Karaganda RURL

18 October marks the 25th Anniversary of the First World Congress of Spiritual Concord, which for the first time ever took place in Almaty.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan, addressing a conference, dedicated to the 10th Anniversary of “Kazakhstan 2030” Strategic Plan, notes: “Kazakhstan is fulfilling a function of one of the important centers for intercultural and interreligious dialogue today. We conduct the Congresses of leaders of world and traditional religions. And this mission of Kazakhstan finds support on the part of other countries and international organizations, the US in particular”. Movement of Spiritual Concord brings its strong contribution in this process.

In the manifest accepted the participants of the First Congress of Spiritual Concord appealed to announce 18 October to be the Day of Spiritual Concord, the day of moratorium on conflicts and collisions, the day we seek to reconciliate and initiate understanding between people, the day of mercy and help towards fellow-creatures. Since then 18 October has been annually celebrated in our country as the Day of Spiritual Concord. Such principles as “Let’s Respect Faith!”, “Differences without Discord!”, “Co-service and Mercy!” became foundational for the Day of Spiritual Concord.

It was the first year of Kazakhstan as a sovereign, secular and democratic state when the First World Congress of Spiritual Concord under the patronage of Nursultan Nazarbayev took place in Almaty in October, 1992. The Congress convened the representatives of all religions, spiritual schools, humanitarian and social movements. Annually in the mid-October our like-minded colleagues and associates from different countries of the world gather in Astana to discuss the most pressing and vital problems of modernity and to identify their possible participation in the solution of these problems.

One of our goals as an English Club is to promote Kazakhstan’s holidays. During the meeting participants took a great interest in this celebration. The meeting was conducted at a high level; the host was very eloquent and knew the subject very well. Among vital problems of our being and spirituality, which we discussed over were such topics as “Future of the world: in accordance with civilizations and religions”, “Historical, cultural, and religious traditions are the basis of spiritual concord of the nations of Eurasia”, “The ways of preserving and strengthening international and interreligious concord in the modern world”. The topicality of these problems is defined by the spiritual unity of people of different cultures and confessions which is a strategic factor, providing stability and sustainable development of separate states as well as large world regions. Common interests of all peoples of Eurasia are in the search of ways to unite on the ground of respect for all historically formed differences between peoples, on the ground of respect for faith and general for all religions ethical principles.

Spiritual harmony in our understanding does not mean unification, consistency, uniformity, or creating some common religion. But we hold together and seek in religion not the opposition of people to each other, but the unifying principle. All religions indeed are based on simple and comprehensible principles for all people around the world. They are the following: love your neighbor, help the afflicted, be pitiful to the poor and miserable, and follow the eternal commandments. That's the spirit of space which is the general area that brings people together.

We are united by a peremptory rejection of any form of violence. The true faith has nothing in common with violence, hatred, xenophobia, and all the more with terrorism. The new millennium should be marked by the celebration of humanity, respect for faith, kindness and mercy.

We are proud that Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan, appreciated the role and significance of movement of Spiritual Concord. He welcomed the delegation of the Congress of Spiritual Concord and International Association “Peace through Culture” in his official residency. Only spiritual and ethical rebirth of a man can save the world from destruction. We are sure that spiritualization of the world is the common objective for all sensible people in both present and future. We must preserve the achievements of the materialistic age, and add to them the basics of our former life – an ethic and  spiritual constant from the spirit, which is Spiritual Culture, - that gives them a more solid and unshakable foundation. In order to understand and accept this novelty, it is important not to reduce everything to the appeals for spirituality. One cannot make a turn in history with the help of these appeals. We need to make an evolutionary leap in human consciousness to more perfect and harmonious forms of co-existence.