Work is worship ethic encouraged

Basaveshwara, an Indian mystic (1106-1167), believed work is worship and fought against the practice of caste system in India while championing a firm belief in a universal concept of God and envisioning a society that flourished enriching one and all. Many great yogis and mystics of the time joined his movement enriching it with the essence of divine experience in the form of Vachanas (sacred hymns in Kannada) that define a new way of looking at God and life. Father D’Silva of Infant Jesus Church in Shimoga, India, urged the people to follow those principles when he inaugurated the Sammelan on Friday, an event which serves to support the view that all religions can coexist in harmony.