"Our environment affects our consciousness, and our consciousness affects the environment."
Peter Dawkins, Philosopher etc.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead, Anthopologist.
On the net since 1997. That's
Home Page Last Amended (Revised):
Oct 9, 2023
Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.
(Albert Einstein)
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
(The last verse of 'Desiderata')
The (Eternal) Philosophy
There can only be One God/Creator...
...though He may be called different names.
There can only be One true religion...
...the religion of Love (of the Divine & Creation).
To-day's Situation
What we think, what we do, impacts everything around us.
Each of us plays a part; we are all inter-linked.
That being so, how can we not cooperate?
Surely - this website has been saying - the world must create a new way towards Unity
based on a different way of thinking involving heartfelt values.
To attain that goal, the evolution of our Consciousness as one people is key.
We will find peace and harmony when, despite all appearances, treaties, and boundaries, the Spirit of Love permeates our hearts and until how we relate to each other becomes more important than the results of individual gain.
- Walter Starcke
The message of age-old sages and seers, the men (and women) of wisdom is to give up the feelings of possessiveness, of "I" and "you". All is One. How we treat Mother Earth and Creation rebounds on us. See Soil, soul and society.
I love history and any philosophy that is both transcendental and practical in nature. I have plenty for you to explore, all based on deep research ... and life itself.
I suddenly became sure in myself shortly after an event some 50 years ago (exactly on the 30th D-Day anniversary, 1974) that there is a Greater Truth to try to apply in life. More particularly that when you become aware of it there is something within that yearns to link to its source.
What then came forth in my life was the desire to limit my mistakes and to seek the truth ... of everything, but particularly in history and religious-spiritual teachings.
Hence this website is here to share what my findings have been over 50 years, including many links to websites that seem to contain valuable information and guidance,
as well as my own writings.
This website is mostly about the study of Man and his destiny.
It is based on the difference between 'looking' and 'seeing'.
A blind man said to God,
"What is worse than being blind?"
God replied: "Losing your vision.".
looked upon as one of the greatest labour-saving devices of TODAY?
Practical philosophy has everything to do with not only the individual, but also the relationship of the individual to society and to nature. So why not look at some challenging thoughts on this topic, here...
Publications
Some Articles
There follow some articles based on results of historical researches I have done over the years...
Edward Capern, the man once known as the Postman Poet, lived most of his life in North Devonshire, but also lived for a period near Birmingham. More here...
In Oppenheimer's expansive book, Eden In The East, there is a hint that there was some great, now lost, ancient empire that left traces around the Pacific. Francis Churchward and others point to the lost continent of Mu (Lemuria) as being that ancient source. More here...
The following list of links reveals the amount of further thinking that is going into looking at ways by which mankind can evolve from the
environmental situation the world is in. ...
The above list demonstrates a wonderful effort, but when are we going to understand that it is man himself who needs to change first?
Information can only come from man's mind. What humans see and feel is the reflection within their minds.
Please hover over this text to read more.
Surely the need is first for man to learn that his ego and acquisitiveness is the root problem, and until that is under control - and under self-control - no 'system solution' is going to work effectively. Within a generation or two, man would be back to his old ways.
Hence the pre-occupation of this website on the matter of 'thought' and 'spirit'.
We should perhaps reflect on the advancement in science and technology, which has led to an imbalance in Nature. As a result, there are earthquakes and no timely rains. Science should be utilised only to the extent needed. Science has its limitations, and crossing those limits leads to danger.
My earnest view is that a massive re-education scheme about 'self' and its relationship to the cosmos is necessary - with emphasis on the young - in order to obtain success in the thinking of people at large, and for the very long term.
We need to find the teachers to further understand this outlook, but I believe they will come to the fore before long - and mainly, perhaps, from the East.
Actually, the teaching is already here but few (just now) want to listen.
For Reflection
The above 'Seeing is Believing' work is by Juli Mullen, whose website is sadly no longer available.
The Flower of Life motif is found throughout the ancient world.
Click on the following image for a most interesting - and unusual -
video on the topic.
Life Itself, a song written by George Harrison
(Play)
You are the One
You are my love
You send the rain and bring the sun
You stand alone and speak the truth
You are the breath of life itself, oh yes you are
You are the One
You're in my dream
I hold you there in high esteem
I need you more each step I take
You are the love in life itself, oh yes you are
You are the One
You are the one that I'd die for
And you're all that is real
You are the essence of that which
We taste, touch and feel
You are the One
No matter what
You are the real love that I've got
You are my friend and when life's through
You are the light in death itself, oh yes you are
You are the One
They call you Christ, Vishnu, Buddha, Jehovah,
Our Lord
You are, Govindam, Bismillah, Creator of All
You are the One
No matter what
You are the real love that I've got
You are my friend and when life's through
You are the light in death itself, oh yes you are
You are the One
You are my love
You send the rain and bring the sun
You stand alone and speak the truth
You are the breath of life itself, oh yes you are
You are the breath of life itself, oh yes you are
You are the One
Man's origins - and purpose.
Despite living in a Space Age, we have an immense ignorance about our origins - and purpose.
However, it does not take much research to see that there is a much bigger picture than what is officially told.
The problem once lay in the apparent lack of recorded history to prove it, but that situation is changing.
This site is an exploration into some of the facts that we can reconstruct in order to reveal the purpose of our existence, our origins and of developments since. And about our current situation and how to rectify it; and how man might change tack towards his true objective.
Charles Darwin told us about the evolution of the species, and in many ways I believe he was right.
However, the bigger story is that there is an evolutionary plan, and in that plan the true evolution is about spiritual evolution, not merely the physical.
Hence why spiritual truths should not be omitted from our sciences. Madame Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Movement, wrote extensively about
the ancient history and evolution of man (ancient meaning way beyond recorded history) and her writings can serve as a guide (note - I don't believe her writings contain the entire story).
Knowing the truth is important for us to help understand who we are and to show the direction for identifying ways of achieving world peace. Wars are not the answer to the world's needs nor of any particular country; wars derive out of an anomaly in the minds of men. We should try to follow a spiritual path, not simply following formal religion. Be aware that all spiritual paths have the same goal - it is just that the methods may be different in each 'path'. However, true spirituality means to cast away vengeance, endure sufferings like heroes, and not betray friends or slander anyone, recognising that All are One within one God-Creator. To live in Love.
God is Love.
This definition of spirituality is the essence of Eternal Wisdom. These are the highest principles to be applied in Life and thus further enable our true evolution.
The Modern Sciences are merely topics within the total sphere of inter-related truth. Without understanding the concepts within Sanatana Dharma (the Eternal Wisdom), man cannot - in my view - properly understand any topic in isolation. Nor, indeed, can Modern Sciences be applied correctly without the proper moral compass.
Two Practical 'Needs' To Set In Motion For Sustainable World Solutions
1. The Need For A 'Standpoint'...
According to Ursula Franklin, Professor Emerita at the University of Toronto, the most important social movements in history are grounded by adherence to a "standpoint." A standpoint is an ethical framework that gives one's life and actions a purpose and a meaning. "Where you stand and where you look tell you what is in the foreground, what is in the background, what is big and what is small."
With a standpoint comes a sense of priority, proportion, and obligation. It gives one the courage to take and make a stand. As such, a standpoint is a condition for any person or movement seeking to effect real social change.
The tragedy of modern governments is the way that they have eschewed the standpoint of community and environmental stewardship in favour of the imperative of profit. This imperative is what lies behind economic globalization. For governments and corporations, profit is foregrounded whilst care for people, democratic principles and environment is, at best, rendered a secondary consequence of economic growth.
If the world's resources are to be saved for future generations, then millions of the world's citizens will have to assume a standpoint based on a set of ethical considerations and principles which are directly opposed to the overarching imperatives of the global economy. But these principles will also have to be in favour of something, confronting the world with a positive vision of change in order to inspire and motivate effort. Dr. Peter Critchley.
2. The Need For A Deeper Perspective In Education...
Professor G. Venkataratnam (of the Indian Institute of Technology) has said: "Since humans have both Head and Heart, progress and the development of human society should not be based solely on the Head, marginalizing the Heart in the process." He added: "In earlier times, great stress was laid on virtuous action, as a result of which character development received attention not only in the home but also in the school."
The professor continued:
... the rapid growth of scientific knowledge opened up opportunities for business, trade and commerce, which in turn made profit the dominant element in almost all aspects of human activity, including education.
No wonder schools and colleges of today are focused largely on catering to the needs of the marketplace, since that is the easiest way to make money.
... the prevailing system of education [lays] excessive stress on the acquisition of worldly knowledge [that] leads to young people entering life (knowingly or otherwise) without a moral anchor. Knowledge in the truest sense of the word is incomplete unless it includes aspects relating to the Inner World.
No amount of delving into mathematics, physics and other worldly subjects can give a student any idea of what, for example, [Truth], [Righteousness], etc., are all about. Without the moral anchor human values provide, not only can the life of the individual go astray, but society itself could succumb to false dogmas and ideologies, to the detriment of humanity as a whole.
The case for a re-examination of the orientation of the Western educational system (particularly at the tertiary level), surely, is adequately stated above by Professor Venkataratnam. The hard facts arrived at in the sciences must be subject to evaluation by a deeper, spiritual, discerning eye. So too should the professions be guided by such wisdom instead of pushing their worldly view to extremes, as they often do in the real interest of reward, both financial and by reputation, not in their client's best interests.
And, importantly, so too in government, so that we can have representatives that we respect and trust to act in our - and the world's - very best interests. Too often we hear how government representatives seem more concerned about their sideline business responsibilities and appearances on entertainment shows. Only by such changes in the mechanisms of our society will the world truly gain and have the possibility of evolving towards unity and peace.
Professor Venkataratnam has explained the method of inculcating a sense of values into education:
... what education is really supposed to mean.... [stems from] two root words in Latin related to education:
The former means to support and nurture the growth of, while the latter means to draw out. The former is the root for the word education as currently used, while the latter appears to have gone into oblivion.
[Sri Sathya Sai] Baba resurrected the second root word and combined it with the first so that education implied something more than what people took it to mean. He then gave the name educare to this enlarged and enhanced vision of education. Educare, Baba explained, brought into play both the "drawing out" aspect and the "nurturing" aspect as well. What was to be drawn out were human values from the Heart, which then were to be blended with learning as normally understood.
In other words, Baba's educare was a two-in-one package involving both the Heart and the Head, thus linking education to the two Latin root words introduced above.
The educare philosophy has been, and is being, adopted by many schools and colleges, both in India and various other countries, including the USA, and also at the fully accredited Sathya Sai universities in India.
By way of an interesting illustration of the ancient approach to education Plato believed that knowledge lives within people and described this in the dialogue with Meno. He thought that we have knowledge inside us from the moment we are born, and that under the right conditions it comes out. Plato attempted to prove his theory that all learning is really remembering in a famous experiment in which Socrates shows that a slave boy can prove Pythagoras' theorem [derived from India] although he has never been taught it.
Despite having no knowledge of geometry, the boy, in conversation with Plato [Socrates], displays a sophisticated understanding. Plato argued that the boy was born with dormant knowledge that, in response to questioning, was brought to life.
Benjamin Franklin in fact said, "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."
Holistic Science In The UK
Schumacher College in partnership with the University of Plymouth is the first in the world to offer a postgraduate programme in Holistic Science.
"... the brain of man is his storehouse for knowledge, but the holding capacity of this storehouse is limited. Therefore, never put anything into it that is not valuable for your spiritual progress, or that which is not absolutely necessary for the development and continuance of your material body to the end of this incarnation, in order to prepare for your entrance into the world beyond. Learn and store the wisdom of the teachings of nature, for nature is the great school house for attaining wisdom, nature is God's voice speaking.
"Materialism, generally, is not worth storing, only that which appertains to the elevation of your mind and soul, that which will raise you to a higher plane, thus preparing you for the continuance of your life in the world beyond, a step in your eternal life.
"And remember, that when you enter the world beyond, you will leave all materialism behind. You can take nothing with you, nor will you remember anything about it, only Love you will remember, for Love, like your soul, is everlasting, it cannot die. ..."
There are over three hundred religions and sects.
Yet there is only One God.
Can you guess the origin of the following 6 spiritual precepts?
First: Man was taught that there was a Supreme Being, Infinite and All Powerful. That it was the Creator who created all things above and below. That man was created by this Almighty Being and having been created by Him, was his son-that this Almighty was man's Heavenly Father.
Second: When man was created the Creator placed within the body of man a spirit or soul which never died but continued on through eternity.
Third: When man was created it was ordained that his material body should return to the earth from which it was taken. When this material body died it released the soul which went into the world beyond, there to wait until it was called upon to occupy another material body. Apparently, as soon as his primitive mind could grasp the facts, he was taught that his soul was given a task. This task was for the soul to rule the material body by overcoming material desires. When this was accomplished his soul would be called back to the Great Source, and forever afterwards live in perfect joy and happiness. He was taught that one material life was so short that the soul could not overcome all of the material desires, so it was ordained that his soul should come into many bodies until the task was accomplished; that these reincarnations were the salvation of his soul.
Fourth: It was thoroughly instilled into his mind that the Heavenly Father was The Great Love and that this great love ruled the Universe and never died. He was taught that the love of the Heavenly Father was far greater than the love of his earthly father, who was only a reflection of his Heavenly Father. Therefore he should always approach his Heavenly Father without fear or dread and in perfect confidence and love, knowing that loving hands were being held out to receive him when he came.
Fifth: He was taught that all mankind were created by the same Heavenly Father; therefore all mankind were his brothers and sisters, and should be treated as such in all his dealings with them.
Sixth: Finally he was taught his duties on earth, how he should live to prepare himself to become fit to pass into the world beyond when he was called. He was especially reminded that he must follow the paths of Truth, Love, Charity, Chastity, with perfect love and confidence in his Heavenly Father.
From these precepts it may be gleaned that the fundamental principles of the first religion of man were: The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.
So, do you think the above precepts are derived from Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Islam or even ancient Egyptian religion?
Please hover over this text to find the answer.The answer is that James Churchward claims to have discovered the above essence of spiritual teaching in a 70,000 year-old text originating from the lost continent of Mu. These precepts form the central teaching of many of the religious teachings of today, primarily excepting Christianity.
More about Mu and its connection with everything can be found in my History Topics link.
Thoughts On All Is One
"Human nature was originally One and we were a whole."
-Plato
"There is one common flow, one common breathing, all things are in sympathy."
-Hippocrates
"There is one mind common to all individual men.[a] universal mind. The Over-Soul is that unity...within which every man's particular being is contained and made one with all other. Within man is the soul of the whole.the eternal ONE."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
"To divide or multiply consciousness is something meaningless. In all the world, there is no kind of framework within which we can find consciousness in the plural; this is simply something we construct because of the spatio-temporal plurality of individuals, but it is a false construction. The category of number, of whole and of parts, are then simply not applicable to it...The overall number of minds is just one. In truth there is only one mind."
-Erwin Schrodinger, 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics
"The notion of a separate organism is clearly an abstraction, as is also its boundary. Underlying all this is unbroken wholeness even though our civilization has developed in such a way as to strongly emphasize the separation into parts."
-David Bohm & Basil Hiley, physicists
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
-Albert Einstein
"It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality."
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, 1967
"The learned men of today have decided that religion is not necessary and that it will be replaced by science, or already has been. Yet it remains the case that today, just as before, not a single human society, or rational being, has lived, or can live without religion. (I say rational person because an irrational one may live without religion, just as an animal does.) A rational being cannot live without religion because it is only this that gives him the essential guidance as to what to do first and what follows. Precisely because religion is inherent to his nature the rational man cannot live without it."
-Leo Tolstoy
"Yet, there are several tests to tell the difference between fiction and reality. The simplest one is the test of suffering. If it can suffer, it's real. If it can't suffer, it's not real. A nation cannot suffer. That's very, very clear. Even if a nation loses a war, we say, 'Germany suffered a defeat in the First World War,' it's a metaphor. Germany cannot suffer. Germany has no mind. Germany has no consciousness. Germans can suffer, yes, but Germany cannot. Similarly, when a bank goes bust, the bank cannot suffer. When the dollar loses its value, the dollar doesn't suffer. People can suffer. Animals can suffer. This is real. If one really wants to see reality, I would go through the door of suffering. If we can really understand what suffering is, we will receive the key to understand what reality is."
-Yuval Noah Harari (historian and thinker)
"What is culture? Some people say that culture is 'a way of life'. But I say that 'culture is concern for others'".
-Sri Sathya Sai Baba
More Great Thoughts
From the Dalai Lama:
We cannot solve this problem [of terrorism] only through prayers. I am a Buddhist and I believe in praying. But humans have created this problem.
From Benjamin Franklin:
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
From Al-Ghazali:
Declare your jihad on thirteen enemies you cannot see - Egoism, Arrogance, Conceit, Selfishness, Greed, Lust, Intolerance, Anger, Lying, Cheating, Gossiping and Slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be ready to fight the enemy you can see.
From Abraham Lincoln:
Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?
From Goethe:
Remain human with your own souls! Do not become mere human things which allow to have stuffed into them souls which are adjusted to the mass-will and pulse in measure with it.
From Shams Tabrizi:
No matter what people call you, you are just who you are. Keep to this truth. You must ask yourself how is it you want to live your life. We live and we die, this is the truth that we can only face alone. No one can help us. So consider carefully, what prevents you from living the way you want to live your life?
From Dr. Albert Schweitzer:
But merely accepting authoritarian truth, even if that truth has some virtue, does not bring skepticism to an end. To blindly accept a truth one has never reflected upon retards the advance of reason. Our world rots in deceit. . . . Just as a tree bears the same fruit year after year and at the same time fruit that is new each year, so must all permanently valuable ideas be continually created anew in thought. But our age pretends to make a sterile tree bear fruit by tying fruits of truth onto its branches.
From Robert Kennedy:
Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things
... the gross national product [GNP, or GDP] does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.
From Noam Chomsky:
Governments are supposed to lie to their citizens.
From Jim Wallis:
Your political viewpoint IS your spirituality demonstrated.
From Mahatma Gandhi:
A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.
From Peter Dawkins:
Our environment affects our consciousness, and our consciousness affects the environment.
From Harold Pinter (2005 Nobel Prize speech):
I believe that despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all.
- It is in fact mandatory.
From Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
From Mahatma Gandhi:
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
From R. Buckminster Fuller:
I know that I am not a category,
a hybrid specialization.
I am not a thing - a noun.
I seem to be a verb -
an evolutionary process -
an integral function of the Universe.
And so are you.
From Abba Hillel Silver (a leading Rabbi, 1893-1963):
The method of science is observation, that of religion [is] contemplation. Science investigates; religion interprets. One seeks causes, the other ends. Science thinks in terms of history, religion in terms of teleology. One is a survey, the other an outlook. Religion and science are the two hemispheres of human thought. They are different though converging truths.
When looking at 0 (zero): you see nothing! When looking through it, you can see everything.
It is the quality of vision that determines the quality of thought.
This is critical, as...
Sow a thought, reap an action;
sow an action, reap a tendency;
sow a tendency, reap a habit;
sow a habit, reap a character;
sow a character, reap a destiny.
Thoughts For The Day
There is nothing in the world which is not a Manifestation of God. Do not doubt that the entire cosmos is pervaded with God and that everything is contained in Him! There is no single atom in the universe which is not permeated with the Divine! We try to find God, seek Him throughout the entire universe, but we never attempt to discover Him in ourselves, where He really abides...
From Yoga of Action.
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? The Bible (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. From Mahatma Gandhi
Click on image for a more clear diagram
Both Western Science and Religion - as a sole solution for world problems - has failed, without doubt. Science needs to find its heart, and
I would suggest that it is worthwhile breaking through the mould of outward religion to investigate
what is the true or higher teaching of the originator of your religion. A teaching that,
with Love as its essence, is the same as taught by all the great prophets and messengers.
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee says:
"...in our computerized world the world soul, the anima mundi, is long
forgotten, unrecognized, unsung. And She needs to come back
to life, to be remembered. This is the central note of any rebirth:
a reconnection with the Earth as a sacred being, so that Her soul
can reawaken and live in the light, as She did in the first day."
Download his book: A Handbook For Survivalists
(Click on image to link)
The Transformation of Man
"What is a man born for but to be a Reformer, a Remaker of what man has made; a renouncer of lies, a restorer of truth and good." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
The proper study of mankind is man. Alexander Pope
Please hover over this text to read a little of Pope's ode on this topic.
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man.
Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
etc.
As I see it, this long-ignored observation by Pope is key to man's future. The need for man to self-evaluate is paramount
in order for him to face the future with true hope after making so many huge gaffs that have left the world in such a state.
We must surely recognise that the universe - of which planet Earth is a mere (but very important) component - is all-inclusive.
We must no longer take actions that imperil the freely-provided resources and opportunities that are available.
We must be responsible as though the Earth directly depends on us individually, for once we behave as true humans
then our communities will improve, then each nation, then the whole world.
After all, God did create us as stewards of what He has provided. We were not brought here to mess it up!
We seem to have lost direction...
Do Christians think that because Jesus lived 2,000 years ago, that there have been no further spiritual teachings?
Likewise, do Muslims think the same because Prophet Muhammed lived 1,400 years ago?
Each of those great personages came, separately, to provide direction of a certain kind.
Meanwhile, man has erected religious structures that overlook their pure teachings,
and where once science and spirituality worked hand-in-hand, truth and science has since diverged.
We have since mis-applied the physical sciences.
What is it that can work, therefore? And what is life supposed to be all about?
While confirming the truth of the teachings of Jesus and Muhammed (and others, such as the Buddha),
Sri Sathya Sai Baba has said that there is only one true religion - the religion of Love. And that...
Life is a game - play it!
Life is a challenge - meet it!
Life is a search - explore it!
Life is a dream - realise it!
Life is awareness - be aware of it!
Therefore, it is up to us - mankind - to sail the right course towards unity in One God, who is called by different names.
Sai Baba also says...
I know how systematic you are all in eating and drinking. You take pretty good care of the body. I do not condemn it; I only want that you should take equally good care of the needs of the spirit also. Take a dose of dhyanam (meditation) and japam (repetition of the Name) as the morning breakfast, puja (worship) and archana (worship, adoration) as lunch at noon, some [reflection] as afternoon tea and snacks, an hour of bhajana (devotional singing) as dinner and a small ten-minute manana (reflection, meditation) as the cup of milk before going to bed. That dietary is enough to keep your inner being happy and healthy. That is My advice to you today.
More wisdom from Sai:
(Please hover over each text heading)
The purpose of life...
The purpose of life is to go back to God. From God you have come and to God you must return. This means that you must live your life such that it always takes you towards God, and never in any other direction.
The importance of service...
Service brings out all that is great in man. It broadens the heart and widens one's vision. It fills one with joy. It promotes unity. It proclaims the Truth of Spirit. It drives out all the evil qualities in man. It must be regarded as a great spiritual discipline. It is only when man is filled with the spirit of service that his Divine nature is revealed. He then experiences the 'peace that passeth understanding.'
The state of the world...
Man forgets God not only in dealing with his fellow human beings but also in dealing with Nature. Thus it is that we see wide-scale destruction and ravaging of the environment and the eco-system. ... The ancients did not pollute the air, they did not pollute water, and they respected all the constituents of Nature, including all animals. But modern man, besides polluting heavily land, water and air, is also destroying entire forests, and wiping out many species of animals, without concern for eco- and bio-balance. Who is more stupid? Modern man who is wrecking all the gifts of God, or the ancients, who not only preserved what God gave them but also were thankful to God for the blessing?
The depth of God's presence...
God is present as the power immanent in the atom. Since atoms are to be found everywhere in the universe, God too is immanent everywhere in the manifested universe. ... See God even in the smallest insect and the atom, and at the same time, realise that all these form a part of the cosmic nature of God.
T
here would be no history without a philosophy - or at least a thought - translated into action. But man's history of recent eons is mostly not a proud one, despite scientific advances. Sadly, ego has tended to predominate.
To achieve peace through harmony, right action follows right thinking. Peace in communities and between countries rests on the ability of people to find peace in themselves. The wise say that the real task of life is to unselfishly manage our thoughts (and thus our actions) to obtain that result, even as the ancients did if we would care to investigate.
People often want to change their behavior - but not their thinking. Therefore they do not experience a breakthrough even though wanting to be free. It all has to start with examining one-self: action is needed to change those thoughts. Some simply suggest forms of willpower or side-tracking of the mind. They may help, but simply (and only) forcing one-self is not the intended method.
Remembrance and meditation on the statement of Jesus, about the over-riding commandment, should help more: "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy mind, and love they neighbour as thyself." When facing a problem, simply ask one-self: "What would Love do?". The solution should follow if meditated on sufficiently well, and some time to allow the answer to materialise.
Seek and thou shalt find, but not by relying purely on empirical science.
Science is merely a glow-worm in the light and splendour of the Sun.
(Sri Sathya Sai Baba)
... Read more.
One Great Thought
The replacement of fear by love and the provision of equal opportunity must be the highest tasks for mankind. By unswerving commitment to these goals and to faith, we will ultimately find the greatest opportunity to achieve peace. Then all will come together as one.
