NEO-HUMANISM
One of the important
factors in the development of any society is a proper social
outlook. In the past, entire civilizations have weakened and
crumbled simply because one class or group in the society
considered another to be inferior and treated them as slaves.
Today one of the greatest weaknesses of contemporary
civilization is that there is no proper regard and mutual love
amongst humans. Race is pitted against race, religion against
religion, linguistic group against linguistic group. The
divisions in human society are endless and are sapping the vital
life out of our civilization.
Not only is there a lack
of mutual respect among people, but humans have lost all esteem,
appreciation and responsibility towards the animals and plants
who share this planet with us. Our wanton destruction of the
plant and animal life and our unthinking pollution of the air,
earth, sea and space threaten to permanently damage the earth's
eco-system making it inhospitable for all forms of life.
In his earliest writings
on this subject, P.R. Sarkar said that humans must think of
themselves as part of one great family comprising all of
humanity, rather than identifying with a particular race,
religion, nationality or linguistic group. This type of social
outlook he termed "universalism". In 1982 he further
elaborated on the method of attaining universalism in a series
of discourses published in a book Liberation of Intellect:
Neo-Humanism. In that book he noted that traditional humanism
has not been capable of elevating humanity to the height of
universalism and presented a reformulated humanism based on
spirituality, and called it "Neo Humanism."
Neo-Humanism is derived
from an understanding of the fundamental nature (Dharma) of
human beings. Human life has three aspects: physical, mental and
spiritual. Regarding the physical aspect, the science of biology
has already said much about the workings of the human body.
However, the psycho-spiritual needs or humans have not been, up
to now fully understood despite the efforts of psychologists and
spiritual seekers.
The higher possibilities
of human nature demand that the mind be free to expand and to
flow towards the Supreme Consciousness (God). When this happens,
a human being develops love (devotion) for the Supreme
Consciousness and love for all other beings. This love for the
Supreme Consciousness should be considered to be the most
valuable treasure of humanity. Without it life becomes dry and
meaningless.
Today, however, humanity
does not have a proper philosophy of life and so the society
which we have constructed is not in harmony with the inner
longings of the human heart. Materialism pervades all parts of
present day life and materialism is crushing the devotional
sentiment in humans. As a result of this imbalance between the
inner needs and outer realities we find much misery, depression
and mental illness in society today.
The solution to this
rectifying this imbalance is a philosophy which harmonizes the
inner needs of humanity with the outer demands of the material
world. In order to implement such a way of life we must know the
ways in which the spiritual treasure (devotion) of humanity is
threatened. There are three human sentiments which impede the
expansion of the mind towards universalism.
When one is obsessed with
one's geographical land, this is called geo-sentiment. In the
past, and even today, many people were concerned only with their
own land or own country. Out of this love of their land they
evolved other sub-sentiments such as geo-patriotism,
geo-politics, geo-religion and geo-economics. Using
geo-patriotism to stir the masses, politicians have goaded them
into fighting many bloody wars. The colonialism of the past and
the neo-colonialism of today is nothing but a form of
geo-economics ("Let us develop our own country even if it
creates misery and poverty in satellite states" is the
slogan behind geo-economics).
Another sentiment which
has harmed humanity is called socio-sentiment. Here people focus
their attention on the particular social group to which they
belong. It may be a national, linguistic, social or religious
group. Although this sentiment is sometimes more expansive than
geo-sentiment (if the particular social group happens to be very
large), still it creates a group consciousness which comes into
conflict with the sentiment of other groups. The religious wars
of the past and even of the present were and are caused by this
socio-sentiment.
Finally, the expansion of
the human mind is blocked by another seemingly "good"
sentiment that is, "humanism". Love and respect for
other human beings or "humanism" should be a noble
sentiment uniting humanity and elevating the minds of everyone.
However, ordinary humanism has some serious shortcomings. First
of all, such humanism does not extend to plants and animals.
People talk of "human rights" but continue to deny the
rights of plants and animals to exist. Another defect of
humanism is that, bereft of a strong spiritual background it
often degenerates into pseudo-humanism. For example, many
so-called developed nations give "foreign aid" to less
developed countries in the name of humanism, but behind the
scenes the multinational corporations of these same nations are
extracting all the wealth out of the less developed nations,
creating extensive misery for people and massive ecological
destruction in their reckless pursuit of profits.
Shrii Sarkar has done more
than describe the problems caused by these limited sentiments.
He also presents the ways in which to overcome the sentiments
which stand in the way of our developing universalistic
consciousness. He says that geo-sentiments can only be countered
when humans develop their faculty of rationality. Rational
thinking is an extremely valuable tool which humans have at
their disposal. Through proper study and use of the mind, humans
can easily see through the geo-sentiments propagated by
demagogues.
In this regard, Shril
Sarkar emphasizes that mental analysis must not be checked by
dogmas which he defines as ideas or belief systems which attempt
to limit the field of human thinking. In some countries, for
example, one may discuss economics only within the framework of
a certain philosophy. This is a dogma, not very different from
the religious dogmas of some countries where spiritual or social
ideas can only be discussed within the bounds laid out by a
particular religious faith. All dogmas, whether they are
presented as religious, or even are claimed to be
"scientific", are dangerous for human welfare.
Regarding social sentiments, the best way to overcome them is by
adhering to the principle of social equality (Sama Samaj
Tattva). Amongst humans, two principle psychologies can be
observed. Some people live only for their own selfish pleasure
and never think of the needs or rights of others. A more lofty
outlook is where people have a determination to move towards the
supreme consciousness, and along the way they make a resolve to
eliminate the social inequalities which divide humanity. Sarkar
explains that the "endeavour to advance towards the
ultimate reality by forming a society free from all inequalities
with everyone of the human race moving in unison is called Sama
Samaj Tattva." (Liberation of Intellect)
Thus, socio-sentiments can
only be overcome with the spiritual outlook inherent in the Sama
Samaj Tattva The key to removing social inequalities is a
"proto-spiritual mentality." Proto-spiritual mentality
is the attempt to focus the mind on a spiritual object (the
Supreme Consciousness). When this kind of thought becomes the
principle of human life then socio-sentiments can be easily
surmounted. In order to overcome the defects of humanistic
sentiments, first humans will have to accept that all creatures
have existential value. That is, all creatures have a right to
live in the world and develop according to their inherent
nature. Humans will have to take steps to see that the habitats
of animals and plants are not destroyed even if these plants and
animals have no apparent utility value to humans. To fight
against pseudo-humanism, we will have to be motivated by
spirituality (movement of the mind towards the Supreme
Consciousness). Humanism can not remain as an intellectual
concept, rather it must be nourished by a flow of love. When one
does spiritual practices, love for all beings arises within, and
when this is expressed in individual and collective life, then
spirituality becomes humanity's mission and universalism is
attained.
Shrii Sarkar maintains
that Neo-Humanism is the solution to the world's social problems
and has described the ways in which present social, political
and religious leaders have been trying to block the progress of
humanity through dogmas, pseudo-humanism, pseudo spirituality
and half-hearted and incomplete measures of reform. Despite the
dismal record of present and past leaders, we should remain
optimistic because once humanity accepts the cosmic
consciousness as the goal of life and collectively move towards
that goal, then we will overcome all obstacles, small and large.
This
is an excerpt from The Wisdom of Yoga by Acarya
Vedaprajinananda Avadhuta (Ananda Marga Publications, Singapore,
1990). ©1990 Ananda Marga Publications, all rights
reserved. If you are interested in more details about the book
including ordering information visit the Ananda
Marga Publications web page. |