A morality or an ethic is an essential and pressing need in this world where corruption and injustice seem to be the dominant laws. Our experience tells us, however, that without a contemplative and loving approach to reality, without the ability to be moved by all that exists, especially by the pain of a fellow human being, moral and ethical codes eventually become either repressive, imposed rules or a matter of personal goodwill. In order to treat others as we would like to be treated, we need to develop the capacithy of empathy with the other, the ability to live from inside the other what he/she is experiencing. This implies a tremendous capacity for openness, an ability to listen receptively and lovingly, and an inner silence and peace. The possibility of such a non-dualistic relationship with all that surrounds us is surely the last hope for our world. In this we find a common home and language with all peoples, be they Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Muslim or agnostic. This is why the promotion of what we might call ‘spirituality’ is the Foundation’s main, though by no means only, objective. The second aim is to promote social (and even political) action born out of solidarity, from the local to the international level. The third is to promote respect for and conservation of the environment. We believe that this project is our greatest, albeit extremely modest, contribution towards the realization of our motto: to “dream and build a more fraternal world in a more habitable environment”. We find it impossible to separate these areas.

This diversification of objectives, running counter to the increasing tendency for specialization, has its inconveniences, especially in the case of an organization as small as ours. But day after day we realize that a mysterious force arising from the deepest heart of the silence and peace of the mountains drives us to take effective, merciful action aimed at the underlying causes of so much injustice and the suffering to which it leads. Conversely, when we walk 1,000 km. to the UN headquarters in Geneva or fast for 42 days in front of the EU headquarters in Brussels, attend to the needs of those closest to us as best we can, rebuild crumbling terraces or care for hundred year old olive trees, it is this same mysterious force that drives us to develop ever deeper, stronger and more widespread roots. On the other hand, within the sphere of active solidarity, how can we not endeavour to prevent new cases of genocide as terrible as those of Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire, however far away they may be? And at the same time: how can we turn a deaf ear to needy people near by? Finally, as far as our immediate natural surroundings are concerned, how can we permit the deterioration of the very earth that shelters us with its terraces, olive trees etc.? The need for an ever more integrated understanding of the complexity of reality and of a life in harmony with the totality of which we are a part is as necessary to us today as is the essential process of specialization.

Dolce Sentire (El Cántico de las Criaturas)