Dr. Rudi Jansma
We would non kill - fellow man nor animal. We would be Christians
We would be non-violent in act, word and thought. We would be Jains
We would not make war. We would be Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Muslims etc.... just truly noble humans
We would practice compassion for all beings. We would be Buddhists
We would the accept the all-pervading unnamable Deity who is beyond all mundane forms, yet brings them forth - who is all-compassion and all-forgiven, and supports the just. We would be Muslims.
We would see a living, conscious soul in ever being, even in the tiniest and the mineral body. We would be Jains
We would see that our essence, our deepest Self or atman is one with Brahman, the unspeakable Principle and Deity. We would be Hindus
We would see that 'all beings are there to help each other'. We would be Jains
We would see that the illusion of a separate ego - each one for himself - is the greatest heresy. We would be Buddhists
We would see that all beings form one family. We would be Hindus
We would feel our smallness and oneness with the Great Nature. We would be Taoists
We would be conscious that the Earth is our Mother, and the Great Spirit our Father, and we would love and respect them for their Goodness and Wisdom. We would be native Americans.
We would respect and live all these ideas. We would be humans.
Instead:
We build temples, mosques, churches, and defined innocent pieces of ground as 'holy' and prayed to our Preceptors to help us in our pity pursuits.
We pray them to help us
But do not listen to what they say
And if we listen and read
We do not practice what they say
But we never took at heart what they actually said.
We don't need churches, mosques, temples and holy place.
We don't need to pray
Because God or the soul or our inner Nature
Knows better what is good
Then our mind.
Would the gods really appreciate
The skyscraping idols built for them?
Buddha and Bahūbali?
Shiva and Jezus?
Hanuman and Quan Yin?
Or would they rather see
That we listen to the silent voice within
And follow it?
If we had done that, we would have been a happy, content humanity, living in safety. We could have spend our time in deeper studies and meditations, and penetrated the furthest reaches of the universe with our Spirit - and we would have Known, and Understood more than a million Hubbles can ever reveal us. We would have been millions of year ahead in evolution
Compared to where we are now: in dire misery and despair
But we did not do it.
This book would not have had to be written.
Millions of books would not have had to be written
A few good ones would have been enough
Because wisdom is not in books,
But in the Heart
Billions or trees would have been saved and the earth would be forested all over.
But we did not listen
So we wrote this book
A few will read it - one book among many books - so boring
Then they will turn on the TV and entertain themselves.
If we would have listened instead of prayed,
lived the life instead of building buildings
The following would not have been necessary.
of course, some of us can still begin to take the great teachers seriously from today
*
But as the situation is, we have a planet full of problems. They are undeniable and cannot escape them - at least not immediately. The problems are: how to sustain our life-style and comforts, our production and our possessions. We are caught in our own psychology - we have become addicted to illusions that we created and would not have been necessary. We need energy... ENERGY... MORE ENERGY.
Then, what form of energy? - at least we are aware of global warming, deforestation, extinction of species, perhaps extinction of the human species. We are scared, at least subconsciously. It may hit back on us, even we don't care for others. Within this framework of the reality of our age, we can investigate which forms of energy claim the least of our planet, are least unethical, and involve least violence. Thus we can study the energy situation of the world in a context of aparigraha and ahiṁsā.
Bookshelves could be written full about the problems of humanity. Even if we look only at the material problems, the situation of our physical planet, her atmospheres and waters. We will only mention a few rather shocking facts, to awaken the consciousness of the reader - not to be scientifically exhaustive - before turning to David Pratt's practical and realistic article on what we can do about it. Be warned: it is a dire scenario, but there are points of hope also.
- Editor
