In the Vedic teachings the universal foundation of the Sanatana Dharma – better known in the West as hinduism – has been recorded. The Sanatana Dharma has no founder, neither a beginning nor an end, as in Christianity and the Islam, and is intended for all of humanity, thus not for just a restricted group of people.
No distinction is made between individuals. These Veda’s – which means ‘knowing’ – were
revealed thousands of years ago in India. Therefor people believe that the Veda’s contain all knowledge of the laws and principles of nature and mankind and that they can never get lost due to their timeless nature.
Sanatana Dharma stands for ‘the eternal values’ supporting Existence, Life and Evolution, as described in the Vedic scriptures. It belongs to all of humanity, as it knows no assignable beginning and its essence is to live in harmony with each other and with nature. De Sanatana Dharma stands for extreme tolerance, justice and spiritual freedom and therefor in no way preaches conversion to or from other religions. It is in fact no religion nor believe and, in the East, is better known as a moral philosophy of life or ‘a way of life’.
Promoting a harmonic society will be the core of all activities to the Foundation. For this reason the logo of the Foundation contains the symbols of the six largest world religions, put together with the peace dove on a lotus flower in the center.
The core activity is and remains the church service, held in the form of kirtans (devotional hymns sung for God). The kirtan is accessible for everyone, independent of origin, culture, religion or conviction. Besides that, lectures about the five universal human values may be presented, as well as intercultural dialogues and yoga lessons. A long-term expectation is to develop plans to realize and maintain a Temple / Multi-cultural Spiritual Center as donations gradually increase.
The realization of a Multi-cultural Spiritual Center will be valuable for people living in the region, as activities such as practicing yoga, music lessons, selfless service to the community and integrative activities can be developed.
From a practical point of view, Vedic scriptures are intended to envision ideal ways of life, such as models for thinking and behaving in an ideal manner and optimizing relations between people, nature, cultures and countries. The aim is to live an optimal moral, spiritual and harmonic life according to the five universal human values (Truth, Righteousness, Peace, universal Love and Non-violence). From Hinduism ways of life and religions as Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism have developed. The tendency towards individualization, intolerance and fundamentalism that exists at present has no place in Hinduism and therefor neither in the Shri Satyam Sai World Foundation.
