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London Sevashram Sangh, a Hindu organisation for unity and peace, celebrated their annual ‘Om day’ on 1st June this year with an interfaith conference at Hammersmith Town Hall. Samani Prasannna Pragya and Samani Rohit Pragya were invited to represent Jainism at the conference, along with representatives of various other religions. The program commenced with the performance of an interfaith prayer and was followed by speeches from the various religious representatives.
Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh spiritual leaders presented their views on the topic
Role of Religion in Resolving the Problems of the Violent World.
In her talk, Samani Rohit Pragya said that according to Jainism, religion meant the feeling of equanimity and that without this feeling of equanimity; non-violence could not be applied in life. She said that applied religion is live religion and only that religion has the power to solve the problems of the violent world. Violence first takes birth in the mind of man then come into society, so to minimize violence it is essential to transform our negative emotions into positive ones. Transformation of emotions is possible only through the practice of meditation, which is one of the important aspects of religion. The Jain scriptures say: “All living beings seek happiness, nobody wants misery hence no living creatures should he killed or hurt”. And this understanding can be developed through the practice of meditation. She concluded her speech by saying that religion plays an important role in minimizing violence and can help build a harmonious and peaceful society if understood and applied in the right way.