It was an amazing experience spending time with the distinguished attendees and speakers at the Sala event. It was an intellectual treat. Many of you expressed interest in my mission which has two pillars. You can get a flavour from my website www.uef.org I also send a weekly newsletter. I am sharing the introductory letter and will send you a few on a weekly basis. Please unsubscribe if these are of no interest. However, I would love to hear back from you any suggestions to create a wider and deeper impact
WELCOME TO A FLOURISHING LIFE with Universal Enlightenment and Flourishing (UEF).
UEF is a non-profit organization that promotes human flourishing and religious literacy by creating awareness of the commonalities across world religions—building bridges across humanity.
My inspiration for creating UEF came from my time as a fellow at Harvard in 2015–2016. During that period, I audited thirty-six courses on diverse subjects, including twelve on religion. These courses deepened my awareness of the continuing, pervasive influence of religion in our lives—both directly and indirectly—and its potential to serve as a source of both inspiration and division.
Growing up in Old Delhi, India—a diverse, pluralistic society—I naturally learned to appreciate religious diversity and to approach all religions with curiosity and respect. However, many people lack exposure to different faith traditions and therefore approach them with a wide spectrum of emotions, ranging from indifference and suspicion to outright hostility. After a two-year intensive immersion at Harvard, I became convinced that our commonalities are the bridges that unite us, and they are stronger than the walls that divide us.
I felt a calling to enhance religious literacy, overcome feelings of exclusivity, eradicate intolerance, and emphasize the value of studying the shared wisdom found in various religious traditions.
After conducting over four years of rigorous research with the help of Allen Simon (MTS, Harvard Divinity School), we published our book in 2023: Bridges Across Humanity: Different Religions, Similar Teachings. It explores 54 common themes found across world religions, demonstrating their shared wisdom, unity, and oneness—fostering solidarity and understanding. The foreword is written by Francis Clooney, S.J., the Parkman Professor of Divinity and Comparative Theology at Harvard Divinity School.
The book has received high acclaim from thought leaders across the globe. It was featured at the Mumbai LitFest in November 2024 and received an award from the interfaith organization Dare to Overcome in December 2024.
Our research on religious commonalities continues. Our website, www.uef.org, now showcases 108 themes that are common across all religions—yes, 108! One of the lessons we learn from large language models is that the answers they provide depend on the prompt or question we ask. For too long, humanity has been asking the wrong question: “What are the differences between my religion and other religions?”—often with the unspoken belief that one’s own religion is superior. The right question is the one we asked, which has surprised everyone, including ourselves: “What are the commonalities across all religions?” The answer: 108 and more
Today, our bi-weekly Wisdom newsletter reaches over one million people in 1,000 higher education institutions across America.
During my Harvard immersion in 2015–2016, I also gained insights into human flourishing. Our core insight is that our deepest longings are only three: to love, to learn, and to play. We can flourish by deeply loving, learning, and playing—no matter what we do, what our endowments are or what our circumstances are. I have been applying this mantra in my own life and sharing it with close friends and family ever since.
I currently serve on the advisory board of Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program. Based on my experience and feedback from colleagues there, my conviction about the value of these insights in promoting human flourishing grows stronger every day.
I have also begun live interactions with students and thought leaders in universities and colleges across the USA—Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia among them—to share and refine these insights. Our website offers articles, videos, and quotations that explore human flourishing and happiness. We are in the process of publishing a book on human flourishing titled “To Flourish is to Love Learn Play”and we will soon begin sharing more of these insights through our bi-weekly newsletters.
