Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "global-harmony"

Peace and War are two sides of the same coin. Where there is peace, there will be war - where there is war there will be peace. War is only the making of peace. This war does not necessarily have to be external. In most cases, the real war is internal, which means, it takes place within the human mind - within you. One way or another, war will keep on festering on this planet, until humanity becomes a real wise species. And we have a long to go till we actually achieve it, mostly because, we are still not an advanced species, no matter how much we boast about it. We just like to feel that we are advanced, for all the basic technological discoveries that we have made. But the point is, technological discoveries may make a species advanced, but they do not necessarily make a species wise. A wise species would be the one at peace with the self. Without the self there is no excellence. Without the self there is no advancement.

All creatures have it - the self, but the humans are the most advanced, because, they have the most complicated form of the self on this planet, thanks to the process of Evolution, which led to a uniquely intricate neural network inside our head. Other creatures just have the taste of it, because most of their brain power goes to managing the physical functioning of their body, and very little is left for mental faculties beyond the needs of survival. However, do not for a second think, that we are the best there shall ever be. Yes it is true, that in aspects of excellence, especially the ones that have to do with the faculties of the mind, we are indeed the best. But we still have a long way to go to become a real wise species, at least the way we hail ourselves to be in the very title "Sapiens".

To become real Sapiens, we need to act as sapiens. And even though some humans do act as true sapiens, or at the very least, they try to act that way, the unfortunate reality is, most humans don't. These humans often lose their basic faculty of reasoning to such an extent, that they adamantly vote for a narcissistic, human-looking, orange orangutan and make him the leader of a great nation. Such a scenario is only possible because a huge portion of the human society is still infested with superstitions, prejudices, sectarianism, mysticism and bigotry. And we the humans shall not be worthy of the title "sapiens", unless we do away with these primitive evils, that consistently drag the human civilization back to stone age.

Do away with prejudices - do away with separatism - do away with bigotry, and you shall witness the dawn of a new world- a world of real peace - real harmony - real acceptance. In that world, love and kindness shall run in the veins of humans, instead dogma-induced hatred. Such humans will be worthy of the title Sapiens. They shall be qualified, by all means, for the title "human". But the point is, it is not going to happen so easily. And more importantly, it is not going to happen, unless humanity learns to value humanity over everything else - and I mean everything else. No Bible, no Church, no Priest, no dogma of any kind, shall be above the humans - above basic human elements, such as love, compassion and reasoning. Human character should be judged only by the measure of these elements, not a book, a prophet, a messiah, or an institution. To quote from Principia Humanitas"

"Human you are, and your religion Humanism."

That's it. That's all there is. If you are a human, you have all the religions in you, if not, then no matter how many scriptures you hold dear, it will not make you worthy of the title "human", let alone the title "religious." As I have said in "Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism"

“Let your conscience be your scripture and your actions be your religion. Let the humans be your church and compassion be your worship. Let love be your gospel and acceptance be your revelation.”

When you are wise, peace shall follow, or we can also see it the other way round. When you are at peace with the self, you will be wise. And from that internal wisdom, shall emerge peace for the whole world - real peace - peace that will unite, not divide - peace that will be celebrated, not fought for. So, start working for that peace my friend. Let your child have a better world, than the one you were born in.



Further Reading

Principia Humanitas

Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism

Right to religion, is an actual basic existential right of humankind, at least, at its present evolutionary condition. I am beginning this piece, with this, perhaps a bit radical statement, because it would reveal to you your own deep stance on religion without any ambiguity. It would either enrage you fueled by your illustrious atheistic superiority, or it will soothe you, fueled by your innate closeness to your own religion. But to go deeper into this piece, neither of these two extremes would do.

You would have to take off your glasses before you begin – the glasses of theism as well as the glasses of atheism. And when I say “have to”, I do not mean it as an obligation, rather I mean it as a necessity. Because broken souls cannot perceive wholeness. And both the theist and the atheist have obvious perceptual limitations because of their innate brokenness – because of their innate loyalty to a label. Labels may help you feel comfortable in a certain domain, but to see the whole picture, these tiny internal domains must be destroyed first. If, and only if, you are willing to do that, then we can proceed with utmost naivety, with no thesis or antithesis in mind.

What is a right – is there any such thing? The term “right” only exists in a society where people don’t have something that’s necessary for sustaining existence. If this were the animal kingdom instead of a human society, we would not need the term “right”, instead we would simply fight and acquire what’s necessary or die fighting. We use the term “right” in a so-called civilized society, because we want to acquire it with as little fight as possible. In a truly civilized society, we would not need the term “right”. Think about it. You breath in air all the time for its content oxygen, which is necessary for existence. But what would happen, if clean air becomes scarce, like it has become in China, and slowly becoming in India! Then clean air would be manufactured, like some companies are already doing. Hence it becomes a product, which you may or may not have access to. In the extreme case that you do not have access to it for free, clean air which clearly is an existential necessity for humans, would become a matter of right. But it would ultimately depend on the companies whether or not to give their product of clean air away for free – or to be more specific, you would be at their mercy. You may feel access to clean air is your right, but in reality, you no longer have that luxury. Because the companies manufacturing the product, have the ultimate right to that product.

Religion is not much different from clean air, for religion is basically the psychological counterpart of clean air. Clean air is a physiological necessity, whereas religion is a psychological necessity. Here you may think of the term “religion” to be a very simply term with very specific common meaning to all humanity, but in reality, no other term could have as diverse array of meanings as the term “religion” has in the psyche of the humans. But when I say “meanings”, I am not talking about etymology – etymology does not say anything about the place of a term in the human mind. Here I am talking about the wide range of human perceptions of the very term religion. What is this whole religion phenomenon – is it a kind of shampoo – is it a kind of smartphone – is it a kind of computer – or is it a kind of ideals! I don’t think anybody would see it as a shampoo, or a smartphone or a computer even, but perhaps some or perhaps most humans would see it as a kind of ideals and beliefs. Let’s be a bit articulate here. Most humans see religion as a set of beliefs, sustained through rituals. This is what you know as organized religion, that is, an organized structure where an institution of fake superiority determines the lifestyle of a group of people. These institutions say – “give your life to us, to our savior, or to our prophet, and you will have peace.” And they call it religion, by it, I mean this blind obedience to a fake authority, in the hope of psychological security and well-being. Most people are too entangled at a deep subconscious level with this sense of illusory security, hence they shall do everything in their power to defend their beliefs, which to them are synonymous with “religiousness”, if confronted with refutal.

Now the real question is – if this is the global idea of religion and religiousness, can it be hailed as a basic human right! Hard as it may be, a civilized human being would have to be willing to recognize the basic need for this so-called organized religiousness of the humans as a basic human right. But – yes, there is a “but” involved – not the double t one, you dirty fella! This little “but” is involved because, this very religion that we are talking about here, is a messed up form of religion, and has a lot of negative implications on the human society as a whole – here I am referring to the global human society, not a specific group of people. The problem with organized religion is that, because it involves, its own customized god, its own messiah, its own prophet, its own scripture – it inadvertently induces its followers to foster a kind of implicit hatred or simply a sense of conflict towards people of other organized religions. So, though right to practise one’s own religion, may be a basic human right, by all means, it must be watched over by the very humans practising those religions, so that they do no let hatred creep into their heart, no matter how many verses in their beloved scripture proclaim people of other religions to be infidels.

If the humans are able to keep hatred out of their religious practise, then and then only it’s a religious practise – and then only organized religion as it is, can be hailed as a basic human right. But any religion that endorses such hatred, instead of trying to eliminate them, has no right itself to be a part of a civilized human society. Anybody who says – my religion is the only true religion, all others are fake or inferior, has no right to any religion whatsoever, for this creature is not a human – it’s ancient animal living in a modern society under the skin of a human. Religion is for humans, not animals. And any religion that advocates its own supremacy over all other religions, is not religion, rather it’s merely a sophisticated form of tribalism, which belongs in the jungle, not in the human society. So in short, a human can have right to religion, only and only if, that human, as well as the religion he or she wants right to, do not endorse any kind of conflict, either explicit or implicit. Which means, a human has a right to religion, not an animal with self-imposed superiority. Bear in mind, religion must bring oneness, otherwise it’s not religion, but merely a cheap parody of religion. And that’s the religion, every single human being of pure soul has the existential right to – or to simplify even further, without the religion of oneness, there shall be no human life in human body, but only animal life in human body.

Keep in mind, my friend – “We are not divine beings in mortal bodies, We are mortal bodies in pursuit of constructing divine perfection within us.” (quote from Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human)




Further Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human

Together we are humans, separate we are apes.
Together we are life, separate we are dust.
Together we are tools, separate we are weapons.
Together we are a boon, separate we are a curse.
Together we are power, separate we are insects.
Together we are sanity, separate we are lunacy.
Together we are serenity, separate we are misery.
Together we are harmony, separate we are catastrophe.
Together we are diversity, separate we are phobia.
Together we are purity, separate we are pollution.
Together we are savannah, separate we are a desert.
Together we are family, separate we are desolation.
Together we are to grow as beings of conscience and character,
Or else our lives are futile and will fade away in time's murmur.

Peace doesn't grow on trees,
Nor is it produced in factories.
It has been a concept of books,
Must it stay that way for centuries!
Where argumentation is afoot,
The mission becomes a phantom.
Where the mind thrives on tradition,
Peace is an inconvenience to the norm.
Peace is but a myth most foul,
An annoying goal that demands a lot.
We just prefer our cozy cocoons,
Giving up any of it is just plain absurd.
But there is a cure to the war disease.
Loosen your knots and there'll be peace.

Modern dictators don't use oppression,
To keep thought and liberty barred.
The effective means of new dictatorship,
Is to play the nationalism card.
Feed people lies covered with nationalism,
They'll applaud you without a but.
Talk about reason and inclusion,
They'll ignore you as a universalist nut.
Till today society thrives on sectarianism,
While arguing over peace and harmony.
We call this insanity international relations,
In our every act we empower disparity.
Still if we don't discard this sectarian savagery,
General Assemblies will sustain agony not amity.

Adopt a neighborhood,
Make their problems your own.
This is the only road to life,
Society’s hope is you alone.
Charity, security and world peace,
All these are cosmetic theory.
When you learn to live as human,
You'll see their actual foolery.
When our voices combine,
All noise turns melody of heavens.
Joy is amplified a hundred times,
We lose sense of all our burdens.
Diversity and progress will come alright,
Once you perceive beyond your selfish sight.

I am but a simple sufi,
What'll I do with applause!
If you want to give something,
Lend a corner in the heart of yours.
I am but a fumbling fakir,
What'll I do with all the gold!
Only with the touch of a kind heart,
We shall bring prosperity in our world.
I am but an ignorant dervish,
I don't know much ayat and psalm.
All I know is, love is the breath of life,
Without it, all progress is harm.
Rituals and intellect all will perish,
What will live on is the heart humanish.

Enough with the worship of chains!
Enough with celebration of selfishness!
Time it is to shatter the altars of separation.
Time it is to be the ravager of primitiveness.
Let us hang all our sectarian gods and idols.
Let us start a new worship of love and liberty.
Let us be prophets and messengers of harmony.
Let us be disintegrated in realization of inclusivity.
Let us go insane and kick all prison-gates down.
Let us burn locks to ashes with flames of heart.
Let us call upon the vigor eternal from within.
Let us hunt down the last trace of inhuman dirt.
Let us draw a noble anatomy for civilization.
Let us lay ourselves as cornerstones of ascension.

Who is to build the world?
Who is to raise the society?
Who is to water the plants?
Who is to stand up for sanity?
Who is to bear agony for community?
Who is to go hungry feeding another?
Who is to heal the sick while bleeding?
Who is to lift the lowly trotting fire?
Who is to burn alive to bring light?
Who is to walk on thorns to build the bridge?
Who is to be deceived yet stay humble?
Who is to lay down so others can climb the ridge?
It is you, o misfit, o explorer of impossibility,
Even if no one joins us, our world is our responsibility!

There's a tale we hear of a heavenly kingdom,
Which is passed on through generations.
Because once you place salvation outside life,
Accountability vanishes from all prioritization.
Self-determination makes one unfit for slavery,
Reason makes one unfit for manipulation.
If you take charge of your life and community,
Institutions fail to dictate your ambition.
Heaven and hell exist here and now,
They are manifestations of human behavior.
Acts of oneness bring heaven in a moment,
Deeds of division breed hell from thin air.
The paradigm we have was made yesterday.
It is our world, let's build it our way.