Resources – Reading Material

UiDF is committed bringing relevant reading material to your attention. These along with mind strengthening exercises are useful tools to help you cultivate the feelings of unity in diversity.

The Common Ground Vol. 1: A Unified Basis of Existence

People today have a fragmented view of the world, seeing its diversity but not the unity that underlies it. This fragmentation, writes Shiv D Talwar, is at the root of ethnic conflict, environmental degradation and other problems. To address it, he proposes a radical new form of education, directed towards unity in diversity.
To get there, he draws both on ancient spiritual wisdom — including the Vedas and Upanishads from India, the creation story in the biblical book of Genesis, the ninety-nine names of God in Islam, Jewish mysticism, and the writings of Lao Tzu — and modern physical and biological science. Religions are many but their wisdom is one, and that wisdom converges with the findings of science as well. 
Beyond modern sciences and wisdom of ancient scripture, there also is a holistic science, which Dr. Talwar outlines in this book. Through holistic technology, an application of holistic science, humanity can develop its consciousness of the infinite and infinitesimal ultimate reality to live in health and harmony. He plans to follow this work with a second volume applying holistic science to the problem of individual health and harmony and another applying it to transform the future of global education. 

This is an award-winning book. It won Shiv Talwar a 2020 Books for Peace International Award for writing a masterpiece on the unity of science and spirituality (www.booksforpeace.org).

Finding the Common Ground Between Science & Spirituality: Based on The Common Ground Vol. 1: A Unified Basis of Existence

We hope to show through in-depth research and contemplation, that Science and Spirituality are saying the same thing in different languages. It, therefore, can help us resolve grave human and environmental problems of global proportions faced by the world today. We must therefore use this wisdom to research, develop, promote, and deliver education to cultivate unity in diversity. Let us explore the reasons why humanity should embark on such an educational initiative. Education in unity in diversity eliminates interfaith differences by making us realize our common divinity and our common reality.

A note from Shiv Talwar:

As I was going through the process of publishing The Common Ground Vol. 1, I met Robyn E Lebron, the author of Searching for Spiritual Unity…Can There be Common Ground? (WestBow Press). I shared my prepublication manuscript with her. Robyn not only took the time to read it but also endorsed it in words and action resulting in her publication of an abridged student version of it. She entitled her work Finding the Common Ground Between Science and Spirituality by Robyn E Lebron (Yorkshire Publishing, 2019).

Global Action in Education: Contemplative Learning of Unity in Diversity

Hundreds of thousands of us die each year from addictive habits of drug use, gun violence, and stress-related diseases that, amongst other stressors, can be attributed to racism, interfaith aversion, and other forms of bigotry. This behaviour, manifest in “us versus them” thinking, is central to a host of elusive human problems that no one escapes. Lack of mutual trust has led to a life of fear and conflict devoid of peace and harmony leading to mental stress underlying epidemics of internal disease, both mental and physical, and identity violence. Challenges faced by humanity are compounded by the addition of greed. This toxic mix is the root cause of the exploitation of nature. Climate change, not long ago seen as a distant threat, is now a daily reality for people across the globe. We have no clear path to the future, but we know that “more of the same” is not an option.
Where, then, to begin the transformation that is so clearly needed? If we are to act differently, we need to think differently. One place to look is education.
Natural distractions continually rob our minds of clarity. Truth is subtle. It eludes perception by a distracted mind. Learning with a distracted mind is superficial. Global action in education must make the teaching of “how to eliminate distractions” its first priority. This Global Action in Education is the theme of this book.
We learn about how our genetic inheritance of survival traits and emotions underlies the immutability of our mental distractions. They define the natural state of mind of all living beings. We also learn that humans have an inbuilt capability of attenuating and eliminating distractions. Contemplative traditions of humanity used this ability to cultivate an undistracted focus in their explorations of the truth underlying the existence of the diverse universe which is inaccessible to our physical organs of cognition. This book argues that the undistracted focus used by our contemplators to explore, the difficult-to-see truth, can also be used as a spine in our education systems, making them a central part of student learning and thus human behaviour. Our prevailing educational systems must follow the lead of our contemplators to transform the thoughts and actions of the students.
Shiv Talwar argues that education can and must result in the Contemplative Learning of Unity in Diversity. Global educational systems must teach time-tested simple-to-use contemplative practices which transform us from within raising our consciousness with the elimination of mental distractions.
Shiv Talwar brings to his work, a scientific cast of the mind and a profound curiosity about the relationship between science and spirituality. Years of study of religious and spiritual traditions have broadened his perspective and deepened his conviction that all of these traditions share a common core truth. This combination of attributes and experiences has led Shiv Talwar to become a scholar of what he calls holistic science, a convergence of religious wisdom and modern scientific disciplines. He explored this convergence in his award-winning book, unifying science and spirituality, entitled The Common Ground Vol. 1. Now, in his second book, he draws out the implications of holistic science for education.
In support of his proposal, Talwar takes the reader on a journey through neurophysiology, yoga (of which the exercise regime that goes by that name is only a small part), executive function, Bildung (originally a German educational tradition flourishing in Scandinavia) and much else. We discover that the proposal is an important application of holistic science, combining the wisdom of ancient spiritual traditions with the insights of modern scientific disciplines.
Anyone interested in education — from policymakers, educational administrators, and teachers to parents and grandparents — will find this book thought-provoking, and possibly life-changing.