Брахма Кумарис - Conference on "Values - Key to Solve Personal and World Problems", August 1998

Moscow

Conference on Values — Key to Solve Personal and World Problems

25-27th August 1998

Organized by Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
Venue: Finance Academy under the Government of Russia, Leningradsky Prospect, 49 and 55, Moscow

CONCLUSIONS

Value of a human being is not measured by his richness but by his morals, good will and attitude of co-operation for the well-being of his family and society. Harmonious, loveful and pure relationships are the measure of the value of a family. Value of the society lies not in just its scientific and technological development but in the richness of its culture, maturity of and unity among its members. Value of a nation is measured not by how much stable its economy and political situation is nor by how much military power it has but is measured by how much it is contributing for world peace and safer existence of humanity.

Values motivate our behaviour and govern our decisions. Values determine our world view and give direction, purpose and meaning to life. Values are the foundation for a harmonious human personality, good health, elevated consciousness, happy relationships and for the well-being of humanity as a whole. Values along with complete true Knowledge would lead to the perfect scientific achievements enabling the reestablishment of renewed civilization. But, the foundation for such achievements has to be laid now.

If we desire a better future, it is now the time to bring the right change in our consciousness and attitudes. For making it practically possible, there is need for Knowledge, Virtues and powers.

Representatives of various professions and desciplines joined during the conference on "Values — Key to Solve Personal and World Problems" to discuss solutions to the existing world problems on the basis of "values". The main points, suggestions and ideas that emerged and were accepted during these discussions are as follows:

Our present society is marching towards barbarity worse than we could have even conceived a century ago. Man's consciousness has been influenced by dangerous traits and his moral voice has been almost lost. There has been violation of the "living values — moral, social, human and spiritual." So, if even at this late stage, values will not be restored and given their important place, there will be the greatest ever disaster — complete moral disaster — which will lead to series of economic, political, social and personal crises and ultimately, all our wonderful progress will mix into dust.
Today, when human lives have become so much interdependent and complicated and human consciousness has become weak, person's susceptibility to do bad or wrong has multiplied manifold. Therefore, there is a need of deeper understanding of application of values in human actions and relations. Also there is need of understanding the methodology and techniques of inculcation of these values in human life for the generations to come. If we do not lay proper emphasis on the observance of values now, then we are inviting our own doom in the form of environmental pollution, hazard to social health and nuclear wars.
The world has made enormous scientific, technological and industrial progress, but people in this world, for whom actually this progress was made, are living in the state of emotional imbalance. They have not been able to manage their sensual impulses and excessive ambitions, and control anger, greed and arrogance. This has created a great imbalance between scientific development and the level of human maturity in moral values. This is a very dangerous situation because the aim of proper use of the scientific advancement cannot be achieved until person learns the methodology for bringing emotional balance with the aim of developing (more or less) a perfect personality and clear vision of the future.
Human sufferings, conflicts, crises and other world problems are caused by many factors external and internal. However, the main factors are, firstly, the deep rooted ignorance of true identity and true nature of human being as a result of which the person loses the track of life's main aim; secondly the lack of proper Knowledge of the nature of this World Drama which would otherwise had given us better understanding of future of humanity. The systematic knowledge about the above main aspects will enable people to imbibe the values spiritual, moral, human and social.
Every individual needs to develop the sense of responsibility and the spirit of co-operation to make our world better place to live. The powers of science, religion and government should play complementary role in this task, for the future — better or bitter — lies in the hands of these powers. Misuse of these powers would bring an inrepairable loss to people. Efforts should be made to join the positive forces of science, religion and government in the creation of new world civilization and this is possible when values are articulated not only in the scientific inventories and decisions made by these powers but also in the actions and attitudes of their representatives. They should work like partners committed for the task of world peace and harmony.
Love, peace, happiness and purity actually are the rights of every human being, and therefore, chance should be given for all to enjoy these valuable treasures. At the same time, every individual should be committed not to violate these valuable treasures, in his actions and interactions. By adopting these core values in life and by sharing them with others, the human being increases his worth and also enables others to experience them. However, to rejuvenate these core values it is essential to practice the silence of mind or peace of mind since the site of these values is mind itself or call it soul.
Perfection in personality, excellence in profession, conflict resolution, good health and world harmony are actually possible with the help of the above mentioned core values and, in addition to them, with the following combination of virtues:
1. good-will, concern and co-operation for the well-being of others;
2. self-respect and respect to others;
3. humility and forgiveness;
4. honesty and justice;
5. simplicity and contentment;
6. self-control and self-confidence;
7. tolerance and maintenance of harmony in relations;
8. sincerity and efforts for excellence.

Practice of these values would bring a positive change in human personality. We firmly believe that only such change in individuals can change the whole world.

We, the participants of the conference "Values — Key to Solve Personal and World Problems" unanimously adopt these suggestions as the working document for our future meetings which are aimed for building a value-based society.