ISM AND HUMAN PROGRESS

official source: Prout in a Nutshell Part 16

cross-references: none

this version: is the printed Prout in a Nutshell Part 16, 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.

      What is "ism"? Ism develops when there is correlated physical and psychic parallelism amongst time, space and person. In the absence of parallelism amongst time, space and person, ism cannot thrive. A particular ism may be appropriate for some people or for some country, but it cannot be accepted by all people for all time to come.

      Nothing is static in this universe -- all are marching ahead, all are moving on. The relative truth of all these changing realities appears to us as the truth in the perspective of a particular relative time, space and person. In in spite of their relative nature, we take these changing realities to be true. In the material world, movement and inertia come directly from the creative will of the Macrocosm, although there is nothing absolutely static in this manifest universe. If there was anything static or without momentum, then it would be obvious that there was cessation in the Macrocosmic creative will. The Macrocosmic creative will is the prime factor in creation, and its absence would indicate absolute cessation. Movement is all pervading and multi-directional. It can flow in any direction. This universe can move in any direction according to the will of the Macrocosm, but under no circumstances can the will of the Macrocosm be static, because there is nothing static in the Macrocosm.

      Wherever there is movement it is related to time, space and person. As such, any particular movement in any specific time, space and person cannot correlate with any other movement belong ing to a different time, space and person. When the movement of a particular time, space and person maintains parallelism with a similar movement related to a particular physical and mental wave, the resultant is called "ism." Therefore, when there is change in either the physical wave or the mental wave or both, the validity of a particular ism is lost due to change in the time, space and person in which it was accepted. So, when an ism is accepted in a particular mental wave, and if due to change in the physical wave the mental wave fails to maintain parallelism, the result is that the particular ism will be considered obsolete. If anybody tries to reestablish any old political, economic or religious theory of two thousand years ago, or a theory or ism based on past time, space and person, with whatever type of psychology, sentiment or adroit propaganda, it will not be possible to correlate it with existing physical waves. Once lost, the parallelism between the ism and the physical wave cannot be restored, even if the old mental environment is recreated. We perceive the change not only in the physical wave but also in the mental wave. Therefore, in spite of all sorts of scientific effort, it is impossible to restore the past mental wave. There was a time when kings were worshipped as the incarnations of God, but at present if anybody tries to reintroduce this antiquated theory with whatever propaganda psychology, it is impossible to accept it again.

	Movement always manifests through waves. If in any given circumstances a particular wave is accelerated with excessive exuberance, and as a result the next crest cannot be formed, we get the characteristic of expansion and contraction, although the movement falls beyond the threshold of the sensory organs. In order to accelerate the speed of the mental or physical wave, the exigency is to make it straighter. But when the straightness reaches an optimum, the movement appears to be static. In this very straightness the velocity of the movement speeds up, and on the basis of the curvature of the waves, we try to determine the speed and pause and straightness of a unidirectional wave.

      In concomitance with the variation in the curvature of the wave, the speed varies inversely. That is, when the speed of the movement increases, the velocity decreases, and with the straightness in the curvature, the velocity increases. Ism or superstition cannot be formed on the face of a mental wave which is increasing in speed. Rather, superstition is injected during the contraction of the mental speed. It is easy to catch hold of a static object, but it is altogether different in the case of movement. Therefore, one has to move ahead to be free from the shackles of superstition, otherwise progress is not possible. It is essential to accelerate the mental speed to achieve freedom from the bondage of superstition, and one has to repeat the process progressively.

      It is generally found that urban people are immune to superstition or less superstitious than other people because they have to face comparatively more psychic struggle. So, they possess better intellectual alertness. Superstition is deep-rooted where there is staticity, but it is a hard task to inject superstition into minds which are oriented towards science, because they are moving with comparatively greater velocity.

      The sentient, mutative and static forces are equally active in the contraction and expansion of movement. The ascent of a wave is dominated by the mutative force, and the descent is dominated by the static force. In the optimum point of expansion and contraction, the sentient force and the static force are dominant respectively. The result is the same when the final height of expansion and the final crest of contraction is reached. The first can be termed sentient and the latter static. In fact, the sentient pause is no pause at all. As it falls beyond the scope of sensory perception, the speed appears to be a pause. The movement towards expansion indicates progress towards the optimisation of the sentient force, so it is dominated by Vidya (knowledge), and its extreme speed is embedded in the Macrocosm. Similarly, the movement towards contraction is dominated by Avidya (ignorance), and its extreme end is embedded in the ultimate static point.

      The movement towards contraction in its extreme point or in the apparent point of pause is expressed through as't'a pa'sha, the eight mental fetters -- ghrn'a' or hatred, sham'ka' or doubt, bhaya or fear, lajja' or shame, jugups'a or hypocrisy, kula or vanity of lineage, ma'na or false ego and shiila or cultural superiority complex. These mental fetters are created out of the static state of mind, and consequently the mind depends on these fetters in the course of its expansion. These eight fetters supply the vital energy to ism or superstition. Isms, such as nationalism, casteism, provincialism, communalism, etc., create despair and compromise human integrity. The eight fetters also generate dissonance and distrust in the subtle layers of mind, though they are not generally expressed in external behaviour.

      Ism is responsible for disrupting human harmony. The Hindus generally do not trust the Muslims and vice versa, as both believe in their respective ism. Shame (lajja') is also closely associated with ism. When there is the apprehension that any particular nation, caste, province or group will lose its prestige, the people in the group feel ashamed, and in that condition they do not hesitate to take recourse to ignoble means in order to save the prestige of their nation, caste, group, etc. People also show some artificial external behaviour for the sake of the prestige of an ism, although their internal mental feeling is something else. Ism overshadows human intelligence in such a way that even if one has been defeated through logic or reason, one refuses to accept the defeat. Therefore, human beings have to extricate their minds from the serpentine shackles of ism. Hypocrisy (jugups'a) is nothing but the endeavour of human beings to prevent an internal urge from having external expression. If any Vaes'n'ava, who is supposed to be a strict vegetarian, is tempted to eat meat, he will try to suppress his desire in order to abide by the prestige of Vaes'n'avism. He exhibits such behaviour because he is unwilling to eat meat. Ism is also related to the vanity of lineage (kula). The caste supremacy of the Brahmins, Saiyads and Pathans are examples of its expression. Lineage is also associated with cultural superiority complex (shiila). That is, the sense of supremacy felt by any particular culture is dependent on ism. Although the culture of all humanity is one and indivisible, the exponents of ism do not understand this. They prefer to believe in the supremacy of their own language, behaviour, habits and local variations in expression which are actually the constituents of human culture. The supporters of political isms do not even hesitate to commit heinous acts for the sake of ism. In the Medieval period, communalism dragged humanity to the nadir point of degradation. Incredibly, many people in the twentieth century still try to revive medieval communal feelings. Today, those who are accustomed to delivering tall-talks do not hesitate to form alliances with the anti-social elements for the sake of ism. Hence, we can say without any doubt that they are under the evil influence of the static force.

      Then, what is the duty of human beings? The existence of the physical body is relative because it is made of painca bhu'ta or the five fundamental factors. The protoplasmic cells of the body are in the constant flux of birth and death, so how can we call the physical body something permanent? The mundane universe is as relative as the physical body. The ultimate reality of human beings is Supreme Consciousness, but we have to maintain correlation with the mundane universe. The pursuit of mundane experi ences cannot be the aim of life; if it is, it will definitely vitiate the value of human beings. Similarly, we do not fix a comet or a meteor as the aim of life. If by chance somebody does, the comet or meteor will go beyond the domain of the earth within a short span of time because its relative velocity is greater than that of the earth. That is, it will no longer remain the aim of life. If somebody indicates that the locality in which cows graze is to be to the north, what will happen if those cows move to the east? Are we to accept the east as north? Thus, no chang ing reality can be accepted as the aim of life. To recognise the direction of north, we have to know the location of the Pole Star, because although the Pole Star changes its place, it ap pears to be fixed in the north with respect to the earth. So, no changing reality can be accepted as the ideology of life because it falls within the scope of time, space and person. The Supreme Ideology of human beings is that which is impersonal and beyond the scope of time and space. It is not something personal like Ram, Shyam, Jadu, Madhu, etc. This Impersonal Entity is the Supreme Impersonal Entity. If human beings accept this Entity as their only object of ideation, they can escape the inevitable consequences of degradation.

      No social, political or economic theory can assist human beings for an indefinite period of time, because there may be conflicting isms in the same space under varying condition of time and person. Moreover, it is not prudent to presume that an ism which has a hold in a country will be applauded by the people of that country to the same extent in another time. Therefore, no ism can be the ideology of human beings. The unit mind is also a changing entity, so it too cannot be the object of ideation. If any entity except the Supreme Consciousness is taken as the object of ideation in human life, it can be taken for granted that ism has taken hold. Many people worship their motherland as a goddess, and sometimes they even erect an idol of their mother land, but one should have sufficient wisdom to understand that service to the motherland cannot be the supreme goal of human beings because the conception of the motherland is a changing reality. The motherland of today may be deluged under the sea tomorrow. For example, in the prehistoric past Gondwana land became the Indian Ocean. So, the territorial jurisdiction of a particular country, province or district may change in the fu ture. It is unwise to fight a violent war on the issue of terri torial jurisdiction and thereby tamper with the peace of the human society. Such issues should be mutually settled by the inhabitants of the respective countries in a better way. There fore, worship the Supreme Reality. The endeavour of humanity should be the achievement of the Supreme Ideology. Only the Supreme Reality can be the ideology of human beings.

      Service should always be done to enhance Brahma sa'dha'na' (cosmic ideation). As long as people live in a particular country they should serve that country, because when they are directly related to the land they have a golden opportunity to do maximum service. But this should not be misconstrued to mean that they should only serve their motherland and not other countries. If people travel to another country, they may get more scope to render service in that country than if they had not travelled abroad at all. In this context, let me repeat once again that service itself is not an ideology -- cosmic ideation is the real ideology. Service to humanity is a part of Brahma sa'dha'na'.

      Therefore, I am of the opinion that no ism can be the saviour of humanity. Wise people accept the Cosmic Entity as the Supreme Ideology and march ahead maintaining adjustment with time, place and person. They will always think that the Supreme Consciousness (Parama Purus'a) is their Father, the Supreme Operative Principle (Parama' Prakrti) is their Mother, and the entire universe is their homeland. It is not bad to love the land of one's birth or to feel grateful that one was born in a particular country. But, if one cherishes hatred of others under the influence of any ism, this type of patriotism is definitely harmful.

      Consciousness is the fundamental subjectivity. It cannot be the object of human beings. It is the multiple of all the multiplicities, the collective of all the collectivities. To be one with Parama Purus'a means to convert oneself into His object, to surrender one's subjectivity into His Subjectivity. In this path, one has to transform the five fundamental factors (painca bhu'ta) into the objective mind, convert the objective mind into the subjective mind, and finally surrender the subjective mind into the Supreme Consciousness.

      The supporters of ism do not believe in the Macrocosmic Con sciousness, therefore they can be correctly termed heretics. Those who do not accept Him act only out of ignorance. They do not understand that the universe is His crude manifestation. Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, the so-called untouchables (canda'ls), ants and human beings are all His manifestations. The followers of ism foolishly consider themselves to be God's chosen ones because of their mental fetters, yet they do not hesitate to brand others as non-Aryans, Kafirs or infidels. They think that the Supreme Father bestows His grace only on them, not on the rest of creation. They are not ready to understand that the socalled non-Aryans, Mlecha or heathens are also part of His mani festation.

      For those who have accepted the Supreme Cognitive Principle as their only object of ideation, the whole creation appears to be His manifestation. They feel that if they do not accept all other human beings as their own brothers and sisters, they will disregard the Father, and when the Father is not respected, the relation between the family members will break down. So human beings have to believe in universal brotherhood before they can fully accept the Supreme Consciousness.

1968, Lucknow