Chapter 1	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

Human beings cannot propagate a great ideology by their knowledge, intellect or social status alone. They can only do it through their conduct. Human conduct gets purified by intuitional practices. It is not necessary that one should come from a so-called high family, or that one should have completed university studies. Rather, these factors may create false vanity in one’s mind which may ultimately stand in the way of reforming one’s conduct.

In this universe of ours, two forces are working side by side – the sentient and the static. Sometimes the sentient force and at other times the static force dominates. There is no scope for a pact between these forces. Human beings will have to march ahead amidst the ceaseless struggle of these opposite forces. In the society, on the one hand we see the hoards of antisocial elements, and on the other hand we feel a sense of frustration among the moralists. These moralists have therefore developed a tendency to go out of the society. With more wealth and strength, the antisocial elements are in an advantageous position, and the moralists appear to be the culprits. This state of affairs is neither desirable nor behooving, and it should not be allowed to continue.

Your duty will be to unite the moralists. Let there be two camps. Let there be an open fight. The moralists have been scattered for so long that they could not fight. The united strength of five moralists is much more than the united strength of a hundred immoralists because there is an unholy alliance amongst the latter. Meditation behind closed doors will not do. Gather strength by intuitional practices and unite yourselves against the immoralists.

So your duty is three-fold. Your first duty is to observe morality and to do intuitional practices. Without this you cannot have mental determination. Your next duty is to unite the moralists of the world, otherwise Dharma will not endure. The exploited mass who do not observe Yama and Niyama – the cardinal moral principles – cannot fight against their own sense of frustration. It is therefore necessary to unite the moralists. This will be your real Dharma. You will become great by doing this, because ideation of the Great makes a person great. At the third stage, you will have to mercilessly fight against sin wherever it has taken root in this world.

You will have to propagate this mission from door to door. No political party or so-called religious institution can bring salvation. Praising God in concerts with drums and cymbals will not bring salvation either, because this will not bring the sinner to submission. To curb the onslaughts of the immoralists today, arms are more necessary than drums and cymbals.

It is not possible to fight against sin as long as there is some weakness in your mind. In this fight, your goal is not the sin or the sinner, your goal is the Supreme Consciousness. Anything that comes in the way of this has to be removed mercilessly. When clouds collect around the pole-star and cover it, your duty will be to remove the clouds and follow the pole-star without caring to see where the clouds have gone. If you always think of your enemy, your mind will adopt the bad qualities of your object of ideation, but if the Supreme Being is your goal, your mind will be metamorphosed into the Supreme Being itself.

Remember – you have to serve humanity. You have to dedicate yourself to the cause of humanity as a whole. Your life is valuable; your time is all the more valuable. You should not waste a single moment. The task is glorious. The task is novel. Lead the life of a warrior and constantly fight against evils. You will be victorious. So march ahead!

Chapter 2	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

On several occasions I have said that Sadvipras are those who follow the principles of Yama and Niyama – the principles of spiritual morality – and are devoted to the Supreme Consciousness. People will recognize Sadvipras by their exemplary conduct, selfless service, dutifulness and moral integrity. Only Sadvipras can serve all human beings selflessly and lead others along the path of all-round advancement. These Sadvipras – those who follow a correct philosophy of life and practice a correct system of sádhaná or spiritual practices – will be the leaders of the society in the future.

Today democracy is the most preferred system of government throughout the world, but democracy is not an ideal system because it is full of loopholes. Intelligent people have already started working to overcome these short-comings. In the present world PROUT supports restricted democracy, because in the future a better system of government will be evolved.

What is that better system of government? According to PROUT, the rule of Sadvipras is the ideal form of leadership. The establishment of Sadvipra leadership will require the systematic and rational application of PROUT by the collective effort of many highly intelligent people. Sadvipra rule cannot be established by blind physical force or idle intellectual extravaganza.

Sadvipras will fight ceaselessly against all corruption and exploitation – they will wage a never-ending struggle against immorality and fissiparous tendencies. The fullest possibilities for the establishment of peace and human progress lie only in the collective endeavours of the Sadvipras.

Democracy can not solve human problems because in a democracy one particular class gets the scope to dominate the society while the other classes are deprived of their freedom. To ensure the all-round welfare of the society, the benevolent dictatorship of Sadvipras is an absolute necessity. Sadvipras alone can represent the genuine aspirations of the people.

What form will the benevolent dictatorship of the Sadvipras take? PROUT supports centralization of political power and decentralization of economic power, but centralization of political power does not mean centralization in one person or one institution. Sadvipras shall elect and form several boards consisting of persons who are conversant and experienced in the various branches of administration. These boards will include the following:

1) The Supreme Board of Sadvipras: The Supreme Board of Sadvipras shall be an elected body of Sadvipras. It shall be the supreme body for framing policy and supervising the functions of different other boards in society.

2) The Legislative Board of Sadvipras: The Legislative Board of Sadvipras shall consist of those Sadvipras who are experienced in the work of legislation. It shall frame laws according to the principles of PROUT and the policies laid down by the Supreme Board of Sadvipras.

3) The Executive Board of Sadvipras: The Executive Board of Sadvipras shall consist of those Sadvipras who are experienced in the work of administration. It shall be responsible for getting the policies and laws framed by the Legislative Board of Sadvipras materialized. It shall supervise the work of selecting and nominating the personnel who shall be employed in the bureaucracy. It shall also supervise the work of the various sub-boards established for different branches of the administration.

4) The Judicial Board of Sadvipras: The Judicial Board of Sadvipras shall be elected by Sadvipras and consist of those Sadvipras who are experienced in the work of the judiciary. It shall frame the rules and procedures for the appointment of judges and different personnel of the judiciary.

5) Sub-boards of Sadvipras for various branches of the administration: Sub-boards of Sadvipras shall be appointed by Sadvipras and shall consist of those Sadvipras who are experts in the respective branch of the administration. The lists of names for the representatives of the sub-boards shall be prepared by the Executive Board of Sadvipras and forwarded to the Legislative Board of Sadvipras. The Legislative Board of Sadvipras shall recommend the list, after amendments if necessary, to the Supreme Board of Sadvipras. The Supreme Board of Sadvipras shall finally approve this list.

However, if the Supreme Board of Sadvipras does not approve the list, it will send the list back to the Legislative Board of Sadvipras with amendments if necessary. In this case, the Legislative Board of Sadvipras shall either send the list back to the Supreme Board of Sadvipras after accepting the amendments, or send their own opinion again to the Supreme Board of Sadvipras.

The Supreme Board of Sadvipras shall be the final authority, so it will make the final decision concerning the appointment of the members of the sub-boards.

Chapter 3	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

This quinquelemental universe is a relative truth, a changing reality, a passing phenomenon – a passing flow of constantly changing events. It rests on the three pillars of the relative factors – time, space and person. Space is always changing. It is composed of countless atoms and molecules. With the change in the movement of atoms and molecules, space also changes. That is why numerous rich and beautiful cities of the past are now buried under the earth. Many splendid palaces and mansions, many churches, temples, mosques and synagogues, and many pyramids have been reduced to rubble. With the constant change in the flow of time, how many major changes have occurred in the universe? Similarly, with the change in time and space, people also change. A small two-year old child becomes a smart and active twenty-five year old youth. And the same energetic youth becomes an infirm, inactive, old person in due course. Thus, nothing in this universe is permanent. Many gigantic animals in the past have become totally extinct from the surface of the earth. Royal pomp and opulence, the pride of power, the vast knowledge of mighty scholars have become things of the past, thrown into the dustbin of history. Many objects emerged in the past, remained on earth for a short time, and then disappeared according to the inexorable law of nature.

The only eternal truth is Parama Puruśa. He is anadi, beginningless, endless, all-pervasive; an entity beyond the scope of time, place and person. He is the only eternal, undecaying, imperishable, immutable entity. He is the Supreme Source from which the inanimate, plant and animal worlds have emerged. He is the starting-point and the culminating point of everything. Hence, wise people should utilize their physical, psychic and spiritual power to realize that Supreme Omni-Telepathic Entity to become one with Him.

While trying to realize that singular entity, the balance between the subjective and the objective worlds is divided into two branches – prápta vákya and ápta vákya. Whatever people learn from the external world – be it from a book of facts or a learned discourse, or any source of knowledge – is “prápta vákya” or “relative knowledge”. It is sometimes correct, sometimes incorrect. When human beings, through psycho-spiritual practice, make their minds as expansive as the Comic Mind, they can receive instructions or directions directly from Him due to His proximity. The knowledge thus acquired is called “ápta vákya” or “absolute knowledge”. As people receive the knowledge directly from the Cosmic Mind, that knowledge is true and beneficial for all people in all ages and in all countries. Absolute knowledge is the direct message from God.

There are three sources of relative knowledge – direct perception, inference and authority. Now let us see which source is reliable and to what extent. The empiricists contend that perception is the only real knowledge. How can something which can not be seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touch, they say, be accepted as something real? But the question is: If the indriyas (organs) through which we gather knowledge are defective, how can true knowledge be attained? Similarly, if the object of attainment is defective, how can true knowledge be attained? Similarly, if the object of attainment is defective, or if there are difficulties in the radiation of inferential vibration, knowledge cannot be acquired. That is why in the shadows of the night we wrongly think a piece of rope to be a snake; we fail to see the difference between a chilli and eggplant seeds; on seeing a bushy tamarind tree we mistake it for a ghost and frighten ourselves out of our wits. Thus, with the slightest defect in the knower, knowable and knowledge, real knowledge is not possible.

Can one attain real knowledge through inference? Suppose smoke is rising from a mountain. Many people may think at first that the mountain is on fire, but on examining the spot they will discover that the smoke had come from a nearby village where the inhabitants were cooking and the smoke had simply accumulated near the mountain. Inference in this case proves false. If some persons look towards the desert during a hot day they will see a vast lake shimmering in the distance. But in reality it is only a mirage. Thousands of people may see the mirage and swear that it is a lake. So inference is also an unreliable source of knowledge.

The third source of knowledge, ágama or authoritative documents, can provide real knowledge to human beings. However, if it is not based on spiritual realization, if it is a mere interpolation arising out of the fertile brain of an opportunist Vipra or intellectual, it can never bring real knowledge to people, but will sow seeds of disharmony and dissension in the human society. For instance, the scripture of a certain community states that the earth is fixed and the sun in moving around it. This assertion is of course absolutely wrong scientifically. If an erudite scientist points out this mistake, the orthodox followers of the scriptures will brand him or her an atheist. The scriptures of other communities proclaim that only the followers of their religion are the favourite children of God and others are damned heathens. To kill them is not at all a sin, rather one will attain a permanent place in heaven after their death. Such scriptures are very detrimental to human society.

Thus it is seen that relative knowledge promotes the welfare of human beings in only a few cases, whereas absolute knowledge is always conducive to human welfare.

Generally there are three recognized means to bring about social welfare: 1) the rule of brute force, 2) the rule of reason, and 3) spiritual leadership.

1) The rule of brute force. Sometimes the members of a society are made to follow rules in accordance with the dictatorial decrees of their leaders. But these dictating authorities are far from being benevolent. Rather, they trick the members of society into believing that they are acting for their welfare but their sole concern is to promote narrow self-interest, power and privileges. Their guidance is not at all helpful for the growth of social welfare. For example, the British government ruled India for two hundred years, but how much real progress has there been in India? In most cases, their rule was based on their own self-aggrandizement.

The political leaders of so many countries have led their countries to the brink of war. The political history of Germany, Italy, Spain, Pakistan and China is a clear proof of this truth. Even though thousands of citizens hardly get enough food to fill their bellies, their leaders continue to spend vast amounts of money on arms.

History does provide some examples of benign, enlightened kings such as Ashok the Great and Alfred the Great who did some good for society, but they are few in number. Most were warmongers, such as Genghis Khan. They were so cruel that they stained the green earth under their feet with blood, and caused the sky to resound with the wails and tears of their innocent victims. The rule of a brutal dictator is no rule at all.

2) The rule of reason. What is reason or logic? There are three aspects of logic: váda, jalpa and vitańdá. In the battlefield an efficient general does not start the battle without strengthening his own army first. First he sends out his intelligence unit to find the weak points of the opposing army. Secondly, he stations his army in such a way that his own soldiers can mount a surprise attack on the enemy installations. Thirdly, the moment he gets the advantage he invades the enemy camp and attains complete victory. In exactly the same way a logician strives to detect the loopholes and weaknesses in his adversary’s argument. This part of the debate is called “váda”. In the next stage the logician formulates convincing argument to defeat the logic put forward by his opponent. This part of the debate is called “jalpa”. In the third stage the logician will present very clear views in such a way that his adversary is completely defeated. This part of the debate is called “vitańda”. When one’s mind is perfectly adjusted with these three phrases of logic it is called “yukti” or “reason”.

Reason is relative knowledge. Many people may come to the wrong conclusion along the path of reason because if the first premise is wrong, the conclusion is also bound to be wrong. For in stance, if a person studies old books on geography and argues that Allahabad is the capital of Uttar Pradesh or Cuttack is the capital of Orissa, that would be something ludicrous. Rice is also relative knowledge because we do not get rice directly from God, we get it indirectly. If one resolves this very moment to lead an honest life, that would be absolute knowledge because absolute knowledge comes directly from the Supreme and produces a certain awareness in the human mind.

3) Spiritual leadership.

Shásanát táraye yastu shástra parikiirtiitah.

“That which leads to liberation through discipline is called ‘scripture’.”

Common people usually live their lives according to absolute knowledge and become noble and great. That is why we see people like Kabir and Ramakrishna, who even without formal schooling, were highly regarded by tens of thousands of people. In fact, it is doubtful whether learned scholars could bring about even a small fraction of the spiritual progress these great people brought to society.

The amount of social welfare achieved by the rule of administration is very insignificant. The rule of administration is no rule. It does not provide any inspiration for the desire to work, but rather it injects a fear psychosis in the mind. Such administrators do not command the confidence of the people. Once they are removed from power they lose their social prestige.

But social progress is achieved to some extent through relative knowledge, but here also there is a great possibility of conflict between relative knowledge and absolute knowledge. Relative knowledge often encourages divisive ideas and the propagation of narrow sentiments such as casteism, nationalism, communalism, provincialism, etc., by extolling the greatness of caste, community, creed, colour, etc. It often tends to suppress other castes, communities, creeds, etc., or wants to annihilate them completely. On the other hand, absolute knowledge teaches human beings that the Dharma of all humans is one and the same. The Supreme Entity is the Universal Father. All the human beings of the world are brothers and sisters. All are equal – no one is low, no one is high.

Relative knowledge, by concocting certain false arguments, may prove that God does not exist, that He is a mere figment of human imagination. A weak mind may accept these arguments, but the heart can never do so. Whenever there is a conflict between the brain and the heart, intelligent people should respond to the call of the heart. The books in Ananda Marga philosophy are all absolute knowledge. The proper mark of identity of absolute knowledge is that it must be universal, rational and psychological. Certain instances of absolute knowledge are as follows – the goal of human life is the attainment of Brahma; human beings are the progeny of Parama Puruśa; this universe is created by the macrocosmic conation; matter is the crudified form of the universal mind; by dint of sádhaná or spiritual practices human beings gradually become divine; whoever is born will have to die one day; liberation is the birth right of all living beings; human society is one and indivisible; diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform.

How far is relative knowledge acceptable to human society? As long as there is no conflict between absolute knowledge and relative knowledge, relative knowledge may be tolerated, but the moment relative knowledge does more harm than good to society, it should not be allowed to work in society, because by taking advantage of relative knowledge opportunists get the scope to exploit the psychological weakness of human beings. For example, the concept of selfless action in the Giita and the theory of the migration of souls have been interpreted in such an unscientific way that the society is greatly harmed. The boot-licking Vipras of the capitalist trick the hungry Shúdras or workers into believing that poverty is a result of their previous misdeeds. Hence they will have to be prepared to wait until their next life before receiving the inexorable decree of fate. This makes a group of people passive fatalists. On the other hand, it paves the way for the ruthless exploitation of the capitalists. Once a reputed professor of Calcutta made a statement which became popular amongst Indian students that the beef-eating race enjoys independent political life. Many enthusiastic students were misguided by that. Today in the communist countries of the world thousands of people are being killed in the name of communism. So the value of relative knowledge should be assessed in the light of universal humanism. If relative knowledge promotes universal humanism, it will be tolerated by the society, but once it goes against the spirit of universal humanism, it will forfeit the right to exist.

Chapter 4	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

Very often people say that a particular individual or a particular community of people is badly exploited. What they mean by “exploited” is this: that people are being exploited in the economic stratum. But if we go deeply into the matter, we shall discover that the exploitation has been perpetrated not only in the economic stratum, but also in the other strata of human existence – in different forms and on various pretexts. When there is exploitation in the physical stratum, it is not necessarily economic in nature in all cases; it is often social, and in many cases, indirectly social. For instance, vested interests inject complexes into the public mind at a certain stage, and at a much later stage they exploit that psychic complex. At that time, the exploitation may as well be physical instead of economic. But ultimately, this physical exploitation is as good or as bad as economic exploitation.

Exploitation in the psychic stratum is mostly perpetrated or perpetuated in the first phase through dogma. These dogma are also the harbingers of economic exploitation or social exploitation. Sometimes the exploitation carried on in the spiritual stratum is also perpetrated through some kind of dogma. In the spiritual stratum, as in the physical stratum, the exploiters, together with dogma, create inferiority complexes or superiority complexes in the minds of the people, and later perpetrate economic or social exploitation. When the exploitation in the physical stratum is directly economic in character, even the common people can easily understand it, and they need not labour hard to comprehend it. This is because in the case of economic exploitation, the exploited people can easily understand who the exploiters are. But in the case of exploitation in other social spheres, the exploited people are not even aware that they are being exploited. This is why it is easy to exploit them in the social sphere, then create inferiority complexes in their minds to keep them under prolonged administrative domination and perpetuate the exploitation. This is easily done by the cunning exploiters. And the tragedy is that the exploited mass do not try to understand – they cannot understand, and they even refuse to understand – that they are victims of exploitation. So this is more dangerous.

When the exploitation takes place in economic sphere directly, the people easily understand it, but when the exploitation is perpetrated in the socio-economic sphere or the psycho-economic sphere, the situation becomes complicated. In the case of exploitation is the socio-economic sphere, the people raise a little murmur against the social exploitation, but they fail to take note of the economic exploitation which is the final result of such socio-economic exploitation. And in the case of psychoeconomic exploitation, the people feel a little aggrieved because they are being suppressed from the psychic point of view, but they are not aware that the ultimate result is also economic exploitation.

Today all over the world people have a greater economic awareness than before, which is why the cunning exploiters have resorted to the path of either socio-economic exploitation or psycho-economic exploitation. The exploiters have spread their trap over a large area hoping to reap a rich harvest. I shall not discuss all this in further detail here, because in fact I have a mind to write a book on the subject in future. (Subsequently, P.R. Sarkar wrote The Liberation of Intellect: Neohumanism.)

As regards the psychic sphere, I can say this – there can be numerous modes of exploitation in the psychic sphere, and to comprehend all these, the people must be more educated and more intelligent. As regards the social sphere, the exploiters deliberately confuse social exploitation in the psychic sphere with spirituality, and thus pave the way for prolonged exploitation. This is how dogma arose in the past, and even to this day these dogma are being made use of. Ananda Marga is, for the first time, making the utmost effort to establish pure spirituality against dogma. Those who have leaned heavily on dogma so far are raising a lot of hue and cry against Ananda Marga. They feel that their days of exploitation are over, and that people are no longer willing to live in a fool’s paradise.

It is impossible to establish genuine spirituality until the common mass are taught to raise their heads against dogma. On the one hand there is a saying which says, “Where science ends, philosophy begins;” and on the other hand there is another saying which says, “Where philosophy ends, faith starts.” This is arrant nonsense. One of the most valuable treasures of humanity is intellect. When people are advised to desist from following the path of logic and reason, it means that the vested interests are out to buy the human intelligence engaged in the fight against dogma.

Merely saying, “Do not do this – it will be a sin to do it” will not do. If you say, “Do not do this” you have to state why one should not do it. Similarly, if you say, “Do this” you should also state why one should do it. In this way the human intellect will attain freedom. Through the movement for the liberation of human intellect, through the effort for the liberation of the human intellect, human beings are established in spirituality. Lack of this effort turns human beings into religious bigots, and feuds in the name of religion are the result.

I have already said that Ananda Marga is the first movement aimed at liberating spirituality from the unwholesome influences from dogma. Hence you must not in any way encourage dogma. Rather, you should carry on an endless fight against dogma. And while fighting against dogma, you will realize the actual truth, and when you will come in contact with truth, you will be established in real spirituality. Remember, you have got to be established in real spirituality, because in spirituality alone lies the highest fulfilment and achievement of human life. Otherwise, there is hardly any difference between human beings and animals. That human beings are not animals is the supreme veracity and the supreme actuality. So human beings have got to be established in human excellence and carry on a ceaseless struggle against dogma.

Spiritual aspirants – those who love spirituality, who have a genuine concern for it, and who wish to pursue the path of real humanity – must not be static, must not be inert. Rather, they should be very active, bumptious and dexterous in their work. In a word they must be real Karma Yogis. Unless one is a Karma Yogi, one cannot be established in devotion, one cannot be a Bhakti Yogi. And unless one is first entrenched in the cult of devotion, unless one is a real Bhakti Yogi, one cannot achieve the closest communion with Parama Puruśa.

Chapter 5	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

It is said that the path of human progress is chiefly divided into four stages: yatamána, vyatireka, ekendriya and vashiikára (the four stages in the development of a spiritual personality). These stages are applicable to the three strata of human life: the material, psychic and spiritual worlds.

“Yatamána” is derived from the Saḿskrta root verb “yata” + suffix “shánac” and means “one who is endeavouring” (the effort is still continuing). In a previous Dharma Maha Cakra (a spiritual congregation) I spoke at length about yatamána. Now is yatamána only a mental effort, or only a physical effort, or does it emanate from a realm higher than the mind? When people perform actions consciously, those actions must have the sanction of the mind. But even if an action is sanctified by the mind, it does not necessarily mean that it has also been sanctioned by the self. Moreover, if the mind performs an action according to the guidelines of a noble philosophy, even then it does not necessarily mean that the psychic sanction is supported by the Self (Átman).

There are many philosophies which tend to crudify the human mind, and make people violent and inconsiderate. They make people believe that they are God’s favourite children, whereas the rest of humanity are cursed. Although these views have philosophical sanction, they do not enjoy the sanction of the Átman.

There is only one case when Parama Puruśa sanctions mental thought. What is that? It is when the human mind is dedicated to the welfare of the entire humanity without any discrimination, when the sole intention is to promote universal well-being. When the human mind, motivated by such sentiments, engages itself in action through the body, only that action can be treated as real yatamána. Other endeavours should not be defined as such.

Sometimes it also happens that the body acts without the prior approval of the mind: a person frightened by a robber, for example. People do not always act voluntarily, but sometimes out of fear, just like the slaves in olden days. A slave would labour hard at the command of his or her master. Such actions are purely limited to the physical sphere. They are actions no doubt, but they do not enjoy the support of the mind, and naturally do not have the support of Átman or Parama Puruśa. Such deeds do not bring any welfare to the slave, and thus cannot be categorized as yatamána. So according to true spirituality, human beings should not be reduced to slavery.

One may say that slavery has been totally abolished from today’s world. It may be true in theory, but a handful of people who deserve no better name than “intellectual satans” have been enslaving people by propagating defective philosophies. In a way, these exploited people are no better than slaves for they have lost their intellect. Even when one tries to enlighten them with logical arguments, they refuse to listen. Are they any better than slaves? Intellectually they are certainly slaves, and hence in the material world also they are slaves. Thus, any action on their part will not be included in the category of yatamána because it will never lead to well-being. The first stage of human progress yatamána is not promoted by their activities.

What should be done to bring about progress in the yatamána stage? One should learn the proper philosophy from a competent person. In order to judge what is a proper philosophy and what is a pseudo-philosophy, one should see how far the philosophy goes in treating the entire humanity as a singular entity and promoting its unity. Only that philosophy which inculcates universal sentiments is acceptable to human beings, for it alone reflects the spirit of yatamána. Other philosophies will spoil the human treasures resulting in humans, even though they are endowed with eyes, feet, hands, etc., degenerating to the level of animality, or even below that. Animals quarrel among themselves or with others to procure food, but these crude people, even though they do not need to procure food for their survival, misuse their authority to destroy or subjugate innocent humans being.

The people of today must understand this basic fact and remain vigilant against the detrimental actions of the intellectual satans and blood-sucking exploiters. The people of today must move ahead while fighting against the two enemies – the bloodsuckers who exploit in the economic sphere, and the intellectual satans who not only exploit human beings but bring them down to the level of animality. I request the present human race to continue their endless fight on these two fronts. They should remember that on both these fronts they are fighting against enemies who, being guided by dogma, have no logic in their method of exploitation. Though they are exploiting people in the socio-economic, socio-intellectual and spiritual spheres, once their conscience is aroused against dogma, their exploitation will automatically cease. The gigantic demons of exploitation will vanish in a flash.

Chapter 6	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

While explaining yatamána [the first stage of sádhaná], I said that it is one of the four stages of human progress. I further explained that the different stages of human progress are concerned with the three strata of life: physical, psychic and spiritual. I also said that unless human intellect is liberated, human beings cannot attain substantial progress in the material sphere.

The physical bondages which keep people confined to gross physicality and deny the fullest expression of human genius are called ádhibhaotik. The endeavour to liberate oneself from these physical bondages becomes meaningless if freedom from psychic bondages [ádhidaevik] is not attained. There are three types of bondages – physical, psychic and spiritual. [The means of obtaining] permanent liberation from these three bondages is called paramártha; and [the means of obtaining] temporary liberation from them is called artha. Bondages such as hunger, thirst, the need for clothes, accommodation, medical treatment, etc. are related to this quinquelemental world and are physical in nature. That which brings temporary relief from these bondages is called artha. Suppose a man is hungry – if he has money he can go and buy some food. In this case money is the medium whereby he attains temporary relief from the bondage of hunger. Hence money is called artha in Sanskrit because it brings temporary freedom from bondage. Human beings must continue their efforts to attain artha if they have not yet attained paramártha. Those who teach human beings that everything in this world is false obviously do not see themselves as unreal. They propagate such misleading teachings to exploit the masses to further their own selfish interests. Of course, I do not say that everyone is doing that, but I must point out that some religious and intellectual leaders have badly cheated their fellow human beings. I repeat again that what I say does not apply to all. I declare in unambiguous terms that people will have to continue their mundane efforts to attain artha, and will try in the future to do just that.

Yatamána should be applied in the attainment of paramártha, but at present it is being utilized for gaining artha. If you go one step below this you will find that it is not even being used for attaining artha because the intellect which lies at the root of yatamána cannot function independently. We sometimes say in colloquial Bengali, “He has even taken out a mortgage on his pigtail”. Thus, even the intellect is in bondage and one has lost the power and capacity to think independently. Such an intellect can be likened to a bird used to soaring high in the open sky but which is suddenly confined to a tiny cage. If one opens the door of the cage the bird will think, “I am quite comfortable here. Why should I risk flying in the vast blue sky? After all, I get all the water and bird seed I want inside my little cage”.

In the physical and psychic spheres people have been wrongly taught to avoid the attainment of paramártha. Even in the mundane sphere, they do not get sufficient opportunity to stand on their own legs. It is constantly drummed into their minds in such a negative way that they are unable to utilize any opportunity which comes their way.

In the social sphere (which comes under the scope of ádhibhaotik) the same thing is happening. For ages together simple innocent people have been taught that they belong to a low caste. If one asks them to sit on a chair they will reply, “No, I am fine here on the floor”. Even if the mind gets an opportunity to become independent, it cannot function freely. Just as that little bird kept confined to a cage develops rheumatism in its wings, the human mind, due to constant negative thoughts, gets paralysed. It is not the so-called upper castes only who are to blame – the so-called lower castes have passively accepted this sad plight like the caged bird, and have even sometimes encouraged it. This is a shame, a matter of immense regret.

Bráhmańo’sya mukhamásiit váhurájanyo’bhavat
Madhya tadasya yadvaeshya padbhyám shúdra ajáyata.

[Brahmans came out of the mouth, Kśatriyas were born out of the arms, Vaeshyas came out of the trunk of the body, and Shúdras were born out of the feet.]

Even the Supreme Entity, that formless omnipresent Parama Brahma who equally belongs to all, who is the light of all light, the dearest and nearest One, is also denied. It has been said in the above shloka that the Vipras [Brahmans, intellectuals] have been born out of the mouth of Brahmá [the Creator]; the valorous Kśatriyas [warriors] have emerged out of His hands; the Vaeshyas [capitalists] out of His thighs; and the Shúdras [labourers] out of His feet.

If this were true, I would say that the Shúdras are the greatest because everyone longs to touch the feet of Parama Puruśa. As the Shúdras are born out of His holy, divine feet, they must certainly be the most adorable. So if the caste system has to be accepted, then the Shúdras should be respected as the highest caste. And if you are reluctant to accept that, everyone should belong to the highest caste, then all will be equal. Due to the totally absurd dogma of the caste system, people have been paralysed mentally.

It should be understood that if people want temporary or permanent relief in the socio-economic sphere, and paramártha [permanent relief] in the psycho-economic sphere, they should first liberate the intellect. If one attains socio-economic freedom, one may or may not attain psycho-economic freedom. Socio-economic freedom means that all members of the society are equal in the social and economic spheres. It is as if one is providing a cow with a full belly of fodder on the one hand, and on the other hand one is extracting maximum labour from the cow. This analogy illustrates that the cow has been granted socio-economic liberty. Simply guaranteeing freedom in the socio-economic sphere does not necessarily mean that there will be liberty in the psycho-economic sphere. That is, one has not gained full freedom of thought. In a word, one is guaranteed ample supplies of food but denied intellectual liberty.

When psycho-economic freedom is granted, people enjoy material wealth as well as freedom of thought. But in order to attain true freedom in the psycho-economic sphere, one must attain the liberation of intellect, which is subtler than psycho-economic freedom. Without intellectual liberation, yatamána will become meaningless in the intellectual sphere, just as it will be ineffective in the physical sphere, and one will be unable to do the noble tasks which are usually performed with the help of intellect. The fundamental necessity of the intellectual world is intellectual freedom, which you are lacking.

Those who exploit human beings to serve their own self-interests do not want socio-economic freedom to be granted to people. That is why they continue their psycho-economic exploitation in such a way that people do not clamour for socio-economic freedom. They do not directly exploit the people in the social or economic sphere, but in the psycho-economic sphere, and they do it so intelligently that people are totally unaware of it, and hence are unable to develop their yatamána outlook properly. Moreover, the exploited masses are also unable to develop economically because the exploiters control the economy in a subtle way.

However, a day comes when some intelligent people emerge from the exploited masses having detected the exploiters’ techniques to dupe the people, even though the media is controlled. At this stage the exploiters become active intellectually to prevent the germination of the seed of liberation. They take control of the education system, the printing presses and the propaganda agencies in a last and desperate attempt to raise high embankments to contain the surging tide of public discontent. But soon after comes the day of change when the vikśubdha shúdras [disgruntled masses] rise up in revolt and the high sand embankments get washed away by the floods of revolution. After this the masses make an independent appraisal of the type of socio-psycho-economic exploitation they were subjected to. Before the revolution they may have discussed social injustice in private amongst themselves, but if they had tried to propagate their discontent publicly their tongues would have been cut.

To control the masses in the psychic sphere a fear complex was forcibly injected into their minds. Religious leaders openly preached: Binu bhay hoi ná piirit [“Devotion cannot be aroused without an element of fear”]. That is, if you want to love Parama Puruśa, you will have to fear Him also. This does not sound logical, of course. Logic says that you may fear Parama Puruśa and you may also love Him, but that does not mean that in order to love Parama Puruśa you must fear Him. Fear and love are two different things. One must fear Parama Puruśa and at the same time love Him as well. But it can never be said that there can be no love without fear. Parama Puruśa is a great administrator and so it is natural for one to fear Him. At the same time Parama Puruśa is your nearest and dearest One, so obviously you should have profound love for Him. The opportunists of the past injected this type of dogma into the human mind to perpetrate socio-economic and psycho-economic exploitation. Of course, it was an unsuccessful attempt on their part because human beings will definitely advance. No one can check their progress.

Hundreds of dogma were imposed on people: “Do not do this, it is prohibited. If you do it you will go to hell.” The effect of such a statement was to inject a fear complex into people’s minds. According to mythology, the so-called upper castes were born from the mouth of god. It was stated that the so-called low caste people were not entitled to wear shoes on their feet or carry umbrellas over their heads in upper caste neighbourhoods. The common people believed these things. They were further told that the kings are incarnations of Lord Viśńu so their every command should be obeyed. Thus the kings also mercilessly perpetrated harsh exploitation and brutal dictatorial rule. This is how things continued in the past.

Women were subjected to countless impositions and restrictions, innumerable dos and don’ts. Men were free to eat and drink anything, but not women, for that would be considered an act of sin on their part. Strangely, women calmly accepted these injustices. Women were not allowed to be educated so that they could not protest against these illogical impositions. Mr. Drinkwater Bethun’s attempts to spread education among the women of Bengal met with violent protests from a group of selfish people. They argued that if women were taught western education, they would degenerate and end up in hell. And if they went to hell, who would do the housekeeping? A zealous poet wrote:

Ágekár sab meyegulo chila bhála dharmakarma karta sabe;
Eká Bethun esei sheś kareche ár ki táder teman pábe?
A-B-C shikhe bibi seje biliti bol kabei kabe.

[Women of the past were good since they followed religious observances. But Mr. Bethun alone has harmed them immensely. Their ways are changed now: they have learnt the ABC, dressed themselves in European clothes, and started speaking English too!]

If someone speaks English, what is the harm? Moreover the effect of education on women has been good – 100% good – and yet the attempt to educate them was opposed. Why? The reason was that the intellectual exploitation of women was perpetrated without any opposition. Obviously, if women remained illiterate, they could easily be exploited in the socio- and psycho-economic spheres of life. In the absence of education, women would remain ineffective, immobile pieces of living baggage, exploited by their male counterparts according to their sweet will. A man was permitted to marry as many as two hundred wives but a woman, even after the death of her husband, was not even permitted to remarry. Rather, the notion was injected into their minds that remarriage was a sin for a woman! Women were told that to remain devoted to their husbands in their present and subsequent lives was the greatest virtue. Even if a wicked husband were to go to hell after death to graze as a cow-ghost in a field, his educated, devoted and virtuous wife would have to go with him and graze beside the cow-ghost of her wicked husband. All this had to be accepted as mandatory. These are all mischievous attempts to inject a fear complex, to spread dogma, not into the body, but into the mind to paralyse it – an attempt which is cent percent anti-human.

Even in petty matters they resorted to dogma. For example, Amuker sinni kheye ye nákhay pani, Galáy galagańd́a hay cakśe paŕe cháni [“Those who do not drink water after eating the sweet of a certain deity will surely develop goitre in the throat and cataracts in the eyes”]. These exploiters created a good number of deities, and around each deity emerged a powerful priestocracy. Through fear they instilled devotion in people, thus providing ample scope to perpetrate their exploitation.

If you analyse human history in all its aspects in a new way, in a new light, you will find that attempts were made to exploit others by injecting a fear complex in their minds. Parama Puruśa the life of your life, and obviously you will love Him, you will do sádhaná to attain Him. Why should you be terribly afraid of Him? What a nasty psychology it was to inject the fear complex in people’s mind in the name of God! And here lies the difference between religion and dharma. You will find that everywhere in religion, the fear complex has been created in human minds. For women so many rigid rules and regulations were framed so that they would respect men and stand before them in awe with folded hands. But for men, there are no such rules and regulations. For example, women were forbidden to take the names of their husbands, and the husband’s elder brothers. For what reason? To make women exceedingly reverential towards their men-folk. How can it be justified that a virtuous lady, with the border of her sari wrapped around her neck, should have to lie in prostration before her immoral husband? This is absurd, meaningless!

Shvashur bhásuŕer nám karle adhahpáte yáy
Mámá shvashurer nám karle álajib khase yáy
[[Soyámiir nám karle dudhe bháte kháy.]]

[A woman who takes the name of her father-in-law or her husband’s elder brother will degenerate. If she takes the name of her husband’s maternal uncle, she will lose her value. [[But if she takes the name of her husband, she will get to eat nice food.]]]

All these are examples of the injection of dogma to paralyse women’s minds. Thus yatamána becomes meaningless not only in the physical sphere, but in the psychic sphere too, due to religious bondage. It is very difficult for a woman suffering from an inferiority complex, which is a psychic ailment, to approach Parama Puruśa. She is bound to think, “I am low-born. I am a woman. I have no rights. How can I go close to Parama Puruśa? At the most, I can stand in one corner of the verandah.” The opportunists announce that women are not entitled to salvation, and if they want to attain it, they will have to be reborn as men. A few years ago I declared publicly that this notion is unsocial, and totally ultravires to humanism; and that those who utter such statements, being exploiters of women, seek to check the collective growth of humanity. You are to be vocal against these exploiters.

Do not tolerate injustice. This will not only harm women or a neglected and downtrodden segment of humanity, but will cause a serious carbuncle to grow on the vast body of society. That carbuncle will be so poisonous and infectious that it will infect the entire society. Do not allow such a thing to happen under any circumstances. Now that your eyes are opened, keep following the practical path.

Chapter 7	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

THE IMPORTANCE OF CARYÁCARYA IN INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL LIFE

Human beings are neither isolated individual beings nor insignificant creatures destined to serve an abstract collectivity. Rather, each individual is a unique entity living in a dynamic social order which is progressing towards a sublime goal. Each individual has to keep physically and mentally pure and serve the society in the best possible manner. The collective psychic momenta of all the members of society makes the collective momentum of the social order strong and powerful. Hence, as an individual, one must be able to manifest and express a powerful psychic momentum. Society must not impose any restriction on the psychic and spiritual elevation of its members, nor should it allow anyone to accumulate physical wealth to the point that it is harmful to the other members of society and leads to exploitation.

Caryacarya⁽¹⁾ contains the guidelines for how an individual can best contribute his or her efforts to the collective momentum. It also provides guidelines for how the collective body shall foster each individual’s physical and psychic welfare.

Human life is an ideological flow. The human mind expresses this flow, and the physical body is the base and medium through which this flow is manifested. A pure and subtle physical body or Annamaya Kosa is the best medium for a subtle psycho-spiritual manifestation. The purity of the Annamaya Kosa depends upon the food we eat and other rules such as bathing, fasting, etc. These rules have been explicitly mentioned in Caryacarya. If a person follows these rules, he or she shall feel a change in himself or herself within three days.

Footnotes

(1) Caryacarya was written by P.R. Sarkar in April 1956. –Eds.

	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

THE SUBTLEST WAY OF ENMITY IS THE DEPRIVATION OF PRÁŃA DHARMA

The words práńa dharma mean the cardinal characteristic of a person which differentiates one person from another. Just as each human being has his or her own traits, similarly an entire race living within a particular geographical, historical and cultural environment will also inhere some traits which distinguish that particular race from other. These traits or specialities are inseparably embedded in the internal behaviour of the entire population, and they help to form a particular bent of mind, expression of external behaviour, attitude towards life and society, and on the whole a different out look.

If we look at the racial stocks of the world, this fact becomes evident – that in their approach of life, different races invariably differ from one another. This variation is less external and more internal. The gradual development of internal discipline springs directly from the mode of living and education. This internal discipline is known as práńa dharma. To be more clear, when the vital expression of a race takes a particular course of manifestation, that course of manifestation is known as práńa dharma.

Take the example of India. The people of India have been inhering their own práńa dharma since time immemorial. They are basically subjective in their approach to life and the world. By nature they are parabhimukhi from the very inception of childhood – that is, they ascribe Godhood to every action, thought and expression. The reason for this is very clear. In ancient India, at the age of five, a boy was sent to the residence of a Guru or enlightened teacher to learn till the age of twenty-five. The child used to learn mainly paravidya or spiritual knowledge and some aparavidya or mundane knowledge from the Guru. After the completion of student life, the youth could return to Garhasta Dharma. In the Garhasta Dharma, he used to cultivate both spiritual knowledge and mundane knowledge. After reaching 50 years of age, he used to leave Garhasta Dharma and entered into Vana Prasta where he used to only cultivate spiritual knowledge. This is the very reason why people developed a subjective approach towards life. This subjective approach to life became the práńa dharma of the people of India. We find that in India, even when a notorious robber goes to commit a crime, he takes the name of Mother Kali. In the educational system of India, the cultivation of spiritual knowledge was primary, and this instilled in the students a high standard of behaviour, reverence and modesty.

Now, the best way of enmity against a person or a race is to deprive the person or the race of the freedom to cultivate their práńa dharma, and to prevent them from channelizing their potentiality accordingly. For example, the best way of enmity against a bird is to put it in a cage so that it will become a biped animal. The long confinement in the cage, which is against the práńa dharma of the bird, will deprive it of the capacity to fly.

Capitalism and communism are both ultravires to the práńa dharma of the people of the world. PROUT wants to maintain the integrity of práńa dharma of each and every race. Capitalism, by its hydra-headed greed for economic exploitation, has made human beings slaves to circumstances beyond their control. In India, capitalism has sucked the vital energy of the people by rendering them poverty stricken. Similarly, communism has gone against the very vital life surge of the people of India. Communists mouth enchanting, hollow slogans, and are trying to push the entire race down the path of animality where cardinal human values are non-existent.

The English colonialists were also cunning enough to discern the práńa dharma of the people of India, and they deprived them of the freedom to express their práńa dharma. The British wanted to bring the entire Indian race under their colonial grip to make the people slaves. They reformed the old educational system of India and bluntly introduced the English system of education. The English education system was contrary to that of India, because it was based on an objective approach and the complete denial of the subjective approach. The British colonial masters educated the subjugated race on the lines of their own education system, and produced a peculiar group of people who were neither Indian nor civilian nor serviceable. These so-called educated people of India were a complete departure from the mass of Indians in their habits, behaviour, thoughts, modesty and personal integrity. That is why a gulf of difference developed between the so-called educated people and the village people of India. By applying these subtle tactics, a group of people in India became European in attitude although they were Indian in colour, and this group were instrumental in perpetuating the British Raj in India.

The British colonialists applied the same tactics in China. The Chinese people, before the Kuomintan regime, were laborious and dexterous as well as religious. But by introducing opium, the British made the entire Chinese race inactive and indolent. Afterwards the communists, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, killed the religion of the Chinese people and deprived them of their práńa dharma. In this way, the British and the communists brought the entire Chinese race under their grip.

PROUT does not want to turn the hands of the clock back. PROUT does not reject the western educational system. But at the same time, the western education system utterly failed to inculcate a sense of morality, reverence and a high standard of behaviour among the students of India during the time of the British Raj. That is why in PROUT’s system of education, we stress the need to start “Ashramic Schools” in every village of India. If this is done, the corrosive tendency introduced by the British can be checked at an early stage. In the post-independence period of India, the leaders and educationists could not deeply understand the prevalent crisis of the Indian education system. This crisis was largely due to the defective British education system which was fundamentally against the práńa dharma of the Indian people. All the attempts to reform the education system proved futile and led the nation towards further degradation. This was because India’s educationists could not reform the education system according to the práńa dharma of the Indian people. Our Ananda Marga school curriculum is based on the práńa dharma of the people of India, and furthermore, it strengthens the people in their práńa dharma.

PROUT is of the opinion that the different races will assimilate PROUT philosophy according to their práńa dharma. There is wide scope for adjustment.

Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah paradharma bhayabahah

“It is better to die while pursuing one’s Dharma
Than to be led to catastrophe by following adharma.”

During the Muslim period in India, social distress increased in the fabric of Indian society. But the Muslims could not deprive the people of India of their práńa dharma. But during the British rule, both in the social and spiritual spheres, the people were deprived of their práńa dharma. Some so-called western educated people even now look down upon villagers for their simplicity and na ivete. These so-called educated people were misguided away from práńa dharma because they were denied any subjective approach in the western education system. This is why such people have failed to become one with the mass.

PROUT equips human beings with their own práńa dharma and thereby reinforces and strengthen their march along the path of progress.

	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

BASIC DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDE BETWEEN THE EAST AND THE WEST

Though the human society is one and indivisible, still there are certain differences in the attitudes to life and the world between the East and the West. Both have their distinctly different mentalities. The East is predominantly subjective in outlook, whereas the West has a mainly objective bent of mind. The East, throughout its development, has maintained a subjective approach, whereas western countries put great stress on objective development. Too much emphasis on either one of these approaches is not conducive to the all-round growth of the society. We can build up an ideal society only on the basis of a happy adjustment between the subjective and the objective approaches. Here is the greatness of Ananda Marga ideology.

While the East is essentially spiritual in outlook, some philosophies have distorted spirituality to such an extent that they regard the world as an illusion. Some Indian Monists emphatically declare,

Brahma satyaḿ jaganmithyá.

“Brahma is the only reality; the expressed world is an illusion.”

Human life is like a drop of water on a lotus leaf, therefore it is futile to try and develop the material world. Such philosophies advise “atmanam viddhi” or “know thyself”. All the religions of the East have clearly instructed their followers to try and accept the path of shreya or that which leads to supreme benevolence only, to the utter exclusion of preya or that which leads to the acquisition of mundane objects! It may be that this sort of philosophy is not logically incorrect, but in practice this type of extreme idealism preaches that the world should be ignored. The individual human being may develop conscience, morality, renunciation, etc., and may reach the height of spirituality, but the society as a whole will not thereby progress. The maximum development of the society will be reached when there is balanced development in the physical, mental and spiritual spheres.

The Asian countries, in spite of their long heritage of morality and spirituality, have been subject to great humiliation during periods of foreign invasion. While the higher knowledge of philosophy propagated by the oriental sages and saints has been accepted as a unique contribution to the store house of human culture and civilization, the people of these lands could not resist the foreign invaders. The history of all the Asian countries, a region of so many religions, has been dominated by foreign powers for centuries together. This imbalance brought about their material deprivation and political subjugation.

On the other hand, the West is completely obsessed with physical development. It has made spectacular progress in the fields of politics, economics, science, warfare, etc. In fact, it has made so much material progress that it seems to be the sovereign master of the water, land and air. But for all that, it is not socially content and miserably lacks spiritual wealth. Unlike the East, in the West plenty of wealth has created a crisis. Therefore, it is abundantly clear that no country can progress harmoniously with only one-sided development.

Therefore, it behoves both the East and the West to accept a synthetic ideology that stands for a happy synthesis between the two. Here, the East can help the west spiritually, whereas the materialistic West can extend its material help to the East. Both will be mutually benefited if they accept this golden policy of give and take, expressed in Bengali as, “Dive ar nive milave milive.”

In the educational system of the East, there is the predominant element of spirituality. Oriental students used to go to their Guru’s house at the age of five and live there up to twenty-five years of age. They led a strictly ethical and spiritual life and were mainly taught paravidya or spiritual knowledge and some aparavidya or mundane knowledge. Then next in their domestic life, they cultivated mundane knowledge and spiritual knowledge up to 50 years of age, and in the last quarter of their life they cultivated spiritual knowledge exclusively. So the people of the orient could not but be spiritual in their thoughts and actions. Whereas there is, in the western system of education, a clear and unilateral emphasis on mundane knowledge. So to build up an ideal human society in the future, the balanced emphasis on the two is indispensable.

We should remember that morality, spirituality and humanity, and a happy blending of occidental extroversial science and oriental introversial philosophy is the very foundation of our system of education. Unlike Rudyard Kipling who wrongly observed that “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” Ananda Marga believes in one universal society with one ideology and one cosmic goal.

	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

LEARNED AND EDUCATED

We can only call those people “learned” who have read a lot, understood what they have read, remembered what they have read, and understood and acted according to what they have read, understood and remembered.

Educated and learned people may or may not be illiterate, and literate people may or may not be educated. To be learned in the real sense mentioned above, all four factors are necessary. A person who has one of these points missing is not a learned person. The following examples illustrate this.

1) It is necessary to read a lot. Limited reading or reading only one subject will not be enough. It is necessary to read many books. We would not call a person who reads only a little learned.

2) It is necessary to read a lot and to understand it. If any body reads a lot but does not understand it, then he or she cannot be called learned.

3) Whatever has been read and understood should also be remembered. If one does not remember, then one is not learned. If you were to ask a man who had previously passed his M.Sc. to appear now for the matriculation examination, he would be unable to pass it as he has forgotten everything.

4) Reading, understanding and remembering should go together and then one will have to act accordingly. If a lawyer were to do the work of a clerk, she could not be called learned. She should do only legal work. An Advocate, if she does not practice her profession, will forget all the laws, then how can she be called learned?

Only one who posses all the above four points can be called learned. Only that person is educated.

How many ways of [[studying]] are there? There are three ways of [[studying]]. First, there is [[studying]] using the eyes. Then there is [[studying]] by hearing. In the olden times, many people were not literate but they knew many things by hearing them. You may still find some old people who do not know how to read or write, but they know the Rámáyańa and the Mahábhárata very well. Thirdly, there is [[studying]] by mudrá or movement. A blind person can know about something by touching it. This is called “the tactual method”. If a man is standing far away and you need to tell him something, then you can do a mudrá to call him nearer – you can make him understand without speech. The deaf and dumb use this method of mudrá. If one indriya (sense organ) ceases to work, then the others become more sensitive. For example, there are five sense organs. Suppose that every sense organ has a power of 20 degrees. If any one of the sense organs ceases to function, then the power of that organ is shared between the remaining organs. That is, the remaining sense organs will get 25 degrees of power. A deaf man can understand everything with the science of the eyes and facial expressions and a blind man by hearing, smelling or touching.

The fine arts came into existence through the medium of mudrá. Lord Shiva is the creator of the fine arts. Mudrá is “the externalization of internal feeling” and means “to express the desires of the mind”.

Sátsaungena bhavenmuktih asatsaungeśu bandhanam
Asatsauṋgamudrańaḿ yat sá mudrá parikiirtitá

“Keeping good company leads to salvation, whereas the company of bad people leads to greater bondage.
Shunning the company of wicked people is called ‘mudrá’”.

[The following section was also printed separately as “Mudrá” in Saḿgiita: Song, Dance and Instrumental Music. This is the Saḿgiita: Song, Dance and Instrumental Music, 1st edition, version.]

To communicate ideas through gesture and posture is called “mudrá”. In the East, we find that dance is dominated by mudrá, and in the West, we find that it is dominated by rhythm. Indian folk dance and classical dance are also mudrá-dominant. Mudrá is more subtle than rhythm.

What is saḿgiita or music? Singing, the playing of instruments and dancing are together called “saḿgiita”. Where there is only singing and the playing of instruments but no dance, it is called “giita”. In the time of the Mahábhárata, what Krśńa said was called “Giitá” because He only told it, He did not dance. If Krśńa had explained the nature of Dharma while dancing, then it would not have been called “Giitá”, it would have been called “Saḿgiita”.

“Yá Bhagavatá giitá sá Giitá.”

“Whatever Bhagaván has said is Giitá.”

There are six primary rágas and thirty six primary rágińiis. Today we find two types of dance in India. First, there is Aryavarta Nrtya or North Indian style. Secondly, there is Dákśinátya Nrtya or Carnatic or the South Indian style. Both styles were given by Lord Shiva, but credit for bringing them to the public goes to Maharshi Bharata.

In the Vedas there is rhythm, because most of the Vedas come from outside India. The propagators of the Veda could not go against rhythm. They had to accept rhythm but not grammar. For this reason, there are many grammatical mistakes in the Vedas.

In Tantra, mudrá is dominant. Rhythm is guided by mudrá. In a few places, the Vedas also use mudrá. For example, in shráddha (last rites) there is pińd́adán mudrá which is also called “auṋkush mudrá”. In pitr yajiṋa, there are also mudrás, which are called namah mudrá, abhaya mudrá, varada mudrá, etc., are found in the Vedas. The portion of the Vedas which was made in India [like Atharva Veda] is responsible for these mudrás.

Instrumental music is also based on mudrá. In western countries, only instruments such as the violin are based on mudrá. Mańipurii dance, folk dance, Cho dance and Rámvásha dance, all have a predominance of mudrá. Rámvásha dance has less mudrá because it is a war dance. Cho dance⁽¹⁾, which is performed after battle during times of rest in the military camp, has more mudrá in it. The dancer only dances, and does not sing. Another person sings and narrates in song what is taking place. In the táńd́ava nrtya of Lord Shiva, there is more rhythm, and in Parvatii’s lalita dance there is the dominance of mudrá, sweet and refined. Both these dances make a person tired quickly in India because India is a hot country.

In the word “tál”, “tá” is derived from táńd́ava and “la” from lalita, so it has become tál. Tál is the adjustment of both, that is why it has become more popular.

[end of section that was printed separately as “Mudrá”]

Footnotes

(1) Cho means unusual gestures, or decorative dress or adornments. Cho dance is an ancient martial dance with decorative dress still very popular in Ráŕh areas. –Trans.

	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

SOME HINTS ON EDUCATION

How to impart education has always been a very poignant question. The influence of the environment has a tremendous impact on the human mind. The environment in which one is born and brought up continues to exert a tremendous influence till the last days, till the dying stage, of human life. According to the type of education imparted, one’s psychic environment is built up. The psychic environment is more powerful in human life than the physical environment.

Let me drop a few hints. You apply your intelligence and try to understand. Suppose a man is born in a minority community in a particular country. He is put under severe strain because of the atrocities perpetrated on him. In this case, though the country does have an environmental influence on him, due to psychic pressure he leaves his country and defects to another country. This happens because psychic influence is stronger than the influence of the physical environment.

If we wish to do maximum good to the people, we must find out the proper way, the best way, to impart education. If we can mould our minds in the proper way, then everything is accomplished. As soon as the mind is in the proper shape, the people understand where to seek inspiration from. That is, it is to be sought from Parama Puruśa (Supreme Consciousness).

Education is just remoulding the old structure of the mind and goading it unto the highest state of realization, the exalted status of Supreme Veracity, the highest status of factualities.

We have to keep in view three fundamentals before imparting education. The first is that education must always be based on factuality. There must not be the injection of any dogma or fanaticism or any type of geographical or racial chauvinism in the education system.

The second fundamental is that education must awaken the thirst for knowledge in the students’ minds. The students themselves will create environmental pressure by persistent demands for answers to queries like: What is the answer? Is it correct? The longing, “I wish to know… I wish to understand and assimilate the entire universe” should be created. Such a thirst for knowledge should be created in the minds of students. A learner, in Arabic, is called “tálib-ul-ilm”, meaning “a genuine seeker of knowledge.” So a tremendous thirst for knowledge must be awakened in the students’ minds. They will constantly pry their teachers, their parents and their neighbours with questions like: Why is this so? What is that? Why does that happen? Why does this not happen? etc. They are ready to assimilate the entire universe.

The third fundamental of education is that teachers and students should have a balanced mind, unaffected, unassailed by unimportant entities.

These are the three fundamentals of education. Education is a must not only for human beings, but also for all living beings. For instance, if you train a dog, you can take much work from it. If you train a cow, it will give greater service.

Some people may ask: Why does Ananda Marga run many kindergarten schools and not many high schools, degree colleges and universities? A kindergarten school is something basic and the mission of making human beings is accomplished here. If one has already become a thief or a criminal, in that case university education for such a person is of no avail. One is to be moulded in one’s childhood. If one receives the fundamentals of education in the formative period of one’s life, one will keep oneself alright in the teeth of the greatest trials and tribulations in life. A bamboo, when green, can be shaped or bent in any way you like. Once it ripens, any attempt to reshape it will break it. This is why more stress is to be laid on kindergarten schools. Such schools are the first phase of making human beings.

So, what is the need of education? Proper education enables one to stand against the influence of the physical environment and awaken the psychic urge to attain a higher life, that is, the ideological goal. This gives a person much inspiration. We should do our best to impart proper education not only to the entire humanity, but also to all created beings. We can impart training to all trees, plants and birds, and put them on the path of welfare.

	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

SOME EDUCATIONAL POLICIES

According to PROUT, the aim of education is:

Sá vidyá yá vimuktaye

“Education is that which liberates.”

The real meaning of education is trilateral development – simultaneous development in the physical, mental and spiritual realms of human existence. This development should enhance the integration of the human personality. By this, dormant human potentialities will be awakened and put to proper use. Educated are those who have learnt much, remembered much and made use of their learning in practical life.

In PROUT’s educational system, emphasis should be given to moral education and the inculcation of idealism – not only philosophy and traditions. The practice of morality should be the most important subject in the syllabus at all levels.

The sense of universalism should also be awakened in the child. Etiquette and refined behaviour are not enough. Real education leads to a pervasive sense of love and compassion for all creation.

As I have mentioned before, the word E-D-U-C-A-T-I-O-N itself has special significance:

E – Enlargement of mind
D – DESMEP (D Discipline, E Etiquette, S Smartness, M Memory, E English, P Pronunciation)
U – Universal Outlook
C – Character
A – Active habits
T – Trustworthiness
I – Ideation of the Great
O – Omniscient grace
N – Nice temperament

Special importance should be attached to children’s education because todays child is tomorrows citizen. The receptive capacity of a child is great, but to enhance the receptivity the method of education should be thoroughly psychological.

From the beginning, children in India can be taught three languages – their mother tongue or natural language, basic Saḿskrta or the appropriate classical language, and the world language. Students should be encouraged to learn the history of their respective mother tongues. By learning the world language, students will develop a feeling of world citizenship in their minds.

According to the policy of PROUT, besides the mother tongue, students can also learn as many languages as possible. Let people know as many languages as they can. But in the practical field – government and non-government work and court work – the mother tongue should be used.

During secondary education, (in Indian this is years 8, 9 and 10), vocational education should be introduced according to the natural tendency and spontaneous aptitude of the students. Talented students should be provided with special facilities if they are poor. After higher education, students with talent should get the opportunity to do research work with the financial aid of the government.

The examination system should undergo a radical change so that the knowledge of the student both in the applied and theoretical sides can be properly assessed. Students should be encouraged to involve themselves in social welfare and other constructive activities within their school or campus. After completing their education, students should be guaranteed appropriate employment.

Proper care should be taken in the selection of teachers. Academic certificates are not the only criteria for selecting teachers. Qualities like a strong character, righteousness, social service, selflessness, an inspirational personality, and leadership ability should be evident in teachers. Teachers should get the highest respect in society and their economic needs should be properly looked after.

The framing of educational policies, the control of the educational system, and all other activities concerned with education should be managed by a board comprised of efficient teachers. This board should enjoy full freedom and authority to carry out its duties. Education must be free from all political interference. Education should be free at all levels.

Should PROUT support the participation by students in the administration of educational institutions? Grown-up students, that is, adults, may take part in the non-academic side of administration. The academic side should be controlled and managed by educationists with the help and cooperation of grown-up students, just as grown-up children may help their parents a lot in managing family duties. The relation between students and teachers should be sweet.

Radio, television, films and other media must be free from exploitation and vested interests. Qualified professionals should utilize such media for the benefit of students to ensure high quality education.

The teaching of science must always be encouraged. The study and application of science will assist in the spread of knowledge and help to ensure that the right to knowledge in every sphere of life – social, economic, psychic and spiritual – is attained by all. Knowledge and science must be free like the light, the air and the unhindered wealth of nature. They must serve all and supply the vital juice of life.

	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

THE ROLE OF YOUTH

The nature of life is to change and to grow. Where there is no change, it is just like the condition of death. In all living structures, the young are resilient and open to change. If a limb of a child is broken, it heals quickly. If a child is mentally wounded, he or she soon recovers. When new ideas and technology come forward, it is the young minds that can grasp them. The old become fossilized. To move the old is an effort; for the old to adapt to change is difficult.

Our world needs a great change in order to move forward and progress. A new order, a new wave, will have to take the place of the old to remedy all the physical, social, intellectual and spiritual ills of the world. As the vanguard of this new movement, the youth are indispensable. It is the youth, and the youth only, who have the vigour to bring about the necessary change. It is the youth who have the resilience to change and adapt and implement the vision of a new society. Without this vision, without the youth, the world will continue in the morass of suffering, injustice and exploitation that is our present social condition. It is the youth of the world only who can help bring about the new world order and the vision of a new humanity.

	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

EDUCATION AND NEOHUMANISM

You know, it is the inherent wont of all living beings to expand in the physical arena, and for this purpose, rather because of this element – this wont is nothing but a sort of element – they exploit others, they forget the interest of other living beings. Just now I said that it is the inherent wont of all living beings, both human beings and animals, to expand in the physical arena. In the case of human beings there is another wont, another inborn instinct, and that is simply to expand in the psychic arena also. So unlike other animals, human beings have got one scope, or got the scope, to divert their physical longings into spiritual aspirations. Other animals have not got this. But because of this psychic wont, they exploit others in the psychic level as well as the physical level, and this exploitation in the psychic level is more dangerous than in the physical one.

So that there may not be any intellectual extravaganza or any physical subjugation, human beings require proper training both physically and mentally. And this is what is called “education” – properly training the physical existence and also the psychic world. Because of the want of such a training in proper time, there remains no coordination, no adjustment between inner being and outer being. Sometimes people are very sincere in the vocal field but there remains not an iota of sincerity in the inner world, in the internal world. And this is what happens in the modern world. The existence of both individual and collective existence has become one-sided, that is, it has lost its balance. For this what we require most is a proper system of education.

Just to show their sincerity of purpose, just to show that they are developed human beings, sometimes people speak of disarmament. They say there should be a check, a control over the manufacturing of weapons, of deadly weapons. They say like this vocally. They express this idea vocally, but internally they remain ready for worse weapons or more deadly weapons, just to keep others under their servitude in the physical sphere. It is nothing but a very bad type of brutality. Once upon a time a certain person, a leader, said, “Keep the prospects of peace but keep your powder dry.” That is what happens today. We may say this physical longing, rather this physical wont, should be diverted towards psychic longings. But if it is diverted towards psychic longings by proper mundane education – that will not suffice. In that case there remains the fear of psychic subjugation. So the remedy lies elsewhere.

Yes, human beings should be goaded by human feelings – human sentiments, human ideas. No doubt it is good if human feelings serve as a moral check in this competition of weapons, but it is not the last word; human feelings cannot check the internal fighting, the type of infighting prevalent amongst human beings. For this purpose we should have a two-fold approach. For the purpose of training this turbulent mind, what is to be done? One is to get proper education, one is to be imparted with proper education – not general education – in the gospel of, in the idea of Neohumanism. This will help human beings in training the mind. And at the same time spiritual practice should go on for proper psychic remoulding. This what we require most. There is no alternative.

	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

What is the duty of teachers? What is the duty of students? In the Vedic language, “shiksa” means “to make others understand”. You know something but you may or may not be in a position to make others understand what you know. The psychological interpretation is to assimilate objectivity by internal subjectivisation. Now, suppose there is a dialogue between a teacher and a student.

Student: “Sir, what is the meaning of nationality?”

Teacher: “Nat means ‘a collection within a geographical range, on a particular land.’ This collection in Latin is ‘nata’. What is the result of nata? When the suffix ‘ion’ is added it is ‘nation’. Nation is incorrectly pronounced as ‘nashon’ in English. In French it is ‘nation’.

“Now, the abstract form for nation is nationalism. Nationalism is not something material. You can see the nation, but not the sentimental unity known as nationalism.

“Do you know the difference between a material noun and an abstract noun? When an entity comes within the jurisdiction of the sensory and the motor organs it is a ‘material’ or ‘proper’ or ‘common noun’. But when it does not come within the range of the sensory or the motor organs but is a fact mentally, it is called ‘an abstract noun’. Thus physical presence is common, but the idea is abstract.”

Student: “Sir, another question. What is the meaning of mysticism?”

Teacher: “There are so many trifling entities and objects in this world. This is a pillow, this is a bolster. They are limited. They are units. They function within certain limitations. They are finite. You see, the universal entity is there, the vast cosmos is there. Do you follow?”

Student: “Yes sir.”

Teacher: “Try to find a link between this finite and that infinite. That endeavour of yours is known as ‘mysticism’.”

Student: “Sir, there is another question. What is the correct pronunciation of the term ‘education’ – ‘ejucation’ or ‘adukation’?”

Teacher: “You know, my boy, English is a blending of Latin and Scandinavian – Anglo-Saxon terms and the Norman tongue. The Norman tongue follows Latinic intonation and the Scandinavian tongues follow the Nordic or Anglo-Saxon style. As per Scandinavian intonation, the pronunciation is ‘ejucation’. The Latin pronunciation is ‘adukation’. The French pronunciation of education is ‘éducation’. ‘T’ is pronounced as ‘s’ in French.”

Now, education means assimilation, conversion or transmutation of external physicalities. Knowledge regarding this collection has been transformed into your mental realm. This transformation of the external objectivity into internal subjectivity is education. So education is the transformation of external objectivity into internal subjectivity.

What is the duty of a student? The major tapasya of a student is to study. The duty of a student is to study, to go through, to assimilate, that imparted knowledge.

What is the duty of a teacher? The schedule of a teacher is, say, five hours a day, but teachers have other duties also. Do you go marketing? Do you do cleaning? When you are marketing you are not doing the job of a teacher. You cannot neglect your other duties. Society is in a catastrophe. Should you restrict your duties to teaching, or should you help the society? When a society, nation or human world is in catastrophe or calamity, you have to do your duty to the entire human world. Sometimes this duty becomes the major duty. Sometimes it happens that people do their major duty but neglect their social duty. If they neglect their social duty when the society is in a calamity, are they not committing a social crime? No, because sometimes the minor duties become the major duties and substitute as the major duties for the time being.

The proper knowledge of teachers will help much in removing dogma from the dogma-stricken human order. The social order is defective and is in a lopsided condition. It is to be brought in proper order first. Everything should be done accordingly.

Chapter 8	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

The forward march of human beings requires an internal approach and an adjustment with external objectivities. That is, it requires an internal, spiritual approach, as well as an external approach which maintains balance, equilibrium and equipoise in the different arenas of our social, economic and cultural life.

Humanity is presently suffering from two problems – one is affluence or bountifulness, and the other is shortages of not only physical but also psychic pabula. Most of the developed countries suffer from bountifulness. If the flow of affluence is regulated, then an adjustment may be made so that physical shortages and psychic deficiencies can be minimized before they become chronic problems. In most countries of the world there is a tendency towards this type of adjustment. Everybody admits that there should be such an adjustment; consequently, you will find hardly any blind capitalism in the world today. Nevertheless, despite this tendency, there is still maladjustment and misutilization of resources in developed countries.

The second problem is shortages of physical and psychic pabula. As every intellectual knows, Marxism is a psychic ailment. Those who suffered from physical shortages or psychic deficiencies were once attracted by the high-sounding gospels of Marxism. Still today, the people living in Marxist countries suffer from these deficiencies because communism itself encourages them.

There is a worsening global situation and humanity is in danger because of these problems. Both the propounders and preachers of capitalism and communism suffer from psychic ailments, and both systems also suffer from physical shortages and psychic defects, although those living under communism are no doubt worse off. The whole world is victimized by capitalism and communism. In capitalism there is misutilization or misallocation of human energy, resources and money, and in communism people do not have free access to different types of resources to ensure their all-round development. The problem is one of social, economic and cultural maladjustment. So what should be done?

There are [hundreds] of millions of hunger-stricken people throughout the world. [[AMURT⁽¹⁾]] must come forward and do something concrete for them – we must give them substantial food, otherwise they will continue to suffer from malnutrition. We must give nutritious food; simply feeding them will not suffice. For instance, giving them sweet potatoes is of no use, since they have got very little food value. Sweet potato has less food value than tapioca. People will still suffer from malnutrition even though their bellies may be full.

Poverty Belts

In many parts of India, the major portion of China, and certain portions of South America and Africa, people suffer from hunger. The staple food of the people in the Purulia district of West Bengal for four to five months of the year is grass seeds. In major parts of Africa people live on rats and mice. In India, the seeds of grass, in Africa, rats and mice!

In India there are four main areas – east, west, north and south. In the east, there is maximum poverty. In Bengal the per capita position is number thirteen in India. Only seventeen percent of Bihar is developed. In the west, Ambikapur in Sarguja district and the Bilaspur and Baster districts of Madhya Pradesh are poor. In the north, there is Kumayun in Uttar Pradesh, as well as the hilly areas of Nepal. The Mirzapur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh is also poor. Only sixteen percent of Uttar Pradesh is developed. In the south, the poor regions include the tribal areas of Vizag district and the Telengana region in Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu has coastal belts, but its plateau region is not so productive due to shortages of water and lack of a proper irrigation system. While most of Kerala has no shortage of water, there is population pressure and no industry. Water is scarce, however, in the northern border of Kerala and the southern portion of Tamil Nadu. The Malayalam speaking portion has no industry, while the Tamil speaking area has some industry. Kerala is more or less self-sufficient. Dharmapuri is backward, though the rural economic structure of Tamil Nadu is good.

Thus, the poverty belt of India includes Palamu district and Lohardaga in the Ranchi district of Bihar; Kalahandi and Koraput in Orissa; Bilaspur, Baster and Ambikapur in eastern Madhya Pradesh; Mirzapur in eastern Uttar Pradesh; the Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh; and Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu.

In Orissa, Maharashtra and Ráŕh in West Bengal, farmers sell the wheat and rice they grow and eat coarse grain and grass seeds instead. Consequently, they suffer from severe malnutrition, and as a result, leprosy. Purulia district is one of the main leprosy affected areas of India. Leprosy is mainly caused by malnutrition.

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Vietnam are poor, while Malaysia and Singapore are rich. Thailand’s condition is relatively good. In Indonesia, people live mostly on rice; soup is a food of the [[rich]] people. Malnutrition is found throughout almost all of China.

There is not much malnutrition in North America. Mexico, in Central America, is poorer than India, and Honduras is also poor. In South America all the countries are poor. Venezuela is better off than the rest of South America, but unless it makes more effort to become self-sufficient it will face economic difficulty when its petrol runs out. Brazil, which is a large country, and Peru, are the countries which are the worst off. There are also hungry people in Paraguay and Uruguay. In Peru rice is one of the staple foods.

In the Middle East, there is socio-cultural maladjustment in the oil producing countries, even though they have enough wealth.

In Africa, there is much poverty and suffering among large sections of the population. There are hungry people throughout all of Africa. In a few countries, the staple food is rice, but these days rice is mostly for the rich.

Even in Europe, in certain parts of Wales and central Scotland, there is an acute shortage of substantial food. The people live off potatoes, and when the crop fails they suffer from malnutrition.

We must do something concrete for these people, otherwise the hunger of these downtrodden and distressed people will destroy the peace and tranquillity of the entire globe. You must not forget this fact. There should be an immediate influx of food from outside to these malnourished areas.

Tackling Malnutrition

When you are taking responsibility for the entire globe, solving the problem of malnutrition is also your sacred duty. What is the cause of this problem? The cause is irrational distribution in the economies of the world. The long-term solution to this economic problem is PROUT, but the immediate food shortages themselves must be solved as an urgent necessity. What are you doing about this? You cannot shirk your responsibility. The entire globe is waiting for you. It is the sacred responsibility [[of our AMURT and AMURTEL⁽²⁾ – let them shoulder their]] responsibility.

The only solution to the world-wide problem of malnutrition and of the maladjustment and misallocation of resources is to implement multi-purpose development schemes. Multi-purpose development schemes are based on the degree of poverty in a country and aim to immediately elevate the standard of living of the people and bring about integrated development throughout the world. Such schemes are for the entire globe, and include undertaking temporary and permanent relief and upgrading the standard of education wherever required. In Europe, for example, in Rumania, Albania and the Balkan states we should concentrate on temporary relief; in Portugal on permanent relief; and in Greenland on education. The Basque area of Spain is poor, while Greenland has few people. Work should start in the areas of greatest need and radiate out.

Italy is developed but not highly developed. It has crossed the threshold of a developing country – that is, the threshold of developing and developed. It is more developed than Portugal and almost as developed as Spain. Horticulture, forest resources and terranean wealth can be further developed. Sericulture, especially mulberry silk, can be developed. Oil can be found in the southern portion of Sicily and Sardinia. Italy is potentially rich in paddy production, and it should grow a little bit of wheat. The Po Valley is a paddy growing area. The southern portion of Italy grows Mediterranean fruit. This industry can also be further developed. Large industries such as the oil and steel industries no doubt exist, but other big industries are imported from various countries.

All-Round Service

So, how should we proceed? First, to solve the critical problems of the world, all-round service should be carried out in all the countries of the world without a single exception. But special stress should be given to solving the problems of all communist countries, as well as those capitalist countries where people are exploited because of physical and psychic shortages. These countries, or some portions of countries which fall into this category, should be selected as special places and receive special service because of shortages such as food.

Rendering all-round service to the people is an extension of the multi-purpose development schemes. Different types of service, both extensive and intensive, have to be done in all the poor countries. Extensive service means that service must be provided down to the village level, while intensive service means that as many people as possible must be benefited. This programme is necessary due to defective economic management in many parts of the world, and has nothing to do with party politics.

We have to help people in their local areas in times of calamity and distress. We can also take help from others who want to serve people selflessly. Mass feeding and cheap kitchens are appropriate everywhere, as are other items such as the distribution of clothes, medicines and school supplies, and special housing schemes for the poor, according to the situation. If you cannot enter a country immediately to render service, you can go to the border and the people will jump over.

We have shown by rendering all-round service the type of society governments should establish to elevate the standard of living of the common people. In this programme, essential items are provided to the poorest and most needy people in each locality. If any government follows the spirit of this programme it will be just like following our Proutistic system.

Thus, for the all-round progress of society, we are to select all communist countries and the poor undeveloped and developing countries for this purpose. But as I have already said, we must not neglect the developed countries because they also suffer from shortages. By adopting such an extended and expanded approach to service, good people can do something for the suffering and downtrodden humanity. You will have to elevate the standard of both the downtrodden mass and the down moving mass. You should chalk out a plan and materialize it as soon as possible.

One of the most important reasons for psychic ailments, defects and deformities is the lack of proper education. Education means proper psychic training and exercise. This training is initially imparted by teaching literacy. That is, it is done through teaching the letters of the alphabet: A-B-C, ka-kha-ga, etc. You can see that in most of the countries in the world – in almost the entire world – the vast percentage of the downtrodden people are illiterate. They are lagging behind in the realm of education. Everywhere, especially in Muslim countries, you will observe that the major portion of the population is downtrodden. Even where there is no shortage in wealth, in Muslim countries and certain other countries, the people are still in a downtrodden condition.

So, education is a must – education is mandatory – and you should do something to spread education in each and every village throughout the world. You should do something clear and concrete in the realm of education. Proper education means elevating the standard of downtrodden humanity.

Footnotes

(1) Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team. –Eds.

(2) Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team – Ladies. –Eds.

Chapter 9	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

No two entities of this universe are equal in all respects or in any respect. This universe is a collection of a mesh of varieties. Diversity is the law of nature and identity is not possible.

Although theories, propositions, hypotheses and different formula or formulae are the creations of different types of persons, they must not go against human psychology. One of the greatest treasures of human beings is rationality, and anything that goes against this human characteristic is bound to be eventually destroyed.

The philosophies that human beings follow can be divided into four categories: (1) dogma-centred philosophy, (2) matter-centred philosophy, (3) self-centred philosophy and (4) God-centred philosophy.

People who follow dogma-centred philosophy believe in dogma, wrong sentiments and foolish ideas. In the past I said that many religions are dogma-centred, but in fact all religions are dogmacentred. That is why no religion can tolerate any other religion. People who follow dogma-centred philosophy exploit others in the name of providence for their own self-interest. For example, the proponents of dogma often claim that they have been blessed with divine revelation. They say that they had a dream in which God appeared before them and commanded them to do particular work, and on this pretext they exploit others to the full.

People who follow matter-centred philosophy want to enjoy anything and everything for their own interest. The atom bomb is the creation of matter-centred people. In matter-centred philosophy, enjoyment of material objects is the main motive, as in Marxism. The proponents of matter-centred philosophies often resort to brute force to exploit others when it suits their purpose, as do the followers of dogma-centred philosophies.

The followers of self-centred philosophy do everything only for self-interest, self-pleasure. In this case, as in the previous two, the psychic radii may vary. A big radius means that one thinks about oneself in each and every sphere of life. In self-centred philosophies, individual selfishness is the motive, as in capitalism.

Dogma-centred philosophies are a blending of self-centred and matter-centred philosophies. A blended theory is not a cult. A cult has something to do with practice – where there is no practical reflection there is no cult.

Those who follow God-centred philosophy serve humanity and the entire living world with equal love and affection according to Neohumanism. Even amongst God-centred people the radius may vary, but the centre is God. In God-centred philosophy God is the nucleus, and the radius of one’s selfless love and devotion goes on increasing towards God.

Of these four, dogma-centred philosophies are the worst. Next are matter-centred philosophies, followed by self-centred philosophies. Dogma-centred philosophies have been responsible for the greatest blood-baths in human society, followed by matter-centred philosophies then self-centred philosophies. There can be no blood bath in God-centred philosophy. In God-centred philosophy, human projection is the external projection of internal tranquillity or composure, so there cannot be sanguinary clashes or bloodshed. Common human beings are self-centred; missionary workers are God-centred. The work done by God-centred people elevates the standard of human beings. In the past they elevated humanity, in the present they are elevating humanity and in the future they will continue to elevate humanity. But until now, the world has not experienced any God-centred philosophy.

The scope, avenue and jurisdiction of the God-centred universe is far, far, far bigger than that of the other three. In any clash amongst these philosophies, finally the God-centred theory will win. Similarly, whenever there is clash between self-centred and matter-centred theories, the self-centred philosophy will win. The matter-centred theory will never win. It comes as it goes after creating enormous devastation, and it dies a black death.

Communism

Communism is an unhappy blending of matter-centred and dogma-centred philosophies – a theory of matter-centred and dogma-centred brutality. It is the worst type of demons’ dance, and is on the threshold of a black death.

Communism is not logically based. It occupies a certain portion of the physical world, some portion of human sentiment and some logic. A few logical minds were influenced by it, but it is a highly defective philosophy which will cease to exist in the very near future. It will cease to exist within the range of this century.

Communism is irrational, illogical, unscientific and unpsychological. What is the immediate cause of the demise of communism? There may be many causes, but what is the immediate cause? Take the example of a drunkard. If a man drinks much alcohol, he will contract liver disease and eventually die. But if one day he drinks an excessive amount, say ten bottles, this will be the immediate cause of his death. Communism should have died a few decades from now, but it is ultimately dying in the last decade of the twentieth century. Ravana’s greatest blunder was that he abducted Sita. The greatest blunder of communism was that it attacked God-centred philosophy. This is the immediate cause of the death of communism.

Communism created a field at one time; now it has left a vacuum behind. There is an ideological vacuum in the world – a physical, mental and intellectual vacuum has been created by the death of communism – but it will be filled up in a short time. This vacuum has to be immediately filled with a strong guiding and controlling force. You should fill it with your intellectuo-intuitional strength. If you sit idle some other demonic non-spiritual theories can become active and occupy that vacuum, so do not encourage lethargy and procrastination. You must leave the six defects of sleep, drowsiness, fear, anger, lethargy and procrastination if you want to work for the Self and for the society.

PROUT is the only panacea. If the God-centred philosophy of PROUT does not come forward immediately to fill this vacuum, some other ideology will, because it is a law of nature that something will fill a vacuum once it has been created. If this ideological vacuum is not filled by PROUT, a great catastrophe will take place in the future because other defective philosophies will come forward. Some dogma-centred, matter-centred or self-centred theories will occupy the space. We cannot allow this to happen.

Tito let Ananda Marga work in Yugoslavia because he understood the defects of communism. Now students of Poland are also joining Ananda Marga. The ideas of PROUT are spreading throughout the world. This new day is yours.

Self-centred philosophies create differences among human beings and balkanise the human society. Matter-centred philosophies create disparity, destroying peace in the universe. In the present world we are seeing two theories moving side by side – the self-centred theory of capitalism and the matter-centred and dogma-centred theory of communism. Capitalism cannot serve humanity, while communism failed to serve humanity. Both capitalism and communism are dying. Capitalism will die a natural death, while communism died an unnatural death.

Religion

What is religion? Religion is based on dogma-centred philosophy. Dogma-centred philosophy is a blending of matter-centred and self-centred philosophies. So religions are a blending of partly matter-centred philosophies and partly self-centred philosophies. Matter-centred philosophies are mostly pure dogma, while selfcentred philosophies are a blending of dogma and sentiment.

Religions sometimes survive for a long time, even though they are full of dogma. This is because they know how to twist their teachings to deny the truth and adapt to different circumstances. Their purpose is to secure the interests of a special, privileged class. Some religions have also survived because they have associated themselves with God-centred ideas, although they are not God-centred. They make some dogmatic propositions about God an important part of their teaching, and on this basis they sentimentalize the minds of the people. These sentiments penetrate deeply into the human psyche.

The main weapons of dogma-centred philosophies are:

1) The propagation of stories, myths and parables to create superiority complexes;

2) The propagation of stories, myths and parables to create inferiority complexes;

3) The propagation of fear complex and inferiority complex amongst the people, especially the Shúdras.

All religions use these three types of complexes to inject superiority complexes, inferiority complexes and fear complexes into the minds of the people. They propagates parables, myths and stories to inject complexes into people’s minds. Is it not a fact? All religions are based on dogma – they are not based on logic – and they propagate their dogma through stories, myths and parables. All religions propagate that “My God is the only true God. Other Gods are false gods.” When some religions claim that their god is the only true God, it is an example of a dogma-centred proposition. All world religions are based on such dogma-centred theories.

Take the case of Hindu myths. The authors of Hindu mythologies say that the Brahmans are born from the mouth of Parama Puruśa, the Kśatriyas from the arms, the Vaeshyas from the trunk and the Shúdras from the feet.

Bráhmańo’sya mukhamásiit váhurájanyo’bhavat
Madhya tadasya yadvaeshyah padbhyám shúdra ajáyata

[Brahmans came out of the mouth, Kśatriyas were born out of the arms, Vaeshyas came out of the trunk of the body, and Shúdras were born out of the feet.]

Some people say this sloka came from the Puranas, not the Rg Vedas. Teachings like this create an inferiority complex and fear complex amongst the Shúdras. What does the word “Shúdra” mean? It means “slaves of black complexion”.

There are innumerable examples of religious dogma. Communism left behind a deep negative impression in the material world, and never followed the path of shánti or peace. Materialism or matter-centred theory is more developed in communism than in Cárvaka. Cárvaka did not make any wrong interpretation against God, but communism did.

To counteract the malevolent effect of dogma-centred philosophies, the two most important factors are the development of rationality and the spread of education. Merely attending school and university classes will not necessarily have the desired effect. Stress should be placed on education which produces a high degree of rationality in the human mind, and this type of education should be spread amongst the people.

So, to counteract religious dogma we have to adopt a two-fold approach. First, the path of logic and reason must be adopted, and for this we have PROUT and Neohumanism. Simultaneously, the spiritual sentiment must be inculcated in human minds as this is more powerful than the religious sentiment. For this people should be properly educated in the way of spirituality. So what should be our proper strategy? First, we should work to oppose matter-centred philosophies, which are already on the verge of extinction. Once matter-centred philosophies have been vanquished, the strength of religious dogma will be naturally weakened and finally eliminated. This will be the proper step-wise approach.

So, a vacuum has been created by the sudden, unnatural death of communism. The reason behind this is the sudden expansion of consciousness among human beings, among human minds. That sudden expansion of consciousness was created due to PROUT, Neohumanism and spiritual philosophy. Communism has almost died everywhere. The stage of convulsion is going on, so we have to fill up the vacuum.

In human life socio-economic items are very important, but they are not the only thing. Those dedicated to the service of humanity and the establishment of God-centred philosophy should be strong in PROUT, especially in those countries where there was the brutal rule of communism. But socio-economic life is not the only life. There are other aspects of life, other spokes of expansion. Through PROUT and selfless service we may render temporary service to human beings as they move along the flow of life, but our spiritual philosophy is above the flow of life. Spiritual philosophy is the hub. By propagating spirituality, implementing PROUT and rendering selfless service to suffering humanity, you will be able to elevate the standard of human beings in a very short time.

As I have already said, dogma-centred, matter-centred and self-centred theories will have to be replaced by a God-centred philosophy in the very near future. So you should prepare yourself physically, intellectually, morally, intuitionally and spiritually to fill up the vacancy of the dogma-centred theories of religion, the matter-centred theory of communism and self- centred theory of capitalism, Time will not wait for us. Time will not wait for our convenience, our feasibility. This moment is the most opportune moment. There is no need to look at the calendar. Do not wait for tomorrow.

Chapter 10	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

Is the division of people into castes and communities natural Balkanization or artificial Balkanization? Natural Balkanization is just like one cell becoming two. Artificial fissiparous tendencies are unnatural. So is the division of people into castes and communities a process of natural Balkanization or artificial fissiparous tendencies?

Amongst the inimical forces, there are certain parties which are goaded by certain forces, by the spirit of certain fissiparous tendencies, and there are also some persons goaded by these fissiparous forces. How can this problem be solved? How can we check these belligerent parties from implementing their outdated ideas, which may cause the physical disintegration of the country? What should be done? What should be our short term and the long term policy? The approach should be both physical and psychic. Will simply economic theory do or is something more required? Education is a long term programme. What should be done immediately in the physical and psychic realms? The country is passing through a critical juncture, so you should be well educated.

There is a theory of politics called “divide and rule”. Just to undermine the independence of India, the British government started a programme to encourage communal division amongst the people based on caste, scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, Muslim and non-Muslim. They wanted to encourage divisions between Muslims and non-Muslims. General people, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes – these were the divisions. Our leaders should not have accepted such divisions. Rather, at that time they should have said that preference should be given on the basis of socio-economic backwardness, not on the basis of castes or creeds. But certain political parties were based on caste prejudices or communal sentiments, which is why they supported the British government.

During the struggle for independence, a great blunder was committed by Mahatma Gandhi. In order to show his innocence, he said that he would not support the communal award, but nor would he vote against it. That is, indirectly he supported it. What happened to the country after this was due to the himalayan blunder committed by Mahatma Gandhi. At that time he should have said, “No. I do not support the communal award.” He did not say this because his party workers and party leaders were eager to become ministers, so they pressed him for provincial autonomy. But Mahatma Gandhi neither supported it nor opposed it. He committed a great blunder. What has happened in the country after this is the result of what Mahatma Gandhi did. At that time he should have said that we can neither split the country nor disintegrate it. As a result of the communal award, the country was trifurcated into Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. This was the result of the blunder of Mahatma Gandhi, and he did it under the pressure of his party leaders. They wanted to become ministers, as there was scope in the government of India at that time for wresting provincial autonomy, attaining ministership, creating two new provinces – Orissa and Sind – and separating Ceylon and Burma from India.

Provincial autonomy was promulgated in the year 1935, but it was implemented in 1937. Sind agreed to provincial autonomy because in Sind a particular party, a minority party of India, was in the majority. Orissa was created out of physical convenience rather than mental necessity. It was very difficult for the people of Orissa to go to the capital town Patna, as they had to go to Patna through Calcutta. This is why they demanded that either Orissa should be included in Bengal, or there should be a sepa rate province. Their demand was that Orissa should not remain in Bihar, because in order to go to Patna the people had to travel through Calcutta. The creation of Orissa was not bad, but the creation of Sind was bad. These were the poisonous effects of the enactment of provincial autonomy by the Government of India in 1935.

As an example of the communal approach of the Government of India, take the case of Bengal. At that time reservation in the Bengal assembly was for 250 seats. 250 seats were created as part of provincial autonomy. Of these 250 seats, 120 were for Muslims, 80 were for non-Muslims, 25 were for British merchants – for the British businessmen of Calcutta to contest elections – a few were for Zaminders, a few were for universities, and a few were for labour leaders. The total: 250. In Bengal at that time, 45% of the population was Muslim and 55% was non-Muslim. That is, the land of Bengal was not only physically divided but also mentally divided, as a result of which Bengal was divided on the basis of communal consciousness, which is unnatural. Communalism is unnat ural. Again today, the foolish leaders, the political leaders, are encouraging this very sentiment. And I fear that if it is not controlled in the proper time – it is the most opportune moment to control it – if it is not controlled in the proper time, the country will face further disintegration.

Factually, as per the Government of India plan at that time, India was trifurcated. Bengal was bifurcated. The Punjab was bifurcated. Assam was bifurcated. Sind and North West Frontier Province went out of India. This was the result of the communal award. The foolish leaders, the stupid leaders, supported the communal award. They had not learnt the lessons of history.

The policy was divide and rule. One party said “Jai Hind” and another party said “Takasime Hind.” One party said “Victory to India;” another party said “Divide India.” These were the slogans of the time. It was not a healthy atmosphere. This sentiment was not even geo-sentiment. It was based on emotion and mean selfishness. Henceforward, healthy politics disappeared from India. Nehru supported partition because his dream was to become Prime Minister of the land – of either undivided India or divided India.

Montague Chelmsford saw that the forces were divided and was not sure whom to give power to. In 1935, provincial autonomy was granted. Ceylon and Burma, which were parts of India, are now inimical to India. During partition – during Montague Chelmsford’s time or during 1935 – the Government of India granted autonomy. A senior Muslim leader of India pronounced Montague Chelmsford as “Montague Chilamford” because he could not pronounce “Chelmsford.” At that time there was no mutual faith, there was want of mutual understanding. That is why the country was divided. Otherwise, the British could not have divided the country. There was both physical disintegration and psychic – psycho-social – disintegration for want of proper education.

Most of the minorities could not rely on the Hindu majority of the country. That is why – out of fear complex – they wanted to divide the country. The Hindu minorities of Bengal and the Punjab could not rely on the Muslim majority. That is why they wanted the partition of those two provinces. The same psychology is prevalent today. At that time there was not even a wee bit of political education or political consciousness in the country.

As per provincial autonomy, the Chief Minister of the provinces were known as the Prime Minister. There was no Prime Minister of India. India was loosely controlled by India House, London.

The Native States were beyond the 1935 award. This is the reason why the communal position of the Native States was better than that of the rest of India. There was hardly any communalism in Kashmir where Muslims lived under the Hindu Raj. Similarly, the Hindu majority state of Hyderabad was under a Muslim leader, and there was hardly any communalism. The reason was that the Native States were free from the communal award. The British communal award was not applied there.

Serpents are exhaling venom everywhere… It is the right moment. It is the proper moment. It is the most opportune moment.

Náginiira cáridike fushiteche bishakta nishvas
Shantir lalit vani shonaibe bartha parihas
Bidáy nebar belá tai d́ák diye jai
Danaver sathe járá samgrámer tare prastut hateche ghare ghare.

“Serpents are exhaling venom everywhere. The sweet gospels of peace sound like empty mockery. That is why on the eve of my departure from this world, I send out a clarion call to those who are preparing in every house to fight against the demons in human form.”

Serpents are exhaling venom everywhere. Now at this critical juncture, should we go on preaching the gospels of peace? No, no, no, no! So, before my departure from the world, said Rabindranath, I have made the necessary preparations for the fight against these demons. Do you all follow? What Rabindranath said 60 years ago is also true in this last portion of the twentieth century.

Chapter 11	Prout in a Nutshell Volume 4 Part 18 [a compilation]

1) Question: What should be the system of share distribution in cooperatives?

Answer: PROUT advocates the phase wise socialisation of agricultural land which should be managed by farmers co- operatives. In the initial phase of transition to cooperative management, land shares should be in the hands of those who are land holders. That is, initially the shares in agricultural or farmers cooperatives should be distributed on the basis of the land vested in the cooperative. When the cooperative system is fully implemented in the agriculture sector, there will not be any distinction between landholders and non-landholders, as all members of the cooperative will be collectively responsible for the management of the land. However, this stage can only be achieved after the proper psychological preparation of the people.

In the cooperative system there should not be any scope for interest earning shares; that is, there should not be profit earning shares in cooperatives. Rather shares should be according to the production of the land. If there are profit earning shares in farmers or agricultural cooperatives, then these shares will be sold in the share market, capitalists will buy the shares, the rate of share prices will fluctuate according to share market prices, and cooperatives will become commercial enterprises.

Similarly, in industrial cooperatives there should be dividend earning shares and not profit earning shares as in bank interest, otherwise these cooperatives will also become commercial enterprises. If there are profit earning shares, the spirit of the cooperative system will be destroyed and cooperatives will go into the hands of the capitalists.

So, there must not be any preferential shares in any farmers, producers or consumers cooperatives, only dividend shares. Share holders with preferential shares earn a fixed amount of interest from their shares regardless of whether the organization makes a loss or profit. Preferential shares are like the sonja system in agriculture. In the sonja system, share croppers get a fixed amount from land owners when they initially agree to cultivate their land. This is given regardless of the amount produced by the share cropper, even if there is crop failure. Dividend shares earn a dividend which is defined as a return on the basis of the net profit earned by the organization.

Share holders must be people of high grade morality. In co- operatives, voting rights should be on an individual basis and not on the basis of the number of shares a person holds. In capitalist countries shares can be purchased. Democracy in capitalist countries is a farce because votes can be purchased and poor people cannot fight elections.

Neither the commune system nor capitalism can solve human problems. Only the cooperative system can solve all sorts of social, cultural and national problems.

2) Question: What are service cooperatives?

Answer: This type of cooperative will not be in the arena of producers or consumers cooperatives. They are a very subtle type of cooperative coming within the arena of cultural co- operatives.

Let us take the example of doctors. Doctors should start service cooperatives. These cooperatives may also be called physicians service cooperatives. Suppose a doctor is not able to open his or her own practice, he or she may form a service cooperative with five or ten other doctors. Such a cooperative is an intellectual service cooperative. Doctors who have less capital and cannot afford to establish their own practice can also work in this type of cooperative. Such a system will solve the unemployment problem of doctors. In addition, doctors can start research through these cooperatives, although a doctors job is 99% practical and hardly 1% theoretical.

Besides service cooperatives, there are several other types of cooperatives which include farmers cooperatives, producer co- operatives, consumer cooperatives, banking cooperatives, housing cooperatives and family annuity cooperatives.

The day is fast approaching when intellectuality will rule earth. The commune system has failed – we do not want communistic mania or philosophical phobia. Intellectually developed human beings will rule the earth, and for this the cooperative system is indispensable.

3) Question: Is there any role of positive and negative microvita in establishing PROUT in this whole universe, especially amongst the downtrodden people of the universe? If so, what is the role of positive and negative microvita?

Answer: Any principle or theory should be based on logic, not sentiment, and it should be for the entire human world.

The upper plexus is the abode of positive microvita and is the approach of synthesis. The lower plexus is the abode of negative microvita and is the approach of analysis. So the lower plexus is the favourite field of negative microvita. Now, do you understand the effect of negative microvita on the lower plexii? Communists are only concerned with the lower plexii so their minds are gradually becoming crude.

So there is an important role of positive and negative microvita in establishing PROUT. PROUT will be established by spiritual aspirants because the approach of spiritual aspirants is synthetic. Spiritual aspirants see one in many, not many in one. Finally, many become one. So positive microvita has a more important role in establishing PROUT.

4) Question: What is the difference between a minority and a strong minority? And what does the term “weightage” mean in politics?

Answer: A minority is less than 40% of the population. A strong minority is between 40% and 50% of the population. Weightage is the preferential allocation of parliamentary seats to a minority over and above what it is logically entitled to. For example, suppose in a country 38% of the population belong to one community and 62% of the population belong to another community. In a house of representatives of 100 members, the former community should have a representation of only 38 seats. If more than 38 seats are allocated to it to appease any sense of social insecurity it may have, these additional seats are considered as weightage. The weightage system does not occur in the case of strong minorities.

In the past, in the Bengal parliament, there were 250 seats. Representatives were elected to 200 seats and nominated to 50 seats. That is, 50 seats were reserved for minorities and outstanding people from different fields. At that time 45% of the population belonged to one community and 55% of the population belonged to another community. To appease the former community, 120 out of the 200 seats were reserved for it, leaving only 80 seats for the latter community. This was not the correct approach because the former community were not a minority, but a strong minority.

5) Question: What is the mathematical nature of Proutistic philosophy? Is it omni-static, statico-dynamic, dynamico-static or omni-dynamic?

Answer: Omni-static is a sort of negation, cynicism or nihilism. Statico-dynamic has some dynamism but is retarded by staticity, while dynamico-static also has some dynamism but only leads to the degenerative state of extended stagnation. Only omni-dynamic movement can bring about the all-round welfare of all creatures in creation. In omni-dynamic movement there is continuous movement from crudity to subtlety, leading to everlasting progress and the effulgent radiance of spirituality. Proutistic philosophy is omni-dynamic.

6) Question: What is the nature of Proutistic progress?

Answer: There is simple progress and accelerated progress. In accelerated progress there is simple accelerated progress, progressive accelerated progress and compound accelerated progress. Proutistic progress is compound accelerated progress. Compound accelerated progress is not the same as compound interest, which is equivalent to progressive accelerated progress. Rather, it is a higher stage of acceleration.

7) Question: If the land is bountiful and the per capita income is very high, does it mean that the all-round micropsychic conations or the all-round micropsychic aspirations of the people are fully quenched or not?

Answer: No. To quench the all-round micropsychic longings of the people, there must be the following:

(1) Psycho-spiritual education. There can be Balkanization of society if there is no psycho-spiritual education.

(2) Rule by moralists.

(3) A balanced socio-economic structure.

(4) Ever-increasing purchasing power. If the per capita income is Rs. 50,000 and the price of the quintal of rice is Rs. 80,000, the condition of the people will be very bad.

8) Question: Now that Marxism is dead, what should be the role of PROUT?

Answer: The physical death of Lenin took place long back, and now the intellectual death of communism or Leninism is taking place. In the West there is individual capitalism and group capitalism. In the East there is less individual capitalism and the predominance of state capitalism. The system of gaining support in capitalism is through money, and the system of gaining support in communism is through fear. For example, in India the villagers of Mindapore, Uluberia sub-division of Howrah, Hoogly and Burdwan in Bengal are politically subjugated under the fear of the Communist Party – the communist leaders are unmasked.

Now intellectuals are finding place for a new alternative – PROUT. Generally, since 50% of society are good people, 25% are ordinary people and 25% are evil people, if you organize 50% plus 25% then 75% is gained by PROUT. Carry the message of PROUT to the people. The futility of Marxist ideas has created a vacuum. You must fill this vacuum up with Proutistic ideas.

9) Question: How far can there be an adjustment between totalitarianism and the fundamentals of democracy?

Answer: Totalitarianism gives strong administration which is good, but there are also demerits in this system. What are the merits of totalitarianism? In totalitarianism the government is strong, it is true, and power is highly concentrated. If the dictator is a strong moralist then the standard of morality of the society may rise very high. The military strength is increased and all the policies and planning of the government will be easily materialized. Most of the merits of the government are there. But the main demerit is that the public voice is suppressed. Humanity wants that it should have proper scope to express its psyche though one or other media of human expression. This is wanting in totalitarianism.

In democracy also merits are there and demerits are there. The merits of democracy are never properly expressed. This is the main demerit of democracy, where the people are more socio- economico-politically conscious, conscious as human beings, to some extent. But where this consciousness is lacking, there will be a mere farce.

I did not say that this is the case with India, but India to some extent is like this. Have you understood?

10) Question: Say whether barter trade is suitable for an advanced country or a backward country – a developed, developing or undeveloped country?

Answer: It is suitable for a developing country, but not where the number of surplus goods – say raw materials – is limited or few in number. Bangladesh has a surplus in jute and hide. For that country, barter trade is suitable. Where the number of surplus goods is not much, barter trade is not required.

11) Question: When a world government will be formed, should there be any world militia?

Answer: There is need for a world militia because there may be inter-planetary fight.

12) Question: Why was everything in communist countries done under the dark veil of the iron curtain?

Answer: Because they were conscious of the loopholes in communism and they did not want the world to know what they were doing.

13) Question: Is there any psychological loophole in the commune system?

Answer: The workers can not feel oneness with the job. If farmers feel it is their own farm, they will get good output.

14) Question: What is the bonus system and the piece work system? Answer: In capitalism production is for profit. The amount of the bonus is usually fixed. The actual profit is hidden from the workers and goes directly to the owner, so workers do not get any incentive to work harder and better. In communism production is for the state. Workers do not feel oneness with the job so there is little incentive to work. In PROUT production is for consumption – our industrial system will be based on consumption. Profit will be minimized, so capitalists will not get the scope to exploit the workers and there will be rational distribution of wealth.

The time involved in the production of commodities can be viewed from three angles – the time allotted to complete some work; the time taken to complete some work; and the time saved to complete some work. In the bonus system the calculation of the bonus will be on the basis of the time saved, and the money value of this calculation will be given to the worker. This will be the incentive in the bonus system.

In the piece-work system, the incentive is calculated in a different way. Suppose we are manufacturing machines. The labour, etc. involved in the cost of production is set, so the market price will be the cost of production plus a rational profit. P = C + Y. A rational profit is about 15%. This amount or part of it will be distributed amongst those who manufactured the machines. This will be their incentive. As they get more incentive, workers will try to manufacture more machines. This is not the case in state capitalism because workers get fixed incentives which become part of the salary. Incentives should encourage greater work and better quality work, so they should be directly linked to production. When this system is adopted the per capita income and the standard of living of the workers will automatically increase. This is how incentives should work in the piece work system.

15) Question: Shall we support the recent cry for more power to the states? What is our policy?

Answer: We support economic decentralization. So, that much power which directly concerns economic decentralization should be in the hands of the states or the concerning lower level governments. Otherwise, how can they materialize their economic power that is vested in them due to decentralization?

16) Question: Human history is the history of collective psychology. How can we define collective psychology?

Answer: The average psychic momentum derived from the unit psychic momentum is the momentum of the collective psychology, whose manifestations are the new events on the pages of history.