Mar - Kirpal Singh

AN ISRAELI'S VIEWPOINT 1Dr. Asher Eder discusses his reasons for taking partin the Master's Birthday CelebrationsIou MAY ASK, "What can attract anY Israeli to come to India?" Well, inmy case there are two reasons for it.However, both have one root; namely,a liking of Indian culture and spiritualityin general, and in particular an interestin Sant Kirpal Singh Ji's service to mankind.How did I become interested in thelatter? My wife, during a visit in Indiain 1970, attended a conference of theWorld Fellowship of Religions, presidedover by Sant Kirpal Singh Ji. She wasdeeply impressed by His personality aswell as by His teachings, and becameinitiated then. This time I accompaniedher to see for myself. We arrived aboutten days ago, and already during this fewdays' stay in Sawan Ashram, we couldobserve some of its outstanding features,such as the universal applicability of theteaching, which stresses the etern~l moral,ethical and spiritual values of everyreligion without touching its social characteristics.But high above the besttheoretical teachings stand the practicalexperiences; the quality of a tree shall beknown by its fruits. Also in this respectcan this Ashram stand out conspicuouslyin its practice of spiritual values of life.But perhaps the most remarkable fact isthat its fine spirit of love and brotherhoodis not confined to the Ashram. Itcomprises all.We received some first-hand experienceof what that means on the occasion18of the celebration of the Master's eightiethbirthday on Feb. 6. Dignitaries andrepresentatives of the most different religionsand religious groups, as well asgovernment officials, paid homage toSant Kirpal Singh Ji and His work inthe fully packed Vigyan Bhavan in NewDelhi, all of them stressing now the necessityand the benefit of universal loveand brotherhood.We Israelis were also asked for ashort address. When the Secretary of theAshram introduced us to the public, hestressed specially the point that we couldcome in spite of the regrettable fact thatthere are no diplomatic relations betweenIndia and Israel. Love, he saidrightly, is stronger than political formsand rules.If this feeling of love and brotherhoodof all mankind, based upon sound spiritualgrounds, spreads and grows, it willone day give a new and more humanenote even to that aspect of life we callpolitics.This hope for a peaceful united mankindmust not remain a dream. It cancome true. A certain historic proof forsuch a possibility we may see in the ancientPersian Empire which not only wasthe first world empire, but was an empirefounded solely upon the then newlyapplied principles of Zarathustra's teachingof truth, justice, and righteousness.Following these principles, equality andfreedom were granted to all its differentSAT SANDESH