On November 29, the seventy-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 December as World Meditation Day. Resolution A/79.137, initially sponsored by 18 countries, outlines the various points that support the proclamation of World Meditation Day, including:

Most people have a personal definition of what Goodwill is. At its simplest, the vast majority might characterize it as extending kindness and respect to others. This is a very good definition, and it’s worth noting that Goodwill seems to be a vibrant and natural element of the human psyche. Because it is a fixed concept which has grown with humanity as the race has evolved, Goodwill will likely be described with as many nuances as there are cultures. We’ll find many and varied definitions of this word in the core beliefs of spiritual systems worldwide. In Christianity there is a famous and often repeated phrase “…peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” One interpretation of this phrase (and there are many) is as an encouragement to humankind to strive after peace using the method of Goodwill. 

In 1974, Queen Elizabeth delivered a message alluding to the problems of continuing violence in Northern Ireland and the Middle East, famine in Bangladesh and floods in Brisbane, Australia with the powerful message “we have much more in common, than there is dividing us”.  Such powerful words conveyed the message that despite all the differences in language, race, culture and tradions, humans are far more alike than different from each other. Unfortunately today, certain divisive values such as competitiveness and individualism, continue to fuel the sense of separateness and perpetuate what the Ancient Wisdom writings refer to as the Great Illusion.

As Alice Bailey explains in A Treatise on White Magic, humanity has wandered for centuries ...

By  Sahana Chatopadhyay  and Youssef Mahmoud

An article on this week’s UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi offers insight into the spirit that can be expected to underpin the gathering. Youssef Mahmoud is  a Senior Adviser at the International Peace institute who was formerly a UN Under-Secretary-General.   Sahana Chatopadhyay is a writer and thinker who focuses on imagining new pathways towards emergent futures and interbeing. Together they offer a vision of the the Nairobi Conference as “a unique opportunity for civil society to assert its right to co-author the multilateralism we need in the face of unprecedented global changes heralding momentous paradigm shifts. “We the peoples” as enshrined in the UN Charter is not a mere phrase but holds the aspirations, visions, and co-creative imaginations of billions on whose behalf multilateral decisions are taken.

Upholding our shared humanity and bridging existing divides requires ongoing effort, patience, and commitment from individuals, communities, and institutions. By undertaking such endeavors, we contribute to the working out of the universal ideas of the Plan, which takes place as humanity responds to higher impressions of the wholeness and sacredness of life and strives to intelligently embody these insights in all areas of thought, activity and relationship – namely economic, political, educational, legal, psychological, religious and so on This in turn, enables an environment which embraces our shared humanity, both individually and collectively, to foster understanding and promote collaboration to work towards a more united and inclusive world – a world where everyone feels accepted, valued, connected, and supported in pursuit of their self-chosen contribution to the whole.

“The point to be grasped is that through humanity on the physical plane, the nature of reality will be revealed; the true and the beautiful will be manifested; the divine plan will eventually work out, and that energy be transmitted to all forms in nature which will enable the inner spiritual reality to emerge.”