I WSF Profile

FIRST WORLD SPIRITUAL FORUM
Valuing diversity towards the construction of planetary solidarity"

      History registers that humanity has faced extremely serious problems such as slavery, the subjugation of women, racism and many others having found some relatively satisfactory solutions to only some of them. Other equally serious problems persist such as war, hunger, social exclusion, the destruction of the environment and the abject poverty that afflicts great part of humankind.

      Technology has brought great comfort to some but has put life on the planet at risk. Globalization has brought countries closer fostering cooperation and friendship but also conflict. The tractor and the electric saw made possible a greater development of agriculture and of cities but at the price of destroying the environment and of greatly threatening biodiversity. The use of motorized vehicles has made transportation easier yet polluting the atmosphere, destroying the ozone layer, creating an ominous global warming and putting life on the planet at perilous risk.

      Humanity carries on its endless search abundantly expressed in the World Economic Forums, in Davos, and the World Social Forums in Brazil, India and Venezuela. Nevertheless a more profound perception of the problems at hand is missing, and more than that, the capacity of transmuting such perception into real action, effective and concrete, in the construction of a peaceful world.

      With this purpose in mind – finding solutions to the problems that afflict mankind – UP (United Planet), URI (Initiative of United Religions), UNIPAZ and several other institutions and organizations invite you to be part of the FIRST WORLD SPIRITUAL FORUM, which has as its central theme "Valuing diversity towards the construction of planetary solidarity". It will take place from the 6 th through the 10th of December in Brasília, capital of Brazil.

      This event gives voice to humanity's need of bringing together all knowledge and information in its various different expressions, whether social, spiritual scientific or artistic, embracing and accepting diversity as a valuable element in a new vision of things.

      Peace is the fruit of a harmonious and respectful sharing of the world with people of both similar and different cultures and of a holistic consciousness where we can promote values, principles and attitudes that integrate man's relationship to himself, with others and with nature.

      The FORUM has multiple objectives, standing out the creation and consolidation of a space where we can together build and reinforce ways that contribute to candid communication and the sharing of experiences lived, seeking the advent of a coexistence which realizes that we are all intrinsically connected, while simultaneously promoting the consciousness that results in a mindset that works towards the cessation of all forms of violence, based on respect for life, solidarity, brotherhood, justice and love for our fellowmen.

      The intention is to make the World Spiritual Forum a yearly event, to take place in Brasília, a city traditionally inclined to the pursuit of spiritual values. During the FORUM the touristic itinerary "Dom Bosco's Way" will be inaugurated.

      The organizations and institutions promoting the FORUM believe that the solution to our problems depend basically on the direction given to cultural, educational, scientific, technological, economic, financial, political, social, environmental and spiritual development. If based solely on speeches we run the risk of comfortably discussing problems yet with no real palpable results. We must act. The direction given to development must be based on an acute perception of our problems with the resulting concrete action that will attend global needs.

      In other words we should ask: should our economy be engaged in studying market laws, investing capital, managing resources, engineering finances in order to obtain good profit and positive economic/financial results or, on the contrary, in building a fair social organization? And what about religion? Should different religious groups be engaged in confronting each other or should they be concerned with the spiritual closeness of all beings? It's exactly this shift of values and attitudes that we pursue in the World Spiritual Forum.

      The main problem of humankind is the lack of positive attitudes on the part of most due to a lack of sensitivity, or of a feeling of brotherhood, or still the lack of a perception of the oneness of life or, in other words, of the awareness that from the macrocosm to the microcosm the web of life is one.

      The solution to our problems certainly does not rest on the refinement of our economic, scientific and political institutions but in the blossoming of new ways of acting based on new paradigms: solidarity as the base of human relationships; effective action; behavior coherent with one's ethical values; concern for nature and life on the planet; valuing diversity without sectarianism.

      We are the world. Each one of us is a link in the chain that brings all together as one. We must bring about the "collective consciousness of individual responsibility" to be experienced in attitudes successful towards world transformation. The natural outcome is realizing that "there is no ideology superior to solidarity". The highest point of the event will be the shaping of the "Spiritual Charter of Brasília" as a contribution towards building a better world. Furthermore, it plans to become a center where action will be permanently underway towards achieving the goals to be enumerated in the Charter.

      Certainly your participation in the event would enrich our debate bringing about a more profound perception of life which would result in attitudes effective in bringing about a more equitable and moral world, where you might adopt the posture of an activist heralding new paradigms, a new mindset, a new planetary vision. Humankind needs you! You have the power to transform the world!