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Participation
From: The World Renewal
Magazine Former
Principal Scientific Adviser to Govt. of India, Bharat Ratna, Dr. A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam, at the end of his 2-day spiritual research visit to the Brahma
Kumaris Institution's Shantivan Academy on Monday morning, addressed the
congregation of around 15000 youth from all over India and abroad and
administered to them a special oath titled "I the Brahma Kumar and My
Nation" which read — "As a young citizen of India, armed with
technology, knowledge and spirituality and love for my nation I realize
small aim is a crime. I will work and sweat for a great vision —
the vision of transforming India into a developed nation with double crown
of value system, purity and prosperity. I am one of the citizens of India
and will ignite the billion souls. The vision has entered into me that
the ignited souls, compared to any other resource, is the most powerful
resource on, above and under the earth. I will keep the lamp of knowledge
and spirituality burning to achieve the vision of a developed India."
Dr. Kalam had also administered this oath, under a different heading,
to a group of school children from several schools of Abu Road whom he
addressed yesterday. Dr. Kalam agreed
with Rajyogini Dadi Prakashmani, the Chief of Brahma Kumaris, to say that
many of the problems of society were aggravated by media misinformations,
unhealthy human intoxications and drug addictions for elimination of which
Dr. Kalam said he and his team would also strive. Referring to his discussion
earlier with Dadi Prakashmani, Dr. Kalam said that India with a civilization
of more than 3000 years had withstood and would withstand many problems.
What was needed now for all of us was to have determination to make India
great in spirituality and economic strength, he stressed. Voicing his whole-hearted
support to the spiritual objectives of Brahma Kumaris, Dr. Kalam composed
a couplet which said "if we have devotion and determination, if we want
golden age to be ushered in India and the world in a couple of decades,
we need to continuously think and work for it by spearheading spiritual
purity and also economic strength." He commended the message of Brahma
Kumaris on how to acquire and practise knowledge, yoga, virtues and good
life for self, family, society and mankind. Finally while reciting a poem of a famous Tamilian poetess and saint living one thousand years ago on "Celebrations of Human life", Dr. Kalam interpreted: "Without offerings, penance and tapas, human life, in spite of all knowledge, education, health and comforts, is worthless. When we do offerings and tapas, the doors of heaven (Golden Age) will open to greet all of us."
Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam meeting with Chiefs of Brahma Kumaris: Dadi Hirdaya Mohini, Dadi Prakashmani and Dadi Janki From: Purity Science Conference in New Delhi The conference was organised by the Scientists and Engineers Wing of Rajyoga Education and Research Foundation, a sister organisation of Brahma Kumaris. It was also supported by the ministries and departments of Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, Non-conventional Energy Sources, Power, Tourism, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Around 1,000 scientists and engineers from India and abroad participated in the meet.
THE CONFERENCE concluded with the passing of a resolution by the participants who agreed that spiritual values had to be integrated in scientific endeavours to bring benefit to the entire humankind and nature. They also resolved that scientists should promote awareness and importance of value-based lifestyle in the society. The session was presided over by two famous stalwarts of the intelligentsia — well-known nuclear scientist Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Principle Scientific Adviser, Govt. of India and Mr. R. Venkataraman, Former President of India.
Dr. Kalam pondered whether man could live without war. He reflected that the 20th century had been a century of wars. The Second World War, which was based on ideological differences, had generated 10,000 nuclear warheads. He said that the 1990's had witnessed economic warfare that was being fought with the weapon of technology. So the basic question was whether the warring minds could be transformed, he queried. He revealed that his latest assignment was to reach the shining light of spiritual wisdom at the end of darkness. Sharing his experience of his visit to the Global Hospital and Research Centre at Mount Abu, he said that he was highly impressed by the hi-tech integration of physiology and psychology, of technology and spiritual lifestyle. He suggested that there should be a powerful and collective ideological vision that could make the world a safer and happier place to live in. He asserted that a spiritual and technological vision born out of a billion minds could be a great power that would lead to a peaceful and prosperous world.
Mr. R. Venkataraman said that scientific advancement had resulted in a decline in India's share in the world market. Material progress had led to the exploitation of ecology in the developing nations. Sharing figures that illustrated the wide gap between the world's rich and poor, he said that scientists should seriously consider tapping the potential of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, underwater currents etc. He said that science
was not to blame but the misuse of scientific powers had to be checked.
Spiritual knowledge was the means to check people from doing wrong deeds.
A scientist imbued with spirituality would always think of the welfare
of the society because he believed that spirituality was in essence the
sharing of virtues with other human beings. Such fraternity and brotherhood
of humankind would solve all the problems, he emphasised. He acknowledged
that the Brahma Kumaris were examples of how spiritually empowered women
could lead the world in a positive direction. Rajyogini Dadi Prakashmani, Chief of Brahma Kumaris, said that when the time for a powerful idea comes, it becomes a practical reality. It was time for people to experiment with the power of silence and peace. She believed that the next millennium would be an age of the convergence of science and spirituality. The power of spirituality had to be used in order to remove sorrows and vices and this power came from the realisation that all human beings were members of one spiritual family. She queried whether science could give us the power to control our mind and sense organs. The call of the time was that each individual should realise the innate virtues of the soul and become a true child of the Supreme Father by reflecting His qualities in life, she asserted.
B.K.
Jagdish Chander, Chief Spokesperson of Brahma Kumaris, identified two
roles of science — preventive and curative. He said that self-defence
technologies were part of preventive role of science. In this sense, he
opined that spirituality was also a preventive science because it eliminated
negative tendencies and prevented conflicts and sorrow. He urged that
scientists should recognise the primary reality of spirituality and apply
it for solving the problems of the material world. Science had yet to
explore the power of thought and its relationship with the thinker. The
bottomline of all scientific endeavours had to be the welfare of humanity,
and this is where spirituality could come to the aid of science, he observed. Mr. Ramvilas Paswan,
Union Minister for Communication said that science was linked with the
qualities of head whereas spirituality was based on the balance of the
head and the heart. He said that any work done with pure feelings gives
joy to the doer and others and so he exhorted scientists to work with
feelings of compassion and service. Valedictory
Address I
am indeed delighted to participate in this Conference organised by the
Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya. And the topics discussed
here such as Science and Technology in the Service of Humanity, Bio-technology
and ethical issues, missing dimensions in research and development, the
environmental pollution, the human factor, science and technology for
exploration of inner space are of high importance. Mount
Abu experience The
topics discussed are diverse yet I can see the thread of linkage. The
connectivity comes from our spiritual and cultural inheritance. I witnessed
the coexistence of spirituality with modern technology when I visited
the International headquarters of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa
Vidyalaya at Mount Abu, particularly in the environment of Global Hospital
and Research Centre. This Global Hospital left a lasting impression in
me as to how the high tech hospital transformed into integrated life system
care combining physiological and psychological elements. In this direction,
the project of Global Hospital, Brahma Kumari Samaj and DIPAS (Defence
Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences) of DRDO is indeed an important
experiment to improve the quality of life of the ailing hearts.
In this connection,
I would like to share with you some experiences where technologies and
values can coexist and strengthen mutual growth. I attended a function
on 3rd December, 1999, the International Day of the Disabled at the Vigyan
Bhavan organised by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Our
Hon'ble Rashtrapatiji (President of India) distributed awards to high
performance persons with disability and also the technologists who were
responsible in developing equipments and devices which assist in reducing
the impact of the disabilities. In
the function, I met persons with disabilities and the awardees. Two events
have ignited my mind which I would like to share with you. One, the electro-optical
technology developed in one of our laboratories at IRDE (Instruments Research
& Development Establishment), Dehra Dun for making night vision devices,
which give thermal sights for assisting our soldiers. They also enhance
the capabilities of our defence systems. The same laboratory has spin-offs
from optical technology, resulting in design and development of plastic
aspherical magnifiers. These magnifiers are intended to help those with
low vision disability to see better. It helps them to read, thus providing
them many unique opportunities in life which looked dark for long. This
technology is simple and elegant and it is affordable by a large number
of people who have this low vision disability. I found the same technology
has fulfilled the defence needs and also in relieving a disability. In
the same function I met a person with both his hands seriously handicapped,
yet he has the will power to hold the pen in between two elbows and write
fairly well. Of course, now there are technologies like robot hand with
functional electric simulator which makes such persons lead a normal life.
Technologies are the gifts for the needs of a nation with multiple dimensions. It is essential
to start a movement by technological, social and spiritual teams to remove
the pain of the persons with disability. Also let us look at satellite
televisions/telephony. It helped to bring information and connectivity
to a large number of Indians in time, bringing many advantages in their
daily lives. Some of the advantages are reaching a doctor or getting education.
Telemedicine is one area that will be connecting rural hospitals. Efforts
have just commenced in this area through a Project of DST (Deptt. of Science
& Technology) and a hospital in Andhra Pradesh. Mission areas with focussed targets in the fields of agriculture or in power sector or in bio-tech or in special materials will improve the quality of life of our people in a short time. Some of the papers addressed in this conference have given this illustration. I would like to emphasise the point that if we know how to focus the applications of science and technology towards the human needs, it would be possible for us to remove the large inequalities and to improve the quality of life and also prepare them to be useful human beings. High technology and bio-diversity Recently, I was
in a beautiful environment in an island where on one side, thousands and
thousands of turtles were rushing day and night travelling long distances
in the sea for nesting to propagate in millions. On the other side, there
is a beautiful bird sanctuary for thousands of birds, especially rare
varieties. It is a nice sight to be seen. In the midst of this environment,
there coexists nature and man's technological advancement peacefully.
In this island we carried out a flight mission of AGNI-II which as you
all know travels at hypersonic speed and re-enters the atmosphere. This missile is an IRBM having manoeuvrable trajectory, re-entry, guidance and control and above all mobile launcher and launch control centre. The backbone to the entire AGNI testing is the massive communication network separated by large geographical distances and involving platforms and sensors on the ground, on the sea and on the space interconnected on real time with large bandwidth and high speed communication link. I have experienced, creative thrives in biodiversity environment.
Developed India: the vision I
would like to share with you the work done towards realising a "developed
India". TIFAC task team consisting of 500 experts generated 25 Vision
Documents which give a road map for this transformation. To recapitulate,
in order to become a developed India the essential needs are: With
this vision of Developed India let us look at what we all should do to
reach that status. It is the second major movement for the country after
the great independence movement. In a movement everybody has a role. Five
thrust areas have been identified around which we can take several econo-technological
actions involved in such a movement. Integrated action: I wish to suggest how each and every Indian, in different walks of life, can contribute towards realizing the vision for the nation. I had discussions with economists, agricultural experts, technologists from different fields, from industry, government administrators at various levels, non-government professionals and activists, media persons and political leaders at different fora. After discussions, I feel, concerted efforts in five areas can lead to a major movement towards transformation of the nation. These five areas are marked by strong interlinkages and progress in any one of them will lead to simultaneous action in other areas as well. Concluding remarks In the presentation you would have seen Indian minds instilled with spiritual bonds, healing touch and love for biodiversity. With the induction of technology thrust, transformation of India as a developed nation is possible. Spiritual and technological minds born out of billion people is indeed a unique strength similar to solar energy radiated in the universe. Only dreams lead to thoughts and thoughts result into action. Action is needed from every citizen and the leaders tuned to this doctrine. We will achieve our mission of a prosperous and spiritual India.
Dr.
APJ Abdul Kalam addressing 15,000 young Brahma Kumaris students in the
huge Diamond Hall.
For
God and His Country Imagine what APJ Abdul Kalam would be doing today had he not been making Prithvi and Agni. He would, in that case, be certainly meditating in some remote corner of India or doing yoga in the Himalayas. Nuclear warhead carriers like Prithvi are difficult to be associated with meditation and yoga, but life's truths do not always seem logical. Abdul Kalam is an
engineer by training but a spiritualist by temperament, and there does
not seem to be any dichotomy between the two. What is even more important
is that he does not recognise denominational distinction. Kalam talks fondly
of his childhood days in Rameswaram, an idyllic island in Tamil Nadu,
where his modest ancestral home is situated in Mosque street. A famous
temple stands close to the mosque where his father used to pray. The temple
priest, a respected holy man, was a friend of his father. He talks about a
touching incident in Rameswaram. He used to sit in the front row in his
classroom, but when a new teacher joined, he was shocked to see a "Malechcha"
boy sitting in the front row. Kalam was ordered to go and sit at the back
of the class. When the temple priest learned of the incident, he reprimanded
the teacher for his communal behaviour. After that Kalam resumed sitting
in the front row. Kalam seems to be
above worldly needs as he leads a spartan existence (he is a vegetarian).
It is difficult to fathom why a man like him should devote his entire
life to the development of weapons of mass destruction. He thinks that
these weapons can promote India's development by deterring aggression
and ensuring India's security. Thus an India reassured about its security,
would direct all its energies towards development. Kalam says that
his success was because of the guidance of his seniors, the relentless
hard work of his colleagues, the love of his old friends, relatives, teachers,
his parents, the temple priest and God. An appreciating nation honoured him with the greatest national award, Bharat Ratna. On his part, Kalam gave everything he had to the nation. He says about his life's journey, "This story will end with me, for I have no inheritance in the worldly sense. I have acquired nothing, built nothing, possess nothing, no family". Kalam, a bachelor, is right when he says he would not leave behind a family, or material possessions but he will certainly leave behind a nation that will remember him with reverence and affection. |
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Valedictory
Session (L to R): BK Jagdish Chander Hassija, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Principal
Scientific Adviser to Govt. of India. Mr. R. Venkataraman, former President
of India, Rajyogini Dadi Prakash Mani & Hon'ble Ramvilas Paswan, Union
Minister for Communication.
