One World Week

ONE WORLD WEEK

21-28th October 2012

The one that sees the diversity but does not  recognise the underlying unity , 

wanders on from death to death'     Hindu Upanishads

This week is set aside as ONE WORLD WEEK. We are all members of a common species , all part of the growing human family. Every branch of human learning, every science, every spirituality every piece of research is increasingly confirming our shared oneness.  The great American Psychologist  William James put it succinctly more than 100 years ago, when he wrote :

' We are all like islands , connected at the deep'

Increasingly, we live in a world 'village'  Modern technology, the great advances in communication and our ability to quickly travel great distances, mean that we are much more aware of what is happening around the world. Consequently, we can no longer escape from our responsibility as a member of our human family. In short, ignorance is no longer an easy excuse for inactivity. What happens to one part of our human family impacts on all.

However, One World Week has an even higher remit. As a species we have four levels of spiritual awareness. These are outlined below.

1.  EGOCENTRED      The first level that we enter is that of being EGO-CENTRED. At this level we relate everything to a personal, intrinsic and egocentric view. At its worse this can lead to a total focus on the ME.   Ultimately, at its worse this Me-ness  leads to Meanness .

2. GROUP CENTRED    Our next level is that of our ethnicity,culture,family,religion etc. We are born into a culture, tribe and family and this heavily influences our personality, views, opinions and actions. Here again, at its worst, it can lead to a divisive  'Them and Us'  mentality. Where the 'other' becomes an 'It'   This mentality ultimately leads to wars, oppression and even Ethnic Cleansing.

3. WORLD CENTRED   Part of growing in awareness involves transcending the self and our group and recognising our inter-connectedness. We become more  aware that we are part of the wonderful diversity of our world. We are a related species living on and in a beautiful planet. Failure to do so has led, and will increasingly lead, to the exploitation of each other and of the resources of our planet.

4. Cosmic Centred   The fourth level of awareness involves cosmic awareness. We are part of a vast expanding and evolving creation . This is a creation that has existed for  14 Billion years . Our tiny Blue Planet, on which we live is floating in the vast oceans of our Cosmos, with its Universes and Multi-Verses. Whether or not we believe that there is a  Mystery, which many call God, lying at the heart of this evolving and expanding Cosmos is not the most crucial point. After all, our belief is based of faith which can be proven or dis-proven. Therefore our only response the the wonder of the Cosmos is one of AWE and WONDERMENT.

The ethos and values of One World Week are similar to those of the International Satsang Association  whose website can be accessed by following the link. Further information about our local Satsang can be accessed on our local website Satsang UK Midlands & North


Our challenge as a human family is to recognise our oneness with our world and each other. I want to end this short reflection with a challenge and quotation from the World Charter.

' Can we co-operate to move towards a global society , which adapts to change while :

    *        balancing the needs of nature,economy and society

    *        respecting universal human rights and economic justice

     *      building a culture of peace ?

Do we ( each) accept that only by working together to meet these challenges can we share equitably the legacy we have received with our descendants?

Perhaps each of us could take some time to reflect on the importance of One World.