Nurturing all things with Spirituality

Organized by the Living Peace Projects, the ‘Water for All’ ceremony commenced at the Peace Palace The Hague at 8 p.m. Taipei time on June 1st, 2022. Spiritual leaders of all faiths, professionals, and youth representatives gathered together for dialogues about clean water sources over the world by approaching the issues from different religious versus scientific perspectives employed in common reverse thinking for future outlook, so as to awaken and reinforce people’s awareness and recognition of the importance of water resources. Dharma Master Hsin Tao, Founding Abbot of the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (LJM), was invited to grace the event and his pre-taped video called out to conference-goers to pay attention to ecology as a whole and not just water. The Master appealed to all to nurture all sentient beings with spiritual love, to tolerate and embrace all forms of being and existence to enable a diversified symbiosis, empower an interdependent coexistence and global sustainability.

Master Hsin Tao has been advocating “Spiritual Ecology” long-term to confront ecological crises, and water resource issues have already been on his radar for years. The 2004 International Conference of Municipal Partnerships was themed on ‘Spirituality & Sustainability: Water as Our Common Origin’. The Master’s appreciation of the importance of environmental education for young people prompted the curation of an international media boot camp, “Here On Earth: Ocean Water”, in 2020 to help awaken young activists in marine ecology. The year 2021 not only saw the Master participate in the international symposium entitled “Water Resources & Spirituality in Climate Change”, but the signing of an MOU with the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education for in-depth cooperation in water resources, sustainable development, and spiritual ecology.

Since its conceptualization, the Living Peace Projects has continued its efforts in promoting interfaith harmony and cooperation, as well as improvement of water resources. The most recent “Water for All” ceremony not only featured forums and dialogues but collected and mixed living water from holy rivers around the world. There were rituals performed by religious representatives to bless the water before and after the mixing to lend expression to the common hope of keeping the Earth’s water resources clean and sufficient.

The “Water for All'' ceremony was set in motion by a panel featuring the Living Peace Projects Chair Brigitte van Baren, youth representative Jorn Beltman and Viviana Franco Hernandez. The IHE expert Hernandez used 3D animation to illustrate how rainwater can be turned into drinking water by virtue of modern cleantech to open new avenues for the future. Religious representatives, meanwhile, explored water’s holiness and preciousness from spiritual angles. Dutch rabbi Awraham Soetendorp shared bitter experiences of his war-torn past to remind people of warfare’s horror and the importance of peace. Sister Jayanti Kirpalani emphasized love and respect, as well as the retrieval of our inner peace that will ultimately help secure an all-embracing harmony for all sentient beings, keeping our water resources clean and abundant.

The highlight of the event was mixing of holy waters from 18 sources including the Ganges, the Amazon River, and Mekka. Amidst the chants of blessing from all faiths, the holy waters were poured into a bucket to be mixed, symbolizing people’s solidarity in cherishing the Earth’s water resources. There were talks on future outlook alongside the dialogue of spiritual leaders. Young children of different ages were invited to speak up at the book launch for Water Springs, lending the expression to mankind’s passing of the torch to future generations to cherish water resources and keep them forever abundant and clean.