For millennia, large numbers of people have been killed, persecuted
and ill-treated in the name of religion; and this is going on
even today. The Millennium World Peace Summit of leaders representing
all religions traditions held recently at the UN headquarters
in New York has been called "a meeting of minds." There
is a growing realization that if lasting peace among peoples
and nations is to become a reality, then the defences of peace
have to be built first and foremost in the minds of men and women
worldwide. Almost every speaker at the summit stressed that the
ethical and spiritual core of every religion can and must provide
the basis to banish fear and want and the debilitating scourge
of intolerance from the hearts of people everywhere.
From Anglicans to Zoroastrians, the Peace Summit participants
sent out the message that "all religions are equal,"
that truth, salvation and redemption are not the monopoly of
any organized religion, of any sect, of any particular brand
of clerics. The seeker if free to drink at whichever source he
chooses. The Times of India (September 1) commented editorially:
The messages that emanated from the summit might sound naïve
to ears attuned to the cacophony of diplomatic mumbo-jumbo and
the rhetoric of realpolitik. But the very fact that Muslim clerics,
Hindu priests, Jain munis, Christian prelates, Buddhist monks
and many others speaking from within a variety of other faiths
were able to affix their signatures to a document that affirmed
the equality of all religions, condemned all forms of violence
in the most unambiguous terms, upheld gender equality, lambasted
poverty and gave pride of place to environmental protection should
demonstrate that religion need no longer be the opium of the
masses.
How far religion will contribute to world peace will depend
to a large extent upon how far the religions leaders themselves
exemplify the policy of peace and brotherhood in their own life
and action, and upon the extent to which their example is followed.
The realization of brotherhood is the essence of all true religions.
Without the spread of that realization, the orthodox in all religions
will continue to be fanatical followers of their respective creeds,
and mutual intolerance and recriminations and worse will persist
Darwin suggested that natural selection operates not only
among individuals but also among groups of organisms. A group
of people who are kind and helpful to one another may not do
so well individually, but as a team they may do better than other
groups of people, and so the tendency to work as a team spreads
through the population. The group selection idea has had its
opponents and was at one stage rejected, but at present it is
experiencing a revival. It is now generally admitted that evolution
is more caring and sharing than hitherto believed.
In New Scientist (July 8) Lynn Dicks, ecologist and
science writer based at the University of Cambridge, speaks of
the power of the team spirit not only among humans but in all
evolution:
The newly emerging view of evolution, proposed by John Maynard
Smith from the University of Sussex and Eors Szathmary from the
University of Budapest, Hungary, describes the entire development
of life as a series of major transitions in which successively
more complex levels of organization have become dominant. Each
transition was a point when individual entities began working
together in a group and natural selection kicked in at a higher
level. When cells joined forces to make multicellular organisms,
for example, cells that co-operated fared better than cells that
exploited the resources of the group, because all the cells in
an organism have a single, sealed fate. In this new "multilevel
selection" view of life, group selection is a natural progression….
If it is simple to do in the lab, then who's to say that many
features of ecological communities have not evolved by group
selection in nature? There are countless examples of natural
populations that are structured in discrete groups-from communities
living on microscopic particles in the sea to patchy populations
of plants. The best example is parasites, which live in groups
of hundreds of thousands confined inside the bodies of their
hosts….
Chris Boehm, of the University of Southern California, Los
Angeles, believes, like Darwin before him, that morality evolved
through group selection because it acts as social glue sealing
the combined fate of the group….The key to changing the
level at which selection operates lies in suppressing the interests
of the individuals that make up the groups.
Co-operative behaviour has existed throughout nature, since
the beginning of life. Altruism and co-operation have proved
a successful strategy for species to get through very long stretches
of evolutionary time in the presence of numberless other creatures
with whom they are obliged to interact. Humans are a conspicuous
exception. We have tended to exploit and to cheat whenever such
behaviour seems to provide a short-term advantage. This is our
worst mistake, for we are delaying and putting obstacles in our
own evolutionary march. "United we stand, divided we fall,"
is a principle of life and applies at all levels of the evolutionary
process.
There is growing evidence that humans have been using fire
for an incredibly long time. This, say palaeoanthropologists,
calls for radical revision of current scientific thinking about
human evolution.
The popular theory of human mental evolution, writes John
McCrone (New Scientist, May 20), paints our early ancestors
as nothing more than smart bipedal apes. It was only around 40,000
years ago, goes the theory, that they made major advances in
lifestyle, tool use and vocal communication, and were transformed
into modern Homo sapiens, a species driven by language
and culture. Even throughout the 1980s and 1990s palaeoanthropologists
denigrated early humans at every turn. But now a more detailed
picture has begun to emerge and the theory of "dumb ancestors"
has been turned upside down. Evidences of their knowledge of
the use of fire have been uncovered by several researchers, and
only intellectually advanced humans could have been capable of
that.
A major breakthrough came this April when at the annual meeting
of the Paleoanthropology Society in Philadelphia Brain Ludwig
from Rutgers University reported the results of an exhaustive
analysis of flint artifacts and the debris of tool-making. He
personally inspected around 40,000 pieces from over 50 sites
in Africa, some going as far back as 2.5 million years. There
were clear signs of intense heat being applied to these tools,
which considerably broaden the claim for early fire.
Other scientists say that if early humans had enough mental
development to control fire-whether for warmth, protection, cooking
or tool-making-they must also have had communicative skills which
require the use of language. Language was needed to transform
their daily activities "from the duly practical into something
where every slightest act became socially expressive and personally
meaningful."
The Secret Doctrine states that early man was not left
to his own resources but had his Instructors-more evolved beings
from other spheres who became his guides and put him in the way
of his mental evolution. Among the first things taught by them
was the use of fire and the methods by which it could be kindled
(S.D., II 373). Fire was never "discovered";
it existed on earth since its beginning, and the earliest humans
knew its uses. "The assumption that primitive man lived
ages on earth before he was made acquainted with fire, is one
of the most painfully illogical of all." (S.D., II,
523-24)
H.P.B.'s very first work, Isis Unveiled, furnishes
sufficient proofs that in various spheres modern knowledge has
little or no reason to boast of originality. "Whenever in
the pride of some new discovery, we throw a look into the past,
we find, to our dismay, certain vestiges which indicate the possibility,
if not certainly, that the alleged discovery was not totally
unknown to the ancients." (I, 526)
Who invented the telescope? According to Bob Temple, the Greeks
knew of it more than 2000 years ago. This is one of the many
provocative conclusions in his recently published book, The
Crystal Sun, a thoroughly researched study of the ancient
science of optics. Temple reviews the massive archaeological
and literary evidence for the use of lenses in antiquity-for
burning, magnification and correcting short sight.
Isis Unveiled further informs us:
Some modern writes deny the fact that a great mirror was placed
in the light-house of the Alexandrian port, for the purpose of
discovering vessels at a distance at sea. But the renowned Buffon
believed in it; for he honestly confesses that "If the mirror
really existed, as I firmly believe it did, to the ancients belongs
the honour of the invention of the telescope." (I,
528)
For centuries, India's Untouchables, now known as Dalits (literally,
"broken people") have had a raw deal. In the Hindu
caste system, they are at the very bottom of the social scale,
and are often victims of humiliation, harassment and violence
from the upper castes.
Newsweek for July 3 carries a special report on this
caste struggle. Carla Power writes:
The Indian Constitution long ago outlawed discrimination against
Dalits. India has a Dalit president and more than 100 Dalits
in Parliament. But despite quota systems in government jobs and
education, members of the upper castes like Brahmins and Kshatriyas
have a monopoly on power; they dominate business, the media and
government.
After centuries of suffering from intense discrimination,
they're beginning to fight back. The Dalits have begun their
own civil-rights struggle. Inspired by the liberation campaigns
of American blacks and South Africans, Dalits are beginning to
use the vote, civil disobedience and even violence of their own
to claim their rights. Their new assertiveness has angered the
powerful and triggered an increasingly bloody struggle….
Grass roots are gaining strength….Despite the dangers,
Delits are taking risks to free themselves from rural traditions….A
new generation of activists has emerged.
The struggle continues. It is not enough to pass legislation
condemning caste distinctions to root out the evil. It is necessary
first of all to sweep away the "cobwebs" from men's
minds through right education. And let no one plead the virtues
of the original caste system now; for caste based on the birth
of the body is far indeed from the varnashramadharma of
ancient India. Justice demands the wiping out of these false
distinctions, which Gandhiji rightly regarded as "the greatest
blot on Hinduism."
In the early years of the Theosophical Movement in India,
the courage shown by Damodar K. Mavalankar, while still a youth,
in obeying the dictates of his conscience and coming out of his
Brahmin caste to be "worthy of being called man" and
to make "the perfection of his spiritual self a grand object
of his efforts," is worthy of emulation by young people
today. Damodar's statement explaining the reasons for leaving
his caste appeared in The Theosophist for MAY 1880 and
was reprinted in U.L.T. Pamphlet No. 4. He wrote:
The glimpse I have got into the former greatness of my country
makes me feel sadly for her degeneration. I feel, it, therefore,
my bounden duty to devote all my humble powers to her restoration….
The study of Theosophy has thrown a light over me in regard
to my country, my religion, my duty. I have become a better Aryan
than I ever was….This study makes every man respect his
religion the more….
I found that instead of a love for his countrymen, the observance
of caste distinction leads one to hate even his neighbour, because
he happens to be of another caste. I could not bear this injustice.
What fault is it of anyone that he is born in a particular caste?
I respect a man for his qualities and not for his birth. That
is to say, that man is superior in my eyes, whose inner man has
been developed or is in the state of development….The peace
of the land was disturbed. People could not unite with one another
for good purposes….I do not by this mean to blame my ancestors
who originally instituted this system. To me their object seems
to be quite a different one. It was based in my opinion on the
qualities of every person. The caste was not then hereditary
as it is now.
Involved as we are with the outside world, few among us have
given thought to the value of mindfulness. Because of this, we
do not know how to subdue or ignore the constant reactions that
spring up in the mind. In the August issue of Mira, Nergis
Dalal writes:
Mindfulness is the cure for this unthinking manner of living.
It is, in fact, a continuous 24-hour meditation. It means living
with alertness, being aware of and fully conscious of every experience,
moment by moment. And at the same time, while being alert and
watchful, mindfulness means to be non-judgemental. Mindfulness
is attention free of evaluation.
In mindfulness one becomes a witness to whatever is happening,
without either feeling censure or approval. While actions, speech
and the flow of thoughts and feelings are closely monitored,
it is done with calm attention, with a total quietness of mind
and heart. This is not only external quietness. One can be silent
and yet find the mind chattering nonstop. Thus internal chatter
is even more destructive than speech. The mind can only be healed,
calm and receptive to meditation, when the incessant chatter
inside has come to a stop.
Throughout the day reactions spring up into the untrained
mind. If these reactions are carefully watched, it will be seen
that not one of them is useful, important or helpful. They are
merely thought patterns which help to condition us. When there
is a slow and gradual purification of the mind, there is an internal
as well as outward silence….
Paying total attention to the whole situation is mindfulness.
In this condition the Self is one with everything. There is no
separation. The body and mind are brought back into unity, into
the present moment, which is the only moment.
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