People!
Whoever you are--powerful or homeless,
servant of God or sinner, well-known scientist, creative
artist, or with little education; and wherever you may live--in
the vast forest or the desert, in the jungle or on the tundra,
in the hot south or the far north, whether in an enormous city
or a forgotten small town--hear this Appeal from ancient
Kiev, from the epicenter of the worst nuclear catastrophe ever!
Fellow human beings, whoever you are--happy
or unhappy, in love or disillusioned with life, healthy or chained
to your bed; however bitter and hard your path may have been--you
cannot be indifferent to the destiny of our common home, the earth,
and to your own future and that of your children and grandchildren.
Look around you! Earthquakes and floods, tidal waves,
tornadoes, and fires; ecological catastrophes born of technology;
wars, ethnic and religious conflicts; cruelty and aggression;
the spread of diseases and a decline in morals--all
of this is our own doing. It is a result of our lack of spiritual
values. All of us--the people of the Earth--with
our excessive behavior, dark thoughts, false ideas, and depraved
actions have brought our planet to its last boundary, beyond which
is ruin.
And no one will save us, except the Highest. But
even the Highest cannot help us unless we repent, and only if
we want to help ourselves and every living being on Earth.
We cannot rely on the politicians; in the political
arena all noble endeavors seem destined to result in controversy.
But we can all together take that first step on the path to Salvation.
Recall, each of you, if there wasn't just once in
your life an occasion when your sincere, heartfelt prayer (or
concentrated thought and glorious feeling) helped you in a most
wondrous way.
And now imagine what kind of force it will be if
all of us--more than 5 billion people on all the continents
of the Earth--at one and the same moment lift our eyes
to the heavens and send to the Supreme Being, to the Highest Reason
of the Universe, a universal, powerful stream of bright energy
of Goodness and Love. It will be a first small step toward purifying
the space surrounding our planet--its biosphere, as
well as the sphere of human action through thought--of
the dark destructive energy that is filling the atmosphere of
our planet!
Let April 26 from now on become not only a Day of
Sorrow and remembrance of the ever growing numbers of victims
of Chernobyl, let it also become a Day of Unification of humankind
as we face the threat of self-annihilation, and a Day of
Hope for our salvation.
So little is asked to make this happen-just
do not forget: every year on April 26, from 5 p.m. to 5:10 p.m.,
Greenwich time [= 9 - 9:10 a.m., US Pacific Daylight-Saving
Time; adjust for the time zone where you are]: stop, if you are
on the road; wake up, if you are asleep; lay down your weapon,
if you are at war; put aside for ten minutes all your worries,
problems and sorrows; and find in your heart all the brightest,
best feelings of which you are capable.
ï If you are a believer, turn with your sincere,
heartfelt prayer to God (in your own language, according to your
own traditions); may this include your worship to the Highest,
your repentance for voluntary and involuntary sins, a prayer to
purify and save your soul, to purify and save our planet and humankind,
and a prayer of gratitude to the Lord for his mercy.
ï If you do not believe in God, then devote
these ten minutes to good and bright thoughts: remember everything
that you love, all those whom you love in this world; sincerely
repent of bad behavior; wish that you will become better and purer,
that you will love and help those close to you (even if only one
living soul); with all your heart, wish for Good, Happiness and
Peace to all people on Earth and in the whole Universe.
It's not difficult, Citizens of the Earth! Do this
at the designated hour--April 26 from 9 to 9:10 a.m.,
PDT. May the bells of churches and cathedrals ring all over the
Earth at this hour, may the organs resound and religious songs
and prayers come forth; let pure, bright thoughts and feelings
stream to the Heavens!
And may the Supreme Being hear us, oh People.
Translated by Birgitta Ingemanson and Gitta Bridges, March 1998