They say enlightenment finds you when you walk towards humanity. Truth in this statement needs no evidence other than the peace and equanimity one experiences when they place compassion and consideration at the center of the universe. Exploring humanitarian service and the journey it helps traverse within oneself, the book, Enlightenment, by Dr. H.P. Kanoria, picks out the seed of humanity in the multitude of religious scriptures that the world is led by and finds the spiritual thread in them all.
Dr. Kanoria, is the head of the Kanoria foundation, and a leader of the SREI foundation. Both these organizations are synonymous with social service and are known for the contributions to remote areas of India through initiatives in education, need-based financial support, rehabilitation of trafficking victims, interfaith harmony and more.
SREI’s belief in Spiritual Unity
The book, as an extension to the vision of these foundations, steps in as a testament to SREI’s belief in harmony, happiness and wellness for all. It loosely reminisces and celebrates Swami Vivekanand’s focus on human values over all else, and attempts to inspire change on social, national, and global levels.
There are numerous books and translations that the foundation has distributed amongst people to foster the idea of universal oneness, but Enlightenment takes the leap in compiling all these ideas in a single cover. It gathers fundamentals from all faiths, underlining the commonalities between them all.
Stepping inward with the Kanoria Foundation
The traditional wisdom from scriptures is meant to guide people towards a way of life that helps them reunite with the purpose of their existence. However, these learnings are non-contextual if they are isolated from the conscious that thrives within a human being. This marriage, between the outside and the inside, is what Dr Kanoria highlights in Enlightenment.
The book highlights service for humanity, physical, mental and spiritual, as the foremost way to awaken the self within. It does so while intricately weaving together the values of humanity, power and spirituality with the larger concept of enlightenment – a stage of realisation that anyone can enter.
An eloquent and rational pitch for humanity
Not just Dr H.P. Kanoria, but also Hemant Kanoria who has been actively leading initiatives at SREI and Kanoria Foundation have openly pledged their support for humanity over all else. The organisations have continually organised talks, seminars, and discussions around the cause of championing interfaith cooperation and including the ideas of all religious groups in a literary format has just enhanced the importance of this message.
Like all other pitches of humanity, the message that Dr Kanoria spreads with his book is national and global at the same time. As he wonderfully puts it in the preface of his book, ‘Humanity, in its altruistic sense, is nothing but the aggregation of all the best elements of human civilisation. ‘Civilisation,’ said Swami Vivekananda, ‘is the manifestation of divinity in man.’
The first edition of Enlightenment was unveiled by Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam at the 4th World Confluence of Humanity, Power & Spirituality, while its second edition of the book was uncovered at the 5th World Confluence of Humanity, Power & Spirituality by Smt. Meira Kumar.
The principles that the book advocates are timeless and have been revisiting the world since time immemorial. However, what is different about Dr H.P. Kanoria, Mr. Hemant Kanoria and others at the Kanoria Foundation is the how they practice what they preach. Their initiatives wonderfully realise their faith in the fact that all living beings come from God; and therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to humankind.
