It happened with us

Ideas are the off-springs of human experience. The idea to organize Spiritual Heritage Education Network Inc. (SHEN) is no exception.

A number of the founders of Spiritual Heritage Education Network Inc. have their origin in India and were born before 1947. The reason why this organization exists today can be traced back to that year when India was partitioned into two countries on religious grounds.

India is and always was a pluralistic country where diverse people lived together free to practice their own religions. They coexisted for centuries in ‘peace’ but, perhaps, they never succeeded in building lasting bonds of humanity between the populations. As a result, unrest on both sides of the partitioned land resulted in large scale rioting, butchery, rape, and homelessness in a shameless orgy of religious hatred.

We were told that the identity savagery of 1947 in India was an act of uneducated masses and things would improve with the spread of modern education. But the truth of the matter is that the human condition has not improved in the intervening years.

Recent historical events between 1947 and now all around the world indicate that the hearts and minds of humanity are no closer today than in India and Pakistan of 1947. The promise of education remains unrealized because our educational systems have failed to address the question of raising human consciousness to perceive our common humanity. This perception is necessary to build bridges between the hearts and minds of the people living in the global village today.

That identity madness that we witnessed affected us deeply. We dedicate our lives to unifying and inclusive spiritual education as our contribution in ensuring that it will never repeat itself anywhere in the world.