Over the past weekend, my students from around the world gathered for an event of profound unity. Using a unique virtual platform, built by the students themselves, nearly 6,000 friends got together online for what was probably the largest interactive convention ever held.
For forty-eight hours of joy, we had lessons, workshops, watched movies and clips. We ate and drank, sang in multiple languages, at every hour of the day, and at every time-zone in the globe.
Every event was simultaneously interpreted over the internet into dozens of languages by the friends themselves, which fastened and strengthened their bonds. They divided into groups, then mingled the groups, divided into languages, then mingled the languages, and all with one aim in mind: to generate worldwide unity.
This weekend, Chinese bonded with North and South Americans, who bonded with Iranians, who bonded with Israelis, who bonded with Russians, who bonded with Europeans, who bonded with Africans, who bonded with Australians, who bonded with Chinese, until the circle was complete. Indeed, we all became one sphere, held together by invisible threads that stretched from heart to heart to heart. Veteran students, complete beginners, and everyone in between felt very much at home in this gathering, and everyone wishes to continue fostering our unity.
In this troubled time of deepening chasms among and within nations, when hatred and violence seem to have the upper hand, my students proved that if we truly want to unite and nurture love among all people, no rift will divide us. On the contrary: The deeper the rift, the tighter the bond.
I am confident that such events have an enormous positive impact on the world. Hopefully, with persistent work on unity, we will be able to spread the love that we nurtured this weekend to the entire world, so that all of humanity may taste the taste of oneness and choose to beat swords into plowshares.