Part I :
The problems of the world are many, the solution is but one --- a return to our spiritual roots. Why so? Because all problems arise from a fractured vision of reality which is the material outlook and cease when the integrated vision of the Spirit is restored, to restate Sri Aurobindo alternatively.
Matter in its myriad manifestation is a ceaseless strife of forces resolving ever to produce newer formations which is the essence of change. This constant flux allows no settlement of elements into a harmonic mould, no status quo whatsoever but requires a constant adjustment of the factors in their interactive modes which trickles down even into the human world, for, after all, the human body and the human mind are but extensions of the vaster material superstructure of Nature.
This connection of the human to the natural is quite obvious for the human species is an organic evolution of the cosmic forces. Body is matter and mind is matter, too. If there is a third entity over and above these two which is not material nor is subject to the laws of physical Nature, it is a matter of deep meditation and study. We may posit limitless theories of soul and spirit and after-life and the beyond but we will not have moved an inch closer to the truth of any such statement. It will need careful scrutiny and study, experimentation and analysis before an iota of understanding comes to us as to the real nature of things. For all things as we understand are appearances and not what they in essence are.
The material propositions of science may bring material comfort to man but cannot drive out the hunger of the soul to know its genesis, cannot bring peace in this storm-tossed world where desire rules the roost and 'the human soul is the sacrifice' as Swami Vivekananda in another context had articulated. The fundamental problem of life is death and no amount of science, as we know it, can solve this by its material means. Hence, the search for the Spirit will continue as long as humankind exists and spirituality will remain the source of solace and peace for humanity.
But this spirituality must be the genuine search for God and Truth and not any malefic political movement masquerading as world religion with an absolutist God or prophet pronouncing judgement on humanity and providing the exclusive way to Truth. Such rogue religions have had their day among masses of fools buying a passport to heaven or being forced into buying such, for the times are illumined now by the inroads of science and the scientific searchlight that has shamed such political perversions as so much irrational, nay, infra-rational garbage. In this age of enlightened reasoning such religions will lose their hold day by day but they must be replaced by spiritual rationality which the Vedanta offers if materialism will not gain ugly supremacy in society.
The dynamics of the day do not augur too well for the future prospects of the world. And these are the fruits of both religion and science, essentially, human ignorance of its spiritual roots, the solidarity of the universe and the integration of all sentience whence flows supernal love. Technology has brought human civilisation to the brink of annihilation and if any one is sceptical of this statement, let him turn his vision back to August 6 and 9, 1945, Japan, to be able to appreciate its veracity, even remembering that since 1945 the n-bombs have evolved in destructive power 'n' number of times. Add to this global warming and the inter-civilisation friction, as Samuel P. Huntington has so elaborately described in his book, 'The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order', and you get a rather bleak picture of the future of the world. Will civilisation outlive the current threats to it or will it end in a harakiri, the catastrophic culmination of the divorce between Matter and Spirit?
This is the moot question that faces thinkers today, this oscillation of civilisation between life and death, this ominous movement of the ignorant mind towards inevitable self-destruction with unlimited arsenal at his disposal to settle his fate in a self-sanctioned doom. Will we learn our lessons from history and pause to ponder the options yet available for the salvaging of civilisation before we move in to accelerated annihilation?
Part II :
In 1893 a Hindu monk had appeared on the world stage in the Chicago World Parliament of Religions that had been convened to deliberate the relative features of the different religions of the world. Unknown and unheralded, he had appeared on the shores of the New World bringing from his ancient country the tidings of the Spirit, the grand harmonising philosophy of the seers and sages of India. He had no credentials to the congregation whatsoever, no support from his home land save that of a few devoted followers, but he had the realisation in his heart of these ancient truths and the blessings of his spiritual Master to support him in a strange land intent on ushering in the New Age with its World Fair.
His journey across the seas needs some background recounting, so, let us delve back into the past whence he hailed.
The problems of the world are many, the solution is but one --- a return to our spiritual roots. Why so? Because all problems arise from a fractured vision of reality which is the material outlook and cease when the integrated vision of the Spirit is restored, to restate Sri Aurobindo alternatively.
Matter in its myriad manifestation is a ceaseless strife of forces resolving ever to produce newer formations which is the essence of change. This constant flux allows no settlement of elements into a harmonic mould, no status quo whatsoever but requires a constant adjustment of the factors in their interactive modes which trickles down even into the human world, for, after all, the human body and the human mind are but extensions of the vaster material superstructure of Nature.
This connection of the human to the natural is quite obvious for the human species is an organic evolution of the cosmic forces. Body is matter and mind is matter, too. If there is a third entity over and above these two which is not material nor is subject to the laws of physical Nature, it is a matter of deep meditation and study. We may posit limitless theories of soul and spirit and after-life and the beyond but we will not have moved an inch closer to the truth of any such statement. It will need careful scrutiny and study, experimentation and analysis before an iota of understanding comes to us as to the real nature of things. For all things as we understand are appearances and not what they in essence are.
The material propositions of science may bring material comfort to man but cannot drive out the hunger of the soul to know its genesis, cannot bring peace in this storm-tossed world where desire rules the roost and 'the human soul is the sacrifice' as Swami Vivekananda in another context had articulated. The fundamental problem of life is death and no amount of science, as we know it, can solve this by its material means. Hence, the search for the Spirit will continue as long as humankind exists and spirituality will remain the source of solace and peace for humanity.
But this spirituality must be the genuine search for God and Truth and not any malefic political movement masquerading as world religion with an absolutist God or prophet pronouncing judgement on humanity and providing the exclusive way to Truth. Such rogue religions have had their day among masses of fools buying a passport to heaven or being forced into buying such, for the times are illumined now by the inroads of science and the scientific searchlight that has shamed such political perversions as so much irrational, nay, infra-rational garbage. In this age of enlightened reasoning such religions will lose their hold day by day but they must be replaced by spiritual rationality which the Vedanta offers if materialism will not gain ugly supremacy in society.
The dynamics of the day do not augur too well for the future prospects of the world. And these are the fruits of both religion and science, essentially, human ignorance of its spiritual roots, the solidarity of the universe and the integration of all sentience whence flows supernal love. Technology has brought human civilisation to the brink of annihilation and if any one is sceptical of this statement, let him turn his vision back to August 6 and 9, 1945, Japan, to be able to appreciate its veracity, even remembering that since 1945 the n-bombs have evolved in destructive power 'n' number of times. Add to this global warming and the inter-civilisation friction, as Samuel P. Huntington has so elaborately described in his book, 'The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order', and you get a rather bleak picture of the future of the world. Will civilisation outlive the current threats to it or will it end in a harakiri, the catastrophic culmination of the divorce between Matter and Spirit?
This is the moot question that faces thinkers today, this oscillation of civilisation between life and death, this ominous movement of the ignorant mind towards inevitable self-destruction with unlimited arsenal at his disposal to settle his fate in a self-sanctioned doom. Will we learn our lessons from history and pause to ponder the options yet available for the salvaging of civilisation before we move in to accelerated annihilation?
Part II :
In 1893 a Hindu monk had appeared on the world stage in the Chicago World Parliament of Religions that had been convened to deliberate the relative features of the different religions of the world. Unknown and unheralded, he had appeared on the shores of the New World bringing from his ancient country the tidings of the Spirit, the grand harmonising philosophy of the seers and sages of India. He had no credentials to the congregation whatsoever, no support from his home land save that of a few devoted followers, but he had the realisation in his heart of these ancient truths and the blessings of his spiritual Master to support him in a strange land intent on ushering in the New Age with its World Fair.
His journey across the seas needs some background recounting, so, let us delve back into the past whence he hailed.
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