Saturday, March 8, 1997

John Templeton: The billionaire behind Templeton Prizes

By Mike McManus

This week, Sir John Templeton, 84, gave his $1.2 million Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion to Pandurang Shastri Athavale, founder of an Indian spiritual self-knowledge movement.

It was the 25th year that the world's largest annual award was granted to a religious leader for extraordinary originality in advancing the understanding of God. Mother Teresa was the first to receive the prestigious Templeton Prize in 1972 when she was utterly unknown, years before she won the Nobel Peace Prize.

While some recipients are well known (Billy Graham, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Chuck Colson), many labored in obscurity. Athavale, 76, went into thousands of Indian villages to spread a message of love for God and love for all people that has directly improved the lives of 20 million people. The fishing villages of India, once known for gambling, drinking, and wife and child abuse have been transformed into places of cooperative efforts that spiritually elevated the downtrodden, vastly reduced crime and fed the poor.

"The prize is not for saintliness or mere good works, but progress," says Templeton.

Who is the man who finances the award?

Though Templeton once dreamed of being a missionary, he decided he could be of greater service in creating mutual funds to provide for others. Result: some of the world's largest and most innovative funds (Templeton Growth Fund, Templeton World Fund).

He once wrote in an article, "The more we give away, the more we have left." It was after giving away $1 million a year for 20 years in prizes, that he sold his mutual funds for $1 billion.

His spirituality surfaced as he opened mutual funds' annual meetings with a prayer. In a "Wall Street Journal" ad on Friday, he states: "Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth," In an extraordinary forthcoming book, "Worldwide Laws of Life: 200 Eternal Spiritual Principles," Templeton explains:

"If we have not developed a reservoir of spiritual wealth, no amount of money is likely to make us happy. Spiritual wealth provides faith. It gives love. It brings and expands wisdom."

To measure your spiritual wealth he suggests examining your relationships with others. Do you "accept others for who they are without reservation? Have we learned to forgive and forget perceived wrongs? Have we used our talents to the utmost," especially in serving others?

"Should we lose our savings and financial resources, then our spiritual wealth can help us recover and recoup our losses."

The John Templeton Foundation was created to "encourage purpose," Templeton told me in an interview.

"My grandfather, was a medical doctor in the Civil War. My son, a surgeon, knows 100 times as much as my grandfather about the body, but little moreabout the soul or spiritual principles. That is a pity."

In a survey of the nation's medical schools, the foundation found that not a single one was teaching "spiritual therapy," how prayer and meditation can help heal physical illness. So it offered grants up to 10 medical schools each of $10,000 to develop courses on faith in patient care. Now 30 out 126 schools have a course.

The foundation funded the creation of the John Templeton Reporter of the Year Award for excellence in religion writing that I believe inspired many newspapers to create religion sections.

It sponsors similar competitions for inspiring movies (won last year by "Dead Man Walking"), television, character-building colleges, and a high school "laws of life" essay contest.

However, John Templeton's greatest gift is in passing on his wisdom on how to be a happy and useful person, that can be read in "Laws of Life," spiritual principles operating like laws of gravity - invisible, but real, applying to everyone and self-enforcing.

One found in all religions is the Golden Rule. Buddhists say "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."

Alfred Lord Tennyson coined another law: "More is wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." The call to prayer "is heard in all languages," Templeton writes. "Look at the glorious sunshine; this is God's light. Look at your loved ones; you are seeing individual expressions of God."

He urges people to experience God in prayer. "Truth is individually sought, individually prepared for, individually received. No effort you put forth is lost or wasted."

Order this remarkable book at a discounted price of $20 by calling 800 561-3367.