HUMAN HISTORY AND COLLECTIVE PSYCHOLOGY

official source: A Few Problems Solved Part 7

cross-references: also published in Prout in a Nutshell Part 9, The Awakening of  
	Women

this version: is the printed A Few Problems Solved Part 7, 1st edition, version 
	(spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most 
	up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition. Words in square 
	brackets [   ] are corrections that did not appear in the printed version.

	Human history is made by the collective urge or collective psychology. In the past the popular concept of history was that a certain king or queen ruled for a certain period and fought a few battles; some they won, others they lost; and they killed others or they were killed themselves. But the modern concept of history is quite different. History these days is not merely the history of monarchs. History also comprises all kinds of people and their psychic urges and psychic movements.  

	In primitive society men and women enjoyed equal freedom. Subsequently women had greater importance and a social order emerged which can be called both matriarchal and matrilineal. In a later period the importance of physical strength became more important than any other attribute. Obviously, the males having greater physical strength, became more important than the females. This gave rise to the social order which can be called patriarchal and patrilineal. But in this modern age people are experiencing that physical strength is becoming less important than intellectual power. Previously people would apply great physical stamina to operate a hammer, but today the electric hammer is one hundred times more powerful than an iron hammer -- an electric hammer operates by turning a simple electric button. This illustrates that the importance of intellect is increasing.

	Well, there is now the question of how the awakening of women will take place. Let me say a few words about the future. The awakening of women will bring about equal rights between the sexes. Nobody will be considered superior or inferior. What will be given utmost importance is keenness of intellect and that keen intellect will not necessarily be the exclusive quality of men alone or women alone. Whoever will have keen intellect will gain pre-eminence in society. Of course, in this regard all persons will not be equal.  

	History is made by collective psychology. The days of the monarchy are gone -- in those days the queen or king was the focal point of history, and history was the history of monarchs. In later times history was the history of ministers. Soon a period will come when history will move around common people. 

	In the days of the monarchy one could hardly think that history could be written excluding kings and queens. Even now, where there is no monarchy, the government houses are called "Rajbhavan" or "royal house", and people cannot keep themselves free from the illusion of the word "ra'ja". In one town I noticed a signboard which was "Ra'ja'nuku'l Ha'spa'ta'l" meaning "Royal Hospital". In former days, in the Deyani Khan, monarchs and nobles were prominent, but now government employees are prominent, which gave rise to the term "secretariat". Similarly, among the common people a new awakening will come, a keen intellect and wisdom will emerge, and a new pattern of history will be the result. In fact, a new pattern of history has already started to emerge, and in the future this development will undergo further change.  

	You should remember that in human society nobody is insignificant, nobody is negligible. Even the life of a 100-year-old lady is valuable. In the universal society she is an important member -- she is not to be excluded. We may not be able to make a correct appraisal of her importance and we may wrongly think that she is a burden to society, but this sort of defective thinking displays our ignorance. There is a historical necessity for everything, but we do not bother finding that historical necessity out. Had we bothered, we could ascertain the historical necessity behind every incident, behind every trough and crest of this universe.

	If we think deeply and try to trace the significance of different events we shall find that nothing in this universe is useless. Everything is happening with a definite message for the future, with a great potentiality for the future. Nothing in this universe is insignificant, nothing is to be belittled. Atoms and molecules were once considered very small and insignificant, but after the invention of atom bombs people started dreading the same atoms. No one really knows how much potentiality this or that object has. One can get an exact idea of the potentiality of something only after a thorough investigation. In this world everything comes to fulfil a historical necessity. Ananda Marga has also come to fulfil a historical necessity.

	When I was a young boy -- that was long, long ago -- there was large-scale injustice in all walks of social life. In music, literature and cinema there were clear signs of social degeneration. There was widespread exploitation -- imperialistic exploitation, social exploitation, economic exploitation -- all types of exploitation. The position of women was very bad. Some time ago women were even deprived of their voting rights. In India women had voting rights in the Licchavi republic in Vaishali in Bihar [Licchavi was the first republic in the world, about 2500 years ago], but they were not allowed to contest elections. Everywhere there was a sentiment to restrict the prestige of women. In no country were equal rights granted to women by law. Only today have women acquired certain rights through some struggle. Some exploitative males (all males were not exploiters, many of them were quite rational) wanted women to live in an exploited position, and they were not inclined to grant freedom to women. They thought that women were not entitled to liberation or salvation. In their opinion females should serve males. Perhaps in their next life or one or two lifetimes after that, they might be reborn as males and only then attain salvation. Just imagine the audacity and villainy of these males. They invented ways to exploit women by permanently injecting inferiority complexes into their minds. Now all their mischievousness stands exposed. There are many other examples of women's exploitation. According to the laws of France women were not allowed to ascend the throne. In the days of Manu,[*] husbands would beat their wives with a shoe, but today one would resent it and protest against it.   

[* Manu was the author of the Manusmrti, an authoritative collection of social rules, customs and etiquette for Hindus. He lived about two thousand years ago. --Trans.]

A fast change in the collective psychology is taking place. In human society the value of intellect is considered much greater than that of physical strength. This intellect is not only with a handful of people, but is in our collective life. Because of the development of intellect, the change in collective psychology will be very comprehensive and very quick. 

11 August 1984, Calcutta