Author: Francois Gautier
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: December 25, 2002
Famous French writer and politician
Andre Malraux once said that "unless the 21st century is spiritual, then
it will not be". What he meant was that the world has now come to such
a stage of unhappiness, of stress, of natural resources wastage, of religious
and ethnic conflicts, that it seems doomed - ecologically, politically
and socially. So unless the 21st century allows a new spiritual order
to take over - not a religious order, mind you (because religion has often
proved too narrow and dogmatic) - then we are all going towards self-destruction,
Pralaya. And the September 11, 2001, tragedy has reminded us that time
is pressing and that we are desperately and badly in need of spiritual
regeneration.
As the founder of the Art of Living
Movement, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, says: "I see a crisis facing the world
today. It is fundamentally one of identification. People identify themselves
with limited characteristics such as gender, race, religion and nationality,
forgetting their basic identity as part of the universal spirit. These
limited identifications lead to conflict. There are wars happening throughout
the world today in the name of religion."
What is the solution, then? I will
quote again Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: "Every individual is much more than the
sum of these limited identifications. The highest identification we can
make is that we are part of Divinity, and second to that, we are human
beings and members of the human family. In divine creation, the whole of
the human race is united. Along with this proper identification of ourselves,
the right vision of who we really are, we need to return to the values
that are the essence of all major traditions. These shared values need
to be reintroduced in society today."
What the world needs today is to
find a third way, which is neither of capitalism, nor of communism. Communism
has long collapsed all over the world. China pays only lip service to it
and it is only in India, Kerala, or Bengal, that we see leaders and intellectuals
believing in its virtues. Capitalism is not the answer to all the world's
woes that the Americans think; with it comes a lot of inequality, selfishness,
a disregard for the poorer sections of society and the forgetfulness of
true spiritual values. It also engenders avarice and greed. No, what we
are looking for now is a something we could call a "spiritualised socialism",
as envisioned by India's revolutionary poet, philosopher and yogi, Sri
Aurobindo.
A Hindu temple, a Christian church
or a Muslim mosque, have no meaning unless they also act as social centres,
helping the poor, giving away money, houses, imparting education and hygiene.
Indeed the Art of Living foundation does just that with its volunteers
going in thousands of villages all over the world and selflessly bringing
Hygiene, Housing, Harmony and Human values. It is true that there are countless
NGOs doing the same job wherever there is poverty and conflicts, but unless
they pass on along with their material help some spiritual values, they
are failing in their task.
How can the people of India contribute
to this wonderful goal of spiritual regeneration and shared human values?
Indians have always recognised unity in diversity through the concept of
the avatar: God manifests himself at different times, in different countries
and places , under so many different names.
Thus, they have always granted everybody
the right to worship God under any form.
This is a very precious spiritual
- not religious - knowledge, and which, even the most humble Hindu peasant
spontaneously practices. Indeed, a recent report by the UNESCO pointed
out that out of the 128 countries where Jews lived up to 1948, in only
one country, India, they were not persecuted!
What India has therefore gifted
to the world is not a religion but a living spirituality, of which we can
even distinguish certain forms in the West at present: Hatha-yoga, copied
and imitated by thousands of gymnastic and aerobic movements; meditation
practiced by millions of Americans and Europeans, many of them Christians;
or pranayama, which is taught by the Art of Living Foundation and can be
practiced by anybody, whatever their nationality and religion. Indeed,
for the past two decades, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has transformed the lives
of millions of people around the globe with his Basic Course, a combination
of simple yet extremely powerful breathing and relaxation techniques, that
eliminate stress, handle negative emotions, improve health and help ordinary
folks to enjoy life to its fullest.
But we can do much more than that:
Let us all move away from political or religious ideologies to show our
support for the revival of human values such as honoring one's own traditions
while respecting diversity, compassion, non-violence and honoring the wisdom
of age-old traditions. Let us also move away from the rites and rituals
of religions.
As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar again says:
"Religion has three aspects - value, ritual and symbol. The moral and spiritual
values are common to all traditions. The symbols and practices, those rituals
and customs that form a way of life within a religion, are what distinguish
one tradition from another and give each their charm. The symbols and practices
are like the banana skin, and the spiritual values - the quest for truth
and knowing deep within us that we are part of divinity - are the banana.
People in every tradition have thrown away the banana and are holding on
to the skin."
May the 21st century herald then
a new era in humanity, an era of accepting each other and understanding
one another's culture. May the spiritual regeneration of the world begin
now. Let India show the way, by throwing away the banana skin and holding
on to the banana only.
(Francois Gautier on India and the
spiritual regeneration of the world)