PROUT and Neo-Humanism
By Shrii Shrii A'nandamu'rti
There must be ever-increasing acceleration in all spheres of existence.
Acceleration represents the essence of life. The human structure is physical
but the goal of human life is the Supreme Entity. To reach the goal our
approach should be through spiritual practices. Acceleration is also at the
root of PROUT.
PROUT is a socio economic philosophy to help take humanity from imperfection
to perfection. To move towards the Supreme Entity is a continuous process
for one and all. At the end of this process, you will become one with the
Supreme Entity. PROUT is the path of socioeconomic emancipation for
humanity.
PROUT should go side by side with the psychic approach of Neo-humanism.
Neo-humanistic ideas give human beings the impetus to move. They create a
longing for subtler pabula, and that pabula is supplied by PROUT. The spirit
is to maintain a balance between the physical and psychic worlds and take
human beings to the threshold of spirituality. There must be balance,
equipoise and equilibrium amongst the physical, psychic and spiritual
realms. There must be balance amongst PROUT, Neo-humanism and spiritual
practices. You must maintain a balance amongst these three.
PROUT is the socioeconomic approach, Neo-humanism is the psycho-intellectual
approach and spiritual practice is the spirituo-intuitional approach. This
three-fold approach will take human beings along the path of salvation. Our
goal is the supreme stance in Parama Purusa (the Supreme Entity). Our goal
is a state of complete composure, complete spiritual unification.
On the one side is the socioeconomic approach of PROUT and on the other is
the psychic approach of Neo-humanism. The mid-point is the path of
spirituality. In both the socioeconomic and psychic realms there are
imperfections. PROUT and Neo-humanism cannot surmount the threshold of
spirituality. The path of spiritual practice enables you to surmount the
threshold and enter the realm of spirituality.
How does the socioeconomic path satisfy the hunger of spirituality? Suppose
there is social disparity between the upper and lower castes in society. You
will have to remove the disparity, and this means you will have to remove
all distinctions based on caste. So the caste system itself must be
eradicated. Removing different types of disparities comes within either the
socioeconomic, psychic or spiritual approaches. In this case the social
disparity of casteism comes within the realm of PROUT. So the socioeconomic
path satisfies the hunger of spirituality by removing all disparities and
artificial barriers, enabling human beings to move towards the goal with
accelerating speed.
Neo-humanism will give impetus and energy to PROUT to remove all disparities
and artificial barriers. PROUT will get spirit and stamina from
Neo-humanism -- from Neo-humanistic inspiration, Neo-humanistic ideology and
Neo-humanistic thoughtfulness. Neo-humanism also ensures the proper
guarantee, treatment and utilisation of the inanimate world. You should
serve the inanimate world by guaranteeing it proper treatment. The Samskrta
word for animate is "cetana", for inanimate "jada", for movable "jaingama",
for immovable "sthavara", for equilibrium "santulana", for equipoise
"ojanagata" and for balance "gatigata bha'rasa'mya". The range of our
service should include the animate world, but it should not be restricted
there. It should also extend to the outer fringes of the inanimate world.
This is the demand of the day.
From the point of view of Neo-humanism the arena of our service should be
ever-increasing, ever-expanding, and should include both the animate and
inanimate worlds. What will our policy be in order to bring justice to the
inanimate world? First, we should go beyond the human world, then beyond the
animal world, then beyond the inanimate world. Plants are less developed,
animals are more developed and human beings are still more developed. The
Neo-humanist approach includes everything -- it includes both the animate
and inanimate worlds within its jurisdiction.
PROUT is for human beings, for the living world, while Neo-humanism is for
both the animate and inanimate worlds. Human beings have not taken proper
care of the inanimate world. For example, human beings have damaged and
destroyed many hills and mountains. You should not destroy the mountains and
hills, otherwise the rainfall will be affected. You should not use
subterranean water or encourage the use of deep or shallow tube wells,
because too much reliance on these types of wells causes the level of the
water table to go down, which in turn causes the soil to dry out, killing
the plant life.
It is best to use rain water, river water and reservoirs to collect rain
water instead of subterranean water. In the Nadia district of Bengal, for
instance, the level of the water table has gone down about 15 feet in the
last few years. If this continues, within 100 years all of Nadia district
will become a desert. There are many rivers in Nadia district like the
Bhaerava, Khore, Bha'giirathii, etc. The water in these rivers should be
utilized through a system of canals, sub-canals, lift irrigation and pumps.
The area of Nadia, Khulna and Jessore districts should be irrigated. In the
past kings and zamindars used to construct large tanks and reservoirs to
conserve water, and in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan many reservoirs
can still be found. Try your best to utilize river water and surface water.
Another example of how human beings destroy the inanimate world is the
repeated detonation of atomic bombs. Atomic explosions create huge craters
and large underground caverns in the crust of the earth. They produce dark
clouds in the atmosphere and devastate the ecological balance of the
environment. The inanimate world is the creation of Parama Purusa. By
exploding atomic weapons human beings are wounding the psychic projection of
Parama Purusa, and this will seriously affect the ecological balance of the
earth.
In the non-living world there is mind but that mind is dormant, as if
asleep, because there is no nervous system. Hence, the nonliving world
cannot express its grief when it is damaged or destroyed. To protect the
inanimate world you should conserve and properly utilize all natural
resources.
The Neo-humanist policy to ensure the well-being of all creation is to first
serve human beings, then animals, then plants and then inanimate objects.
Human beings should not kill the creatures of the animal kingdom just for
their own survival. If a man kills a cow so that he may live, then why not
let the cow live and the man die? Let the man die! Why should a cow die for
the man? If cows symbolize motherhood, are those humans who drink cows' milk
calves? Buffaloes and goats also provide the milk which humans drink, so are
they also peoples' mothers? Human beings should stop killing cows out of
respect for higher forms of life, not because of the sentiment which
respects motherhood.
The slaughter of buffaloes and goats should also be immediately stopped for
the same reason. Human beings have learnt to feel the pain and agony of
other human beings, but when a dog grieves nobody pays any attention to it.
It is as if people think that dogs do not suffer any pain. When human beings
come to understand that animals also experience pleasure and pain they will
acquire a new dimension of wisdom. It is because of our human sense of duty
and our higher understanding that we should be sympathetic to all living
beings.
As a general rule human beings should not kill animals under any
circumstances. The exception to this rule is when human life is in danger.
For example, if you are confronted by a tiger which threatens your life,
before it attacks you may be forced to kill it. Similarly, if lions, snakes,
elephants, etc. enter your locality, then as a last resort they may have to
be killed to ensure human safety. But animals should only be killed when
they directly endanger human life. It follows from this that you should not
kill animals in their natural habitat. In the forests there are many lions,
tigers, snakes, etc., but such creatures should not be killed in their
natural environment because there they pose no threat to human life.
Although it is the nature of some tigers to attack human beings, all tigers
should not be killed simply for this reason.
We must not forget that it is also the duty of human beings to build
sanctuaries for dying animals and endangered species of animals and plants.
This is the practical approach of the living philosophy of Neo-humanism.
This is the approach of Neo-humanism to animal and plant life. Neo-humanism
increases the arena of the mind, the arena of intellectuality. The
translation of Neo-humanist ideas into practical life is the duty of PROUT.
There must be close correlation amongst PROUT, Neo-humanism and spiritual
practices. The balance amongst these three will elevate the structure of
human beings to its existential status. We cannot neglect PROUT,
Neo-humanism or spiritual practices. This balance is to be maintained for
all. It will create good will and elevate the standard of human beings so
that they can render more service. The spiritual approach goes beyond the
threshold of the physical and psychic worlds. This is a new dimension of
philosophy, a new branch of human knowledge.
Spirituality is the central avenue which maintains the balance between the
right and left sides -- between PROUT and Neo-humanism. The relationship
amongst PROUT, Neo-humanism and spirituality may be likened to the bird of
Tantra. In Tantra one wing is Nigama and the other wing is Agama.
Spirituality is like the Tantric bird, but one wing is PROUT and the other
wing is Neo-humanism. The bird is flying along the path of beatitude towards
the Supreme Entity.
October 25, 1989, Calcutta.
--
'The main characteristic of PROUT-based socioeconomic movements
is that they aim to guarantee the comprehensive, multifarious
liberation of humanity.' P R Sarkar
PROUT - PROgressive Utilisation Theory
http://www.proutworld.org http://www.prout.org
New Renaissance: A Journal for Social and Spiritual Awakening:
http://www.ru.org
