Dr. Atul Keshavji Shah
Diverse Ethics
Namaste, Greetings and Happy Diwali
By coincidence, today is Diwali and Rememberance Day at the same time. In Rememberance, we recall the sacrifices of history to bring peace to our shores, and in Diwali, we recall the spark of wisdom which dispels the darkness of ignorance. Yes, in this world of today’s noise, we are encouraged to forget faith, tradition and values, and instead embrace instant entertainment and satisfaction, even intoxication and selfishness. Which will last? Which has sustained and will sustain? It is the light of Dharma - the science of holistic living, where we respect each and every living being, and see hope and faith as the dispeller of violence and hatred.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the UK tomorrow, and I am truly honoured to have been invited to meet him at Wembley Stadium on Friday. The Indian diaspora in Britain has made a huge contribution to peace, economic progress, social cohesion and continues to do so. We eagerly await the Prime Minister’s message and know that it will draw from the deepest well’s of India’s wisdom and be universal and not nationalistic or fundamentalist as the media has tried to label him. He is one of the rare leaders in today’s world who embraces his spirituality openly and lives simply and with compassion and genuine care for world peace and prosperity.
On this special occasion, we would like to announce once again the highly successful International Jain Summer School for 2016 in India, and encourage learners to tap into this unique opportunity. This week, I also launched my forensic research on the collapse of Britain’s fifth largest Bank, HBOS, and the appalling leadership, risk management and audit failure which brought Britain to its knees, and forced a public bailout. Yes, there is a genuine darkness in our finance leadership, and wisdom is in scarce supply. Dr. Aidan Rankin and I are also very excited to work on our new Ethical Finance book for Routledge. This will draw from the deep well of Jain wisdom, to show the world a different way to sustainable finance and ethical business. Our review of Dr. Prakash Shah’s excellent research on Caste attracted the attention of the BBC Asian Network, where he was interviewed recently. We are also excited to note the huge success and progress of the Animal Inter-Faith Alliance, led by Barbara Gardner, the world's first initiative to bring faiths together to promote animal compassion.
We wish you peace and happiness in the times ahead,
Atul