ONE WORLD ONE HUMANITY

These words, written in a letter to the United Nations in 1957, guide the Mission and inform its evolving relationship with the UN Department of Public Information (UN DPI).

Since its founding in 1945, the Shri Ram Chandra Mission has had the stated objective of providing spiritual services to all interested persons through the Sahaj Marg system of raja yoga. The practice of Sahaj Marg imparts an all-encompassing meaning to everyday life, bringing simplicity, repose and balance to it. In its activities related to the UN DPI, and, particularly, in its commemorative events and educational activities, the Mission offers opportunities for deep self-discovery in the knowledge that change, when it begins with the individual, is lasting and transformative.

Broadly speaking, the Mission's UN-related activities include special commemorative events, educational activities, and humanitarian service.

Special Commemorative Events

In its meditation centres and ashrams in India and around the world, volunteer members of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission organize workshops, youth seminars and gatherings on UN-designated special days relating to a variety of cultural, social and environmental issues such as, for example, the United Nations Day of Peace. The intention in hosting these events is to raise public awareness, and attempt a practical, everyday application of those ideals (such as love, tolerance and compassion) which form the foundation for a peaceful, balanced, human life. The commemorative events also serve as open assemblies, independent of affiliation or background, having the common good as their purpose. UN officials, interested individuals and families, and the media have attended commemorative events over the years and have benefited from the spiritual atmosphere. Every commemoration concludes with a prayerful meditation guided by the suggestion, "Let all brothers and sisters sit daily at a fixed hour individually at our respective places and meditate for about an hour thinking that all people of the World are growing peace loving and pious."

Educational Activities

The Lalaji Memorial Omega International School (www.omegaschools.org) located in Chennai, India, is managed by a group of professionals who share the spiritual and material values endorsed by the Shri Ram Chandra Mission. The school continues to develop and strengthen its relationship with the UN.

In December 2008, eighty Omega school students participated, with great commitment, in the 11th Annual Students Video Conference on Human Rights organized by the UN DPI. As an outgrowth of the event, teachers from Omega school were invited to participate in the 4th Annual Conference on Teaching for Peace and Human Rights, held in May 2009 at the United Nations. A team of twelve teachers in Chennai attended the event via videoconferencing technology, and an additional two teachers represented the school at the United Nations headquarters in New York. A lively discussion ensued on implementing peace and human-rights education in school curricula and in school life.

The Shri Ram Chandra Mission's educational purpose is reinforced at CREST (Centre for Research, Education, Sadhana, and Training) located in Bengaluru, India. CREST was established by the Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation, a sister institution of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission. Its purpose is to provide a panoramic spiritual education, exposing participants to a variety of religions, cultures, philosophies, and ideologies. The aim is to inspire an appreciation both of the multiplicity of approaches to the divine and of their single underlying essence. Some of the study topics discussed at CREST seminars include Modern Movements in Spirituality; The Convergence of Science and Spirituality; The Clarion Call of the Vedas; Spiritual Love and an Attitude of Holiness; Mercy and Compassion in Christianity; The Message of the Gita; The Message of the Judaic Religion; Balancing Material and Spiritual Lives; Sufi Traditions and Spirituality; Psychology & Spirituality; Buddhism; African Belief Systems; Mysticism; Superstition and Spirituality; Confucianism; Taoism; Saints of India; Sikhism; Jainism; Saints of the Middle Ages in Europe; Non-violent Communication; and The Art of Self Management.

Humanitarian Work

The Mission's philosophy of knowing all persons as brothers and sisters is the inspiration behind the Sahaj Marg Physicians Group, administered by the Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation. Volunteer physicians, medical residents and nurses who practice Sahaj Marg have grouped together to make medical care available to needy people in India. In addition to general medical services, special services in cardiology, community care, dermatology, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, and pediatrics are regularly provided to people across India, from the inaccessible regions in the Himalayas to the plains of Madurai.