut down to size in order to have wholeness of life. Why can’t our relations one with another in the world of today be so organised, be so inspired, that all can grow in this fashion? That’s God’s plan.

When two people get married in a church, there are two places where the couple kneels down; but notice they are not facing each other. Though they are going to take each other for man and wife and live with each other for the rest of their days, the two kneelers are facing the altar, God, and the future.

In that I see a method of approach: that we can work together and learn to appreciate and understand each other and go from tolerance, which is only a beginning, to respect and reverence for each other – to fellowship in the full sense. And it’s through living and working that this happens; not just by talking about it. So as a practical measure, I would like to suggest that this is the kind of thing that could be done everywhere, I think the task is the creation of Unity of conscience. Nations are made up of human beings, and the real task is to build brotherhood, harmony, concord, peace into their minds.

The independent investigation of Truth will lead to this: the acceptance of the oneness of humanity; the conviction that all men are brothers and that they must work together – for the full human rights for each and all who are called by the name of man. Universal brotherhood and peace is of great importance, but to achieve this we need a Unity of conscience, which means the abandonment of all prejudices which divide men into hostile sects, groups, etc. And a Unity of conscience must be created and deepened around the basic convictions shared by all living faiths.

Where will the force come from to bring this about? Form a deeper interiority which will make each of us full harmonised human being. Signs ourselves, and symbols of that wholeness of life. Which we want for others, and the dynamic, corporate quest for which is what I call Peace – Shalom. The distinctively human part of us – our freedom in the spirit – must be given full play; only so will we be able to transcend our limitation and become Peace ourselves.

If experiencing God in the fashion, the mystic element of religion referred to just now – if experiencing God in the intimacy of the heart, in True Bhakti – if this became the experience of men everywhere, then they would live in harmony with themselves and with those around them, and bridges of understanding and brotherhood would be built at the grass root levels. And therein lies man’s greatest hope for brotherhood and peace in the world.