Can we be the Voice for Humanity??
While there is no doubt in my mind that the loudest voices heard in public and even private spaces are the ones proclaiming pessimism, danger, scaremongering and misinformation. However, as a student of Vedanta I also believe that left to oneself humans are fundamentally good and are capable of acts selflessness which are beyond ones imagination. The problem I face today is that this belief and faith in humanity is shaken to the core when one discovers the immense amount of hatred, suffering and violence we see all over the world.
The very fact that these voices are becoming mainstream and louder to the extent that the discourse on all platforms is promoting division and disharmony is making me pose the question of the title of this blog. The times we live in are increasingly referred to as Kalyug or dark ages and the discriminatory abilities of most us are poor if not non existent. This is evidenced in many ways in the way we act in our daily lives. I will touch on aspects of Identity, Narrow nationalism, Wealth Acquisition, Education and Dharma.
The question of identity is often the reason for conflict and this is defined based on the labels like name, religion, citizenship, profession, caste, class and even gender. Each of these are by their very nature divisive and cause conflict. So the question is does one wear a badge of identity or shun these labels many of which are there merely by accident of birth and the rest by conditional choice. In my humble at the heart of this debate is the question of individual freedom and choice. Societies and circumstances dictate to what extent these choices are available. Also, the individual's ability to use his or her intellect dictates the ability to make these choices. On the day of writing this blog, if I take maybe the present day conflicts around me I am constantly facing the challenge of choosing the badge to wear. My religious identity is often seen as conflicting with my study of Vedanta and the Bhagwad Gita. In all this my search for the truth through the Bible, Quran, Buddhism or other religions led me to books written by Bhagwan Das and Nani Palkhiwalla's titled The Essential Unity of All Religions. On the other hand the word Religion is derived from Re ligare meaning to bind to a set of beliefs. It also meant to re read and examine then if one feels like follow the belief system. All forms of identity are ultimately created by a set of circumstances and leads to rituals which further reinforces identity.
Today as we speak of so many manifestations of this division like the long standing Ukraine Russia War, Israel-Palestine war, Pakistan-India conflicts are an assertion of identity. The problem of cross border migration the illegal sea migrant people landing in UK, Europeon countries, Rohingyas from Burma, Tibetians from Tibet and even locally the influx of rural workers from UP, Bihar into Mumbai for better prospects are considered an undesirable occurence. However, in an interconnected world where while individual freedom is important it is importat that as civilized human beings we need to stand for human values and uphold the rights those that face injustice or are subjected to persecution. This is what happens when tyrants, colonizers and dictators use these identities to stoke hatred, division in society. I do also subscribe to the view that liberal values if carried too far leads appeasement of minorities who use the concessions given by state governments to create nuisance and destruction of the local fabric and culture of the land they have migrated to.
A defining factor which distiguishes man from all forms of life is the presence of the intellect. This is the basis of living a spiritual life. On the same token a lack of intellect or an inability to use it can make man believe in irrational myths and falsehoods and in the name of such indulge in negative behaviour. This is the collective mob or herd mentality which is manifest in our daily life and in times when there are conflicts suddenly man exhibits bestiality of a kind which is unimaginable.
What is finally Humanism? Why do we find it so difficult realise our true human nature and simply be human beings with a natural blissful all loving nature. Humanism is defined as a philosophy which enables one to live an ethical life where reason, dignity and individual worth allows one to live and let live all human beings. The reason why we fail to do so is because of what we call in Vedanta the Fall of the human intellect. We are all intelligent in our dealings in life and we use this to pursue careers, name fame and wealth which we want to get at any cost. The root cause of this is the lack of intellect. The ability to discriminate between right and the wrong is described as the faculty of discrimination. While illegal migration is a vexed issue there seems little justification to persecute and kill migrants who aspire to escape the suffering of their circumstances to get a better life. I am in favour of reasonable regulation and freedom for both the individual to migrate and the state to control miugration. Without getting swayed by emotion it is important to raise our voices against policies which are against the tenets of humanism.
I hope that the noise of the world and its distractions do not numb the voice of humanity within me? I like to believe that when we look on others as them vs us we will tend to hate and condemn, but the moment we see ourselves in all and all in ourselves we will reach a state of positive affirmation. This will open the flood gates of humanism and usher an era of prosperity and happiness for all.
Vispi Jokhi
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