“Peace is not just absence of conflict”, News - Nation

Posted On Friday, October 23, 2009 at 02:39:36 PM

Ravi Shankar with President of Israel Shimon Peres at the second Israeli presidential conference on October 21

Bangalore: Spiritual leader Ravi Shankar addressed the second Israeli presidential conference 2009 on Wednesday in Jerusalem.

Titled ‘Facing Tomorrow’, global leaders discussed issues like leadership concerns in Israel and Palestine, continuing ecological deterioration, political instability in the Middle East, the economic crisis and Iran’s push to acquire nuclear weapons at the conference.

“The youth need vision and mission to resolve the conflict in the region and I am optimistic that patience and perseverance will bring peace,” said Shankar.

Other panelists of the session were Isrraeli president Shimon Peres, founder for Wikipedia Jimmy Wales, counsellor of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco Andre Azoulay, president of Cecilia Attias foundation for women Cecilia Attias, entrepreneur and philanthropist Guma Aguiar. The session was moderated by talk show host Dan Shilon.

The conference was opened by President Shimon Peres, and began with a video message from President Barack Obama. Also present were Prime Minister of Israel Binyamin Netanyahu, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, President of Croatia, President of Slovania, President of Macedonia, former Prime Minister of Spain, President of Ukraine, Europe ministers from China, ambassadors and representatives from the UN, research scientists, engineers, IT professionals, entrepreneurs and Nobel laureates.

Shankar’s brand of yoga and meditation found great appeal amongst Israelis. Israel’s TV and Radio 2 stated, “No doubt the most colourful and interesting talk was by Ravi Shankar”.

During his four-day tour to the country, Shankar also addressed students at the Hebrew University, members of the business forum in Tel Aviv University, and religious leaders in Jerusalem. He also met participants at the Art of Living’s breathing and meditation workshop in Jerusalem. He will visit Palestine and meet Palestinian leaders.

At the TA University, Shankar threw light on issues such as bringing about peace, terrorism, ethics in business, problems of the youth. He said, “Peace is not just absence of conflict. It is a positive inner emotion. Peace and prosperity go together. If there is peace, there is more prosperity. The whole world today is interested in having peace in the Middle East.”

The Art of Living foundation has been working actively in Israel since 2003, when Shankar visited Israel and took the message of peace to religious leaders of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze communities. Following his visit, Art of Living workshops and trauma care programmes have been conducted in affected areas including the Gaza strip, West Bank area, Jerusalem, Tulkarem, Haifa and Sderot. (TNN)