Growth Online > Knowledge Base > Society's Growth  >  New Insights into World History & Current Events New Insights into World History & Current Events A consciousness-based approach to history by Roy Posner and MSS Introduction to Page Our Perceptions of History Evolution in History Evolutionary Destiny of the World Evolution through Law of Contradictions Evolution through Higher Harmony World Unity Evolution of the Nation State The Rise and Fall of Empires How the Bad Serves the Good War; War that Purges Low Consciousness On Revolution, Struggle for Freedom The Small, Weak, Oppressed, Ignored Rise to the Top Anachronisms Evolutionary Leader in History Miscellaneous Major Stages of History Recent History World War II The Cold War The United Nations The European Union Rising Expectations Poverty, Terrorism, World Security Ascent of USA to World Leadership Internet & Technology Environmentalism East-West Integration Socialism & Capitalism Democracy Recent Evolutionary Changes The Emergence of the True & Spiritually True Individual The Emerging Spirituality in Society Other Ironies of History, Life   INTRODUCTION TO PAGE (top)   "History is the chronicle of human consciousness." In this section of the Growth Online Knowledge Base, we present our original thoughts, as well as links to our original articles on the Society's Growth topic of "New Insights into World History." (If you wish, you can see our other Society's Growth categories.)   OUR PERCEPTIONS OF HISTORY (top)   History and Consciousness History is the chronicle of human consciousness. In that way we can develop a study of all essential developments of consciousness. Knowing the Past Causes to Solve Current Problems If we seek them out, all of the facts and knowledge of the recent past are available to us to help us know the root causes of all of our current problems. Once ascertained it becomes a mere formality to come up with the solutions to the problems of the world. Then it remains a question of energy and will. Uncovering the True Meaning of the Historical Past The deeper reasons for the historical reasons are now constantly being discovered. (MSS) History's Evolution from Story of Kings to People's Aspirations History has suffered enough change, from being the story of kings to people's aspiration. (MSS) History of the Common Man There was a time when history was written as the history of kings, because for those historians kings alone mattered. They were founders of various kingdoms and presided over them like veritable colossuses. Hence their own biographies were the history of nations. What else was there? It took time for historians to realise that kings and emperors do not matter so much as People. Then the emphasis shifted. That was how the common man came into prominence. So the 20th century came to be called the century of the common man as against the aristocrats and kings.  (MSS) Oscillations of History History has a way of oscillating between two opposite ends. The age of kings was followed by the age of the common man even as the age of religious faith and worship was followed by an age of materialism or agnosticism. The curve of progress sometimes progresses as one scientific discovery followed by another in quick succession. At other times, it alternates between the opposites. India who was aping the English customs, has started worshipping the American culture. After 1947, one would have expected that India would have shifted to reviving her past with a vengeance. It was not so. (MSS) Civilization Marches Ahead through a Wave-like, Undulating Movement The wave moves by an undulating motion. The unmoving sheet of water is quiet. The wave rises and falls. The rise and fall causes the movement. There is no movement without that rise and fall. Civilisation marches ahead through a wave motion of alternating peak and trough. The same Japan that was so insular earlier has now conquered the world market in several products. America was isolationist in the 19th century. On Friday the reverse is true. She is all over the world. All the races on earth have come to the US. (MSS, extracts) Untitled In the beginnings of human history man was but a part of a mighty collective whole. The one decision that mattered was the collective decision. (MSS)   Additional Thoughts on Evolution of Society The Truths of History We Miss -- The Brutality in the 1930s of the Soviet Union Historians patiently go after the facts, the true facts, the hard, concrete facts. Their quest has burst many historical myths. As a result, historians are fond of saying that in most of the enduring historical myths, there is very little truth worth the name. We are common people. We have no judgment or even information. We go by leaders, thinkers, the press, and books. When they differ, we look up to great minds for guidance. H.G. Wells, and G. B. Shaw were known to be geniuses of the 20th century. We expect them to be infallible. It is impossible for us to conceive that they too, sometimes, were misguided, as we are misguided. That is a frightening situation. Has the world endeavoured to design a remedy for such a situation? In 1929, America was hit by an economic depression. It spread all over the world. At the same time the USSR enjoyed full employment. When swarms of unemployed people crowded the American cities, Russia offered everyone employment. As soon as the USSR was in power, all the great men of the world made a beeline to Moscow to see for themselves what was really happening, discounting whatever came to them as propaganda. So Russell, Huxley, H.G. Wells, G.B. Shaw, and Laski went to Moscow. Nehru too desired to visit there at that time. Trotsky impressed them as intelligent, Lenin was a great leader. Sir S. Radhakrishnan said, ’Stalin is indeed a great man’. Wells found Stalin noble-minded. Shaw said those who went to prison in Britain emerged as convicts because of the prison’s dehumanising influence. But in Russia, he said, the prison life was so attractive that sometimes discharged prisoners applied for readmission. A British Ambassador said Stalin was so childlike that a child would like to sit on his lap. A whole book could be filled in by the praise that was generous adulation of the Soviet system and her leaders. When Khrushchev came to power, he disclosed the atrocities that Stalin had committed. About 30 million people had been shot dead in Russia. How could the great minds of the century be beguiled by what they SAW with their own eyes? All the atrocities were true and all the noble traits witnessed by great minds were also true. Paul Johnson, a famous editor, commenting on this phenomenon, says the Thirties were an age of heroic lies. During that period, he says, saintly mendacity became the prized virtue. In other words, all those great minds could not see through the veil. Is it, then, really impossible to see the fact? I shall mention only the principle here, without elaborating on it. In any situation for the perceptive eye, there will be subtle symptoms of what is hidden from the naked eye. That is inescapable. Prejudiced people can always suspect. When Stalin was offering overwhelming co-operation in 1945, the sword of honour presented to him by the British King and received by Stalin reverentially was dropped by his Minister. That revealed the hidden intentions. (MSS) Understanding History at 4 Planes Watching a 1942 movie about the US Merchant Marines under fire from German submarines, it strikes one that we can understand an event -- or the larger sweep of history itself -- from the physical to the spiritual plane. At the physical plane I perceive an enemy who threatens me -- in this case the Germans -- and I wish to defend myself as best I can; even destroy them. At the vital level the Germans represent the taking away of  my cherished freedom, that which has distanced me from my loved ones, and that which takes away energy I would direct otherwise. That in turn raises counter emotions, such as righteous indignation, as well as the energy to support a physical defense against the enemy. At the mental level I perceive the German intrusion as the result of a maniacal madman, a false philosophy subscribed to, the failure of European nations to collaborate between the world wars, and others. At the spiritual level I perceive that the negative is an intense power of the positive -- understanding that the physicality of Europe was broken down through the boot of war, that the UN and the EU arose thereafter, and several other ways. At the cosmic spiritual I see these events as forces of darkness trying to block the light of the emerging Force from spreading through the world. Each of these levels are filled with their own truth. Man normally cares about the physical and vital factors and truths, leaving the mental to the experts. Even the experts only see the part from the whole. The spiritual is deemed for sages.  As man evolves, one's own level, as well as the level above one's current strength can be progressively grasped in its fullness. In this way, every man can one day come to know every plane. The low can know everything above him; the sage, every level below. The secret from below is to know the process that expands his knowledge upward and integrally. Progressing towards rationality is one step, with an opening to The Force and the life Inside a concurrent step, enabling mental and spiritual genius, which is, in essence, the Integral Knowledge of the conditions. Two Sides of Gandhi, Churchill; Many-Sided Insight The genius of Gandhi is that he united the country. His tragedy is that he also helped divide it. The greatness of Churchill is that he stood strong against the Germans. His tragedy is that he supported the evil of the colonial masters. (E.g. he was happy when Gandhi was incarcerated!)   Such an analysis indicates that true insight is to objectively see the whole picture of the individual, or the nation, or the situation without prejudice. It is a very hard thing to do because we are filled with our own baggage; our own ignorance, falsehood, and prejudice. Incongruities and Dualities of History that Defy Normal Mind There are many incongruities and dualities of history that show false or evil men acting good, and good men acting foolishly. It defies the mind, which likes to have a single view of things – including the main characters and events of history. Mind that is flexible, rational, and spiritualized can however embrace the many sides simultaneously. Here are some examples of incongruities and dualities of people in history: ·         Stalin helped save his country and Europe from the onslaught of Nazism, even as he had 30 million of his own countrymen shot (as expression of his own extreme paranoia). ·         Hitler marched across Europe, perpetrating the greatest evil in history, which ironically helped bring about the unification of Europe very soon thereafter, an outcome that might have taken centuries if ever to have come about. ·         Saddam Hussein brutalized his people and neighbors, even as he was the chief leader advocating non-religious governance in the Middle East, who’s opposite is now one source of its scourge. ·         Gandhi brought independence to India through non-violence, even though his action delayed the exit of the British, which enabled the partition of the country, leading to the death of millions, and bringing about two nuclear foes across the border from one another. ·         Nixon, who brutalized nations of the world including Vietnam, and sought to oppress forces of freedom and progress in his own country, went to China and helped open up that land to modernity. ·         Churchill saved the world from fascism, even as he advocated the imperial power of the Empire, which collapsed in the wake of WWII. ·         Gorbachav saved the world from nuclear annihilation by ending the Cold War from within without a single casualty -- an event unprecedented in world history -- and yet he is eminently unpopular in his own country! ·         The British who are genteel, are extremely dignified, and demonstrate culture on the surface have been diplomatically insincere to the extreme for the last 100 years. There is Truth in life, which expresses not through a single side of an issue or matter, but includes all aspects that make up its Whole. To perceive all sides of an issue or personality is to open to the wider, truer truth of things. Being ideological or intellectual is to engage the primacy of the lower aspects of mind, which sees only a part not the Whole, believing that single part to be the Whole of the truth. This is the case of our ignorance. True Rationality on the other hand, has an integral vision of the many-sided details of the whole of the truth of any matter. It even sees each detail relative to the Whole. This is, in essence, the expression of a spiritualized mind -- i.e. the ability to perceive all truths of an object that resides in the universal plane of Mind. To see history, an event, or even the circumstances of our own lives from the many-sided integral truth of things is to become a true Rational Individual that has a spiritual quality. We can begin to develop the capacity to absorb the many-sided truth of things (and the perception of the Whole which they reflect) when we move to a deeper consciousness within. From that deeper status, we are able to perceive the multiplicity of truths unfolding around us, rather than the surface truths we perceive or the limiting attitudes and habits we are attached to. From that deeper poise of calm and silent mind, of “witness consciousness” to the unfoldings of life, we have greater access to integral understanding, insight, knowledge, and truth, as we are more in touch with the multiplicity and integrality of that that truth that is here behind at the level of the universal plane of Mind. In this way, we can begin to perceive history in its integral truth, from which we can derive universal principles of life that we can readily learn from in our own times. Through such integral insight, we can accelerate progress in our times by a factor of ten or more. We can even take to decisions that can attract the “instantaneous miraculousness” of life response – i.e. of the onset of sudden good fortune. Of Tyrants and Saints Even tyrants and brutes can produce things of worth. Nixon sought out markets in his opening to China. Stalin fought back the Nazis. Reagan reversed himself and negotiated with the Soviets. Mao organized the Chinese against the colonialization of the West. Saddam Hussein provided the greatest distributed prosperity of any nation in the Middle East. The English provided India with English. In the other direction, great souls can do questionable works. Gandhi's non-violence helped divide India and Pakistan. Mother Theresa worked to push her missionary agenda. Seeing the integral, many-sided truth beyond the accepted and familiar takes mental courage.   Evil Forces, Men Evil forces and men serve a role in the progress of every period.   Positive in Negative, Negative in Positive in Historic Individuals Stalin, Mao, Gandhi, Churchill. To know them fully and integrally, we need to see the good in the evil, and the evil in the good.   Notes on Workings of World Energies, History Any attempt on the social level to understand the world energies, movements, histories, the positives or negatives, the qualities of men, including the utility of tyrants and brutes will fail. Much more so, moral solutions will lead us astray. Going to another culture and evaluating their values in terms of our culture will give us results that will make the analyst look irrational. One needs an original framework of thought to truly understand these movements. Sri Aurobindo provided some framework from The Human Cycle and elsewhere scattered amongst his writings. They are as follows: The workings of Nature are the workings of world energies. They express the evolution of earth with the evolution of the Supramental Being as the crux. Nature being a partial Force, can work only on parts at a time. There is no waste in Nature. Evolution proceeds from the physical to the Spiritual. It is best understood as Spiritual evolution, the evolution of the Spirit in the various parts. It follows the law of ascent to Supermind and descent to the body. Any evolutionary Force is not born as perfect. It takes birth in the fashion possible during that time. [e.g. Napoleon overreached his mission.] One must see the three reversals in history 1) gross to subtle, 2) subtle to causal, 3) surface Mind to the depth. Tyrants were necessary during the periods in which they arose. They served an important role. They must also be destroyed when their role is over. (MSS, reorganized and restated in parts)   Existence to History to Culture of Selflessness -- through Compulsion of Life or Self-Directed Spiritual Values Time never stops. It is relentless. Its march is called the progress of civilisation. Century after century, decade after decade, progress continues. Thus the mere existence of Man becomes history. His mere existence is now denoted as pre-historic period. As existence matures into history, history ripens into culture. Man was physical, selfish. Now he is mental and aims at being selfless. Man does not become selfless on his own. He is compelled by circumstances to be selfless. When other tribes attacked, man organised collective defence, impelled by his own selfish security. The ultimate goal of that movement is self-giving, the Spiritual progress of the collective Man. The March of Time compels Man to be selfless and practise Self-giving. Such a movement is there in commercial technology, education, democracy and the Pure Spirit. [E.g. in education he is compelled to expand that education to all members of society, including invalids. Beyond the compulsion of life to enable greater culture is our direct conscious spiritual will to achieve based on spiritual values such as self-givingness, oneness, etc.. This is the approach of the future. -editor] (MSS) On Predicting the Future Ours is not to predict the future, but to learn from the present by being aware of its subtle suggestions, its precedent formations, the interconnectedness of things, the underlying values, their history and causes, so that we can learn the right lessons and take the right actions now and in the future, or, if necessary, avoid all actions to begin with. Ours then is not so much to predict, but to anticipate. Retrospect from the Present and the Future In retrospect from the present we see that our way of life, our technology, our knowledge of material reality makes life 100 years ago appear rough and backwards. In retrospect of 100 years from now we will look back on these current times as one of psychological infancy, containing a mass of foolish children engaged happily and willfully in their ignorance and falsehood. Today we call tomorrows retrospective "progressive modern life." Paralleling the Individual and Life of Society Interestingly we can correlate the events and movements, particularly at the turning points, of the earlier life of that individual and the earlier life of that society in a parallel of one to one correspondences. Sri Aurobindo's Thought Can Shed Light Reading Sri Aurobindo's The Human Cycle and Thoughts and Aphorisms will fully bring out these aspects. [Evolution in history, necessity of war to overcome physicality, and others.] (MSS) The History Of Civilisation Can Be Written as The Record Of Progress In Education.   His physical body learned to survive by vital sensation. That was the inheritance from his animal ancestors. He lived in herds of men. He learned to value collective security. Education of vital sensation to preserve the vital body is upgraded over centuries from Individual preservation to collective security. The collective security gave the pride of place to physical prowess. Its other side was to destroy the weak, even if it is his own children. Organised physical strength. The physical coming into its own has thrown up the leadership of a BRUTE. The behaviour of a brute, the cruelty of the malicious, the tyranny of the vulgar became the culture of the period. Physical strength becomes crude culture. Physical withdrew into the immediate rear, giving place to vital pride that went along with ostentatious splendour. When the line is crossed by the equilibrium, brutality rises in full. The physical with its splendour of cruelty lies in wait just below the surface. Pardon becomes a way of life. Prior to that, physical punishment remains but the victim is allowed to choose the mode of punishment. Crude physical acquires the 'magnanimity' of mitigation. Fairness emerged in the physical crudeness – Duel came into existence. Fairness of the physical establishes its own superiority. Duel is abolished in law, but flourished under the surface. Physical dual gives place to vital annihilation without any semblance of right, good or honour. Parliamentary democracy was the first occasion to replace might by right – the right of the ignorant. Today Parliaments are irrational, vulgar, crude, and false. Still this is the best available. To know their true character and suffer them is wisdom. To honour them is foolish. The progress of the English language as expected of a gentleman has anticipated all the levels of progress mind has to go through for another thousand years. Nothing in the world appears suddenly. Its true beginning is the beginning of creation. Till 500 or 400 years ago, education meant experience, experience of age, except for the royalty and top echelon of aristocracy. First discovery of descent. To extend it even a little, the physical of the collectivity had to give up its possessiveness and recognise the reality of others' existence. Selfishness relents, cracks show up. Selfishness upgrades from vital selfishness to mental selfishness. It means those who approve of your idea are your friends. Broadening selfishness into possible semblance of selflessness. Reason is coordinating intelligence. It is EGO. To know reason is the knowledge of Ego is worldly wisdom. Intellectuality is efficient ego, going by the name of Reason. Intellectuality is inert, is an efficient bar to knowledge. Knowledge begins with insight and intuition. It matures when the intuition transfers itself from outside to inside. It is supramental intuition. To it there is no evil.  (MSS)     EVOLUTION IN HISTORY (top)   Evolutionary Destiny of the World | Evolution through Law of Contradictions | Evolution through Higher Harmony World Unity | Evolution of the Nation State | The Rise and Fall of Empires How the Bad/Evil Serves the Good | War, War that Purges Low Consciousness On Revolution, Struggle for Freedom | The Small, Weak, Oppressed, Ignored Rise to the Top Anachronisms | Evolutionary Leader, Vanguard, Spearhead in History |Miscellaneous   Evolutionary Destiny of the World (main)   Evolution of the World The world like the individual is undergoing its own evolution.    The end of the Cold War is a big step in that process.   Just as an individual can change from within him or her self, so can an institution, such as a nation, and so can the world.   The world is moving towards human unity. The European Union is a recent example, as was the UN in earlier times.    This movement toward world unity can be indicated by our responses to situations. E.g. a global response to terrorist attack, rather than just from the US, the victim, would be such an indicator of movement toward unity. The same with the development of a rapid response world army to similar or other types of conflicts.   World unity proceeds from political to economic to social to cultural to spiritual. We are but merely in the economic unity stage (i.e. World Trade and world financial markets)   Evolution of the World The world like the individual is undergoing its own evolution.    History is History of Enlarging Freedom The history of civilization is the history of enlarging Freedom. (MSS)   Sri Aurobindo's Thought Can Shed Light Reading Sri Aurobindo's The Human Cycle and Thoughts and Aphorisms will fully bring out these aspects. [Evolution in history, necessity of war to overcome physicality, and others.] (MSS)   Nature Creates New World Free of Class and Cast If human progress is stultified by classes and castes, Nature creates a New World free of them. (MSS) [e.g. Immigrants from limiting Europe came to the wide open possibilities of the US.]   Radical Change in Consciousness Nothing but a radical change of consciousness can save humanity from the terrible plight into which it is plunged. (The Mother)   Levels of Collective Change in Consciousness in the World Is there a collective movement in higher consciousness under way? Undoubtedly we are in a new age where a new consciousness is emerging. It is happening in ways that for the average person are too subtle to be perceived. Even for the conscious person, it is happening in ways that are beyond the spiritual traditions or even the New Age movements. That is why Sri Aurobindo's perceptions of this new world are so helpful, because he lays out the general parameters so clearly. Karmayogi has extended this knowledge into the major fields of life. If it is a collective movement, it is certainly not a conscious one. That is why I listed out several of the outer manifestations of collective change, because it can be more readily seen there. For example, people are speaking about the environment with one very strong, even loud voice. It is a great development, but only the most surface form of collective unity. It addresses the purely physical plane of existence. When humanity address the psychological issues -- i.e. the fulfillment of the individual, the encouragement of his full potential, the overcoming of all problems that impede his progress, etc. -- then there would be real collective progress. In other words, we would be collectively sharing the need to embrace the deepest of human values. Environmentalism addresses physical values of cleanliness, security, etc., not the deeper psychological values, let alone spiritual values. Still it is a significant step. Spiritual values of harmony, unity, oneness, love, deep wisdom, Delight, timelessness, infinity, peace, et al are the deep beliefs that would be embraced for a true spiritual evolution. That is an evolutionary leap beyond; though it can infiltrate earlier forms of collective progress. We can also see evolution along a spectrum from political to economic to cultural to spiritual unity. We are well under way towards economic unity, with the others hardly addressed. It is in outer events/unfoldings that we can see the inner appreciation of values. The Internet is a perfect example, as it embraces the deeper aspirations of man. The common man does not see the deeper values that the Internet represents.  Perceptions of deep human values at the collective level would be a great sign that human evolution is on its way, and is being shared, communicated, and embraced. It would be a great step in human evolution. Of course, the overcoming of ego, ignorance, exclusiveness, possessiveness, separateness, et al; plus the purification at the physical, vital, mental, and spiritual levels of the person are the essential steps of progress for the individual. They would readily contribute to the general collective movement forward; to the progressive evolution of humanity. See Additional Thoughts on the Evolutionary Destiny of Society   Evolution through Law of Contradictions (main) Contradictions are Complements That is, that all things that seem to be in conflict, opposition, depend on one another for the other's progress and evolution.  In fact, the progress of each side is buried in the makeup, aspect, needs, destiny, and evolution of the other side. The things that seem to conflict or contradict are really complements to each other's progress. Thus contradictions are complements. This principle applies between individuals, to an individual in a social context, between social entities like businesses, between nations, and so forth upwards to the earth and the cosmos itself.   Each party then is only able to change as a result of their conflicting or contradicting interaction with the other. The knowledge of what needed to be changed in each person could only be found in the interaction with the other person, in the knowledge of the other person, or in the truth of life that the other person has. So what on the surface we perceive as a negative contradiction and conflict between the two parties, is actually a complement unfolding and necessity to bring out their each of their own growth and development.   Contradictions are Complements Contradictions are complements in the sense that they represent aspects of a greater truth and through their interaction and conflict they help that greater truth to emerge. The existence of slavery in the USA, a country founded on the principles of freedom and equality, forces the society over time to dig deeper into the roots of prejudice and domination of one group by another and eradicate it at a deeper level. The principle of equality came to America with the impoverished immigrants trying to escape persecution and domination by the aristocracy of Europe in the freedom of a new land. That same freedom attracted the aristocrats of Europe who were condemned and persecuted during the French Revolution to come to America where they could be free to reestablish their aristocratic culture. Aristocracy requires someone to be subordinate. In America the common man is not subordinate, so they brought slaves to serve them. Mother says there can be no growth without freedom. She also says that whenever freedom is given, it becomes freedom for the lower to reassert itself. Here aristocracy reasserted its superiority in the freedom of the New World. Even peasants coming to America longed to become aristocrats so they could enjoy the prestige of their erstwhile lords. The interaction of these contradictory tendencies forces America to evolve a society which accords equality before the law to people of all nations greater than that of any other country. Had it not been for slavery, this never would have happened. (MSS)   Contradictions are Complements One interesting element of the contradictions principle is that it is only, or predominantly through the embracing of the other side that the contradiction moves towards its resolution. It would be interesting to look at history this way, including the examples discussed here. The Israelis know what the more fanatical sector of the Palestinians know (progress through Mind without violence), and the Palestinians know of the Israeli's psychological intransigence to change rooted in physicality. If they each embraced the knowledge of the other side, the contradiction would move towards resolution. Contradictions are Complements in World Events The conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians, the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, and the 9/11 attacks on the US are examples of the great phenomenon in life of contradictions being complements. Each side has weakness and blame that only the other side perceives, and it is only in their contradiction and conflict is the truth of each side's weakness revealed in the interaction with the other side. This enables a further, higher harmony. This is Nature's way.   Also See Thoughts on Nature's Way of Contradiction   Evolution through Higher Harmony (main)   Evolution through Higher Harmony The world evolves through ever higher formulations of harmony.   Gorbachav Solution as Higher Harmony The Gorbachev solution that ended the Cold War was not a compromise of conservative and liberal political values of the West, but an action of a higher harmony that both views could relate to; strength towards the Soviets that would appeal to conservatives, and peaceful solution and outcome that the liberals favored, though in reality it was an integrated higher harmony that included yet transcended both. In this way it was a creative solution from the causal realm of the Force moving in the world.   Resolutions of Problems Through Higher Harmony All problems in life are problems of Harmony, says Sri Aurobindo. E.g. California energy crisis is one of distribution within the state and among the states, and more comprehensive and collaborative intrastate and national policies; food shortage in world is due to food abundance in one place and shortage in another. When greater harmonies are created between social entities problems are solved and disappear.   Society evolves through higher harmonies between the social entities. In this way all problems, conflicts are overcome. The ego of the social entity is overcome Beyond the Political Opposites in Society, Enabling Rapid, Vast, Smooth, Creative Progress In the USA as elsewhere there is a two-party system. It is an indicator of democracy, as opposed to the oppression of monarchy and aristocracy. And yet it is flawed relative to what it can be. The Democrats are passionate about ending poverty, and many of their policies are very helpful, but many are flawed. Their hearts are in the right place, if not all of their ideas. The Republicans want to cut taxes, which is one of a series of fine ways to stimulate the economy, and yet behind is a virulent selfishness and greed in that approach that is cut off from the social aspirations of people. Each side has positives that are wrapped in negatives, or negatives wrapped in the positive. When you also add in the political instinct, it can turn poisonous, as useful policy is abandoned for doing what is expedient and in the interest of that party. One of the ways America and similar countries progress is through the opposition of parties that are each flawed. And yet we now progress through the interaction of these two conflicting and flawed opposites. This is Nature's way of progress through complementary contradictions, here expressed in governance. She also expresses elsewhere; in fact everywhere. E.g. in business through a traditional opposition of executives and the remainder of the staff. Through conflicts between nations; through conflicts between lovers; even of ideas. Everywhere we look, we will see such complementary opposites that appear to be in opposition, in duality. As we rise in consciousness, the dualistic nature of progress dissipates, and there is growth and development in society through unity that is also exceedingly diverse. We release ourselves from a particular side to embrace the Whole. (Where is the Whole? It is the sum of all the truths of an object, and then some.) Life progresses in this more conscious way through positive energies only, not through an incessant mixture of positive and negative. Even the appearance of the negative in this new consciousness is seen as positive in disguise. As a result, progress is exceedingly fast, is exceedingly smooth, is vast, and infinitely creative -- replacing the slow and difficult way of Nature that is our current way. What is this consciousness that sees the world in this new way? It occurs when we take to rationality certainly, moving away from our superstition and falsehood. More than that it has the spiritual touch, which expresses several ways: (1) a movement out of ego and separateness; (2) a giving up of exclusive points of view and the tendency to take sides; (3) a connection within that sees harmonies instead of dualities outside one's self; that even sees the unity emerging from conflicting opposites; (4) that acts in such a way that opposition is never created. It is for the future life, but we can each begin now by connecting with the calm and serenity and joy and love of our inner being and True Self. We discover this spiritual Being by moving away from the surface of life and connecting with the silence within. Also See Thoughts on Evolution through Our Conscious Way Instead of Nature     World Unity (main) See Thoughts on World Unity     Evolution of the Nation State (main)   Evolution of the Nation State Just as an individual evolves by overcoming his limited sense of self (ego) and enjoins the needs of others around him so too the nation state overcomes its limiting self-importance and enjoins the nations of the world. Global trade is an example of this movement. Global unity is a greater example. A potential divine life on earth would be the greatest example.   Nations Should Evolve Themselves Fully to Contribute to a United Humanity Gone are the days of great partial achievements. The time is NOW for each nation to acquire what she does not have [e.g. economically, socially, psychologically, strength-wise, value-wise, spiritually, etc.] to enable her to contribute to the whole of a united humankind. (MSS)   History like the Individual Indian wisdom tells us that such great philosophical truths behind the history of nations are the same as those behind our own personal life. (MSS)   See Thoughts on the Evolution of Individual Nations   The Rise and Fall of Empires (main) The Rise and Fall of Empires Every empire has risen on the basis of a strength or force that has given rise to a greater form and failed because the form was deficient to give full expression to the force. 1. Greece: a. Rose by the power of mind. Will Durant says even today it is Hellenic thought that rules the world. Its contribution was in ideas, philosophy, the arts and conceptual sciences (Level 1 & 2) and in architecture (level 3). Sri Aurobindo says Greek thought could not develop further because it was limited to mind and did not know the spirit. b. On the other side, it did not fully apply mind to organize social life, which the Romans did. Its principle of democracy remained a cloistered virtue. c. Greece rose by organizing military force, minting coins, developing export oriented trade to compensate for its poor soil. 2. Rome a. Applied the power of mind to life and generated principles of law, administration and governance which it extended to citizens throughout the empire. It organized the military. Its strength was in organizational social mechanism. b. Its weakness was in social vital to harness the social energies continuously. The empire died of economic bankruptcy but without any debt, which means it failed to fully understand the power of money and how government could create money. It knew organization at the mental and social level, but did not know how to fully organize the vital energies of society through money. 3. England a. Fully knew the power of money. It organized national currency, banking and public debt and created a global commercial empire of unprecedented prosperity b. Negatively it insisted on principles of aristocracy both at home and in relation to its colonies. Therefore it failed to tap the vital energies and aspirations of the common man and ultimately failed. 4.  America a. Unleashed the power of the individual in democracy and applied the power of the mind at the physical level through production and social organization. b. Negatively it has tried to resurrect and perpetuate the old power structure of the nation state rather than fully extend power to the individual and to the global society. It has tapped the power of the individual, but not the power of the social collective (only the power of the nation-state), i.e. it remains socially unformed and immature. c. If America is to continue to be the evolutionary leader, it will have to shift from exercising national power to evolving global power through global institutions such as a world central bank, world currency, world army, world government. Otherwise the evolutionary spark will arise elsewhere. d. Its response to the environment and nuclear weapons are critical tests of its capacity for leadership. (MSS) Greece to Rome to Europe to America Greece gave birth to a mental culture of poetry, philosophy, scientific thought because she was in a hot climate. Thought develops where the climate is hot. In narrow confines of a small peninsular nation thought easily finds birth. It stirred the vitality of Rome giving birth to an empire and LAW. When the impetus was lost in its execution Europe entered the Dark Ages. Emerging from it we witnessed Renaissance, Reformation. Its important contribution is the birth of Mind in Europe in philosophic and scientific enquiry. In the European atmosphere of socially stratified constriction the wave of evolutionary impulse could not find sufficient expression. It bursts forth and landed in America and endeavoured to give birth to MIND in practically beneficial work and result and emerged as Efficient Practical Organisation whose material results rule the world today for over 50 years. (MSS) March of Civilization It is said that civilization began in Mesopotamia. Man took to agriculture and urban living. It was a physical life of the civilized man. Mind was developed in Greece in later centuries. The evolution of Man continued, but elsewhere. It was Rome that developed law, art, and empires. Again it moved. Europe developed science. Now that center of that movement is in USA, which is focusing not so much on Science as Scientific Technology. Before this movement began the Spirit was discovered in India. (MSS)   Stages of Civilization Mesopotamia witnessed the origin of civlisation, Greece was mental, Rome gave law to Europe and Europe generated science. England created an empire and liquidated it herself. (MSS)   Impact of Greece on Rome The impact of Greece on Rome gave birth to culture, art, Law and the capacity to build an empire. The Roman empire ruled the world. To this day Rome remains the capital of the world's art and organised religion.  (MSS)     British Empire Churchill saved the world from fascism, even as he advocated the imperial power of the Empire, which collapsed in the wake of WWII.  (MSS)     Roots of British Empire It was not the aim of the British to found an Empire. Their main interest was in trade. Trade became a source of Empire by circumstances.  (MSS)   End of British Empire The conscious rule of the British that divided the Hindus and Muslims directly ended in the dismemberment of the Empire.  (MSS)   The Great Character of, and the Decay of England England, the mother of democracy, ruled over the seas with an empire on which the sun never set. Having undergone subjection under the Romans, Normans, and French for centuries cherished democracy and the values of democracy. That build up leadership of courage and character. They could save democracy for the world or the world for democracy [in WWII] because they were men of character. Had their character sprung from spiritual roots, it would not have become rigid as it has now done. So, she cannot be in the evolutionary race any more. It is a character from physical hard work. By definition it will ossify and lead to rigidity. We see them worshiping the rigidity of permanence, not realizing that it has no life. Their Royalty is the symbol of their decay. (MSS)   Liberal Democracy and Empire in Britain Liberal democracy and empire have co-existed in Britain. Hence, one will find conflicting urges in her in the 19th and 20th centuries.  (MSS)   European and English Character, their Success, and Values The Europeans, especially Englishmen, are men of character, integrity, self-respect, individuality, and independence. They practise the work ethic of Protestantism and work tirelessly. Modern science, the several empires, post-war development, and conquest of disease are the direct result of these VALUES, all of which are spiritual in origin and content. (MSS)   Promises Kept and Truth as Source of Britain's Dominion The ideal of the English gentleman was a man who always kept his promises and was incapable of speaking anything that was not true. It was on the strength of that character that tiny Britain for a time extended its dominion over more than half of humanity. (MSS)   The Empire The Empire that spread all over the world had to fight for and pay for the entire world and be impoverished in the process. (MSS)   The British Empire, US, and India The US began its war of independence and secured its freedom in 1776 from Britain. Incidentally it was in 1774 only that Britain won the battle of Plassey in Bengal and began the consolidation of the British empire. As Britain’s capacity to maintain an empire was limited, the moment India was gained, America was lost. (MSS, N. Asokan)   British Did Not Interfere in Indian Culture When the French came to India they tried to impose their religion on the Indians while the British chose not to interfere with the native culture and traditions. The result was that while the British added India to their empire, the French could only rule a few pockets. (MSS, N. Asokan)   English Colonial Obliviousness England established her empire, not so much to attain territories, but to gain markets. She was oblivious to the ramifications, however.  (MSS)   Conquered is "Conquered" by Culture of Subject Nation The UK went to the Middle East and Asia for trade and conquest. It ended up in the conqueror being conquered by the culture of the subject nations. The British Empire was the main reason for the interest of the West now in Zen, Buddhism and Eastern mysticism. (MSS, modified)   Britain Now Nowhere The wave moves by an undulating motion. The unmoving sheet of water is quiet. The wave rises and falls. The rise and fall causes the movement. There is no movement without that rise and fall.   Britain that ruled the whole world is now nowhere. They could rule the world, as they were ruled for a thousand years by various European powers. (MSS, extracts)     Energies Depleted from WWII, England Relinquishes Her Colonies With its energies depleted defending Europe in WWII, Britain how no energies remaining to uphold its colonial territories. Soon after WWII, most won their independence.   Untitled The British "unified" the US and then India by their exploitation. Looking for resources and markets, she unconsciously instigated freedom. Likewise Nature shapes our own individual lives, evolves our being slowly or quickly over time in ways we are unconscious of.   England Unites India From a subtle perspective of the march of Nature we can say that England came to unite India.   Social Anachronisms When a society (or individual) lives in the past and is not open to the needs of the present, it begins to decay, wither, and die. (e.g. later Roman Empire; Lady Catherine's authority in Pride and Prejudice, etc.)  (MSS)   Roman Empire Augustus Caesar organised the life of the Roman Empire and it was this that made the framework of the first transmission of the Graeco-Roman civilisation to Europe-he came for that work and the writings of Virgil and Horace and others helped greatly towards the success of his mission. After the interlude of the Middle Ages, this civilisation was reborn in a new mould in what is called the Renaissance, not in its life-aspects but in its intellectual aspects. It was therefore a supreme intellectual, Leonardo da Vinci, who took up again the work and summarised in himself the seeds of modern Europe. (Sri Aurobindo)      How the Bad/Evil Serves the Good (main) Evolution of the Good through the Bad Life normally evolves through conflict. Things we perceive as conflict are the means of social evolution. Things we perceive as "bad" are necessary in the scheme of things, as are the "good." The "good" and the "bad" are necessary to each other for the greater development and emergence of all. E.g. WWII led to UN and the first glimmers of a new emerging movement toward world unity. Problems in Bosnia focuses European role in future of confrontations in region. And so forth.   Holding a Thought in Our Mind and Its Opposite It is difficult to hold two thoughts in our mind that contradict one another. If they are opposite, how can we subscribe to one or the other? And yet the spirit-oriented individual who has transcended ordinary thinking tends to embrace all sides of an issue that make up the Whole, rather than the exclusive part ordinarily subscribed to. By moving our center of awareness inward away from the surface, we enable such multi-opposing perceptions of truth. Mohandas Gandhi was the redeemer of India, bringing her to independence in 1947 after years of hard-fought battle. Can anyone but admire; no, revere the Mahatma? And yet his practice of "Ahimsa" -- non-violent action -- caused a 30 year delay in Indian independence, the partition of the nations into two (including Pakistan), with nuclear missiles pointing at one another. Also immediately after Partition, millions died in the separation. When  the British were on the ropes years earlier, and were on the verge of leaving the country through Indian force, Gandhi stepped in and halted that action because it was not derived through non-violence. Thus, independence was delayed in the name of the gimmick known as Ahimsa, bringing great suffering and problems in its wake. It is difficult for the mind to hold these two apparently conflicting ideas -- Gandhi's greatness and his tragic error -- together. And yet that is the truth that overcomes our propensity to see only one side of an issue. For example, China annihilated the Tibetans in the 50s and 60s when she tried to make her way towards independence. The Dalai Lama and followers were forced into India. China had undertaken the most despicable actions to defend her territory: an abuse of the collective ego. And yet at the same time, the Dalai Lama realized that Tibetan Buddhism had become crusted over. In India and his travels around the world, he came to perceive a modern, new evolutionary perspective that he never would have enjoyed if he remained with his people in Tibet. Because he was forced to run, life compelled him into a new, dynamic perceptive of the religion he led. It is an irony of history that only an open mind -- i.e. a multi-side perceiving spiritualized mind -- can fully appreciate. Each of us are tethered to a limited view of things. We stick to it fiercely. Yet Nature works on multiple fronts simultaneously -- enables what seem to be contradictory occurrence to happen at the same time. E.g. the EU might not have ever come about, or if so in hundreds of years, if the Nazis in the guise of evil hadn't rampaged through Europe. Man in the 21 century and beyond will begin to unshackle the  propensities of exclusive mind, and embrace a true hyper-rationality of spiritualized mind, which is willing to look at all sides of an issue, and embrace each of those truth, no matter how contradictory they may seem on the surface. Even the brute Nixon went to China to open up that once-closed land.   Nature Brings Progress through Evil Nature's Way: -The evil fascists came to bring about greater world unity, including the UN and the EU -The negative British came to India to unite her. -The evil of terrorism has come to end world poverty. All of these evolutionary gains could have and come about through higher consciousness of humanity. When that is not possible, Nature steps in and works her difficult ways. Greater consciousness must be the way of the future, or else there will be continued suffering.   Oppression of Tibetans and Dalai Lama's New Perspective In a new book on the Dalai Lama, he reveals that as a result of China oppression where he was forced into exile in India (and after many tens of thousands died), his own beliefs and understanding of Tibetan Buddhism have undergone a major revision, seeing that the earlier ones were crusted over and did not embrace the modern world - e.g. the evolutionary perspective of change. By being in exile, he has thus developed a new spiritual understanding for Tibetan Buddhism that could be embraced by his people in the future. Thus, we see that out of darkness comes the light.   The Great Value of Tragedy and War Greek philosophers spoke of war as a great benefactor. The great boon to the world that lies behind the erupting of the war is not seen by us. It lies in the causal plane. Western Europe was ushered into unbelievable prosperity when she recovered from the ravages of the world war. A report of UNDP says that the world made as much progress in the fifty years of the post war period as she had done in the previous 500 years. (MSS)   Nature Pounds the Physical Consciousness Out of Peoples Often when nations suffer great difficulty and tragedy it is Nature willfully driving out their Physical consciousness. That consciousness shows itself in that people's tendency towards any of anachronism, inertia, brutality, violence, harmful religion, ritual, insularity, indifference, materiality, etc. Nature uses physical disaster, war, and disease until the people move out of their physical consciousness to a higher vital or mental consciousness. In this sense Nature serves a great purpose. It would be better however if people can evolve by self-consciously moving out of their physical consciousness. The Utility of Evil as Expressed in Mythology and Reality In the mythologies of the world, we generally see the play of good and evil. E.g. in the Indian spiritual epic The Mahabharata, we see the conflict between two sides, some of whom are close relatives of one another. One of the sides, the one considered ‘good,’ is advised through the Wisdom of the current avatar [one who brings evolutionary change to the world] Krishna. In the West, there are also ancient, as well as modern mythologies, two of which involve the adventures of science fiction space travel. They are ‘Start Trek’, generally produced for a more mature audience, and ‘Star Wars,’ written for youth. Here too good and evil are at play. Then, of course, there is the reality of life itself that the mythologies represent. In WWII, we saw that reality,