Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "divinity"

"Awake, O brave one! Arise, O lion-heart! Be the messenger that spreads compassion." Thus goes the statement in one of my works. Now, one of the close observers of my work mentioned the other day that one cannot spread compassion. And yes - "observer" - that's the word I choose to use in this context, nay, in all context of my work, because I distaste the word "follower", for the word "follower" indicates loyalty - and loyalty destroys the life in existence. I don't want loyalty from you - all I want is for you to think with me.

So, let's think together over the very nature of compassion and whether one can actually spread compassion. And I say think, not criticize or debate about - just think - as we always do - you and me thinking together, and perhaps learning some new things, about ourselves as well the world we live in.

What is compassion - is it kindness - is it sympathy - is it empathy! What is compassion! Bring your mind into action - bring all those thoughts out - make them work, right now and think. What makes us humans! We breathe air in from around us - we consume nutrition from mother nature, in the form of food and water - we copulate and reproduce to keep our genetic heritage alive through time - but is this enough to make us humans! Because, if breathing, eating, copulating and reproducing - these make us humans, then the dogs on the streets would be as much humans as we are - but surely we are not like the dogs - we are different from the dogs - and indeed from any other animal on earth. So, what does distinguish us, from other animals!

Technically we are animals, in terms of biological sciences - but we are not going into these technicalities - we are trying to go deep into the understanding of the very nature of compassion and what makes us humans. Think - why are we different from the animals! We are different from the animals because, unlike the animals we can recognize our errors - we can recognize our shortcomings - we can recognize our mistakes - and then think about them and act accordingly in order to eliminate them from our characteristics and become better (the animals do have traces of this trait but only enough to avoid danger and ensure survival). Now what would you call this very process of recognizing our shortcomings and mistakes and becoming better! Isn't this the thing we call "awareness" - "self-awareness". There is nothing mystical in all this - there's no mystical mumbo-jumbo is involved here - just plain ordinary awareness - awareness of ourselves - of our thoughts - of our emotions - of our behavior. And the more we are aware of ourselves - the more we get to be truly humans - because without that awareness, we are just the same as the animals.

That very awareness makes you think that when you are kind to others, it would create a humane world - perhaps not for yourselves, but for your children and their children. So, with awareness we begin - we take that first step towards eliminating the distance between two people - you and the other. So, in the truest sense of the term, when awareness rises from the human mind, the distance among the humans vanishes, thus rises oneness - in that oneness lies true compassion - in that oneness lies true union of all humanity. That union doesn't even need the word "compassion" to explain itself, because you would by your very nature, be kind to the other person, as you would not see that other person as a different person, but simply an image of yourself. All humans are images of your own self - once you recognize this simple fact, there would no longer be any hatred - there would no longer be any prejudice in the world - there will simply be compassion - there will simply be kindness. When that oneness rises - compassion will not need human efforts to be spread, because oneness is compassion - compassion is kindness - kindness is empathy - empathy is morality - morality is spirituality - and spirituality is religion - all these terms are created by humans without them even being aware of the fact that it all comes down to one simple sense of oneness.

When a book becomes religion,
And doctrines become divinity,
Holiness remains speculation,
Society loses sight of humanity.
When institutions claim authority,
And sleeping masses comply,
Religion disappears altogether,
What remains is potential gone awry.
When popes and pundits sell faith,
In the name of divine supremacy,
Rigidity overrules common sense,
And reason is hailed as blasphemy.
But there is a cure for all this atrocity.
It is called individual curiosity.

A new day starts with a new you,
And I ain't talkin' about born again nonsense.
A bigot baptized a thousand times is still a bigot,
A human helping another is Christ himself.
There is no second coming, there’s no reincarnation,
Except when we go from selfishness to kindness.
We are the messiahs and saviors of our people,
Nobody's gonna fall from the sky to lift the helpless.
The liquor store sells you the same divinity,
That the holy store sells you for even higher price.
We'll be born again when we abolish such divinity,
By baptizing the soil of society with our sacrifice.
The tears of joy someone sheds because of you,
Are the only holy water to build the world anew.

A new day starts with a new you,
And I ain't talkin' about born again nonsense.
A bigot baptized a thousand times is still a bigot,
A human helping another is Christ himself.
There is no second coming, there’s no reincarnation,
Except when we go from selfishness to kindness.
We are the messiahs and saviors of our people,
Nobody's gonna fall from the sky to lift the helpless.
The liquor store sells you the same divinity,
That the holy store sells you for even higher price.
We'll be born again when we abolish such divinity,
By baptizing the soil of society with our sacrifice.
The tears of joy someone sheds because of you,
Are the only holy water to build the world anew.

To live even for a single day,
In the full light of oneness.
To walk even for a single day,
In the full might of kindness.
To talk even for a single day,
In the full sight of humility.
To breathe even for a single day,
In the full height of amity.
To smile even for a single day,
Without a trace of hidden deceit.
To love even for a single day,
As an undeterred force of uplift.
Isn't that the highest sanity?
Isn't that the highest humanity?

I gave you the tablets at Sinai,
I drove your chariot at Kurukshetra.
I gave you the ayats word by word,
I woke up Siddhartha 'n the carpenter.
No matter the time, age 'n technology,
I always rise to treat the common cold.
Amidst a world full of sore coldness,
I only need ten vessels absurdly bold.
I have nothing to do with perfection,
Far from it, I've got plenty to improve.
With each new vessel my sight broadens,
With each identity my existence renewed.
Keeper am I of this terrestrial neighborhood.
I am your innermost fire of god and good.

In my eyes there is no priest,
No prostitute, only people.
In my eyes there is no pope,
No pedestrian, only people.
In my eyes there is no royalty,
No subject, only people.
In my eyes there is no leader,
No follower, only people.
There is no intellectual,
No layman, only people.
In my eyes there is no superior,
No inferior, only people.
Hierarchy is malarkey maintained by fools.
Oneness maketh civilization across silly schools.

Civilization is founded on 3 pillars,
Conscience, courage and compassion.
Without these three there is no society,
Only a prehistoric mockery of civilization.
When all three come together, lo and behold,
Here rises the holy trinity – the holy trident!
You can use it to plough the land of creation,
Or abuse it to devour the divisions most obstinate.
Wasting precious lifeforce chanting like a parrot,
Do not go chasing fiction out in the wilderness.
Wipe the rust off your heart that causes all the drag,
And you my friend, shall be the incorruptible trident.
However, in reality, there are no three, but only one.
The spirit of love and oneness is beyond time and form.

Everywhere I look, there’s apocalypse!
Everywhere I look, there’s inhumanity!
We have slept like a log long enough!
It’s time for the human to embody humanity!
Still if you ask out of fear and insecurity,
What can you one person do to bring change!
Mark my words, if you are really determined,
You could part the ocean with sheer intent.
You have the power to turn this ailing world,
Into a world of laughter and loveliness.
The question is, are you a responsible human,
Or just another crummy vessel of recklessness?
Whatever the trouble may be, you are the answer.
In this difficult time, you are peygamber undercover.


“Yeni Peygamber (Sorumluluk Şiiri)

Her yerde hayvan!
Her yerde kıyamet!
Yeter ceset gibi uyumak!
İnsan insan olmalı, zaman geldi!
Yine de eğer sen bana sorarsan,
Tek başına ne yapabilirsin!
Gerçekten istiyorsan, tek başına,
Dünyaya insanlığı öğretebilirsin.
Eğer istersen, tek başına, insanların,
Ağlamayı gülümsemeye dönüştürebilirsin.
Asıl soru, sen sorumlu bir insan mısın,
Yoksa insan görünümlü bir hayvan mısın?
Uyan kardeşim, her hayvanlığa cevap sensin.
Bu zor zamanda dünyanın yeni peygamber sensin.”

Fervor of faith is not the problem, bigotry of faith is the problem. Or to put it simply. Religion is not the problem, fundamentalism is the real problem. But we must be aware of what a fundamentalist is. A fundamentalist is not necessarily a person who takes the scripture literally, rather, a fundamentalist is a person who deems their own religion as the only true religion, and all others as heresy. Some fundamentalists do interpret the scripture metaphorically, and still manage to remain a bigot.

After all, you see outside, what is inside. So the point is, if you want to see integration in the world, first you gotta irrigate your heart, not your colon, of all division. Until you understand undivision, you won’t understand divinity. No sabes unidad, no sabes divinidad.

Even if you have never heard of Jesus, even if you have never heard of Buddha, even if you have never heard of Moses and Mohammed, even if you have never heard of Nanak and Naskar, you can still be divine. But if you never treat another person with kindness and dignity, you can never be divine.

It’s your behavior that makes you religious, not your belief. Besides, even in this day and age, if your belief still keeps raising walls, instead of bringing them down, it’s time you seek medical help. Because you see, bigotry is not a legal problem, it is a medical problem, just like alcoholism is a medical problem. Fundamentalism is not a neurodivergence, fundamentalism is a lethal neuropsychiatric condition, which requires immediate medical attention.