== BABA'S WARNING ==
~ Part 2 ~
Note: This is in follow-up to the first letter on this topic:
http://am-global-01.blogspot.com/2009/03/babas-warning.html
Namaskar,
Today's world is in a dire fix - a difficult situation. One of the main
causes is the relationship between science and civilization - i.e.
technological advancements and the way they affect society.
That is why Baba has issued a grave warning: If the relationship between
science and civilization is not addressed - our civilization will be no
more.
NOT TO BE CONFUSED:
OUR MARGA SUPPORTS SCIENCE
In AM, we all know that Baba is in favour of the use and development of
science.
Baba says, "It is evident that those who criticize science in reality
want to turn the onward current of the Ganges backwards towards it
source, which totally contradicts the principles of dynamics. " (AFPS-2)
So Baba firmly guides us that the right and rational use of science is a
requirement for the growth and sustenance of a healthy human society.
Side by side Baba also warns us that when science gains more stature
than civilization, then society meets its destruction.
Baba says, "Where scientific progress supersedes civilization, there
civilization meets its Waterloo." (AFPS-6)
So it is our duty to understand what this means and evaluate what is
happening in today's world. What is meant by civilization? And, how is
science taking shape today?
These are the types of questions we are to contemplate.
At the same time, we should brainstorm ways to keep science as a
benevolent tool of humanity.
CIVILIZATION
In a phrase Baba defines civilization as the following:
Baba says, "The subtle sense of refinement that we come across in the
different expressions of life is called civilization." (PNS-6)
In plain language, that means in a civilized society, if an elderly
person falls down on the road, then people will quickly come to help
him. In a civilized society, people wash themselves properly before
eating food. In a civilized society, there is concern for all children
and no member of society should suffer needlessly. In a civilized
society, a person will never be subject to capital punishment (i.e.
death). In a civilized society, people will daily chant the name of the
Lord. In a civilized society, there will be freedom of expression and
that expression will be sentient in nature.
So civilization means the extent to which the finer aspects of human
understanding have been incorporated into daily life.
However, where this is absent and science is grossly on top and in the
hands of malevolent people, that is when there is grave danger to that
society.
In the past, both the Greeks and Egyptians met their downfall because
science overpowered the tenets of their civilization. Debauchery,
military torture, and the general misuse of science led to the crumbling
of their empires.
A similar event is going on today.
MISUSE OF SCIENCE IN TODAY'S WORLD
Nowadays, machines are used for the heightened production of cocaine,
heroine and other drugs, such that that violence and profits amid drug
cartels is at all all-time high. For more info, just investigate what is
going on in Mexico these days.
Internet scams are cropping up everywhere- stealing money from innocent
people and agencies, and all kinds of other fraud. The internet is also
a favorite medium of pornography and various other sexually laced brands.
Huge money is being pumped into the latest technologies in order to
fight wars in distant lands and threaten countries halfway around the
world.
All these things and more are clear-cut evidences how the misuse of
scientific advancement is undercutting the humane development and
sentient growth of our society.
Yet at the same time, social problems like disease, starvation,
homelessness, poor schools, etc are rampant and systemic problems in
nearly every part of the world.
Yet all the while, science is being used in more and more notorious ways.
That is because those in power - the government, war lords, drug
cartels, etc - all use or more precisely misuse science for their own
selfish ends, and overlook the real needs of the people.
HOW CIVILIZATION IS DOWN IN INDIVIDUAL LIFE
So on the one side, those in control are using science unjustly, and
side by side if we look around we can see how civilization is on the wane.
Today, it has become acceptable for couples to give birth before getting
married. Pre-marital sex and teenage pregnancy has become the norm.
Those new-borns are being raised in inadequate environments and due to a
lack of motherly love and parental guidance, those children often grow
up to commit awful crimes. They blow up schools, attack others, and do
so many heinous acts.
What is the root cause? Lack of a civilized approach to family planning.
This problem in individual life causes the degradation of the human
beings involved.
And indeed, there are numerous examples of how lack of a civilized
approach undermines human life. Drinking too much alcohol, eating flesh
foods, gambling etc all lead to the demise of the individual.
ALSO A PROBLEM IN COLLECTIVE LIFE
Just at this occurs in individual life, when civilized manners are not
cultivated in the collective realm, then trouble erupts. Then science
and technology fall into the wrong hands and are used in negative ways.
Baba says, "There is no fault in the development of science. Time is
also not to blame. The fault rests with us. Science does not tell us to
use nuclear energy in destructive ways. To do so is to use science to
establish our animality." (AMIWL-2)
Science itself then is not the problem, but it is the wielders of
science who are at fault. And that takes expression in numerous respects.
Whether it be emitting toxins into the air, filling the earth with
garbage, misguided medical research, abortions, failed justice systems,
crude military maneuvers, or the like, where civilization is lacking,
then the misuse of science comes to the fore, and society falls.
This is the pattern. And that is why that same problem that led to the
downfall of Egypt and Greece is knocking on our doorstep today.
Baba says, "Take, for instance, the history of Egypt and Greece. So long
as the scientific progress of these two countries did not supersede
civilization, civilization prospered very well. But when the ingredients
of enjoyment grew up in abundance, the civilization of both countries
got destroyed, because science had occupied a higher position than
civilization." (AFPS-6)
Hence the situation facing us now is dire. There is no shortage of
evidences which show that science is in the wrong hands and that our
civilized expressions are all but gone. When this happens, the very
existence of that society is threatened. That is Baba's grave warning.
WHAT IS THE ANSWER
The question then is, how to escape this predicament.
One of the best ways is to implement restrictions and stipulations
regarding the use of science.
Just as we have child safety regulations and laws regarding the use of
the internet by minors, we should have similar rules in place for everyone.
This is not to suppress anyone's rights or freedoms but rather to aim
people's growth in a sentient direction and protect them from negative
tendencies.
A moral board is needed that will create ways to do this. And that board
will aim for the welfare of society. Just as parents create guidelines
aimed for the welfare of the child, similarly we need benefactors at the
helm who can create guidelines for all members of society.
That will be a big boon for our human family.
Please also write in with your suggestions about how to manage the use
of science for the benefit of all, where people are not prone to using
science in negative ways.
SCIENCE IS NEEDED FOR A GREAT SOCIETY
A society that is able to bring science into sentient use will bring
happiness and welfare to all: Sarvajanahita'rtham' sarvajanasukha'rtham'.
Then science will be used to wipe out disease, minimize our toiling in
mundane affairs and grant us lots of time for higher pursuits like the
fine arts and sadhana.
That is Baba's vision for the use of science.
Thus science itself is not antithetical to the development of our human
society. Rather it is an integral component. Without science we will be
forever stuck in the dark ages.
By His grace when the high advancement of science is match by our highly
civilized ways, then the golden era will descend on this earth. This
will pave the way toward human fulfillment.
So we must have more and more science, but balanced with a great
civilization.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace we will escape today's precarious situation and create a
world where civilization and science stand on equal ground. Then science
will invariably propel us forward and not into the depths of degradation
and destruction as is now happening.
Baba says, "For human progress the cultivation of science must always be
welcomed, but it is desirable that this cultivation of science should be
carried out under the supervision of sadvipras." (PNS-6)
Baba says, "Science should be just like art: science for service and
beatitude. Art for service and beatitude, I said; and now I say, science
is also for service and beatitude. Science should always be utilized for
the proper progress of human society." (PNS-9)
Namaskar,
Tapeshvar
Note 1: SCIENCE IS TO BE SUPERVISED NOT STOPPED
Here again Baba guides us how we are to appreciate scientific
development and not forget science as happened under Gandhi and during
the Buddhist age in India.
Baba says, "Nowadays a group of people allege that science is the root
of all evils and that new scientific inventions have created dissention
in human society, pushing human civilization along the path of
destruction...Some people seem to enjoy making useless criticisms
against science all the time. Such criticisms, of course, come from
those who have lost their vitality and capacity to adjust to new
situations, and from those who, due to their physical inertia, have
accepted some dogmatic notion as established fact." (AFPS-2)
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Some Medicines
Baba says, "The third health-determining element is kapha, or the
liquid, viscous portion of the body. Excess kapha creates spontaneous
heat within the body which manifests externally as fever...Ginger is the
enemy of kapha, the destroyer of kapha. Thus one name of ginger in
ayurveda is kapha'ri. Similarly, arum or elephant root is the destroyer
of arsha [piles] so arum in Sanskrit is called arsha'ri or arshaghnii."
(SC-3, p. 103)
Note: The first two health determining elements are va'yu and pitta.
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