Svetlana Smirnova: The Path to Peace lies through Spiritual Harmony

19/10/2020 18:34

Photo: “Delovoj Kazakhstan”

On October 18, Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) hosted an International conference on: “Spiritual Harmony - the Foundation of Peace”, dedicated to the Day of Spiritual Harmony and the 10th anniversary of the World Forum of Spiritual Culture. Svetlana Smirnova, First Deputy Secretary General - Head of the General Secretariat, welcomed the conference participants on behalf of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly.

In particular it was noted:

- Thank you for the opportunity to communicate with like-minded people who share and promote the ideas and values of Eurasian integration, protection of peace, strengthening friendship, harmony, partnership and good neighbourliness between peoples.

We live and work in a difficult time. It is characterized by growing global instability. Today, in many parts of the world, the problem of maintaining peace and harmony between people of different faiths and confessions, different social groups and nationalities is acute. Even for a short period of time, it is not possible to ensure sustainable peace. The number and scale of armed inter-state conflicts reached an unprecedented level after the Second World War. The number of victims and the sophistication of the means of destruction used increases. The unintelligent actions of Homo sapiens are aggravated by planetary quarantine and environmental catastrophism, which have the same unreasonableness and lack of spirituality at their source.

It is obvious that the modern human world loses not only its spiritual guidelines of life, but also the ability of sustainable civilizational development, which is the key to a peaceful future for humanity and the planet itself. Therefore, at the present stage, the issue of transition to a strategy of multipolar coexistence of peoples based on common basic values of life - spiritual culture - is acute.

The Great Abay, whose 175th anniversary was celebrated this year by mankind, said: “Man is a friend to man. Because everything in life - birth, upbringing, the feeling of satiety, hunger, sadness, grief, the shape of the human body, the way you come into the world and leave it - everything is the same for everyone.” It is also the same natural desire of all people for peace, harmony and justice.

Following the precepts of the genius of the Kazakh land, Kazakhstan has been demonstrating its loyalty to the ideals of peace and harmony for almost 30 years. In 1992, at the initiative of the International Association “Peace via Culture” and supported by the First President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the First Congress of Spiritual Consent was held in Almaty. Its participants - prominent religious and public figures from Austria, Great Britain, Germany, India, Italy, Russia, the United States, Switzerland and other countries - proposed to approve October 18 as a Day of mercy, mutual understanding and reconciliation between people. Since then, the Day of Spiritual Harmony has been celebrated annually on Kazakhstan's land as a national holiday, demonstrating to the whole world a practical commitment to the chosen priorities.

It is no coincidence that Astana hosted the Opening of the World Forum of Spiritual Culture in 2010 on the Day of Spiritual Harmony. It has been accumulating the creative energy of the world for 10 years. The forum was a real step towards the development of the process of spiritual recovery of mankind. More than 500 delegates from 72 countries of the world came to the capital of Kazakhstan at that time, they launched a qualitatively new, permanent body of the world community, designed to assert the primacy of spirituality over all other values of human civilization.

True spirituality does not consist in sophisticated wisdom, not in detachment from everyday concerns, not in the careful performance of religious rituals, but in a real inner transformation and improvement of human nature. It is achieved only by unswerving adherence to simple eternal moral requirements: hard and selfless work for the benefit of their loved ones, the country and the whole world; openness and readiness for mutual understanding, moral sensitivity, the ability to recognize the border between good and evil. In all ages, this has been the surest path to what is called self-improvement.

Today, supporting the ideas of the Forum, many people from different parts of the world, despite the difference in languages, beliefs, their status and social status, talk and think about it, confirming the true spiritual values of life with real practical deeds.

Ten years ago, at the World Forum of Spiritual Culture, the seeds of new social relations were laid, based on the community of the peoples of the world on the principles of truth, goodness, beauty and harmony. The culture of interpersonal relations that represents the spiritual harmony of the peoples of the world, their mutual respect and good neighbourliness, is gradually sprouting concrete forms and mechanisms.

One of these new practical platforms is the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, which was established with the participation of representatives of Kazakhstan, well-known public figures of the country, members of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. We are united by common projects and plans. The experience of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly shows that the ideas and values of Eurasian integration, laid down by Nursultan Nazarbayev at the end of the XX century, are now actively supported in the countries of Greater Eurasia, and contribute to strengthening the spiritual community of peoples in the Eurasian space. In its practical activities, our young organization strives to accumulate and creatively use the rich experience of Kazakhstan, in particular, the experience of establishing and preserving spiritual traditions.

Thus, the first Council established within the Assembly was the Council for Spiritual Culture. The second Extended meeting of the General Council Presidium of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly was held in Astana, as part of the Events dedicated to the Day of Spiritual Harmony. Cooperation agreements were signed with the International Association “Peace via Culture” and the Association of Entrepreneurs of the Assembly of people of Kazakhstan.

Today, we are actively searching for the most constructive forms and ways of development. In this sense, Eurasia is a kind of experimental platform where, thanks to the geopolitical structure, with good will, peoples and countries have the opportunity to cooperate in a new way: friendly, sincere and open.

The World Forum of Spiritual Culture 2010, which was organized by the members of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly Tolegen Mukhamedzhanovich Mukhamedzhanov, Yuri Andreevich Ageshin, Irina Stepanovna and Svetozar Pavlovich Darnevs, Olzhas Omarovich Suleimenov, Larisa Aleksandrovna Trunina, Wilhelm Augustat, Mary Fischer and many other colleagues, defined one of the main strategic lines of the Assembly - the unity of the peoples of Eurasia on the basis of cultural and spiritual values.

Today, the priority of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly is peace-making, shifting the focus from ethnic strife and hostile relations to the affirmation of universal values that guide people to implement peace initiatives. We are required to make every effort to establish harmonious relationships in all layers of life. The path of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly is the path of peace. Spiritual culture can certainly lead people to community and unity, and the world to a stable balance.

One of the main documents of the Assembly - the Declaration of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly - sets out the main mission of the organization: the formation of the consciousness of the Third Millennium Man, who creates and approves the co-creation of peoples in the name of peace and prosperity. It is the peoples, because folk traditions preserve unshakable spiritual values common to all mankind.

We have a lot of hard work ahead of us - bringing together all the forces that strive for friendship, cooperation and good-neighbourliness. Let it bring good and useful results!

On the Day of Spiritual Harmony, we wish all participants of today's meeting health, creative inspiration, success in public activities for the sake of peace and spiritual harmony on the planet!

We are sure that over time this holiday of the community of peoples, the good example of which Kazakhstan shows, will be celebrated all over the world.