Dr.கலாமின் பேச்சு
Address and Interaction with the Students, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA
19/Oct/2007 : Fayetteville, USA
Dynamics of Peace and Prosperity
"I am a world citizen, Every citizen is my own kith and kin”
I am delighted to address and interact with the students, researchers, Faculty, members of University of Arkansas and distinguished invitees. My greetings to all of you. Today, when I visited the nanotechnology laboratory of University of Arkansas, I could realize the determination of the university to build core competence in nanoscience and technology. With a strong team of in material science, structures, electronics, and humanities, I am sure that this university will soon shine in multiple competencies. I congratulate the Chancellor and his team for building up world class laboratories with a vision to make the university, among the top ten in the world in a decade. I am specifically associated in India, with a number of universities in various capacities as Professor for teaching, research and as a Chancellor. I am extremely happy to be here to understand the vision of University of Arkansas and enhance the collaboration between the Arkansas University, Indian R&D Institutions and universities. Since I see in this University a convergence of science, engineering and humanities, I thought of sharing with you an important need of the world of peaceful, prosperous and safe nations.
The war of independence in America and the independence leading to freedom, and freedom from slavery were indeed a turning point in the history of democratic world. India and many nations derived some of these experiences of the freedom movement of America. Of course, India approached through the innovative path of non-violence movement propagated by Mahatma Gandhi which has been acknowledged by the world. Hence, I have selected the subject “Dynamics of Peace and Prosperity”.
Unity of Minds
I was studying the classic “Dialogues of Plato”, where Plato brings out “our aim in founding the State was not the disproportionate happiness of any one class, but the greatest happiness of the whole” in 2400 years ago. Similarly, during the same period Tamil poet Saint Thiruvalluvar said,
பிணியின்மை செல்வம் விளைவின்பம் ஏமம்
அணியென்ப நாட்டிற்கிவ் வைந்து.
That is, "the important elements that constitute a nation are: being disease free; wealth; high productivity; harmonious living and strong defence". We have to find how we can provide all these elements to all the citizens of the nation on an equitable basis for happiness for all. This may result in an extremism free world, a peaceful world. I would like to first discuss with you my personal experience in exploring what brings happiness to the human beings.
During the year 2003, I visited one of the Indian states, Arunachal Pradesh, I visited a Buddhist monastry at Tawang 3500 m. altitude. I stayed and spent some time nearly for a day. I observed a unique situation in all the villages nearby where young and experienced were all radiating happiness in spite of severe winter environment. Then, I visited the 400 years old Tawang monastery itself and there also I saw monks of all age groups in a state of serenity. I was asking myself what is the unique feature of Tawang and surrounding villages which makes people and monks to be at peace with themselves. When the time came, I asked the Chief Monk, how in Tawang villages and monastry, I am experiencing peace and happiness being radiated by everyone. There was a pause, the chief monk smiled. He said, "You are the President of India. You will be knowing all about us and the whole nation. Again I said, "It is very important for me, you please give me your thoughtful analysis".
There was a beautiful golden image of Lord Buddha radiating smile and peace. The Chief Monk assembled nearby all his nearly 100 young and experienced monks. The Chief Monk and myself were sitting amidst them. The Chief Monk gave a short discourse, which I would like to share with you. Chief Monk said, "In the present world, we have a problem of distrust, unhappiness transforming into violence. This monastery spreads: when you "Remove “I” and “Me” from your mind, you will eliminate ego; if you get rid of ego, hatred towards fellow human beings will vanish; if the hatred goes out of our mind, the violence in thinking and action will disappear; if violence in our mind is taken away, peace springs in human minds. Then peace and peace and peace alone will blossom in the society". I realized the meaning of beautiful equation for peaceful life, but difficult mission for the individual is how to remove the ethos of “I” and “ME”. For this, we need the education inculcated in the young age as propagated by Greek and Indian philosophers.
In my search for evolving a peaceful and prosperous society, I got part answer. My search for real truth continues. I saw an ancient Christian monastery in Bulgaria, where I had a discussion with highly experienced monks on the message of Tawang. The Monk added that forgiveness is also the foundation of good life. Similarly in the birth place of Swami Vivekananda, I explained the Tawang experience to the disciples and they too felt the Tawang experience indeed is beautiful and they added "Trait of Giving " will add to peace and happiness. Then I visited Ajmeer Sharif where I participated in the Friday Namaz. Here, the Sufi expert told me that Almighty's creation, the man, has been challenged with another powerful creation of Shaitan. Only good deeds lead to good thinking, good thinking results into actions radiating love as commanded by Almighty. While talking about good deeds, I am reminded of the advice given to Gandhiji by his mother. She says, 
"Son, in your entire life time, if you can save or better someone's life, your birth as a human being and your life is a success. You have the blessing of the Almighty God".
This advice has made a deep impact in the mind of Gandhiji, which made him to work for the humanity throughout his life.
Towards a cohesive society
When nations join together to build a cohesive society, it is necessary to ensure that benefits of development encompass all sections of the society. World over, poverty, illiteracy and un-employment are driving forward the forces of anger and violence. These forces link themselves to historical enmity, tyranny and injustice, ethnic issues and religious fundamentalism flowing into an outburst of extremism worldwide. Both India and USA have witnessed the unsavory acts of certain misguided sections of society. We have to jointly address ourselves to the root causes of such phenomena for finding lasting solutions for promoting peace.
Righteousness is the beginning:
What we need is a carrier of eternal goodness and wholesomeness in human conduct, which is “Righteousness” As we say in India:
Righteousness
Where there is righteousness in the heart
There is beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
There is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home.
There is an order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
There is peace in the world.
This is true for the whole world. When we need peace in the world, we need order in the nation; we need harmony in the home, whether in Europe or in India or in any part of the world, the origin is righteousness in the heart. How to we evolve this?
Evolution of Enlightened Society
With this spirit of righteousness in the heart, dear Honorable Members, I would like to put forth to this important gathering, a methodology for evolving a happy, prosperous and peaceful society in our planet, which I call as “Evolution of Enlightened society”. I have shared these thoughts with many intellectuals in national and international spheres. How do we create such an enlightened society, which will have three components (a) Education with value system (b) Religion transforming into spirituality and (c) Economic development for societal transformation. Let us discuss.
a. Education with value system:
We have seen that the seeds of peace in the world have their origin in the righteousness in the heart of every individual. Such righteous citizens lead to the evolution of enlightened society. I have shared these thoughts with many intellectuals in national and international spheres. Education with value system has to be so designed that the righteousness in the heart is developed in young minds. That should be the mission of education. The prime learning environment is five to seventeen years' of age. This reminds me of an ancient Greek teacher's saying, "Give me a child for seven years; afterwards, let God or devil take the child. They cannot change the child". This indicates the power of great teachers what they can inculcate in the young minds. Parents and teachers must inculcate moral leadership amongst children. It requires the ability to have insights into the uniqueness and universality of human consciousness. True education is the acquisition of enlightened feelings and enlightened powers to understand daily events and to understand the permanent truth linking man to his environment, human and planetary.
While I was in college, I remember the lectures given by the highest authority of the Jesuit institution Rev Father Rector Kalathil of St. Joshep’s college, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, Southern India. Every week on Monday, he will take a class for an hour. He used to talk about good human beings present and past and what makes a good human being. In this class he used to give lectures on personalities such as Buddha, Confucius, St. Augustine, Califa Omar, Mahatma Gandhi, Einstein, Abraham Lincoln and moral stories linked to our civilizational heritage. In the moral science class, Father Kalathil used to highlight the best aspect of, how the great personalities have been evolved as good human beings through parental care, teaching and companionship of great books. Even though these lessons were given to me in 1950’s during my college days, they inspire me even today. It is essential in the schools and colleges to organize lectures by great teachers of the institution once in a week for one hour on our civilizational heritage. This can be called as Moral Science Class that will elevate the young minds to love the country, to love the other human beings and elevate them to higher planes. I have suggested this to educationists in my country. University of Arkansas may like to consider evolving a model that would enable a student to imbibe these fundamental traits for the benefit of all.
Now, let me take up the area that is transforming religion into spiritual force. Many in the world believe it is a difficult mission. I would like to share an experience that I have witnessed which has convinced me that it is possible.
b.Religion Transforming into Spirituality: Universal MindReligion has two components, theology and spirituality. Even though theology is unique to every religion, the spiritual component spreads the value to be inculcated by human beings for promoting a good human life and welfare of the society, while pursuing the material life. I would like to share an experience how the religion and science came together in a big mission.
It was during early 1960’s, the founder of Indian Space Research Programme Prof. Vikram Sarabhai with his team had located a place technically most suited for space research after considering many alternatives. The place called Thumba in Kerala, was selected for space research as it was near the magnetic equator ideally suited for ionospheric and electrojet research in upper atmosphere. I was fortunate to work with Prof Vikram Sarabhai for about eight years.
The major challenge for Prof Vikram Sarabhai was to get the place in a specific area. As was normal, Prof. Vikram Sarabhai approached the Kerala Government administrators first. After seeing the profile of the land and the sea coast, the view expressed was that, thousands of fishing folks live there, the place had an ancient St Mary Magdalene Church, Bishop's House and a school. Hence it would be very difficult to give this land and an alternative land would be possible. Similarly the political system also opined that it would be a difficult situation due to the existence of important institutions and the concern for people who were to be relocated. However there was a suggestion to approach the only person who could advice and help. That was the Bishop “Rev Father Peter Bernard Pereira”. Prof Vikram Sarabhai, approached the Bishop on a Saturday evening, I still remember. The meeting between the two turned out to be historical. Many of us witnessed the event. Rev Father exclaimed, “Oh Vikram, you are asking my children’s abode, my abode and God’s abode. How is it possible?” Both had a unique quality that they could smile even in difficult situations. Rev Father Peter Bernard Pereira asked Prof. Vikram Sarabhai to come to church on Sunday morning at 9.00 AM.
Prof. Vikram Sarabhai went to the church again on Sunday with his team. At that time the prayer was progressing with the recitation of Bible by Rev. Father Peter Bernard Pereira. After the prayer was over, the Bishop invited Prof. Vikram Sarabhai to come to the dais. The Rev Father introduced Prof Vikram Sarabhai to the mass, “Dear children, here is a scientist, Prof. Vikram Sarabhai. What do sciences do? All of us experience, including this church, the light from electricity. I am able to talk to you through the mike which is made possible by technology. The treatment to patients by doctors comes from medical sciences. Science through technology enhances the comfort and quality of human life. What do I do, as a preacher? I pray for you, for your well being, for your peace. In short, what Vikram is doing and what I am doing are the same - both science and spirituality seek the Almighty’s blessings for human prosperity in mind and body. Dear Children, Prof Vikram says, he would build within a year, near the sea-coast, alternative facilities to what we are having. Now dear children, can we give our abode, can we give my abode, can we give the God’s abode for a great scientific mission?” There was total silence and you could hear a pin drop. Then all of them got up and said ‘Amen’ which made the whole church reverberate.
That was the church where we had our design centre, where we started rocket assembly and the Bishop’s house was our scientists’ working place. Later the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) which led to the establishment of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and transformed into multiple space centers throughout the country. Now this church has become an important centre of learning where thousands of people learn about the dynamic history of the space programme of India. I myself was there during this month and saw the spirit of Indian space programme in serving people and inspiring youth.
When I think of this event, I can see how enlightened spiritual and scientific leaders can converge towards giving reverence to the human life. Of course the birth of TERLS and then VSSC gave the country the capability for launch vehicles, spacecrafts and space applications that have accelerated social and economic development in India to unprecedented levels.
Today, among us, Prof Vikram Sarabhai is not there, Rev Dr Peter Bernard Pereira is not there, but those who are responsible for creation and making flowers blossom will themselves be a different kind of a flower as described in the Bhagwat Gita: "See the flower, how generously it distributes perfume and honey. It gives to all, gives freely of its love. When its work is done, it falls away quietly. Try to be like the flower, unassuming despite all its qualities". What a beautiful message to the humanity on the purpose of life reflected the spiritual component. Can we bridge the spiritual component of the religions to bring peace to nations and to the world?
I would like to recall one incident which commonly occurs in many parts of my country. I have witnessed this event when I was a young boy (10yrs). In our house, periodically I used to see three different unique personalities meet. Pakshi Lakshmana Shastrigal, who was the head priest of the famous Rameshwaram temple and a vedic scholar, Rev Father Bodal, who built the first church in Rameshwaram Island and my father who was an Imam in the mosque. All three of them used to sit and discuss the islands problems and find solutions, and also religious connectivities with compassion. This sight always comes to my mind whenever I discuss with people on Dialogue of religions. India has had this advantage of integration of minds for thousands of years. Throughout the world, the need to have a frank dialogue among cultures, religions and civilizations has been felt now more than ever.
These two instances what I have narrated give me confidence that religions definitely can be bridged through spiritual components. Whenever I meet the young and experienced in my country. I have narrated these two experiences. Many in my country and world over may have such experiences. We have to spread such “Glad Tidings”. Now let us discuss the third important component of enlightened society which is to achieve economic development for societal transformation.
c. Economic development for societal transformation
Indian Economy is in an ascent phase. There is considerable growth in the manufacturing and service sectors. We have a mission of spreading this economic growth throughout the country including the rural sector. Nearly 220 million people have to be lifted by upgrading their quality of life in both rural and urban areas. Even though the GDP growth indicates our economic growth, people’s participation is essential for achieving the required targets. It is essential to ensure that the citizens are empowered with good quality of life encompassing nutritious food, good habitat, clean environment, affordable healthcare, quality education and productive employment, integrated with our value system drawn from civilizational heritage leading to the comprehensive development of the nation that will bring smiles in one billion people. These are indicators for the growth of the National Prosperity Index.
To achieve that growth rate, we have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action: (1) Agriculture and food processing (2) Education and Healthcare (3) Information and Communication Technology (4) Infrastructure development such as power, transportation, communication and including Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) network and (5) Self reliance in critical technologies. We propose to realize the vision of transforming India into a developed nation before 2020 by energizing and igniting the minds of all the 540 million youth of the nation.
So far we have discussed the three dimensional approach of providing value based education, religion transforming into spiritual force and economic development for societal transformation leading to the evolution of an enlightened society. This integrated three dimensional methodology of evolution of enlightened society will pave the way for a peaceful, prosperous, happy nations and there by extremism free world.
Conclusion
Planet earth has a population of 6 billion people, and in another decade it is likely to increase further. In India we have 540 million people who are below the age of 25 yrs. Similarly, planet also has a large number of youth. Youth power is an important resource in planet earth for the evolution of a peaceful and prosperous earth. All the universities of the world including the University of Arkansas and many universities in India are fortunately endowed with youth power. The university education with value system need to empower the youth so that the glad tidings on the evolution of enlightened citizens can start from these campuses.
With the vision of University of Arkansas, I visualize the University multi departments to come together and conduct research on the evolution of enlightened citizens and spread the results globally. My best wishes to all the members of University of Arkansas.
May God bless you.
Dr. APJ AbdulKalam
19.10.2007
http://www.abdulkalam.com/kalam/index.jsp ல் இருந்து எடுக்கப்பட்டது.
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