Bali: Mahamahopadhyay Bhadreshdas Swami, one of the world’s leading Indian philosophers, was invited to represent BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) as a traditional scholar of Hinduism at the inaugural G20 Religion Forum – or ‘R20’ – hosted in Bali, Indonesia, on November 2 and 3.
The invitation was testament to BAPS’s worldwide commitment to fostering genuine dialogue, mutual understanding and wider collaboration among diverse faith communities, and coincided with the centennial anniversary year of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who was a lifelong advocate of global religious harmony.
Bhadreshdas Swami had been invited by the organisers as one of the key speakers to address the audience of over 400 esteemed delegates from around the world.
During his address, he paid tribute to Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s message of interfaith harmony from the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in New York City in 2000.
In speaking about fostering peaceful conflict resolution and global religious harmony, Bhadreshdas Swami drew upon the universal timeless wisdom of the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Bhagwan Swaminarayan and various schools of classical Indian thought. He concluded with the driving message of His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj: “In the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – ‘The whole world is one family’ – let us reach out to extend the circle of global harmony.”
Two other speakers from India also spoke eloquently about religious harmony – Swami Govinda Dev Giri Maharaj, Treasurer of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, and Swami Mitranand Saraswati, Director of the All India Chinmaya Yuva Kendra.
