Chapter 1	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

By society ordinarily we mean a collective body of men and women, but the innate spirit of the word “society” is not this. Samaja or society in the true sense of the term implies an action of moving together (Samanam ejate). We come across groups of persons in buses, trams and trains moving together; but this occasional movement cannot be termed society either. Being inspired by a common ideology, when different individuals move towards the common goal and become active for its achievement, this can be called a society. The appropriate English equivalent for samája should not therefore be society. Social advancement, which is a type of social action, means that the tie of mutual unity among the persons moving together has become strong.

From ancient times there has been social life but no stable society. This stability in social life is, to some extent, the gift of the Kśatriya Age (the age of the warriors) and of the post-Vaeshya age (the post-capitalist age). The Vaeshya Age leads to Shúdra revolution. So long as a proper atmosphere for Shúdra revolution is not created, it can be said that no social consciousness has been created. How can social consciousness be achieved?

Social consciousness implies the influence of a particular ideology and a new awakening among the people due to this ideology. This depends upon so many factors, the most important of which is the leadership of a great personality. Shúdra revolution, therefore, needs a strong personality, and so long as this is lacking a strong society cannot be formed, what to speak of social revolution. To guide the society in the right path two factors are therefore essential – a great ideology and a great personality. Those who talk loud about society and seem horrified at its anticipated destruction, do not know that society in the true spirit of the term is yet to be formed in the world. So our primary duty now is to form a society. The seed of social consciousness is inherent in our “Saḿgacchadhvaḿ saḿvadadhvaḿ” Mantra. Where there is no such Mantra there is no ideology, and where there is no ideology, life is a goalless voyage.

Human expressions are multilateral. The ways of life are multifarious. Amidst these multifarious activities the picture of human beings that we get is their culture. The sum total of different expressions of human life is called Saḿskrti or culture. The ways of expression may differ from one group of people to other: some eat with their hands, some use spoons, yet others use sticks, but everyone has to eat. Human culture is, therefore, one and indivisible. The use of expressions such as Hindu culture, Muslim culture, Indian culture or European culture is absurd. Those who hold these partisan ideas are not well-wishers of humanity.

The expressions of life may increase with intellectual development. There is no place for fine arts, literature and music among the so-called under-developed groups of people, so the expressions of life are less in number in their case. Where the number of expressions is more it can be said that there has been more cultural development in the material sense. Persons with more varied expressions of life may be called more cultured.

Where the expressions of life are diverted to crude objectivities it is called krśt́i, which is a part of Saḿskrti. Crude manifestations of expressions are called krśt́i. THe sum total of both crude and subtle manifestations of expressions is Saḿskrti. Krśt́i may differ from one group of people to other but the Saḿskrti of human beings is one.

Cultural expressions and civilization are not synonymous. Where there is control and rationality in the different expressions of life, there is civilization. To take a concrete example, eating is a cultural expression of life. Those who ration ally think that over-eating is bad, think restraint from it may be called civilized. The cultural expressions in people are many. People who cannot control the different expressions may be called culturally advanced but not civilized.

Culturally advanced people may not necessarily be civilized if in their ex pression there is a lack of rationality, reasoning and control.

Similarly, a so-called culturally backward people may not necessarily be socially backward. There are many who treat the Adivasis as backward. But a dispassionate consideration will reveal that though they may be culturally backward due to less expressions of life, they have made considerable social progress and are thus more socially advanced. Similar is the case with the Africans.

From ancient times human beings have struggled against their obstacles. Struggle is the essence of life. Those who cry for disarmament are enemies of human beings. They are reluctant to fight even against criminals. Of course, with the spread of civilization human beings will not attack the unarmed and the weak. Unfortunately, there are many persons in this world who think of themselves as civilized but mercilessly crush the helpless and the innocent. The pitiable destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bears witness to the uncivilized action of the so-called civilized nations. Though they are culturally advanced, they are most backward in civilization. They should sit at the feet of the Indian Adivasis and learn about civilization. Those who possess atom and hydrogen bombs have to be taught the lesson that this universe is for human beings and not for demons. More powerful weapons have to be invented to counteract these uncivilized persons.

Today special care has to be given to society and civilization. With intellectual development there will be cultural progress, but restraint and rationality have to be exercised on the cultural expressions. In life today there is utter lack of these qualities. It is the bounden duty of the leaders of this world to form a strong society of human beings on the basis of a constructive ideology and to spread civilization in them. If this is done, cultural development will automatically occur.

Chapter 2	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

Human beings are social beings, hence, they have to follow certain social codes. But they must follow some spiritual codes as well. Because of illusion or some other reasons, if people break these codes, these “dos” and “don’ts”, sometimes we call it “sin” or Pápa and at other times, “crime” or Aparádha. If the violation is in the spiritual code, rather the religious code, it is termed as “sin”. If the violation is against the legal code it is known as “crime”. Sin is sometimes based entirely on dogmas and not on cardinal human values. Wise people will never entertain a conception of sin based on religious dogma. Rather, they will judge with discrimination the correctness of the code according to cardinal human values. The concept of sin has been given by people on the basis of religion, religious dogmas and cardinal human values. As intellectuals and developed people of the second half of the 20th century, we should keep away from religious dogma and attach the highest importance to cardinal human values.

Long ago Vyása said the following about sin:

Aśtádashapuráneśu Vyásasya vacanádvayam
Paropakárah puńyáya pápáya parapiid́anam.

That is, that action which checks the progress of the society is sin, and that action which accelerates social progress is Punya or virtue. This is a fact. But what is crime? Any action which goes against the different legal codes made by the different nations, according to their spatial, personal and collective differences, is crime. In Saḿskrta crime is known as Aparádha. Sin or Pápa should be formulated on the basis of cardinal human values. This was also supported by Vyasa.

Criminal codes are generally framed by politicians according to their own standards. Sometimes they include a tinge of humanity and sometimes they do not. Thus the present-day legal codes are not necessarily humanitarian. Rational people may defy a legal code but they should never violate cardinal human values. I would never tell the people of a country to follow their legal codes blindly, but would tell them to always follow cardinal human values. The cardinal human values are the silver lining between the psycho-spiritual world and the spiritual world. They are at the meeting-point of these two strata – the spiritual stratum on one side and the psycho-spiritual stratum on the other.

In Saḿskrta there are two words for sin – that which should be done but is not done is called “Pratyaváya”, and that which should not be done but is done is “Pápa”. The combined name of Pápa and Pratyaváya is “Pátaka”. Here I will make use of the word Pápa because it is more popular.

Wherever we mention cardinal human values, we are not referring to any religious code, for that is based on religious dogmas. Again I repeat, why should the people of the second half of the 20th century follow religious dogmas? I advise you not to follow them but to revolt.

As far as possible the gap between cardinal human values and crime should be lessened. The smaller the gap the better it is. Cardinal human values are mostly unchangeable. They may change after a long time as they remain associated with the physical world, but it is natural that they will not have frequent changes because of their subjective approach. Crime will undergo trans formation according to changes in time, space and the collective body. Hence, both the conceptions cannot be exactly the same – difference between them will remain. But efforts should be made to lessen the differences. This task will be the duty of Sadvipras or spiritual revolutionaries.

Now, let us come to the three causes of sin. If sin and crime are considered together there are three reasons for them. The first cause is shortage of physical and psychic pabula. The second one is non-utilization of over-accumulated physical and psychic pabula. The third one is stagnancy in the psychic and physical strata.

Let us discuss the first cause.

If human beings lack the basic physical necessities of life they will not be able to follow higher pursuits. You will find that a person’s sense of discrimination is disturbed if he or she is confronted with only a little physical hardship. If an intellectual becomes angry, he or she may utter insentient words. Hence, the shortage of physical wealth results in restlessness and causes the loss of people’s sense of discrimination, and then people naturally tend towards brutality. It is because of this that communism has tended towards brutality. This is the underlying psychic reason. Likewise, if there is a dearth of intellectual pabulum and the intellectual standard of the people is not high, they can take “dos” to be “don’ts” and vice versa. Take for example, a communal riot where a little innocent boy is killed, and when the person who encourages the riot becomes the people’s leader. Where the intellectual standard of the people is low, people commit blunders – prompted by such leaders they become beasts. Those backward countries which have less socio-politico-economic consciousness in the people tend to have more immorality. In such countries the leaders misguide the people in order to collect votes. I call such leaders “political satans” or “political pigs” Such pigs become leaders only when the intellectual standard of the common people is low. In a country with shortages of physical and intellectual pabula, people ultimately become beasts and commit sins and crimes. To murder a person during a riot is both a crime and a sin. In political clashes innocent people are killed. This is also a crime as well as a sin. So, to summarize, when physical and intellectual pabula are lacking, people become beasts and commit sins and crimes. Among the three reasons for sin, this is the first and primary one. It is prevalent everywhere in the world although it is less evident in a few of the more affluent countries.

The second cause is non-utilization of over-accumulated physical and psychic pabula. Where there is over-accumulation of physical wealth several problems occur. Human beings do not have many needs. Primarily they need satisfying meals and clothing, according to their necessities. Most people do not even want many things. The desire to accumulate money is actually a mental disease. The accumulators do not accumulate to fulfil their basic needs a human needs are few. For instance, if a person has a mango grove which yields 500 mangoes and a family of five, what will he do with so many mangoes? In cases of over-accumulation there is very little chance of utilization. Hence, if the Sadvipras are not vigilant, where there is over-accumulation non-utilization will occur. Moreover, where there is over-accumulation people tend to misutilize wealth by indulging in their baser propensities rather than their finer ones. Therefore you will mark, as I am making it crystal-clear to you, that most of the kings and Nawabs of ancient times were, and most of the aristocrats and wealthy people of today who have nothing to do are generally wicked and mean-minded. In addition, you will see that government officers who do not have psychic and spiritual interests also become mean-minded. When we have to judge, we must be frank. It can be observed that it is natural for people to move towards sin if over-accumulated physical and psychic pabula is not utilized. If people have developed intellects which are not properly directed, and there is no administration of the Sadvipras, people become polished satans and inflict sufferings on others. If the parents of a boy die and he has no guardian, due to a lack of proper guidance the boy may easily become reckless and a sinner.

To repeat, non-utilization of over-accumulated physical and psychic pabula is the second cause for becoming a sinner. I have already discussed the problems of the “have’s”, and the “have-nots”. To satisfy the greed of the have’s, the have-not’s become slaves, and to appease their own hunger they become sinners. The have’s mis-utilize the intellectual and physical wealth of the have-not’s to satisfy their baser propensities. In the back ground sit the big capitalists; in the foreground, as their agents, are half-naked children! This is the cause of the downfall of society.

There is still one thing more. There are countries in the world where the average standard of living of the people is quite high and where there are no have-not’s who become slaves due to the evil designs of the have’s. Where there is excessive wealth, the feeling of, “What should I do?” crops up in the minds of the people. Moreover, people take to the path of suicide in the absence of proper direction. They also become addicts and social parasites and they do not know what they should do and what they should not do.

Let us now come to the third reason for sin. The sign of life of everything in this universe is dynamism. It was said in an earlier discourse that progress actually does not take place in the physical and psychic strata. Progress takes place only in the spiritual stratum. Of course, while there is no progress in the physico-psychic sphere, movement is there. Had there been no movement, the physico-psychic world would have met its doom. Thus there is movement but no progress or Pragati.

Prakśt́ha gati ityarthe pragati.

That is, that which leads to betterment is progress, but that which causes movement without development, is not progress. For example, suppose one bull moves along a road and another one walks round and round in a grinding mill. The former is able to freely cover a few miles but the latter moves without getting anywhere.

Ásana máre kyáyá huyá yo gayii na mankii ásh
Jav kalu ká balad so gharhii kosh paṋcás.

[What is the benefit of asanas if the desires of the mind are not exhausted?]

In the physical and psychic worlds, there is movement but no progress. Ten thousand years ago people practiced Sádhaná and attained Brahma. After these ten thousand years you have been born. Today there is much dynamism in the physical sphere and there is great intellectual speed. Your intellect might be more than the intellect of Vasthista and Vishvamitra, but your progress is not much more. Is it clear?

Lack of movement in the physical and psychic spheres is also a cause of sin. This is the third reason. Here there might not be the over-accumulation of physical and psychic pabula. In the absence of over-accumulation sin may also be accounted for. Every existence has its aim. All entities are moving according to their speed whether there is progress or no progress. But on the way if something comes which has no movement, which remains as it is, it affects the speed of others. In the society, due to old dogmas, weaknesses and lack of proper education, when the human mind becomes inert and dormant it not only destroys itself but affects the movements of others also. “My ancestors were doing this, so how am I to forgo them?” This is nothing but the same stagnancy. If your ancestors were wearing their Dhotis above their knees and a napkin tied around their heads, why then do you put on pants and a terylene shirt? Nobody follows their ancestors. It is a weakness for a person to take the lead from their ancestors only, ignoring everyone else. Mental stagnancy is a kind of disease. It is motionlessness.

People should not be allowed to rely on the dogmas of their ancestors as it obstructs their own mental pursuit and those of others also. Suppose a cart is in an inconvenient place, blocking the road. The cart has to be pushed to one side. If it cannot be pushed easily it will have to be moved more forcibly. You will have to go ahead – this is the law. It will not do for you to say, “Let the cart remain as it is.” Similarly, you should not say, “The members of my family hold conservative views,” and use this as an excuse for inaction. This should not be allowed. People who hold conservative views are really materialists and are mentally stagnant. Speed has to be infused in them. And not only this, there is need for acceleration in the speed.

What is the solution to the first of the three causes of sin? For those who lack physical pabulum, minimum requirements will have to be guaranteed to everyone. If you do not supply people with the minimum requirements you will meet your Waterloo. If your neighbor’s house is on fire, your house will also catch fire. To supply the minimum requirements to everyone, both a strong administration and an intellectual approach are necessary. Those capable of providing these things to humanity will be called Sadvipras. In the absence of Sadvipras, society cannot survive.

For the solution to the second of the three causes of sin, an intellectual approach, intellectual propagation, is required. For the materialization of this, physical force will have to be utilized as per necessity. Those who use both the proper physical and intellectual approach are Sadvipras. Without Sadvipras the survival of society is not possible. At one place, because of over-accumulation, food becomes rotten; and at another place, because of shortages, people become sinners. We cannot allow this to continue.

The third cause of sin is stagnancy. This is the greatest burden of the human society: it is the greatest disease. It is a psychic disease. People often say, “Our forefathers used to do it, so we should also do it.” But you are not your forefathers! You must behave as yourselves. Suppose the son of one Shri Simhasana is Shri Ramadhar. If Shri Ramadhara Singh says he must do like his father, does he become his father, Shri Simhasana? No, he does not. This sort of stagnancy is suicidal. For the sign of life is dynamism, and where there is no dynamism, there is death. Without dynamism people harm themselves and others.

Bhayáńáḿ bhayaḿ bhiiśańaḿ bhiiśańánáḿ
Gatih prańináḿ pávanaḿ pávanánám.

[He is the worst of the fierce – the fear of fear. He is the most terrible of all the terrible things. He is the supreme destination of all. He is the purest of all the purifying objects.]

As dynamism is precious for the Jiivas or unit beings, so is Parama Puruśa or the Supreme Entity precious for them. A doctor feels the pulse and examines its movement to determine the health of his or her patient. If the pulse does not move the patient is pronounced dead. Movement is life. To solve this cause of sin, the intellectual approach does not work. The dogmatic-minded people, the traditional people, are neither human beings nor animals. They do not listen to reason. They are to be struck, and those who do the striking are Sadvipras. The striking is to be done with a hammer! They are to be hit not with a hammer, but with a sledge hammer.

Suppose the Sadvipras do not hammer the dogmatic-minded people, what will happen? Because of their unnecessary presence the speed of others is retarded. The stagnant people commit suicide and become the cause of death for others. Sadvipras will not leave or forgive such people, but will set them right with an iron hand. Dogmatic-minded people cannot be checked by the sanguine eyes of the so-called intellectuals or by the arms of the military. Humanity wants to move ahead, but the stagnant people who are neither human beings nor animals have blocked the way of the Sadvipras and have obstructed their movement. The common mass will not tolerate these obstructions.

This suicide is not deliberately done by the people. Those who commit suicide, do it when their mind is in a negative state. It is unnatural. Therefore, Sadvipras will remove this unnaturalness with the blows of their hammers. None can check it.

The duty of the Sadvipras will be to hammer these stagnant people who are a burden to society, who suffer from inertness in their physico-psychic sphere, at the appropriate moment so that the path of human progress becomes straight, clear and well-constructed.

When will the three causes of sin be removed? Only when the Sadvipras will be ready to fight against them with an iron hand. Today, at this hour, it is my call to the Sadvipras of the world not to delay any longer. They should march ahead and save human ity and make the path of humanity free of thorns.

Chapter 3	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

I have already said that human beings use only a very small percentage of their inherent capacity – less than one percent, to be precise. Even people whom society has accepted as great personalities use hardly ten percent of their inherent capabilities, and the remaining ninety percent remains unutilized. To put it very plainly, human beings waste ninety percent of their capacity. Those who are very crude by nature waste half of their time in idle pursuits, and the rest of the time they only use a small percentage of their capacity for worthwhile tasks. The term “crude” refers to those people who utilize their physical capacity but totally neglect their mental and spiritual power.

Why do human beings fail to utilize their total capacity? First, they do not know how to utilize their capacity – they lack proper knowledge as to what should be done and what should not be done. Secondly, they are habitually indolent, suffering from psychic and spiritual inertness.

Some people think early in life, even at the age of twelve or fourteen, about how they can utilize cent percent of their psychic power and perfect themselves through spiritual practices. Unfortunately, due to lethargy, they fail to utilize their capacity and thus their potentiality gradually diminishes. Even those who are acclaimed as great personalities in this world utilize hardly ten percent of their capacity in the intellectual and spiritual spheres. This is really very unfortunate. But even more unfortunate is that some people not only fail to utilize their own capacity, but block the progress of others – they do not want others to prosper at all. This mentality is shameful, deplorable, and highly detrimental.

Suppose a very dark-complexioned boy is called a “nigger” by his classmates and even his teachers. This certainly depresses him and blocks the expression of his capabilities. He thinks, “I am inferior. I am downtrodden. I am ugly.” Similarly, those who are born into so-called low-caste families are criticized for being of low birth. People say derogatorily, “Ha! What sort of education can such low-caste people expect?” As a result, their minds contract and their progress is thwarted. In exactly the same way, poor people are subjected to all sorts of indignities and harassments because of their financial difficulties. Suppose a poor but meritorious boy is making excellent progress with his studies: his envious classmates comment, “Why do you bother to study? Shouldn’t you get a job as a servant?” Because of such attitudes, many brilliant and gifted people are forced to let their inherent potentialities go to waste. This is not only a matter of regret and shame, it is an act of blatant oppression, suppression, repression and exploitation! Consequently, the genius in many people gets choked. This is called “intellectual exploitation” in philosophy. You must oppose it.

It is sad that human potentiality is not fully utilized. Those who utilize a mere ten percent of their potentialities are considered to be great people by society. Imagine what the result would be if a person were to use cent percent of his or her potentialities.

As I mentioned earlier, the first reason for this waste of human potentiality is ignorance about the right path, and the second reason is lethargy. There is a third reason. Sometimes, even if people are aware of the right path and are not at all lethargic – even if one is a genius – they cannot express their full potentialities as they are subjected to unusual intellectual or social pressure. Thus, the natural expression of their potentialities is checked. This socio-intellectual exploitation is highly detrimental. You must oppose it.

There are many petty criminals in today’s society. If you keep calling them sinners, they will develop a complex deep in their minds. “I am a sinner. I am a wretch. I am mean and vile. I have no future,” they will think. You must not do anything like this. Rather, you should find their good qualities and praise them. This praise will encourage them to cultivate their attributes and move along the path of virtue. They will concentrate more on their good qualities than on their wickedness, resulting in the gradual diminishment of their sinful tendencies. Finally the day will come when they will be so preoccupied with doing good deeds that they will cease to commit any crime. That is why I say, “Praise the good qualities in human beings.”

But if these criminals are neglected, their progress will be checked and they will become even more sinful. If they are repeatedly called sinners, if they are subjected to social punishment, their habit of committing crimes will become stronger.

Even the worst sinners have some good qualities. If you appreciate their good qualities, they will be encouraged to take to the righteous path – there will be a great change for the better in their lives. This is the right approach. If, instead, so-called sinners are ostracized or criticized by society, they will no longer strive to cultivate their inherent good qualities but will stick to the path of vice so tenaciously that one day they will become a great burden on society.

As most people do not know basic human psychology, their actions result in the so-called criminals becoming a greater burden on society. Having been subjected to much social injustice and criticism, some people think, “Now that I have stepped onto the path of vice, now that I have fallen down, I will not stop until I reach the deepest hell.” You should not do anything, even unconsciously, which goes against fundamental human psychology, and you should ensure that other people do not get any scope to make such mistakes either. If so-called sinners are repeatedly scolded, they will never become transformed into good people. Even bad people, under indirect pressure, or external attraction, or urge for Parama Puruśa, can turn into good people.

You should lead the wicked people to the path of virtue. You will see for yourselves that they, too, will feel an attraction for Parama Puruśa. You should encourage them to develop the noble qualities lying dormant in them without delay. This is the proper psychological approach, the real path of rectification.

Let us consider two points: attraction for the Great and collective pressure. As a result of attraction for the Great, one joins the path of virtue; and, as a result of collective pressure, one’s attributes get scope for external expression. Here, social pressure does not mean declaring anyone an outcast or ostracizing anyone or stopping the supply of anyone’s basic needs. This is not proper social pressure; rather it is a useless approach, having no positive effect on people. On the contrary, it merely strengthens the determination of the sinner to sin. What is proper social pressure? It is to find the good side, the noble aspects, of a person’s character, and help bring about a change in his or her life. In fact, a human being has but one task: to remove that which is harmful or detrimental in society. As you march along your path of movement you should oppose those people who work against the collective interest; you should raise the slogan, “Human exploitation – No more, no more!”

Chapter 4	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

Let us analyse the way human beings have evolved physically and psychically since their advent on this earth one million years ago. Human existence is trifarious: physical, psychic, and spiritual. Spiritual progress is movement towards Parama Puruśa while maintaining adjustment with the mundane world. The more human beings advance towards Parama Puruśa, the more their existence radiates the divine effulgence of Parama Puruśa, and the more they expand. When they come in the closest proximity to Parama Puruśa, they attain the state called sárśt́hi: they become like Parama Puruśa. When they merge in Him, there remains no duality – duality is converted into singularity. Spiritual progress depends on two main factors: the factor which determines a person’s physical existence and the factor which determines a person’s psychic progress.

I have already said in a Renaissance Universal meeting that human progress means spiritual progress. Although there is some progress in the quinquelemental and psychic spheres, it is greatly offset by numerous obstacles which arise on the path of progress. So on the whole one can say that there is no real progress in the mundane and psychic worlds. However, human beings will continue their endless efforts for progress because to remain stagnant is ultra-vires to human wonts. Nothing in this universe stagnates, all entities are on the move. Movement is the essence of everything. This world is called “jagat” which means that whose very nature is to keep moving (the root verb gam + kvip = jagat. Gam means to go and the suffix kvip is used to denote habituality.) When movement stops existence is jeopardized. When we say that an entity exists it implies that the entity is moving. Here, we shall make an appraisal on how far humans have progressed in the mundane world or in the psychic world. We are not supposed to consider which obstacles and hindrances have beset the path of progress because I have already said in this regard that ultimately, real progress takes place only in the spiritual sphere and not in the other two spheres.

There is a considerable difference between the physical structure of today’s human beings and the physical structure of prehistoric humans who came onto this earth a million years ago. The cranium of the prehistoric humans was small, the skull was large, the hands were long, and the lymphatic glands were very active. They were quite adept at running and jumping and could easily jump from one tree to another, just like the other creatures of the ape group. In fact human beings were members of the tailless ape group and thus there were many similarities between them and the other members of the group, the chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, etc. However, these animals have made very little progress in the mundane sphere compared to human beings. Considerable changes have also taken place in the human structure. What is the reason behind this? Even without going very deep into the subject one can understand that clash and cohesion has brought about this change in human beings. There was not much scope for the expansion and development of the nerve-cells of the tailless apes compared with human beings. That is why the tailless apes have lagged behind whereas the human beings have progressed. So, clash and cohesion caused by the natural environment helped human beings to a great extent.

Like gorillas, the primitive humans sought the relative safety of hilltops and trees for their dwelling places, although they tended to mainly live on hills. Over the course of the years they migrated through the jungles and along river banks towards the delta regions. This migration is a landmark in human civilization. There is concrete evidence to prove this contention. A hill in old Saḿskrta was called “gotra”. In those early days a particular group of humans would settle on a hill. The hill would be named after the group leader. Thus, when meeting someone one would be asked, “To which gotra do you belong?” In reply one would say, “I belong to such and such gotra.” Thus, gotra has come into common usage to denote one’s lineage. As in the society of animals, the human society was completely governed by the matriarchal order. While introducing oneself, one would mention one’s mother’s or one’s grandmother’s name because it was difficult to determine the identity of one’s father in those days. The marriage system had not been introduced at that time.

The society advanced in this way. In those days life was full of conflict. There were frequent clashes between the different hills. The people living on one hill treated each other as brothers and sisters, so whenever they wanted to get married, they had to bring men and women from other hills. Those who emerged victorious in an inter-hill conflict would marry the women of the vanquished gotra. These women were brought to the victor’s hill bound in chains. Even today in many parts of India the newly married couple knot their clothes together after marriage. This practice is symbolic of the time when the girl of the vanquished party was forcibly brought home by the bridegroom. In ancient days, they were brought home captive, their hands bound in chains. Even today in East India, particularly among the women of Bengal, there is a custom of wearing iron bangles. These bangles, reminiscent of those ancient chains, symbolize that the bride has been brought home captive. Besides that, many women had their heads cracked open in battle. Blood flowed from their gaping wounds. These days, of course, such atrocities do not occur. However, to represent the flowing blood of those wounded in battle a vermilion mark is placed on the forehead of a newly married woman.

Thus the human civilization evolved out of its primitive past. Women were the clan mothers. Every hill was governed by a leader who was the clan mother in the early stage. In Meghalaya, the matrilineal order is still in vogue. Later on the institution of clan mothers was replaced by the institution of clan fathers, and together with it came the pravara system. The men became the head of the gotras.

Civilizations have been advancing through clash and cohesion. Human beings are racking their brains in the search for new ways to win battles, and thus their brain cells are developing. They are busying their brains in various ways; they are devising new ways to preserve past history. After thinking for some time they devised words in pictures. By looking at the pictures they remembered what they did ten days ago. This is called pictography. The pictorial script was devised in this way. Even today China uses the pictorial script – the alphabet in pictures. Human beings discovered all this out of necessity. By the same process they also managed to conquer the world of animals. Then they started to struggle among themselves. Those who were less intelligent were defeated and considered as low caste people – they were exploited and thus degenerated in the society. Those who were more intelligent were considered as upper castes. And those who were even more intelligent were considered as the highest caste in society. And thus the clash of the intellect began.

Human beings have been advancing. This advancement also continued in the physical sphere of life. To protect themselves from the cold, humans started wearing clothes and garments. Next, thinking about how to move fast, they invented the wheel. This invention occurred long after the dawn of civilization. It marked the beginning of a new era in human civilization. In the absence of wheels, fast moving vehicles could not have been built.

The Mayan civilization is a transplanted Indian civilization. It migrated to Central America during the rule of the Pallavas of South India. Thus the transplanted Mayan and Indian civilizations existed side by side. The difference between them was that the Indian civilization invented the wheel. Without the wheel, the Mayan civilization lagged behind. Soon after the invention of the wheel bullock carts were invented. That invention also marked a new victory. Human beings had created something new, effecting a greater acceleration in human progress. All this took place in the physical sphere. To keep pace with these changes there were corresponding changes in the human physical structure. The cranium became larger, the skull became smaller, the arms became shorter, the body hair decreased and the jaws became more elevated. In the different parts of the world these changes took place in different ways. In some parts the jaw became more elevated, in other places it dropped. In some parts human complexion was brown, in some parts white and in other parts reddish. These physical changes occurred in adjustment with the changes in the psychic world. This is how human beings advanced.

Where does the thought which causes evolutionary change originate? It originates in the nerve cells. The human mind has two functions – thinking and memorizing. The more the thinking capacity increases the more the power of memory develops. The nerve cells also change, leading to a corresponding change in the nerve fibres. These changes create a stir and a revolution in the world of thought. Human beings started thinking, “Who am I? Where have I come from? Where shall I go hereafter?” No other creature thinks like this – only humans have the power of contemplation.

Má go ei bhávaná
Ámi kotháy chilám, kotháy elám, kotháy yábo
Nái t́hikáná.

[Oh mother, I have only one thought in my mind.
Where was I? Where am I now? Where am I going?
I have no answer to these questions.]

No other creature thinks like this. This sort of human contemplation was reflected gradually in literature, art, etc.

Human beings continued to advance and soon discovered physical sciences in the mundane sphere and philosophy in the psychic sphere. While discovering philosophy they began to search for the answers to “Why? Where? What?”, etc. In the process of humans’ continuous search, Sadashiva emerged about 7000 years ago. He consolidated all the endeavours of human beings, gave them a particular form and brought them within a particular system. This led to the formulation of education, Ayurvedic medical science, dance, song, etc. Everything received a systematic form, a new life.

Lord Krśńa came much later. He further consolidated the human race and constructed society in a better way after having laid its firm foundation stone. In pursuit of answers to the questions, “Why?” and “What?” human beings made further advancement in philosophy. Maharsi Kapil propagated the first philosophy. He tried to explain how the different objects and entities came into being. But the humans did not stop there: they made further progress and even today human beings are making steady progress on the path of spirituality.

Later on, with the further development of philosophy and science the number of impediments and obstacles faced by humans became fewer than those which the ancient humans faced while moving along the path of spirituality during the days of backward science and philosophy. The people of today do not have to labour quite as hard as Vaishishta and Vishvamitra had to do in order to discover the way to move ahead, because modern science and philosophy today are valuable aids to human progress. The people of today are able to realize the Supreme Entity in one life, or maybe in 15 to 20 years, for which they had to practice penance for lives together in the past. Apart from the direct help of philosophy and science, the spiritual quest also greatly helped human beings in their elevation. The humans of today have started to realize that they are the progeny of Parama Puruśa, an integral part of Parama Puruśa. If people can properly ideate on Parama Puruśa, they will realize Brahma. On imbibing cosmic ideation all kinds of ailments will be cured.

In this way human beings are advancing and will continue to advance in the future. In the absolute sense there cannot be any progress in the physical and psychic spheres; nor can there be any progress in the relative sense, either. However, the very endeavour to move ahead has its own importance. This endeavour has made human beings glorious and superior.

It is a fact that humans will make further progress in the future. Those who will assist in this human progress are the Sadvipras. Those who are trying to obstruct human progress are veritable demons in human form (rákśasa). Not only will human beings have to strengthen the hands of the Sadvipras to facilitate smooth social progress, they will also have to remain ever-vigilant against these demons in human form and wage constant war against them. There should not be any hesitation.

This movement of the human beings is an endless one. Human beings must advance. Some people think that one day the universe will meet its thermal death. They believe that the universe will become frozen solid, unfit for human habitation, and cause the extinction of the human race. Their statement is partially true, but the universe as a whole will never meet a thermal death. A certain planet may suffer thermal death, but certainly not the entire universe. Before thermal death occurs on a particular planet, human beings, having made great technological advances, will move to other planets by rocket. So there is no plausible reason for human beings to become frightened by the prospects of a thermal death.

Once I was asked by a Hindi journalist if I believed that atom bombs would destroy the human race. I replied that my firm conviction is that atom bombs do not have the power to annihilate the human race because they are merely a product of the human mind. They do not have the power to destroy the minds of those who created them. The human beings who invented atom bombs will also be able to provide safeguards against them. So human beings have no reason to be unduly worried or frightened.

Chapter 5	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

The day before yesterday the subject of discussion in the Renaissance Club was “The Liberation of Intellect”. Now, a question may arise in some minds: when liberation is meant for all human beings, what does the liberation of intellect mean? Intellect is primarily an impersonal or an abstract idea. Can the question of liberation of something which is impersonal, which is only an abstract concept, arise? In this connection my considered opinion is, yes, the liberation of intellect is indeed necessary. In fact whatever is in this universe – crude matter, subtle idea or consciousness – everything needs to be liberated. In the absence of liberation, the natural expression of an object or an individual does not take place. That is, if we want to see the full expression or the total unfoldment of the qualities and capacities that are latent in anything, the liberation of that object or that individual is indispensable.

Human beings long for liberation from the bondage of staticity. Now what is the nature of this liberation? It is not possible to attain liberation from this crude physical body; liberation from the physical body means death. But to attain liberation from the bondage of staticity, one will have to make an effort. The effort to attain liberation from economic bondage, political slavery and all sorts of social dependence in the physical world, is the liberation from staticity in the crude world. In order to attain liberation from worldly bondages of this sort, human beings will have to make conscious efforts.

If a certain country is held in bondage to another country, then that subjugated country will have to wage war in order to attain liberation from the chains of slavery. That is why liberation from worldly bondages is essential for human beings. We have noticed that wherever there is worldly subservience – whether economic, political or social – the proper development of the innate qualities, or the genius of human beings, remains remote. That is why in every sphere of life liberation is necessary; liberation from the bondage of staticity is a must.

Subtler than matter is the mind. From psychic slavery, also, the mind should be liberated. We notice in human society various forms of psychic pressure, numerous ways of exploitation. In order to attain liberation from this exploitation and tyranny, human beings must endeavour for liberation from psychic bondages. The internal urge to attain liberation in every sphere of life is a natural wont of each and every human being.

The essence of the human mind is known as intellect. Intuition cannot be precisely called the essence of mind. In fact, intuition is subtler than the mind, and a very special aspect of human existence. Intuition should be called the eleventh organ or the sixth sense. Discrimination between holy and unholy, permanent and impermanent, pure and impure in the intellectual sphere has a certain yardstick of its own. This yardstick should remain unstained. Due to the bondage of various types of exploitation and tyranny against the intellect in the physical sphere, the human spirit writhes in suppressed agony. Likewise in the mental sphere, the human capacity to think is snatched away. And in the same way in the intellectual sphere, when human beings try to think and act for their spiritual and intellectual unfoldment, various kinds of dogmas arise and create obstacles.

What is dogma? Dogma is a preconceived idea which forbids human beings to outstep the limits of that idea or object. In this situation the human intellect cannot freely function. Some people say, “All right, we may not get the maximum utilization of our intellect, yet we can have at least ten to twenty percent of its services.” My considered opinion is that where there is dogma, even ten to twenty percent of the human intellect cannot be properly utilized; and the meagre amount of intellect used is not something worthwhile. The greatest treasure of human beings is their psychic faculty, or their intellect. When I cannot utilize this precious intellect to its fullest advantage – what more tragic situation could there be than this! So we need the liberation of the human mind, and even before this we need the liberation of the human intellect.

Let me further explain what dogma is. Suppose the intellect wants to follow a particular path; in the meantime dogma comes from all sides and forbids it, “Oh no, no! Don’t take a single step further on that side. If you do, you’ll be burnt in eternal hell-fire. You’ll be doomed to hell for eternity.” When the intellect wants to make the fullest utilization of mundane wealth, dogma comes in and says, as it were, “Oh no – you must not do it. It is harmful for human beings, it is sheer blasphemy. It will lead to the degradation of humanity.”

When the human intellect becomes ardently eager to venture into a new enterprise in the psychic sphere, dogma again comes into the picture and insists, “Oh, no! You must not do like this. It will bring about your ruin.” Thus, in every sphere, at every step, dogma puts a blockade on the human mind, on the human intellect. That is why until we can liberate our intellect from bondages, we cannot make the fullest utilization of that intellect. For the service of humanity, the intellect has to be liberated from all sorts of bondages, from all kinds of dogma, from all manner of unholy influences. Unless that is achieved the human race cannot have a radiant future. If the present humanity wants to herald the advent of a golden dawn they will have to bring about an all-round emancipation of human intellect through a relentless struggle against dogma, backed by unlimited, uninhibited courage. This is why, in all corners of the world and in all directions, one and only one slogan should echo and re-echo from all mouths, “Dogma – No more, no more!”

Chapter 6	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

Yesterday I said something about history; I said that modern history usually deals with certain very common events such as when a certain king succeeded to the throne, or plundered a neighbouring country, or perpetrated atrocities on his subjects, or died, and so on. What benefit could common people possibly derive from studying such useless information? This is why they have no interest to study this sort of history at all. True history should be a faithful record of the entire human life.

The recognized definition of history is,

Iti hasati ityarthe itihásah.

That is, history is a resplendent reflection of collective life, whose study will be of immense inspiration for future generations. “Iti hasati” literally means, “the glowing example of glorious human dignity.”

Human beings should not be compared to individual flowers, but to an entire flower garden. A flower garden is made up of innumerable varieties of flowers, each with its own fragrance and colours. Human history is like this: the beauty of history lies in its kaleidoscopic variations in spatial, temporal and personal factors. We cannot afford to spoil its characteristics; nor can we forcibly impose a particular type of history on a certain community.

Every individual or community will advance by virtue of its own inner vitality and assist in the collective fulfilment of the entire humanity. This is the true spirit of history. While writing history we will have to consider the various spheres of human life and ensure that proper directions are given for the development of each sphere. For instance, history should focus upon the prevalent educational system, cultural standards, thoughts and ideas, dress, the social condition of women, the role of women in the social and economic spheres, and the socio-economic conditions of the weak and backward communities of the society of a particular age, etc. If any of these aspects are omitted while writing history, it will be incomplete.

There is yet another popular definition of history:

Dharmártha káma mokśártham
Niiti vákya samanvitaḿ
Purávrta katháyuktaḿitihásah pracakśate

That is, only that treatise which increases human beings’ arena of spiritual awareness and thus renders the intellect more subtle, which enhances the knowledge of various branches of art and science – such as literature, fine art, pure science, technology, social science, etc – and which places human beings on a firm foundation, deserves to be called genuine history.

Let us see how people write history or get it written. In most cases history is written in the interest of a particular vested interest. History books are selected in order to establish the glory of a particular era. For example, the heroic tales of the chivalry of the Kśatriyas era, their war-strategies, etc., form the main basis for the writing of the history of the Kśatriya era. History books are filled with eulogies of the bravery and chivalry of the Kśatriyan rulers. Similarly, the history of the Vipra era is full of praises for the glorious deeds of the Vipra leaders, and the history of the Vaeshya era contains an abundance of stories about the glories of the Vaeshyas. While studying such biased history, the readers lose both interest and patience. Besides that, the study of this sort of so-called history injects some kind of dogma in the readers mind, and consequently chokes the development of a spontaneous human intellect.

There should be proper arrangements for the study of history. But that history must be real history, not the history of a particular class, king or minister.

Unfortunately, the biased history is always written according to the dictates of the ruling class of different countries. The study of this biased history is detrimental to society. It should not occur.

You people of today are more enlightened. Your intellectual capacity is no less than anyone else’s. That is why you should write a new history of the human race by your collective endeavour. The history that you will write in future must unequivocally reflect such important factors as how human society has evolved through trials and tribulations; what difficulties were confronted and how human beings overcame them and moved towards their goal with firm steps; and how even today they are advancing by solving numerous problems.

Chapter 7	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

In all three worlds – human world, animal world and plant world – there are some common characteristics which determine their respective identities. In spite of that, living beings and plants are not exactly the same. Living beings have certain special duties and distinct characteristics which distinguish them from plants.

Had living beings not possessed these special characteristics, we would not have called them “living beings” but would have called them “plants” The characteristics that are common to animals and plants are also inherent in human beings, but human beings also have certain additional characteristics, without which they would be no different from birds, animals, plants and creepers, etc. It is the bounden duty of each and every human being to awaken and develop their unique characteristics, for upon this depends the excellence of the human race.

Human beings lacking these characteristics are not worthy of the appellation “human” – they should be called something else. No human being wants to become degraded. To prosper in life, to move along the path of development step by step, is the natural desire of all. It is the duty of those accorded a status of excellence to move together with the rest of society. For some to advance far ahead while others lag behind is not at all desirable. If anything like this were to happen, it would not be at all glorious for those who have advanced.

History has been written and is read – it was written in the past; it will be written in the future. But I suggest that in the writing of history there should be a radical change. The history written so far is a history of kings and monarchs. It should be thoroughly overhauled and completely rewritten – rewritten in the interest of humanity and the universal well-being of the human race. If the chronicles of history merely describe who succeeded to the throne and when, who plundered the neighbouring countries or kingdom, and who became a minister, they will be of no importance whatsoever, nor, indeed, of any interest to the common masses. If human beings are to profit from the study of the annals of history, they must reflect the weal and the woe, the hopes and aspirations of the masses.

The annals of human history should show which communities brought about which amount of progress and prosperity in which area of social life and in which part of the world – only such significant events are worthy of being recorded. History should also maintain special records of the trials and tribula tions which confronted human beings, how those trials and tribulations were overcome, how human beings tackled the numerous obstacles to effect greater social development, and so on. Only such history would I call the complete history or complete cultural history of the human race.

The history of the human race should be written according to the inherent special characteristics of human beings. Only then will we know how successful the human beings of the past were in developing their latent noble qualities, and how much they have progressed today. A handful of people out of millions may reach the pinnacle of progress and provide inspiration for thousands of others, but this will not benefit the entire human race. We will have to be particularly persevering to ensure that the special characteristics, that is the innate Dharma, of all people are fully developed. Some people may be dissatisfied with such a writing of history, but from this type of historical analysis people will gain inspiration and derive great strength to move ahead.

Some people say that both sannyasins (renunciates) and householders are required for the smooth running of society. Now the question is, is their Dharma different? Will there be a separate history for each of them? My emphatic answer is, “NO”, because the quadri-dimensional manava dharma (human dharma) is one and the same. It includes: vistara (expansion), rasa (flow), sevá (service) and mokśa (spiritual emancipation). Is the observance of manava (bhagavad) dharma equally obligatory for both the sannyasins and the householders?

The only difference between them is as follows: householders have to care for two families whereas the renunciates have to care for only one. The householders’ two families are their own small family consisting of father, mother, brothers, sisters, husband or wife, sons, daughters, etc. and the larger human family, that is, the entire universe. The householders will have to maintain a balance between both these families.

The householders will have to look after the larger family as well, but for that they may take the assistance of the sannyasins. Sannyasins do not have a small family of their own – their family is the entire universe. In order to maintain that family they, in turn, may take the help of the householders. Therefore it is clear that manava dharma is the same for both the householders and the renunciates.

When we write the history of genuine human progress, the glorious role of both the householders and the renunciates will be written in letters of gold. Only by writing such a history will human beings one day prove not only to this world but to the entire universe, that Parama Puruśa was justified in creating human beings.

Chapter 8	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

Dynamism is the essential characteristic of this world. The world is called jagat because it is always in motion.⁽¹⁾ Just as there is individual movement, there is movement in collective life as well. This very movement requires three things: First, an inspiration – an impetus from behind. When one person stops moving, another will have to push from behind, saying, “Move ahead!” Secondly, the capacity for movement – that is, the one who moves forward must have the requisite strength to do so. In the absence of adequate strength, how can one move forward? Thirdly, the goal of movement. These three factors are absolutely essential for any movement.

The movement that the ancient human beings started, collectively as well as individually, has not yet come to an end. Nor will there be any comma, semi-colon, colon or period to check that movement; it is uninterrupted.

Now the question arises, by what inspiration, by what strength, and towards which goal do human beings move? It has been observed that human movement is inspired by two ideas. In my recent book Sabhyatár Ádibindu: Ráŕh I have used two terms for these ideas, átma-sukha tattva [principle of selfish pleasure] and sama-samája tattva [principle of social equality].

Whatever human beings do motivated by átma-sukha tattva is for the sake of pleasure. This principle of selfish pleasure rests on dogma. All the social, economic and geographical forces that normally motivate human beings are guided by dogma; and this dogma in its turn is entirely based on átma-sukha tattva. Human beings yield to this dogma with the sole intention of attaining selfish pleasures; even educated people knowingly submit to dogma. They know that they are surrendering their intellect to dogma, and that the outcome will be undesirable; they know and understand everything – why, even then, do they knowingly submit to it? They are all deliberate sinners and intentionally accept dogmas as truth. They observe that these dogmas are based on átma-sukha tattva; but they think, “I don’t care whether it does good or harm to others, because at least I have got some pleasure out of it!” Being motivated by this idea, they enslave themselves to dogmas.

In the civilized world, even educated people knowingly follow dogmas because they have a desire in the back of their minds to attain some mundane pleasure in this physical world. Even in this civilized world where so much progress has been made in the field of knowledge, people are still following these dogmas, as if they are blind. The snares of dogma will have to be shattered to pieces; the iron prison gates of dogma will have to be crushed to dust.

The second principle is sama-samája tattva. Parama Puruśa [Supreme Consciousness] is the goal of everyone. We are all moving towards Him, both individually and collectively; but we will not be able to move ahead if we compromise with all the disparities and inequalities of collective life. We should eradicate all these inequalities, while at the same time we move together towards our spiritual goal. The progress of all would be accelerated if the inequalities were uprooted, if this were the motivation behind our movement towards the Supreme. We may not attain selfish pleasure, but we will enjoy spiritual peace, and pure spiritual bliss in the realization of Cosmic grace.

So 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-samája tattva. That is why I say categorically, that we must totally reject all those hypocritical ideas which are contrary to this sama-samája tattva, and we must welcome all those ideas which will help human beings to be established in it. All opposing theories must be removed mercilessly, just like thorns from our path.

And in this process we must not give indulgence to any dogmas or supernatural ideas. This should be the task of today’s human beings; all people should combine their efforts and strive unitedly to accomplish that end.

It is futile to think of an individual’s past; we must not discriminate whether one is black or white. We should only remember that we must establish ourselves in the ultimate reality, by forming a new social order based on sama-samája tattva. When we have embraced the ideal of sama-samája tattva, when we have attained the physical strength, psychic intellect and spiritual wisdom to materialize it – should we not play a successful role to implement this noble and sublime ideal? Our coming to this earth and our remaining here, our every breath, every vibration of our existence – should this not attain supreme fulfilment? Should we not, by utilizing all our physical, psychic and spiritual powers, attain the pinnacle of human glory?

Footnotes

(1) The Sanskrit word jagat is derived from the root verb gam plus the suffix kvip, which means “an entity that has an inherent tendency to move”.

Chapter 9	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

At the very outset let me state that many theories have been propounded on this earth. Some of them survived for some time and then gradually passed out of existence; others emerged like meteors, exhibiting their dazzling radiance for a very short time, and then vanished into darkness. The mere existence of a theory is not the essential point; what is important is whether the theory promoted the welfare of all, the spiritual well-being of all – otherwise its advent on this earth was quite useless. Such useless theories are not even worth mentioning.

Any theory will contain the seed of well-being if its firm foundation is sama-samája tattva. It may survive for a very long period – even for eternity – if it cherishes the ideal of forever promoting the welfare of all. This is the essential point.

I have already said several times, and I repeat, that while moving towards the inner world, human beings have to maintain equilibrium and equipoise in the external world. If some declare that Brahma satyaḿ jaganmithyá [“Only Supreme Consciousness is real and the world is false”], they will not be able to do anything in this “false” world. They are simply deceiving themselves – it is a sign of hypocrisy. An honest person should never resort to hypocrisy in any sphere of life; under no circumstances must he or she compromise with any unjust theory. This is the rule; this is correct. Propriety dictates this.

So you who want to be real human beings, must continue your sádhaná [spiritual practice] in your inner life and strive ceaselessly for God-realization, and with equal effort you must see to it that no irrational, undesirable or detrimental theory is propagated in the external world, which can harmfully influence the human mind. You must be ever-vigilant in this regard. That is why I told you to be vocal against all sorts of injustice. Otherwise your goal will not be achieved.

In the objective world, human beings have their religious, cultural, political and economic lives, and so on. Who can deny these? Whoever denies them must be an impostor; he or she is distorting the truth. Such people can never do any good either for themselves or for their world. They always suffer from the disease of dualism (that is, there is no correspondence between their inner minds and their outer expressions). This psychology of duality within a single personality creates a very serious psychic disease which will ultimately destroy them. Sama-samája tattva or Neohumanism will liberate people from this disease of dualism, so they will be able to do good to themselves and to others also according to their abilities; for everyone is endowed with some degree of ability.

In this world we find different varieties of group sentiment and socio-sentiment. For example, a small group may be composed of only a very few people, which we call a family. There are still larger groups, such as castes, communities,⁽¹⁾ tribes and nationalities; and behind all those groups the same mental weakness, the same psychic disease, is operating. As a consequence of this disease, people confine themselves within a particular group, and due to this confinement, they suffer from different types of complexes. Sometimes they praise and applaud each other, saying, “How fine this gentleman speaks! How nicely he acts!” Actually this applause comes from those who share the same psychic complex.

Within a gang of thieves, one of them says appreciatively, “Oh! The sleight-of-hand of such-and-such other thief is marvellous – he has made a fool of me!” Here one pickpocket is praising another, because they belong to the same group. But one who does not belong to that gang of pickpockets will never appreciate it.

In actuality, it so happens that a person belonging to a group whose boundaries are larger will always disparage and denounce a group whose boundaries are smaller. The person who is concerned only with his own family and nothing else, merely goes to the office, strolls home and reads the newspaper. Those who have formed a group on the basis of caste – the organizers of the “All-India Such-and-Such Association” – what will they do? They will criticize that person, saying, “He is concerned only with his family.” Again, those who are involved with a slightly larger community – the “All-India Such-and-Such Society” – will say about them, “Pooh! They are concerned only with their caste! Is this proper?” But those whose minds are still more expanded, what will they do? They will say, “Pooh! These communities, these castes – they are contrary to nationalism. If we concern ourselves with caste, community, etc., it will weaken the foundation of our nation. They are enemies of the state – they cause harm to society by spreading communalism and other narrow ideas!” They forget that they are all suffering from the same disease – the only difference is, one’s circle is slightly larger than the other’s.

They may indeed be quite conscious of the fact that they are all suffering from the same disease, but still they propagate these sorts of idea because they are motivated by selfish interest. Thus those who confine themselves within any specific circle, regardless of its circumference, all come within the scope of socio-sentiment.

Where there is no such limitation or confinement, where socio-sentiment is transcended, I call this “general humanism”, but this is not something noble to gloat over either.

Now, in socio-sentiment, it happens that a certain group exploits another, and that exploited group in turn exploits a third. In Hindu society you will notice that there are many divisions of caste, high and low. You will hear many people saying lightly, “It is the Brahmans who are responsible for all this!” But the same person who holds the Brahmans responsible, will refuse to touch the people of a caste slightly lower than his or her own, so as not to pollute oneself by their contact. Still others hold two or three castes responsible, but they themselves also refuse to touch lower-caste people. A person of the low Tentule Bagdi caste says, “Dule Bagdi caste people are lower than me – so I will not touch them!” But the same Tentule Bagdi caste person complains, “We are ruined by the Brahmans!” In fact these are all expressions of the mental disease I referred to. One who is confined within a certain circle condemns other groups. You should never hold any particular caste or community responsible for the ruin of the society – this is completely false. You yourself are responsible for it.

Now, those who are courageous enough to speak out this truth in clear language – those who say, “Shatter this bondage of limitation!” – their path is called the path of revolution. And those who say, “Everything will be done gradually… why so much haste?” – their path is called the path of evolution. They can never accomplish any glorious task.

There are still others who say straightforwardly, “No, no, how can I contradict the way followed by my ancestors – my father, my grandfather?” They are reactionaries. They suffer from a mental disease. They are afraid to accept the new; they suffer from fear complex. They utter high-sounding phrases, but their hearts are filled with fear complexes. Not that they are terribly reprehensible. They say outwardly: “We are just doing the same as our ancestors did.” But their ancestors used to wear wooden sandals instead of shoes, and shawls instead of tailored shirts, eat guŕ [raw sugar] instead of refined sugar, and drink water from wells instead of from taps – do they follow this also?

I know a certain lady who never drinks tap water, because, according to her, “People of all castes work in the waterworks – how can I drink such water?” She drinks only pure Ganges water – as if that water were touched only by the holy Brahmans! Behind this reluctance to accept the new in place of the old lies a fear complex.

Motivated by socio-sentiment, one group harms and exploits another group in the social, economic, cultural and religious spheres.

Mental Complexes and Psychic Exploitation

Such groups perpetuate exploitation in the social sphere by injecting a fear complex in the minds of those whom they want to exploit. They infuse the feeling in their minds, “We are inferior, and they are superior.” As the inevitable result, the so-called low castes of India really consider themselves to be inferior, and this becomes an ingrained habit. Even if you catch hold of their hands and cordially invite them to sit on your cot, they refuse, because over the centuries they have developed such an inferior mentality. By creating fear complexes in others’ minds, such groups indirectly inject inferiority complexes in them and superiority complexes in themselves. This is how they widen the social gap, until the framework of society is broken. Thus a well-knit society can never develop.

When those with superiority complexes possess even the slightest degree of power, they fulfil their desires by injecting inferiority complexes in others. Forty-five or fifty years ago [in India], some special train compartments were reserved for those people who wore European dress, and those in Indian dress would be rejected. This is a clear instance of injecting an inferiority complex into people’s minds. What was the result? It merely paved the way for psychic exploitation, and based on this, all other kinds of exploitation could easily take place.

Some time ago, those who could not speak English were considered to be uneducated, and even now this is the case, even if the person is a scholar in Sanskrit. This is another result of injecting inferiority complexes.

The very purpose of injecting an inferiority complex is to exploit people on the psychic level, and this is exactly what happens in many spheres of social life. In some places you may notice some signboards written in a language not used by the local people. What is the purpose of putting up a signboard? It is just to give the local people certain information. If the letters are written in the language of the ruling exploiters and not in the language of the exploited – or if the local language is printed in small and humble letters underneath – what reaction will this create in the minds of the exploited? It is bound to generate an inferiority complex regarding their language and social position (the language of slaves is derogatorily called “vernacular” in English), and they will continue to suffer from this mental disease. Thus the ruling exploiters create indirect pressure on others’ minds so that their language maintains its high prestige and an inferior feeling arises in the minds of the people: “Ah! That is the language of the rulers!”

The moment an inferiority complex is created, the ruling class uses it to exploit them psychically; those who are motivated by socio-sentiment continue their social exploitation in this manner. They infuse the same inferiority complex in other spheres of life also; then psychic exploitation occurs as a matter of course.

Psychic exploitation is twofold. Sometimes it occurs only in the mental sphere, and sometimes partially in the mental sphere and partially in other spheres, such as economics, politics, culture or religion – in all spheres of life. That is why I said previously that socio-sentiment is much more harmful for society than geo-sentiment. What is socio-sentiment? People forget their own rights, and even forget that they are human beings, that they too have the right to live with dignity. Thus socio-sentiment is more harmful. Socio-sentiment perpetuates psychic exploitation by injecting inferiority complexes in others’ minds, and this psychic exploitation is the basis of other types of exploitation.

This happens in the economic sphere. One social group, guided by a particular type of social sentiment, exploits another group. First, the exploiters inject the idea in the minds of the exploited that the latter are degraded while the former are elevated – so they are entitled to greater rights, even to the right to exploit the inferior group. They are the first-class citizens, and the exploited second-class.

If you analyse the history of the world, you will find that whenever one group exploited another in the economic sphere, they first created psychic exploitation by infusing inferiority complexes in the minds of the exploited mass. You will find that in each case of economic exploitation, psychic exploitation was the foundation: if you go deep into the background, you will discover a continuous and cunning attempt to create inferiority complexes in the minds of the exploited.

Economic and Political Exploitation

Economic exploitation is perpetrated in two ways: one of the two is psycho-economic exploitation, as I have said, and the other is politico-economic exploitation. Where psycho-economic exploitation is combined with politico-economic exploitation, it becomes doubly dangerous.

In the past, most countries of the world were victims of politico-economic exploitation – and many are even today. In order to save humanity from economic exploitation (whether politico-economic or psycho-economic), you must raise the people’s consciousness, otherwise they will never be able to successfully resist psycho-economic or politico-economic exploitation.

In India, the masses were inspired to fight for independence without arousing their consciousness. As a consequence, India ultimately attained political independence, no doubt, but the people have not attained politico-economic independence as yet. Even today, they are victims of psycho-economic and politico-economic exploitation.

Now let us see how this psycho-political or political exploitation works.

Motivated by socio-sentiment, one social group tries to forcibly dominate another group, with the intention that “We will utilize the exploited group or their land” – here the group is more important than the land – “as a source of raw materials. The finished products will be manufactured within our area, and then we will utilize the exploited country as the market for our goods.”

What can the financially-handicapped groups do in this situation? They are forced to enslave themselves to the powerful countries or groups because of their fear complex born of their impotence or poverty. And what is the outcome of such slavery?

In the next phase, the exploited painfully find themselves reduced to the position of suppliers of raw materials and purchasers of finished products. They are economically ruined. Such things happen as a result of both psycho-economic exploitation and politico-economic exploitation. Intelligent people should analyse this carefully.

When this exploitation is perpetrated by the application of brute force, it is politico-economic exploitation; but when it is done not through brute force but through the application of cunning intellectual strategy, it is primarily psycho-economic exploitation.

Now, whatever may be the nature of this psycho-economic or politico-economic exploitation, its inevitable outcome is that the [[exploiters]] not only exploit the people directly or indirectly, but also govern them. This makes the exploitation easier for the rulers.

Vocal Revolutionaries and Reformists

What about those who do not rule but exploit indirectly? They purchase the rulers with their wealth. And what is the result? – the ruling classes do their utmost to please those by whom they were bought, win elections with their money, and outwardly speak against the social, economic and political exploitations. But in fact they support these things. I have branded these people as “vocal revolutionaries”. They deliver long lectures against exploitation, but they do the opposite in practice.

I have already said that the reformists are somewhat better than those vocal revolutionaries. The reformists say, “Let us go slowly on the path of reform.” But actually they intend that the process of exploitation should continue without interruption. There were many reformists in the world, but in reality they did not want the welfare of the society; they only wanted to perpetuate the process of exploitation by bringing about some patchwork improvements.

You may have observed many people in the world who delivered long lectures against caste discrimination and untouchability, saying, “No, all are equal. I will take food touched by any caste. If you give me filtered water in a clean glass I will not hesitate to swallow it – just watch me drink!” And the audience applauded, “Very good! Very good!” These people are called reformists; but their inner intention was to maintain the caste system. Had they really wanted to remove caste discrimination, they would have declared, “The cause of this untouchability is the caste system. Because of the caste system, discriminations have emerged between high and low, touchable and untouchable, one caste and another. So let us first of all break the bondage of caste!”⁽²⁾ If they had had the courage to proclaim this directly, they would have become revolutionaries. But they lacked such boldness, and thus they did enormous harm to humanity by delaying revolution.

The reformists of any age are not the real well-wishers of society. Rather they seek to preserve the defects of society by any means. They are motivated either by a fear complex or by a despicable cunning. And when awareness finally dawns on those who were so long exploited in the politico-economic field, the reformists lose their prestige, and also their popular support.

Those who have been exploiting directly on the politico-economic or the psycho-economic levels, and indirectly supporting other exploiters, are bound to ultimately lose their popular support, because when the people’s eyes are opened, no tricks or stratagems can succeed. At that time, the exploiters cannot move even one step forward without the help of their bureaucracy, and, goaded by this bureaucracy, they continue their activities. They can no longer face the awakened masses; they cannot act independently. Thus in this process, the bureaucracy is gradually transformed into a kind of oligarchy, and this abominable oligarchy oppresses society like a heavy load. This is indeed a ruinous and unendurable position for society.

To liberate society from this unbearable situation, consciousness will have to be aroused among the people; their eyes will have to be opened by knowledge. Let them understand the what’s, the why’s and the where’s. Thus study is essential, very essential.

Religious Exploitation

Besides this, there is the domineering influence of religion on the human mind. You know that religions are based on dogmas. The propagators of religion never cared to preach Bhágavata dharma – the universally applicable human dharma free from all narrowness – rather they always feared and avoided it. What have they preached instead? They have always declared, “I am not speaking with my own voice, I am speaking with the voice of heaven. I am the messenger of God. Don’t take these words to be mine – they are the message of God, and so you will have to accept them. You must not question whether they are right or wrong; to question is a sin. If you question, your tongue will fall off!” They have tightened the noose of dogma around the people, so that they fear to take a single step over the line, thinking, “How terrible! If I do so I will be burnt in hellfire for eternity!”

Thus those who sought to confine different groups within the bondage of dogma in the aforesaid ways are the so-called religious leaders or gurus; they have done enormous harm to the human society. The various religious groups have fought many bloody battles, because their dogmas were totally contradictory; if one group turned to pray towards the north, the other turned towards the south. Their leaders, meanwhile, fulfilled their own petty, selfish interests, saying, “These are God’s commands.”

In this way one group has tried to capture another group to be its arena of exploitation. As in the socio-economico-political field, so in the religious field. They have tried to create satellite groups. For instance, an affluent group tries to utilize a less-developed group as its satellite group. That is, they want to obtain their raw materials and force them to buy the finished products, which they produce in their own factories. It occurs just this way in the religious field also. And, being supported by the money of those who want to create satellites, the propagators of religious faiths idle away their days. Most of these propagators of religion are not even aware of the fact that they are helping the exploiters create satellite groups; but some are doing it consciously.

You must awaken those religious people who are not aware of what they are doing, and make them aware. Let the ideals of Neohumanism reach their ears and be implanted in the core of their hearts. With their liberated intellects they will throw all their illusions into the dustbin.

But those who are deliberately propagating dogmas as the agents of injustice, will become furious and violent when they hear the propagation of truth. Let them so become – let them fill their cup of sins to the brim. Their destruction is inevitable – their annihilation is the inexorable decree of fate.

So in the sphere of religion also, if you look carefully, you will see that behind those who have been knowingly or unknowingly operating the machinery of exploitation, there are certain wealthy parties. Those parties want to create their satellites. In every sphere of life you will find such wealthy people in the background.

Cultural Exploitation through Pseudo-Culture

Now, there is another aspect: culture. As you know, the subtler and sweeter expressions of human life are generally termed “culture.” Suppose someone offers you food: you may eat without washing your hands and feet, or you may eat after washing thoroughly. The refined manner of eating in a hygienic way is called the “culture of eating”, while those activities expressing the subtler and sweeter aspects of life are called “culture” in a general sense.

Human culture is one, though there are some local variations in its expression. But a particular group which is motivated by socio-sentiment to exploit others, tries to destroy the local cultural expressions of other groups. It forcibly imposes its language, dress and ideas on other groups, and thus paves the way for exploitation by paralysing those people psychologically. This is how people guided by socio-sentiment perpetuate exploitation in cultural life.

This is occurring throughout the world. Is it not your noble duty to save these simple and persecuted people from exploitation? Certainly it is. Those of you who did not understand this before, now do understand it clearly; or you will come to understand it later from others. Human beings must be saved. Why should innocent people be forced to live like sacrificial lambs? This must not be tolerated.

Suppose a particular group has a high standard of arts (theatre, cinema, etc.), but the number of rich people in that group is comparatively few. The culture of another group, on the other hand, is very undeveloped, but among them there is a greater number of wealthy people. Now, the latter group wants to maintain its exploitation over the group that has a more developed cultural heritage, because one way that psycho-economic exploitation can paralyse people in the psychic sphere is cultural exploitation – to impose vulgar cinemas and dramas upon those good people.

As you know, the mind has a natural tendency to degrade itself; it flows more easily downwards than upwards. So if some people, by virtue of their wealth, impose vulgar cinemas and dramas on others, this will break the latters’ spines and they will become paralysed. And those paralysed, spineless people will thenceforth never be able to stand unitedly against cultural or any other kind of exploitation. They will never be able to do so, because mentally they will be completely dead – their capacity to raise their heads in protest will have been crushed forever. How can they raise their heads again?

This exploitation in the cultural sphere is accomplished by the propagation of pseudo-culture. Every honest, virtuous, rational person must fight against this pseudo-culture, and inspire others to do the same. If this is not done, the future of humanity will be sealed. It is proper for human beings to struggle for political freedom, for social emancipation; but if their cultural backbone is broken, then all their struggles will end in nothing – like offering ghee into a fire that has died out.

If one’s spine is shattered, it is impossible to hold one’s head erect. Can those whose necks and backs are crushed under the weight of pseudo-culture, be expected to hold their heads high in any sphere of life? Hence it is the bounden duty of every rational person to save innocent people from pseudo-culture.

Footnotes

(1) “Community” and “communal” as used throughout this book generally refer to religious communities. –Trans.

(2) It is the very concept of caste that is defective. Any talk of abolishing inter-caste injustices will remain hollow until that defective concept is eliminated. See also pp. 83-84. –Trans.

Chapter 10	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

[[We were discussing socio-sentiment. When sentiment expands beyond the limit of an individual to embrace others also, it is called “socio-sentiment.” Where does it end?]] Just as zero cannot have any radius, infinity has no radius [[either]]. You can form a circle with a radius greater than zero but less than infinity; only in this circumstance can it exist. Unless the radius of anything is greater than zero and less than infinity, its existence becomes meaningless. Then there may be existence in theory but not in actuality.

Now, family sentiment is also a kind of socio-sentiment, but its radius is very small. Greater than this is the radius of caste sentiment, and still greater is that of community sentiment, national sentiment, international sentiment, and so on. Now, the narrowest of all the socio-sentiments is technically called “socio-sentiment minimitis”, and the greatest is called “socio-sentiment maximitis” or “socio-sentiment excellencio”. What is the difference between these two terms?

The small theoretical gap between excellencio and maximitis makes little difference so far as the collective welfare is concerned. It merely soars high in the realm of theory, just like the argument whether the pot contains the oil or the oil is contained in the pot, or the argument whether the palmyra fruit falls first or the sound of its hitting the ground comes first. This is how the ancient logicians used to endlessly debate.

It is said that once the scholars in Navadwip researched for a long time whether the sound is produced before or after the palmyra fruit hits the ground. The story goes that the scholars carried on this debate for three days and nights, and five maunds [approximately 411 pounds] of snuff was consumed in the process! After three days and nights, it was found at daybreak that almost all the scholars were dead. And what was the cause? The palmyra fruits fell on their heads, and that is how they died!

Now, this socio-sentiment, in its stage of excellencio or in theory maximitis, is called “humanism.” Suppose I was working for a particular nation, but now I am working for all nations. When I admit the existence of nations and say that I am working for all nations, then it is neither humanism nor universalism – it is merely internationalism. When I use the term “internationalism”, I am admitting the existence of separate nations, and along with this I must naturally also think, within the nations, of the people’s five fundamental requirements of life (food, clothes, education, shelter, and medical care). But when I discover that one nation is trying to thrive on the life-blood of another, I oppose it, and this opposition ultimately leads to world war. So internationalism is not the solution either.

Now, if we enlarge the circumference beyond the scope of nationalism or internationalism and embrace all people within one fold, this is called “humanism”, or, still better, “ordinary” or “general” humanism.

What is this humanism? It is socio-sentiment maximitis. Is this the panacea for all problems? Does it provide answers to all questions? No, it does not, for two reasons. The first is that even within humanism there is still intra-humanistic clash; and secondly, in the living world, humans are not the only living beings – there are many other creatures as well. If people completely ignore them, indeed this may not create any great conflict in the external world, because non-human creatures are psychologically undeveloped. (Even if they are physically developed, mentally they are undeveloped.) Thus it is easy for human beings to destroy the animal and plant kingdoms. But this destruction will upset the balance among the plant, animal, and human worlds and result in the catastrophic ruin of human life as well.

Now, what does “intra-humanistic clash” mean? Suppose I find that a particular social group is suffering from starvation, and I provide food for them. This is humanitarian, no doubt, but at the back of my mind I am thinking, “Let me utilize these people as the suppliers of our raw materials and the purchasers of our finished products, because these people are now obligated to us.” This sort of mentality will one day destroy peace in society. So the humanistic approach is not perfect; it is adulterated.

Suppose we discover that a particular group is educationally backward. We feel pity for its people because they are also our fellow human beings. So we think, “Let us introduce them to the printed word at least!” and actually we do something towards that end. But through this so-called “literacy drive”, we inject ideas in their minds that paralyse them mentally, and then we ultimately govern these mentally-paralysed people as colonized people. In this way the peace of the world will be destroyed. This is all “intra-human conflict.” The intention is to develop them socially in the way we like and thus destroy their originality. This is the mentality at work.

What is the reason for this type of mentality? “I pity them” – this vanity, this superiority complex, will eventually create satellite social groups. This adulterated [humanism] is not genuine [humanism], nor is it true humanistic spirit; it is ordinary human sentiment or pseudo-humanistic strategy in another form. It has some affinity with pseudo-reformist strategy.

How does pseudo-reformist strategy work? What is its nature? It arises within socio-sentiment: “Yes, what my opponents [revolutionaries] say is correct; but if this really materializes, it will greatly inconvenience me and disturb my individual sentiment. So what we must do is to try to adjust with the existing situation. We don’t want any great changes; we will just go ahead step by step. Externally we may speak of reform, but in our heart of hearts, we have decided not to allow any change to take place.” This is pseudo-reformist strategy.⁽¹⁾

And what is “pseudo-humanistic strategy”? “Outwardly we preach the gospels of humanistic idealism, but in actuality we stab others in the back.” In the absence of a firm foundation, this sort of ordinary human sentiment remains unstable. This situation is prevalent all over the world today; you must make sincere efforts to see that it no longer continues.

Intra-humanistic clash is a continuing phenomenon, and as a result there are constant conflicts between individual and individual, between group and group. What is the reason? It is because this so-called ordinary humanism or general humanism is nothing more than an enlarged form of nationalism: only its radius is large, or maximitis, as I said in the beginning. That is the only difference.

So you see, socio-sentiment minimitis and socio-sentiment maximitis, although they differ in radius, are both mental diseases which demand our equal attention. Suppose in someone’s body there is a certain disease in one place affecting a limited area, and the same disease in another place affecting a broader area. The disease is the same; the difference lies only in the magnitude of the affected area. The socio-sentiment maximitis or excellencio that is included in socio-sentiment results in clash not only among human beings, but also in mutual clash among humans, animals and plants. If, instead of firmly establishing one’s mind in humanism, one is guided by pseudo-humanistic strategy, one is bound by some means or other to bring the social group to which one has given aid within the scope of one’s own socio-sentiment. Thus today or tomorrow they will become exploited, either directly or indirectly, and the exploitation will be more intense in the economic sphere than in other spheres.

This has one very interesting aspect, which most people overlook. Depending upon the degree of economic affluence, some countries are called “developed”, some “developing”, and some “undeveloped.” Now the interesting thing is that none of these so-called developed countries can stand on their own legs. They are simply compelling the developing and undeveloped countries to buy their industrial goods by creating circumstantial pressure on them. None of these countries becomes developed by developing its own resources.

In those countries which are developing their own resources, the resources are not equally distributed among them, so naturally some countries’ resources will become exhausted sooner than others’. And when this occurs, they will have to use force – either physical or intellectual – against others.

So as long as there are bondages of nationhood – maximitis bondages (not to mention minimitis) – the tendency to exploit individuals or the collectivity will continue to exist. This is bound to have its repercussions on political life as well as religious life. I said yesterday that religion is being used to create satellites; the propagators of religion are performing this unjust action consciously or unconsciously. But behind all this lies the wealth of those who seek to create satellite groups as suppliers of their raw materials or customers for their finished products. Thus there is pervasive corruption in religious life. None of these religions is Bhágavata dharma, the all-embracing human dharma.

There is degeneration in cultural life also. Once one’s cultural life is controlled, one becomes a slave. The rulers and exploiters, who are motivated by socio-sentiment maximitis (otherwise known as general humanism), want to exploit people in all spheres of life – social, economic, political, cultural, and religious. Hence humanism cannot be considered the panacea; it is not a perfect remedy.

Often certain social groups – be they international groups or the largest social groups – seek to preserve their existences by destroying non-human creatures – animals and plants. But all animals and plants also have the urge for self-preservation; no creature dies willingly. This destructive tendency is operating not only in the inter-creature world (the torture of animals and plants), but also in the intra-creature world (within the human world itself). The kind of persecution which is being perpetrated against animals today may be perpetrated by one social group against another tomorrow, because the very tendency to torture others is predominant in the blood of exploiters. They are not free from this disease – they merely mouth high ideals. That is why I said that this is all pseudo-humanistic strategy, not even humanistic strategy.

What do people do to meet their growing needs for agricultural lands, for industries, etc.? They bring about large-scale deforestation; but no one bothers to think about the creatures that live in those forests. Thus the tigers and elephants haunt the villages, kill the people and demolish their houses. Why? Out of their instinct for self-preservation. We have destroyed their natural habitat, the forests, but we never bothered to consider any alternative arrangements for their shelter. We have recklessly destroyed large areas of forests without caring to think that thereby we are destroying the balance among the human, plant, and animal worlds. And we never realized – and still do not – that this wanton destruction of the animal and plant worlds will be of no benefit to human beings. Rather it will be a great loss for human society, because each and every living entity, whether plant or animal, has two types of value: one, its utility value, and the other, its existential value.

Human beings usually preserve those creatures which have an immediate utility value for them; for example, cows. Human beings protect them for their own benefit, because cows have some utility. Nowadays horses have lost their utility value. Thus horses are rarely found in large numbers in the streets these days; you do not see many horses around at all. After some time, people will have to go to the zoo to catch a glimpse of a horse; they will not be found anywhere else. Since horses no longer serve human needs and their utility value is nil, human beings are not eager to preserve them.

Similarly, when people are able to prepare synthetic milk by chemical process, they will also stop breeding cattle. That day people will either kill the cows by starving them, or they will themselves eat the cows. This is the situation.

Who says that those creatures who have lost their immediate utility value have no right to exist? No one has the moral right to say this. No one can dare to say that only human beings have the right to live – and not non-humans. All are the children of Mother Earth; all are the offspring of the Supreme Consciousness. Most creatures have existential value, although they may not be valuable to human beings, or we may not be aware that their existence has some significance. This existential value is sometimes individual and sometimes collective, and sometimes both. Oftentimes, we cannot know the utility value, or the collective existential value, of a creature; we wrongly think that it has no existential value. This is the height of foolishness. As human beings have not advanced very far in the field of knowledge, they are prone to this sort of error.

Even those creatures that have no utility value for human beings or whose utility value has ceased, which have no existential value for human beings or whose existential value has ceased, still have the right to live. Even those animals which have negative utility value instead of positive, and negative entitative [[existential]] value instead of positive, human beings will have to try to preserve even those animals by creating a congenial environment for them instead of destroying them. And they will also have to provide adequate safeguards so that those creatures may not prove injurious. If, in the absence of proper safeguards, those undeveloped creatures do harm to humans, the fault does not lie with those creatures but rather with the human beings. Human beings are endowed with developed intellect. Why do they not make adequate arrangements to protect themselves?

One more thing must be said – that non-human creatures have the same existential value to themselves as human beings have to themselves. Perhaps human beings can understand the value of their existence, while other living beings cannot: this is the only difference. Even so, no one has conferred any authority on human beings to kill those unfortunate creatures.

Now, within the scope of socio-sentiment maximitis, there are economically-developed groups [[and hence also economically-undeveloped groups]]. Within the greater human society, there are different social divisions in some form or the other, direct or indirect. As a result, the virus of intra-human conflict, and along with this, inter-creature conflict, is bound to spread. And in this inter-creature conflict, human beings have completely forgotten the utility value and entitative value of other creatures.

Thus humanism cannot be accepted as an ideal path to perfection. Human beings will have to progress further towards perfection: Hethá nay hethá nay, anya kothá, anya konakháne⁽²⁾ [“Not here, not here, somewhere else, somewhere else.”] We must move ever forward beyond the confines of sentiment. And does not a still more glorious and effulgent dawn await us there? Indeed it does.

Footnotes

(1) Práksama saḿskáravádátmaka rańaniiti [in Sanskrit].

Chapter 11	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

The Supreme Functional Entity⁽¹⁾ carries on its work according to a particular system, and this system is what we call “nature”. The system follows a general stream, but in some cases, in the path of its movement, some abnormality is expressed, although not much. However, this abnormality is not beyond the rule of nature either. It is also an accepted law of nature; that is, it is also natural. No one will ever consider any deviation from the general stream to be a deviation from natural law. Rather, deviation is also accepted as a law of nature.

Now, human intellect, wisdom, power of recollection and contemplation – all move along the mainstream. The minor expression of abnormality – of which I was just speaking – is also a natural expression in the process of its movement; it is natural although it deviates from the mainstream. There is no unnaturality or abnormality in the universe; everything is accepted. Nothing is unnatural or abnormal. I can call it a functional faculty accepted by nature. A special type of functional faculty within the scope of nature – within the scope of the Supreme Functional Principle.

All the expressions we notice in plant structures, in animal structures and in human structures, are sometimes advancing less, sometimes more, than the mainstream. When a benevolent activity is performed in the universe by a certain structure, we call that structure “a genius”, we call it “a blissful structure” – it will be “blissful” in human structure, “good” in animal structure, or “remarkable” in plant structure. Conversely, when a structure is engaged in destructive activity, then we call that structure “demonic” in human structure, “bad” in animal structure, or “notorious” in plant structure. Here, we are mainly concerned with “blissful in human structure” and “demonic in human structure”. Those blissful in human structure utilize their genius for new inventions and discoveries of various things, and thus aid in the development of the psychic and spiritual potentialities of human beings and help them to move in unison towards the goal. They are assets of human society. It [does not] require a high degree of intellect to know and understand them fully.

But those who are demons in human structure are all in categorical forms [fall into various categories]. Although these structures, these frameworks, look like human beings, they are exceptionally clever and cunning. By inculcating various sentiments, they misguide not only thousands, but millions, of people to the path of malevolence, just for some petty social status or other temptation. Common people never think deeply about this; they have not been taught how to think deeply about it; they do not ponder over it even now. Until today this aspect of knowledge has been generally unknown to the world. That is why common people, not fully understanding these cunning people, are inclined to give them undue importance. They write voluminous books about these clever people and accept their words as authentic, thus bringing about considerable harm to the society, the state and the common masses. Simple ignorant people do not realize that they themselves are being harmed or that they, being misguided by those clever people, are harming others.

What these selfish people do is inflate the petty innate geo-sentiments or socio-sentiments of people, take them into their fold and guide them in any way they like. For instance, a certain leader of a country may inflate the geo-sentiment of his people. But when that geo-sentiment is aroused, those clever people may become fearful; because as a rule when the geo-sentiment is aroused, the geopolitical sentiment will also arise, and the matter will not necessarily end there. Along with geopolitical sentiment, geo-economic sentiment may also arise; the people may think simultaneously of economic liberty along with political freedom. This is a knotty problem for the self-seeking politicians. The cunning leaders merely want to utilize the geopolitical sentiment to attain geopolitical liberation for the people. But if people are conscious about economic liberation even before attaining geopolitical liberation, that will really pose a great problem for the selfish leaders; they will think, “It is not easy to provide two common meals a day to the hungry and ill-clad millions of this country (much less delicacies and dainties like ours!). It will be necessary to replace the existing exploitative structure with a new one. And then what will be gained by obtaining political liberation?”

They may think deeply about these things, but the common people cannot understand anything at all. The clever leaders, analysing the whole situation, think that before the geo-sentiment rises too high, they should come to a secret understanding with the rulers and attain the transference of political power peacefully. Then in the case of the peaceful transference of political power, there will be no necessity to raise the political sentiment to the highest pitch. Political power will come automatically to those ambitious politicians. And once they are in political power, they will retain the same exploitative machinery. The only difference will be that the white rulers will have been replaced by black rulers; and they will proclaim to the masses: “We have attained political liberty!” They will silence the voices of the people by telling them, “No, no, things like this [economic liberation] should not be uttered. It is a crime to speak like this at the present time!” It is not possible to identify these human chameleons by their outward appearance, but actually, how dangerous these people are! They are veritable demons in human framework.

Now, according to natural law, no truth is suppressed forever. It must come to light some day – it comes out indirectly from the sinners’ mouths. One of the characteristics of human psychology is this: though one may try to keep a secret, saying, “I will not disclose it. I will not reveal it. No, no, I will not divulge it,” one day in an unguarded moment it will surely come out of one’s mouth.

It is often found that a gentleman has managed to keep a secret to himself; but the same person, after drinking a bottle of wine, reveals everything in his drunken state. I knew a leader of a certain religious community who in his normal mood used to speak little. But in an abnormal mood, that is, after drinking some liquor, he would say openly before me, “I don’t believe in casteism” – the community he belonged to did not support idol worship and casteism⁽²⁾ but did believe in ritual sacrifices – “but I will certainly marry my sons and daughters within my own Kayastha caste. I don’t believe in so-called gods and goddesses, but since I cannot find a suitable husband for my daughter, I secretly worship Lord Satyanáráyańa [as an idol].” He revealed everything under the spell of liquor. Thus the truth is always revealed in an unguarded moment; it never remains suppressed.

So those people whom I have called human chameleons, before the truth finally comes out, will have recourse to some new means of hoodwinking the people. They will switch over to a sentiment different from the one which they were previously using (using to pursue their self-interest at the expense of the people’s interest). Now, in switching over to a new sentiment, one needs a little cunning.

This switch-over is called “metamorphosed sentimental strategy”. That is, a person discovers that the sentimental strategy which he or she previously used to misguide innumerable people, is about to be detected. (“The people are forming a bad opinion about my real nature.”) So he or she decides to exploit another sentiment just to save his or her own prestige, and that too very quickly, because any more delay means further loss of prestige. This act of shifting to a new sentiment – maybe from communalism to nationalism or from nationalism to communism – this metamorphosis of sentiment is called “metamorphosed sentimental strategy.”

These people are indeed expert at changing their sentimental strategies. Suppose a party (maybe social, political, economic, or whatever its complexion) is being divided into several factions, and each faction is utilizing a different sentiment from the other. Those who are clever enough will select the majority party and identify themselves with that group, for their political ambitions will be fulfilled thereby. What they usually do in these circumstances is to waste no time in issuing their statements – in effusive language – in favour of the majority group, denouncing the other factions. Or they may also speak out, saying, “I made a great mistake, I committed a Himalayan blunder” – and promptly shift to another party, thereby ensuring their political position. You will find people of this mentality in all spheres – social, economic, political, cultural, etc. They exploit people’s sentiments primarily for their own social position and secondarily for other purposes also.

In this regard, they are not at all eager to promote human welfare; rather they look upon people as pawns, saying, “Well, I will deploy these one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, people for this purpose; another five hundred thousand for that purpose.” This is how they calculate. Those simple and unwary people who placed their faith and trust in them and were misguided, may become uprooted from their ancestral homes and be forced to live a life of shame and disgrace. As refugees, they have to move for shelter from place to place like street dogs.

Who are responsible for the distress of these millions of refugees? Those demons in human framework, whom those poor fellows trusted; to give ovations to whom those people rushed to meetings with thousands of garlands; for whose satisfaction people used to don special kinds of caps to cover up their sins.

(Once I asked a certain gentleman, “Why do you put on such a cap? Is it because the white cap goes nicely with your black hair?” He replied, “No, not for that purpose really. I am using the cap not to cover my sins, but to cover my baldness.” Some people wear caps to conceal their baldness, and some to show allegiance to their political bosses.)

But meanwhile the refugees roam about hither and thither, and today the number of refugees is not only thousands but many millions in various parts of the globe. And for their precarious existence, for the ignoble deaths of those millions of wretched people, only a handful of people – demons in human framework – are really responsible. They come to the world and leave it in great ruins. During their lifetime, they fully utilize all the mass media. The common people become confused and cannot think beyond that which the mass media tell them. It is a general weakness of common people that they are inclined to believe whatever is printed in books and journals.

Those demons in human form do not think that after their demise a real evaluation of their ideals and actions will take place. Only then do people realize, “My God, what a great mistake I made! I worshipped a monkey taking it to be a god! What a great misfortune I have brought upon myself! But now the situation is beyond repair.” The people become divided, the state becomes divided, psychic barriers are erected between groups of people – the collective progress of humanity is totally impaired. These types of people, I have said, and again I repeat, you will encounter in different fields of life. Some are inclined to believe that these types of people are found only in the political field, but this is not the case: they are in every field, especially in the fields of so many schools of philosophical thought. They have a heinous tendency to demolish the positions of their opponents.

In the past, many thinkers stated one thing in the beginning, but subsequently when they discovered that the plain truth would cost them public support, they somersaulted. It is not proper to mention anyone’s name – but now you have the measuring rod, the touch-stone, in your hands; you can judge for yourselves.

I will give one small example. Maharshi Kapila, while pondering his Sáḿkhya philosophy, did not initially say anything about Iishvara [the Supreme Entity]. His school of philosophy is known as Niriishvara-Sáḿkhya [Atheistic Sáḿkhya]. When he found himself in a very embarrassing position from the philosophical point of view, when he sensed that his philosophy was likely to be discarded by the people, he quickly invented a new concept of Janya-Iishvara [Proto-God] and indirectly accepted the existence of God. Another example: According to Shankaracharya’s school of philosophy, everything is Máyá – that is, there is illusion in the beginning, illusion in the middle and illusion in the end. This is called pramáda in Sanskrit. But then, that same Shankaracharya composed hymns to the River Ganges: Devii Sureshvarii Bhagavatii Gaunge [“O Divine Gauṋgá, goddess who has descended from the heavenly abode of the gods”]. According to him, the entire universe is false; so in this false universe, the River Ganges is also false! So what was the necessity of eulogizing such a false river? This is a case of somersaulting to save oneself from a very embarrassing position, just like a harmless snake pretending to be poisonous. This is a very fine example of a metamorphosed sentimental strategy. There may be some people who will consider this change of sentimental strategy to be a natural process of evolution, but in fact it is not evolution but a metamorphosis of strategy. Evolution does not take place so quickly nor so easily.

Those who have harmed humanity have various natures, and by now you have already understood those types of people. It is a bit hard to identify those human chameleons who change their sentiments in order to exploit humanity more. Sometimes they shift their ground from one geo-sentiment to another geo-sentiment, sometimes from a geo-sentiment to a socio-sentiment, or from one socio-sentiment to another socio-sentiment. They are adept at everything. To attain the support of the masses, one day a certain leader said, “I will not allow my country to be divided, to be vivisected – my country will be partitioned only over my dead body, not before.” What he did in this case was to exploit both the geo-sentiment and the socio-sentiment simultaneously. All clapped their hands in joy and said, “He is the only hope of our country,” and they considered him a god incarnate. Then when the country was really partitioned, that leader did not open his mouth in the beginning – he preferred to observe his vow of silence. Later he merely said, “I am extremely sad, I am with the people.” This is nothing but metamorphosed sentimental strategy. You must clearly recognize those people who adopt such a strategy; and to recognize them, one needs a greater degree of intellect, not merely common intellect.

Then what is necessary? First, one who attempts to know them should train one’s mind, and to train the mind there must be a proper base. Suppose some boys want to practise running; they need a place for that. Similarly, to train the mind, a base is required. In this case, the base is sama-samája tattva: “Whatever others might say, I sincerely believe that all humans have the right to food, clothes, accommodation, education and medical treatment. It is not enough for me to accept their rights in principle; as an honest person I should make the utmost effort to see that they have attained their rights.” This is the spirit of sama-samája tattva.

Proto-Psycho-Spirituality

But it will not do to stop here with the spirit only. Supposing some boys want to run. If they simply stand still on the hard earth, will that be considered running? They will have to actually run. This running, this forward movement, is known as “proto-psycho-spirituality”.

What happens through this proto-psycho-spirituality? When a person is guided by it to think in a particular way, and sees that one’s own benevolent mode of thinking is not reflected in other people’s activities, then that person can easily realize their true nature. So those who practise this proto-psycho-spirituality can easily recognize those demons in human framework. Then, after recognizing them, it is their duty to expose them to others also, to make people understand that they are repeatedly harming human society. It is not enough for one to personally unmask them; one must open the eyes of others also. Only in this way can the well-being of the world be promoted. Thus it will not be sufficient to lie peacefully in wait, like goody-goodies in isolated ivory towers. One will have to spread one’s wings and soar high into the blue firmament.

So this proto-psycho-spirituality is a dynamic force. When a group of boys run in the field, their movement is the main factor. If they lose their mobility and sit down on the ground, that will not be considered running; it will only encourage the psychology of lethargy.

This universe of ours, as you know, is circum-rotarian (that is, rotating around its own nucleus). Nothing is outside its circumference, so it is not necessary to search for its nucleus outside. One need not run about in search of the Nave, the Hub, the Nucleus; the Hub of this circum-rotarian universe is the hub of the individual also. This circum-rotarian universe is controlled by one Centre both collectively and on a unitary basis. Thus each and every grain of dust, each and every blade of grass – all are being equally controlled by that Supreme Hub. Now, if, by some means, an individual can make his or her individual psycho-spiritual hub coincide with that circum-rotarian spiritual Hub, then that individual will feel oneness with every grain of dust, with every blade of grass – that will be his or her psychology. This very realization will make one’s life-force throb throughout the entire universe. By means of this proto-psycho-spirituality one can fight against all sorts of socio-sentiments. The human chameleons who use socio-sentiments or geo-sentiments, can also be easily detected in the light of proto-psycho-spirituality.

Now you may ask, what is proto-psycho-spirituality? First, we must discuss what psycho-spirituality is. Since it is the mind which advances towards spirituality, it is called “psycho-spirituality”. And it is called “proto” in the sense that it is a flickering entity – it is like a flickering flame, not like a steady flame. It is not something unruffled or fixed; it is expressive of movement. Hence it is not complete psycho-spirituality but proto-psycho-spirituality. And the mobility portion within the systalsis of proto-psycho-spirituality is purely psychic; and the blissful staticity within the systalsis is purely spiritual. So it is a happy blending of psychic and spiritual strata. Thus I call it “psycho-spirituality”.

One thing more should be added here. Whenever people, after performing some activity, think of the Nucleus of the circum-rotarian universe, their minds become all-pervasive. Such people can never think of harming others; rather they will think only of universal welfare. In that elevated state of mind, they will easily detect those demons in human form and will acquire the necessary capability to properly guide the ordinary or extraordinary individuals or groups who tend to be misguided by all sorts of socio-sentiments (because socio-sentiment is many times more harmful than geo-sentiment).

Intelligent people should clearly realize this, and then through seminars should make people aware of the importance of sama-samája tattva and proto-psycho-spirituality to fight against socio-sentiment. This is how intelligent people will show them the path of liberation. This must be done, for although there may be some individuals who, knowingly or unknowingly, are fighting against this socio-sentiment, the majority of people are in darkness. That is why you will have to carry the collectivity with you, because the collectivity is yours. The collectivity is not outside you – your future is inseparably connected with the collective fortune. You must take the entire collectivity with you and move towards the sweetest radiance of the new crimson dawn, beyond the veil of the darkest night.

Footnotes

(1) Prakrti. –Trans.

(2) See also “Exploitation and Pseudo-Culture”. –Trans.

Chapter 12	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 2 Part 8 [a compilation]

Today’s humanity has no doubt made some progress in intellect, in wisdom and in rationality. Human beings came onto this earth about one million years ago. The feelings and sentiments, hopes and aspirations, frustrations and disappointments, cares and anxieties, pleasures and pains, tears and smiles of the present-day human beings are almost the same as those of primitive humans. The difference is that the emotions and feelings of present human beings are deeper than those of their ancestors.

Not only has there been an increase in the depth of their feelings; but along with this there has been an increase in the originality of their thoughts. Humanity is the collection of all the perfections and imperfections of human beings; and when the higher thoughts and ideas are combined together, we get humanism. The word “human” is used both as a noun and as an adjective to denote a complete human being having both perfections and imperfections.

If I use the word “humanism” regarding the ideas of the ancient humans, and if I use the same term [regarding the ideas of the humans] of today, what is the harm? Even if I can, I will not – because the people of those days did not thoroughly understand what humanity and humanism are; they could not analyse them properly. The deeper implications of humanity and humanism had not been thoroughly probed in that ancient past, nor have they been even today.

During the past million years of human history, proper justice has not been done to human beings; a particular class, a particular section, has always been given greater importance than others, and in this process the other sections have been neglected. For instance, when a soldier sacrifices his life on the battlefield, his death is announced in bold headlines in the newspapers; but the same newspapers do not mention anything about the great hardships that his widow faces to raise their small family after the death of her husband. This is how one-sided justice has been meted out.

Although the matter concerns grammar and is not easy to change overnight, “man” in common gender includes both man and woman. Then why does not “woman” also mean both man and woman? This is also lopsided justice. “Man” is masculine gender, but “man” is also common gender. Here “man” means “woman” also.

Human beings have limped forward in their journey of history for the last million years bearing the burden of this defective social system; all have not been given equal justice. That is why I say that neither has justice been done to humanity (the abstract noun for “human beings”) nor has justice been done to humanism⁽¹⁾ (the abstract noun for “the work performed by human beings for human beings”). Now it is high time to carry out a reappraisal of the downtrodden humanity, of the downtrodden humanism. Oftentimes, some people have lagged behind, exhausted, and have collapsed on the ground, their hands and knees bruised and their clothes stained with mud. Such people have been thrown aside with hatred and have become the outcasts of society; they have been forced to remain isolated from the mainstream of social life. This is the kind of treatment they have received. Few have cared enough to lift up those people who lagged behind and help them forward.

When some people started advancing, they thought more about themselves and less about others; nor did they think about the animals and plants. But if we analyse with a cool brain, it becomes quite clear that just as my life is important to me, others’ lives are equally important to them; and if we do not give proper value to the lives of all creatures, then the development of the entire humanity becomes impossible. If people think more about themselves as individuals or about their small families, castes, clans or tribes, and do not think at all about the collectivity, this is decidedly detrimental. Similarly, if people neglect the entire living world – the plant world, the animal world – is this not harmful? That is why I say that there is a great need to explain humanity and humanism in a new light, and this newly-explained humanism will be a precious treasure for the world.

What is Neohumanism? Neohumanism is humanism of the past, humanism of the present, and humanism – newly explained – of the future. Explaining humanity and humanism in a new light will widen the path of human progress and will make it easier to tread. Neohumanism will give new inspiration and provide a new interpretation for the very idea of human existence. It will help people understand that human beings, as the most thoughtful and intelligent beings in this created universe, will have to accept the great responsibility of taking care of the entire universe, will have to accept that the great responsibility for the entire universe rests on them.

So then, what is Neohumanism? Humanism newly-explained and newly-sermonized is Neohumanism, the philosophy which will make people understand that they are not merely ordinary creatures. This philosophy will liberate them from all inferiority feelings and defects and make them aware of their own importance; it will inspire them to build a new world.

I have already explained that a distorted humanism has created tremendous harm in the world, and is still doing so. Unless it is replaced by Neohumanism, it may be the cause of catastrophic misfortune for human beings.

Who are the people who propagate this distorted humanism? Those who are motivated by pseudo-humanistic strategy utilize this strategy for their own selfish and group interests, instead of allowing humanity to move towards Neohumanism.

Then how to rectify the situation created by these people? By taking this distorted humanism towards Neohumanism, we may create a new panacea for all psycho-spiritual ailments. But if instead of that we allow humanity to move along the path of pseudo-humanism, humanity’s social, economic, political, cultural and spiritual life will be full of distortions and defects, which will pollute and degrade the human mind. I have already referred to these defects in detail.

Two Types Who Create Distortions

Now we shall discuss the panacea. There are generally two types of people who create distortions among humanity, by not allowing humanity to move towards Neohumanism. One type of people are doing so unconsciously; they do not at all realize what great harm they are doing to human society and to the plant and animal kingdoms which are associated with human beings. The second type of people are knowingly and deliberately working with pseudo-humanistic strategy; I have described them as “human chameleons” – those who know how to change their colours frequently.

Two Varieties of the First Type

We can expect two kinds of reaction from [two varieties of] the first type of people if we convey the physico-psycho-spiritual aspects of Neohumanism to them. One reaction will be: “Ah, what a great mistake I committed! I have written so many articles giving undue importance to Mr. So-and-so. From today on I will not commit such an error again. As my vision was clouded, I could not see his defects and weaknesses – but now that I have discovered them I will move along the right path and try to do good to others.”

But among those who have harmed people unknowingly, those who are egotistic will not accept their mistake even when they discover it. They will say, “You see, it seems I made a mistake and So-and-so has pointed it out. This is a great insult to me – I cannot tolerate it! Though he may have spoken the truth, it is beneath my dignity to accept it. It is too humiliating! If I even admit that I have harmed the people, that will be a great slur on my character – how can I allow that to happen? So I will continue to maintain that what I have done is right. This may harm people, but I must make sure that my prestige is not injured.”

Generally you will encounter these two varieties of people in society. As you convey this message of Neohumanism to each and every house, you will come across these two varieties of people. But I hope that those who have adopted pseudo-humanistic strategy unknowingly, will realize their mistakes and rectify themselves. Then you will be able to utilize them immediately to promote the general welfare.

Previously I said that you must lead the people beyond this veil of darkness to the crimson dawn so that they can correct themselves and become the valuable treasures of humanity. Those egotistic persons who are antagonistic to this will become powerless, because those who are misguided by ego will lose their intelligence. Anyone who opposes out of wounded ego, will ultimately be defeated. When ego is inflated, intellect declines. And one whose intellect is small, is easily defeated. So one need not be anxious about them.

The Second Type

But those who knowingly follow the pseudo-humanistic strategy and refuse to be rectified, will become more extreme. When they discover that all their strategies have been detected and nothing is secret anymore, then they will grow desperate. Through the mass media at their disposal they will utilize all their verbiage, all their abilities, all the weapons they possess – because there is no other way out. Perhaps they may have some faint desire to rectify themselves – but if they do they will realize how black was their entire past and that according to the standards of Neohumanism they are no better than false gold. And it is certain that when conscious people recognize their true nature, they will fling them into the dustbin of history without remorse.

Thus far I have explained to you the approach of Neohumanism; I have told you that humanism newly-explained is Neohumanism. Now the question is, how to move along this path of Neohumanism; how to implement it? How to fight against those who have adopted pseudo-humanistic strategies, and, knowingly or unknowingly, greatly harmed the people? These two questions are interrelated and so are their answers.

Spirituality as a Cult

Human existence is not merely physical, psychic or spiritual; it comprises all three. In this case, what should be the proper approach? The first step is spiritual cult [practice]. What is it? The entire Cosmological order includes the quinquelemental material world, which is controlled by the Macropsychic Entity. Again, behind this Macropsychic Entity is a Macro-Spirit.

In fact, this universe of ours is a Macropsychic conation (a thought of the Cosmic Mind), so in no case can human beings deny this physical world. One will have to deeply analyse all the inconsistencies of this physical world, and this process of analysis will be conducted by the micropsychic existence (individual mind).

There are many people with tremendous mental potentiality, but they do not have a clear line of thought. Thus they think incorrectly, and the outcome of their defective thought is defective action. Those people are not properly guided on how to move in the mental world; they are not being properly guided unto the path of the Macropsychic Entity.

When someone commits a wrong, we have a tendency to condemn him or her at every step. We should realize that such a person suffers from a sort of micropsychic ailment, and to cure such an ailment we will have to introduce him or her to Neohumanistic philosophy. We have not done so, and that was our crime.

Next, from where does that Macropsychic Entity originate? The micropsychic entity [individual mind] is a collection of many ectoplasms, and these ectoplasms emanate directly from the Macropsychic ectoplasm and indirectly from Macro-Spirit [the Supreme Spirit]. On the one hand we will have to provide proper psychic pabula for human beings to think correctly; and on the other hand, we must give proper guidance to the micropsychic ectoplasms [individual mind-particles] to move towards the Macro-Spirit. In this respect also we have failed in our duty; we have committed another crime.

To build a healthy human race we should have given them proper guidance in philosophy, in science, in all branches of human knowledge – which we did not do. We have utilized science more for destructive purposes than for benevolent aims; we have distorted the thought processes of human beings; we have deliberately misguided the people instead of leading them along the proper path. We have taught people to think about how such-and-such bomb can annihilate so many millions of people at a time – but we have never propagated a philosophy to teach them to think how millions of people could be benefited by psycho-spiritual practices. Thus human beings of today are following a defective path, and there is a desperate need for a change in direction. The only remedy is Neohumanism.

There are three stages on this path of Neohumanism. The first one is spiritual cult. What is spiritual cult? It is physico-psycho-spiritual cult. This physico-psycho-spiritual process will show you how to remove the defects of the psychic world and also the external world, and enable you to move towards the spiritual world without any delay. This movement towards the spiritual goal will also help you to establish yourself in the psychic and physical worlds, so you will be able to render greater service to the people. This is what I call “spiritual cult”. Progress in this spiritual cult starts with the elevation of protoplasmic cells, and finally ends in the attainment of the Supreme Goal. This physico-psycho-spiritual cult will help the physical world and the psyches of the psychic world directly and indirectly, and also the spiritual world, directly. But this is not enough – Eha váhya áge kaho ár; áro egiye cala⁽²⁾ [“What you say is just the beginning; you have to go farther”]. Hethá nay hethá nay, anya kothá, anya konakháne⁽³⁾ [“Not here, not here, somewhere else, somewhere else”].

Spirituality in Essence

The second stage is spiritual essence. This stage is related mainly to the psychic and spiritual strata. If you consider the entire human race, you will see that humanity has a collective mind (not the Cosmic Mind). Now, changes will have to be effected in the mental flow of this collective mind; you will have to create a new wave of thought in it. Because of the manner of human thinking thus far, the pace of human progress has been painfully slow. If it is given a new direction, the speed of progress will be greatly accelerated.

Thus we find that the second stage, that of spiritual essence, will take place in the psychic and spiritual realms; it will occur in the collective psychic mind, in the collective ectoplasm of all humanity. Then the global thought processes of humanity will take an entirely new turn, and that will also strengthen humanity’s collective spirit. Humanity as a whole will become converted into a powerful spiritual force, and in that stage, no pseudo-humanistic strategy will work. All other ástras [weapons] will become completely powerless before this Brahmástra [mightiest spiritual weapon].

Spirituality as a Mission

But there is something more beyond this, which I have described as “spirituality as a mission”. So first there is “spirituality as a cult”, secondly, “spirituality in essence”, and thirdly, “spirituality as a mission”. All existential phenomena are emanating from the Existential Nucleus. The existential nucleus of a single individual has a direct link with the Cosmological Hub, a direct link with the Existential Nucleus of the Cosmological order. But this path is not psycho-spiritual; according to Neohumanism, the final and supreme goal is to make one’s individual existential nucleus coincide with the Cosmic Existential Nucleus (nádabindu yoga, in the language of Tantra). As a result, the unit being’s entire existential order becomes one with the Controlling Nucleus of the existential order of the Supreme Entity of the Cosmological order, and that will be the highest expression of Neohumanism. That Neohumanistic status will save not only the human world but the plant and animal worlds also. In that supreme Neohumanistic status, the universal humanity will attain the consummation of its existence. Then nothing will be impossible for human beings; they will be able to do anything and everything.

Today’s humanity is in despair; people think too much about their imperfections. They think, “Can I do it?” But in that supreme, Neohumanistic status, they will say, “Yes, I am a Neohumanistic being and I am destined to do great work. For that purpose I have come onto this earth. So there is no scope for doubt whether I can do it or not.”

Once long ago I went to Purulia. I was carrying heavy baggage. I asked a village man: “Can you carry this baggage?” He replied: “Why not, certainly I can!” I appreciated his answer very much. And I am sure that one day this Neohumanism will inspire the world population to say, “Why not, certainly we can!”

And I am confident that on that day no geo-sentiment will be able to rear its head, no socio-sentiment will be able to erect barriers of discrimination in human society, nor will any demon be able to harm millions of people in the name of humanism by exploiting their gullibility. And when those ever-vigilant human beings, those physico-psycho-spiritual entities, will be able to merge their existential nuclei with the Supreme Existential Nucleus, then only will Neohumanism be permanently established, and human beings will be ensconced in the joy of freedom forever. On that day they will proclaim in full-throated voices: “We have come to the world to perform great deeds – for the physical welfare of all, for the psychic happiness of all, and for the spiritual elevation of all – to lead all from darkness unto light.” If, even then, someone says: “No, darkness is good for me!” we will tell them: “All right, darkness is good for you, but just once why don’t you come and see the light – it is even better!”

Footnotes

(1) In Bengali, mánavatá and mánavikatá. In the original Bengali, the author goes on to explain the derivation of mánavikatá as mánava plus the suffix śńik plus tá. –Trans.

(2) Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. –Trans.

(3) Rabindranath Tagore. –Trans.