Being Aware that fear and aggression are primarily mental events, and consequently, only a terrorized mind terrorizes others;

Taking into account that individual and collective events occur as part of historical forces, developed over centuries and millennia, in which all parties have been participants in a continuous chain of actions and reactions;

Based on the fact that in the sacred books of all religions there are equally commandments and admonitions to take to the path of non-aggression, meekness, love, tolerance and forgiveness, that these truths are held equally self-evident by the adherents of all religions, and many practices are common to the followers of all religions;

Re-establishing that, contrary to above principles of harmony, the practice of making derogatory statements concerning other religious and ethnic groups is a violation both of divine will which is good and benevolent towards all living beings and of the basic human rights to live in peace and prosperity;

Observing the profuse evidence that in long periods and large geographical areas of the earth frequently no inter-religious strife has taken place and the said teachings of love have been successfully applied in inter-personal and inter-societal relationships;

Recognizing the power of confession and forgiveness as a common spiritual and ethical principle, and its practice enjoined in all religions;

Be it resolved that the participants of this meeting of the World Council of Religious Leaders unanimously agree among themselves, and herewith recommend to the Secretary General of the United Nations,

(1) That a study and research programme, and the dissemination of its outcomes, be instituted with the aim

* to look into the forces that historically brought about the success of the teachings of non-aggression, love and tolerance where such has been evident in the various periods and geographical areas of human history; and

* to find ways for consciously implementing the patterns of such forces in our times;

(2) That the scholars and theologians of all religions categorically state that the admonitions to aggression against non-adherents are to be interpreted only as indicating an internal struggle towards the Good within a human being and not to be directed against another individual or group;

(3) That the supreme leaders and the councils of all religions advise their adherents to totally refrain from condemnation of others' belief systems;

(4) That the leaders and authoritative councils of various religions find ways for seeking and extending forgiveness in order to support and deepen the mutual understanding and harmonious relationships in the present to lay a foundation for universal inter-religious harmony in the future;

(5) That as a natural accompaniment to the resolve to undertake and encourage such studies as well as acts of mutual forgiveness and harmony, the participants of this meeting of the World Council of Religious Leaders

* Exert pressure on the political entities, whether they are in power de facto or de jure, to prevent all such vocal or physical acts as violate the teachings of non-violence and cause hurt or harm to individuals and groups of the adherents of other religions and societies,

* Encourage all in the field of various systems of education that

----- the teaching imparted about other religions should be done so only by the adherents of the particular religion and not by those who are unsympathetic to the same, and

----- the teaching of the principles and the history of non-violence and the methods thereof be made an essential part of the school and college curricula; and

* in that context Declare all acts of terrorism as violations of religious edicts and of human rights;

(6) So that through such positive scholarly, educational and spiritual endeavors the entire humanity be spared the scourge of intolerance, mutual condemnation, persecution, oppression and terrorism.

The Council of World Religious Leaders further recommends to the Secretary General that the United Nations General Assembly adopt such a declaration of mutual respect among religions as an article of faith common to the entire humanity.

NOTES TO THE RESOLUTION
(1) No events in human life and history occur but within the context of interactions among perennial forces. It is therefore incumbent that for the prevention of the recurrence of any undesirable events, any action of choice needs to be planned in the framework of a holistic view of history. This means that in doing so we must address the long-term causes of the events - and deflect their effectiveness - towards a true course beneficial to all.

(2) All human experience arises from spiritual and mental sources and it is in the realm of spirit and mind that any progress towards the ethical choice of individual and collective conduct can be made. It is therefore incumbent upon the leaders in the religious and educational fields to set an example of love and tolerance towards those with whom they may happen to disagree. Thus all inter-religious communication needs to be free of derogatory expression in which alone the rise of religion-based violence is rooted.

(3) Because of a strong aversion to aggression and violence in a human being, we tend to neglect the fact that the geographical areas, and periods of history where no violence has occurred are far larger than the ones where such unfortunate events have taken place. In order to arrest the recurrence of aggressive behaviors among societies, we need to study deeply and research the causes of successful peace so that the peace-generating forces of those time periods and societal areas may be understood and encouraged and thus the experiences of such courses in human history may be replicated for the present and the future.

(4) Acts of forgiveness begin with considering seeking forgiveness from others for the aggressions 'we' may have committed. Each religious group in the world needs to research into its history and seek forgiveness of others whom 'we' may have wronged. Only then would 'we' gain the forgiveness of others and will cease to be subjected to terror arising from anger.

(5) Social groups of peaceful individuals cannot become violent. The contemplative paths in religion are scientifically proved to generate peaceful inclinations. The pursuit of such contemplative ways will bring back to religion the power to grant peace, instead of encouraging condemnation of and violence towards others. The true antidote to terrorism is to free the human mind from the tendency to be terrorized. As stated in the Resolution, only a terrorized mind terrorizes others.

(6) A statement declaring terrorism to be undesirable will be efficacious only with a spiritual, socio-psychological and educational change within the context of a holistic view. Only spiritual education in contemplative content of religion remains the way to bring about peaceful conduct in the minds, words and acts, first among individuals and thereby among the societies. The UNESCO Report "Learning: the Treasure Within" may serve as a good starting point in this direction.

It is hoped that the Council of World Religious Leaders will take steps to institute the necessary programs to realize the above ideals in the form of practical plans of study and action.

Swami Veda Bharati, Dr. Lit.
Association of Himalayan Yoga Meditation Societies

info@themeditationcenter.org

www.swamiveda.org

The Perennial in the Millennium

By Swami Veda Bharati

Prophet, Soothsayer, Sage,

What will the next thousand years be like?

I did plant thornbushes;

Won't you bless me with lilies as I wander in this time path?

I made of my offspring as marauders,

Won't you pray for them to be wise

So they flourish, prosper, and sweeten the bitter seas.

Will they, or will they not?

What will the next thousand years of my generations be like?

Prophet, won't you prophesy?

The prophet from the divine thunder roars;

The Sage within our soul whispers.

The next thousand years will be whatever you have chosen today to make of them.

Uproot the thornbushes now; plant the lilies instead and the time paths of your generations will be paved with soft fragrant petals, each petal an achievement from your labor at interior purifications.

Sweeten your minds and the waters of the earth will remain sweet, and be sweeter still by the year.

The plants and trees will flourish, will provide shade, yield fruits, hold the soil fast to fasten the clay against erosions and rampant floods; The plentiful herbs will remain potent to grant remedies for illnesses.

The earth's breast will be suckled and not be cruelly dug into, nor shall Gaia be sold as a slave girl for the price of a puff of the chimney smoke.

The streams and waters will flow fresh and clear, granting life to all whose roots or lips sip of them gently. The rains will quench and soothe and not burn the skin nor scorch the vestment.

The earth's blue silk scarf will wave unstained and unfurl the unbethought

Vigor that only Mother's love can confer.

The human kingdom shall lay no claim to the possession of the planet.

In trust alone shall we hold it.

The nutrition will be obtained from foods fresh, gathered sans hurt and violence, not dripping blood, nor sucking the life from those who till the earth, and this food will nourish as accorded by the season, first your mind and thereby the physical self.

Our brother kingdoms of the four-footed, the winged, those crawl on the belly and those that dive with fins shall not be held captive nor shall any from our kingdom spill their blood, not for gluttony nor for a warped urge for recreation. The human species having forgotten the feel of fear, all species shall roam in amity with humanity with cordial right of the way mutually accorded.

Relationships shall be nurtured so as to pay all one's debts, to learn from those in a different age group, gender, family station, and not for one wielding power and the other tremblingly yielding to reasonless display.

The law of love will enforce itself, needing no exterior enforcers.

The virtue shall be its own power of defense needing no defender.

The matters of polity will provide occasion to test one's inclination for consensus and not to confront and contest. Any contests will be to test one's own depth in virtue.

Humanity shall embark on expeditions of unceasing conquests over its interior maligning forces driving deep the one-pointed lances of silence.

All the boundaries dividing the earth shall have crumbled like the wall of Berlin. All regimes will have fallen, only the cultures shall govern themselves in mutual honor and sharing of all that is inspired.

The children will be honored for their purity, not that their wings be clipped in mid-sky-soaring, nor shall entertainments sully their white mantles of innocent light. The primary teaching will be to help cultivate a personal philosophy of life, and the secondary - to enjoy the pleasure of living by that philosophy, and the highest education will be the realization of spiritual self.

Education will be designed to free the souls from bondage of the identities of matter. It shall not be a privilege of the few, empowering of the yet fewer, enslaving of many to the drudgeries of the meaningless simply to provide bread to a starving table. Women, philosophers, sages - it is they who will educate with assistance from the instructors who are guided by love to an intuitive entry into the hearts of their mind's beloved children.

Because the ancient mind arts will be revived en masse, the knowledge of all sciences shall be gained in very short time periods, not weighing the minds down with burdensome loads but gaining access to the hidden chambers by the shortest route.

Those who delve into the mysteries of nature's realities and discover truths unbeknown before shall link them also to an unveiling of the mysteries of spirit's realities, so a soul shall give life to the bodies of sciences.

No group shall be denied entry into the ceremonial, ritual, celebration, sacrament of another, nor shall any criticize nor be forced to adopt whatever is alien to one, but is fulfillment of another. All shall bow in reverence to the alien thought, word, act, and person.

All religions will share space in the same temple-synagogue-cathedral-mosque, all congregating side by side, each worshipping by his book, his revelation. Each shall thus honor in reverence the priest and the celebrant, the monk and the devotee of the other. All will sing glory to saints of all centuries, of all the chosen peoples, making votive offerings of silence or of song, knowing God by No-name, and by all Her names.

The bards and poets, and not analysts, will preserve the epic and the song which they will sing and recite by heart by bon-fires burning all the nights in all the villages and communities and suburbs, nor shall any tongue be considered lesser than any other.

The entire humanity will tirelessly dedicate itself to collecting, preserving, passing on as invaluable inheritance the texts of all that is wise and sacred. Each individual will value these repositories of knowledge as wealth to be gathered, as gems to be treasured.

Recreation and entertainment shall be an enriching of the soul's beauty and not a restive commotion produced from and feeding the mind's cravings for the unnamable, momentary, fleeting satisfactions by sensation. Trading in human bodies shall have ceased, for, all will worship the soul housed in this form. So shall commerce in sport be abolished, for sport to be an enrichment of human value.

Knowing the body's cure to be in the body and the whole person's health in the mind, the malignancies of malign emotion shall first be prevented and then eliminated if still risen. By the juice of the whole herb and the root shall the body's wellness saps be nurtured, by harmonious nutrition enriched, nor shall they be weakened by unguarded indulgence.

The light in the mineral, the ambrosia in the thorn weed and thistle, and the nectar in the venom shall be extracted by the sanguine to oil life's flame, to add liquid lusture to every fluid drop that courses in the vein, but in season, by the lunar phase, with prayer seeking permission to take the least, not plundering to extinction. Currents of energies, guided by the waves generated in the deep repositories of the mind and brain shall be re-channeled to impart to every cell and organ the glow of health and the blessing of longevity.

The speech will be soft, not carrying ego-nurtured assertiveness, nor threatening, nor louder nor more verbose than absolutely necessary for benevolent effectiveness.

The crafts will fulfil the soul's longing for beauty, the goods produced to cater to need and never for greedy hoarding. Nor shall possessions be the measure of a person's worth but of his capacious heart given to sharing in charity and love. Nor shall position be an exhibit of power but a way to satisfy the innate urge to serve in humbleness of love.

Occupations and the economies will be pursuits to add to the earth's green mantle, to help all to savor the opportunities for beauteous creativity devoted to granting comfort to the relatively deprived. Nor shall any fetus suffer from absence of micro-nutrition, nor shall a single seasoned aged elder curl up to sleep hungry, alone, uncared-for. There shall be no wasting of the surplus, thereby no dearth of the essential.

The cities of today shall be remembered as cancers that have been cured, all cells restored, life saps replenished. People shall make their dwellings least visible, partially underground, and above these shall flourish green gardens where the beings of all kingdoms of the earth roam freely, lounge in the shades of trees, drink amply of the streams restored to invigorating freshness.

This past millennium shall be remembered with shudder as the dark ages bereft of enlightenment, this cluster of centuries as the most destructive ever, the memory of which causes not a savor but a shudder. The nations that war inside each human skull shall have signed a treaty of perpetual peace within, and thus shall the spectre of war, famine, untreated disease, shelterlessness cease for the vast masses whose hurt will now be assuaged with prevalence of love as the primary qualification for the masters, nay, the wisdom-endowed guides, of polity.

The science and the soul having been reunited so as to be conducive to human affections, all work will be done through vastly refined electronics and communicated by means of harmless rays. Nor shall any human endeavor cause to pour even a particle of killing poison into the air held sacred.

Men and women shall worship each other's beauteous souls that have rendered their forms so magnetically charged. It is in worship that they will learn to unite and not in the throes of lust that is unmindful of the Deity whose temple the partner in embrace is. From such a union that is a sacrament offered to Divinity, the future generations shall be brought forth in consideration of the earth's resource.

Dissenters and disputants will learn the art of merger of diverse faces of truth, each one learning to stand where the opponent stood and shall espouse his cause against one's own.

All that was considered opposite heretofore shall be revealed as complementary, to be savored in its richness, so that a mind shall not be coerced into having to choose between its night and its day but shall value equally the day's lights and the night's silences, even carrying light into the night and bringing forward silence into the day, for life's completeness.

Whether the human embarks on adventures into outer spaces or stays firmly rooted in earth, his journey into vast internal spaces shall be his primary adventure. Here in this depth of the interior sky shall one view wonders of micro-worlds and macro-universes of uncountable varieties.

The beings shall live not by the contemporary temporal, nor by the restricted spatial but by the ever expansive perennial.

Each individual will value and preserve all that is conducive to harmony, gentle thought, beauteous speech, modest claim, realization of the spiritual self within,

for,

the civilization will be governed

by the love and wisdom of the woman,

by the understanding of the philosopher,

by the vision of the sage and the saint.

And it shall be so, because the minds will have been guided into a contemplative, self-observant, aware habit and the meditations will have replaced all negative imageries that sully the stream of clear reason, pure intuition, grace of revelation.

It shall be so henceforth. So shall it be in the year 3001, if you so choose to make it.

Grace and blessing of Divinity's Infinity, and of all Her Mind's children, the saints of all ages and peoples, will guide, nourish, nurture the millennium if you will it so in surrender to the Perennial.

The lily petals of your meditations will make your time paths, and of all the generations to come, beauteous and fragrant.

Such shall be the next millennium.

If you simply will it so.

So shall it indeed come to pass.

Swami Veda Bharati

On November 23, 1999, in South Africa

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Peace in Diversity



Swami Veda Bharati, D.Lit.


Presented at the
Fifth International Conference of
Chief Justices of the World



December 2004
Lucknow, India

The root of comfort and happiness is virtue.
The support of virtue is in economy and polity.
The root of economy and polity is right governance.
The root of right governance is channeling the energies of the senses in a contemplative and meditative way.
The basis of relationships from which such a way emerges, and in turn, supports the same, is control of ego in humility and discipline.
It is the respect to mentors and elders that leads one to re-channel one’s ego and inculcates discipline.
It is thus that one gains experiential knowledge.
It is knowledge that leads on to cultivate oneself as a person.
Cultivating oneself is synonymous with self-conquest for one who has not conquered and learnt to govern just one mind, his own, how would he govern a whole empire?
Such a governance of oneself leads one, naturally and effortlessly, to success in all one’s undertakings and desired goals whether material or spiritual.[1]
Paraphrase and reinterpretation of Chanakya’s sutras on polity.

The philosophies of constitutional and international law need to be developed primarily on the basis of the fundamental precept that peace in the individual mind is the unit which, joined with similar units, is the true source of collective, social, and political peace.


A pragmatic adjunct to this thought is that the cultural experience of only a certain segment of the human family is, at present, used to develop the prevailing philosophy and laws. The experiences of very large parts of humanity are simply not taken into account. It is partly because those who wield power are uncertain as to how to balance unity and diversity. They can find their way out of the dilemma by recognising that:

one seeks to become many.
Many long to unite.
Unity leads to diversity.
Diversity balances its many parts and aspects,
By seeking to maintain a unity.


In other words, such philosophies as that of the Bhagavad-Gita and the Book of Tao state (paraphrased):

The opposites, whether concepts or entities,
are not opposed to each other;
They complement and complete each other.

Without recognising such complementary natures, each remains incomplete, feeling empty, seeking to fill itself through destructive paths of aggression, violence and conquest. To illustrate, several decades back, a parliamentarian of Shri Lanka discussing the role of the Simhala and Tamil languages in that country is reported to have said “one language, two countries; two languages, one country”. He meant that if diversity is permitted, the country will remain united; but attempts at uniformity will divide the country.


In the vast history of humanity, many conquerors have tried to unite the world by resorting to a fallacious interpretation of unity, and all have failed. However, history seems to have a will of its own, or to paraphrase Tolstoy: The divine will uses human history to fulfill purposes of its own. The leaders of a society may initiate a certain process with one intention, but the end result turns out to be quite different. The centripetal and centrifugal forces of unity and diversity work in tandem, playing with each other, balancing each other in the long run, even though, for a short while, the human acts may appear to fulfill the purposes that the leaders have had in mind. A few examples from recent history may be cited:

Ø The Peace Corps was established to bring the message of America to the people of the grass roots in far away countries. The Corps volunteers went to the villages of Asia, Africa, South America and the Islands. They not only disseminated American knowledge, but experienced the different value systems in diverse local societies. These, they brought back to the USA, leading to fundamental changes in the thinking of corporate leaders as well as the masses.

Ø Originally the English language was spread throughout the colonies with the intent to anglicise them. Many texts were translated by the missionary enterprise, or by sympathisers of the same, for the express purpose of showing the world how worthless the texts and the traditions behind them were. The end result is that the world has been inspired by these texts and leading figures in literature and philosophy have recognised their true worth; at the same time, India has used English to spread alternative therapies, meditation and yoga to the Anglophone and Europhone countries.

Ø The Chinese invasion of Tibet drastically altered the civilisation of that land, sending its guides and leaders into exile. Contrasting with the original intention, Tibetan knowledge has spread worldwide, a knowledge that would otherwise have remained locked in mountain monasteries.

Ø Colonial education has had the unintended result of producing a vast number of people who might be called ‘world citizens’. Whereas people in imperial countries and their present day successors remain confined to the use of their own language (such as English, French, etc.) and literature, the people of ex-colonial countries still speak and produce enormous amounts of literature in their own languages as well as in English or French. The learned in these societies read texts on their traditional medicine in the original language and interpret it into the language of the ex-imperial lands. They are at home with ancient and modern art forms; traditional vastu systems of architecture and modern ones. No one thinks of giving a Nobel Prize to a literateur who writes in Hindi, Tamil, Thai or Khmer unless the work is translated into a European language. The writers of these languages continue to enrich themselves with French, English and so forth. They practice their own ancient philosophies, reading the Upanishads, Kung-fu-tzu and Lao Tze and still constitute 35% of Bill Gates staff.


It is thus that the ex-imperial cultures, whose economies still dominate the world, work from a place of great disadvantage when it comes to the globalisation of culture. Any endeavour at political, constitutional, legislative, executive and judicial unity needs to recognise this fact of an existing world citizenship and take advantage of the knowledge, experience and wisdom that these world citizens have gained.


In trying to develop theoretical models for unity through a world government and parliament, rather than an appearance of unity through conquest, we need to address certain questions in a number of areas.

For the past several centuries, we have observed simultaneous movements towards unity and diversity. The creation of Italy and Germany from diverse sovereign states is an example of unity from within. The Federation of Five Nations, the Iroquois Confederacy, would be another example, even if such unification is triggered in response to the pressures being experienced from external forces. It is the people and their leaders, not extraneous sources, who generate such movements for unification.

Then there are examples of unity imposed through conquest, accompanied by major dislocations of the original ethnic populations. The indigenous peoples of countries like Canada, USA, Mexico or Brazil are united in calling themselves Canadian, American, etc. but such a unity is an imposition not at all reflective of the will of these original people.

Another example of artificially drawn boundaries is that of the present day nation-states of Africa, whose fate was finally sealed in the Berlin treaty of 1885, signed among the European nations. The boundaries drawn by the European powers cut through the traditional and natural land borders, sowing the seeds of the civil wars which were ensured for the day when the Europeans would make the appearance of leaving.

As is well known, the formation of, and developments in, Yugoslavia from the fall of the Hapsburg empire to the current decade can be cited as another example, with a slight variation of the same theme.

It appears that for the past century or two, the forces of history have exerted themselves simultaneously in the directions of diversification and unification. At the end of World War II, there were less than fifty independent and nominally independent nations. The number of de facto and de jure nations is now beyond two hundred. Along with such diversification of nations, the beginnings of the unification of Europe can be seen, though this is yet to be concluded. Within this historical force of unification, again, a drive for the preservation of numerous sovereignties continue to be a major force. Also, the fragmentation of former Yugoslavia shows the strong activity of centrifugal forces within the ambit of the European Union’s centripetal forces.

The question arises: how is humanity to establish a balance between centripetal and centrifugal, unification and diversification?

Those who wield the power to draw the models for the future unity of humankind are strongly tethered to certain world views which have been imprinted on them by the universally present prevalent education system, as pointed out previously in Education and Parenting for Peace (SRSG Publications, Rishikesh). Other educational systems that have trained and cultured humanity into a veritable garden of flavours and fragrances from so many flowers, for the past five millennia or more, remain virtually ignored. As history of democracy is traced only to Athens and other Hellenic city-states, the development of constitutions and international laws of war and peace are regarded as Eurocentric. In this, we are depriving ourselves of the benefits of learning from the experiences of a multicentric human civilisation.

Ø Why Athens alone?
Ø What were the forms of democratic elections in the Federation of the Vajji and Licchavi Republics(Gana-tantras) in the areas where the Buddha preached in 6th century B.C.?
Ø What are the forms of common consultation among the chiefs and their peoples in traditional societies?
Ø What were the rules of consultations and negotiations among different nations in the Americas?
Ø Did they have no laws governing the conduct of peace and war?
Ø How were the various ethnic groups represented in the courts of the Kings of Indonesia, and Southeast Asia for more than a thousand of years?

This shows that the kind of compassionate thought leading to codes like the Geneva Convention were actually developed thousands of years before. Here we quote from the Laws of Manu and the Mahabharata with reference to conduct in war:

One should not attack with secret weapons. . . .
Nor with barbed ones,
Nor with poison-smeared ones,
Nor with incendiary ones.
Nor shall one attack him who has climbed down from his mount,
Nor an impotent one,
Nor one who is clasping his hands (seeking mercy),
Nor one whose hair is in disarray (unable to care for himself),
Nor one sitting down,
Nor one who says “I am all yours”,
Nor one asleep
Nor one who has lost his armour
Nor one who is naked
Nor a weaponless one
Nor a non-combatant
Nor one who is fighting with another
Nor a mere spectator
Nor one whose weapons are rendered ineffective
Nor one distraught
Nor one very wounded
Nor one scared
Nor one taking to flight,
Remembering the righteous way (dharma) of the noble ones
“Let him ever act without guile, and on no account treacherously.”[2]
Laws of Manu 7.90-93, 104

The same message is heard in the Mahabharata as follows:

Yudhishthira asked:
When a warrior assails another,
how should he proceed?
How should one undertake the battle, tell me, Grandfather.

Bhishma said[3] :
One should not fight one who is not wearing his armour.
Only one should challenge one, ‘shoot, I do so too’.
If the opponent comes girded, one should gird oneself too.
If he comes with an army, then one should challenge him with an army.
If one fights clandestinely, one may fight clandestinely.
If he fights by righteousness (dharma), one should fight with righteousness.
One should not oppose a charioteer with a cavalry;
Only a charioteer should oppose a charioteer.
One should not produce calamity,
not attack one afraid or one who has already been conquered.
The arrow should not be poison-smeared, nor barbed-
For these are weapons of the ignoble.

One should fight to the point,
not become angry at one who wishes to kill you.
Nor should one attack if there is a dissension between good people
and any of them might suffer a disaster.
Do not kill someone who is physically weakened,
nor one who has no offspring.
One whose weapon is broken,
one who has panicked,
whose bowstring is broken or whose mount or chariot is crippled,
should not be attacked.
[One wounded] should be treated and healed in one’s own realm,
or may be escorted to his own home[land]-
[One treated in one’s own realm] should be released when his wounds have healed-
this is the perennial law (dharma)
One should fight with righteousness (dharma)-
So Svayambhuva Manu[4] has taught.
Mahabharata, Shanti-parvan 95.6-14


Interpreted into a modern terminology, do these rules not parallel the Geneva Convention, though established millenniums before Geneva existed?

In other words, in order for us to find philosophical ideals on which the constitutions of world unity may be built, it is not desirable to depend only on Aristotle, John Locke or Voltaire; they represent the philosophical stream of only one part of the world. In the slogan of “liberty, equality, fraternity”, where do we find their common denominator: spirituality? This is not to deny the validity of the teachings of these philosophers who have accomplished so much for the western world, but it is now necessary to become universal and to take the most pertinent and beneficial parts of the teachings of Manu, Yajnavalkya, Tiru-valluvar, Kung-fu-tzu, Lao-tzu and others, as well as texts like the Mahabharata. These will help to develop models that arise from the cultural psyche, based in historical developments particular to humanity of the non-western world. Unfortunately for now, the genius of these cultures in the fields of practical and constitutional theory and experience is all but ignored by law makers and wielders of power.

Here are comparisons, illustrated via examples of the history of political culture in many parts of the world that are commonly ignored:

Ø France, small compared to China, still couldn’t abolish royalty without resorting to the guillotine; yet Sun-yat-sen, an avid reader of French political philosophy, abolished royalty in China to establish democracy without resorting to a regicide.

Ø Would the USA have achieved independence without armed confrontation? Contrast this euro-American experience with that of India. Is not the example of Gandhi’s leadership in achieving independence a model to be pursued? How do we popularise this model among the various groups who indulge in violence while fighting for justice.

Ø Would it have been possible to establish unified nation-states in Europe without sending the erstwhile kings into lifelong exile? To contrast, India a country the size of Europe, apart from the parts of India directly administered by the British, had 600 territories ruled by kings. Some were the size of Belgium, Holland or France, some only the size of Monaco, Andorra or Liechtenstein. Upon the independence of India, leaders of the new nation persuaded all these kings to renounce their power in order to join the democratic republic – with the exception of the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Junagarh, where there was some reluctance which was later abandoned. The few remaining privileges these erstwhile kings retained were also later abolished. Many members of these royal families are now great industrialists, ministers and cabinet members in federal and state governments, ambassadors, etc.[5] What strengths of the cultural and political traditions lead to such a smooth transition on the Indian subcontinent and what can be learned from this and taken to other parts of the world?

Ø One of the reasons India, with 2700 main ethnic entities and thousands of sub-groups, has maintained cultural cohesion, if not always nation-state continuity, is because the King was never a lawmaker[6] . Throughout history, he was the final enforcer of the laws of each community upon their respective members. This principle was followed even during the time the Muslims became a power, many wiser Muslim Kings applied Hindu law to the Hindus; similarly Hindu Kings applied Muslim law to the Muslims (it would simply not occur to them to ban headscarves).
Ø Some elements of the present day constitution of India, follow the Western model of ‘unity through uniformity’. Some of the present attitudes violate the traditional Indian principle of ‘unity and peace through freedom in diversity’. It is for this reason that so many little civil wars are taking place in the border regions of India. The sooner India abandons some parts of the western model and in some areas reverts to the traditional one, she will ensure long lasting unity without rebellion from various ethnic groups. The current voices for a common civil code are in violation of the traditions of India.

Ø In creating a motto for a global nation or even a world confederation, e pluribus unum, one out of many, will not suffice. It will need to be complimented with the Indonesian motto in Sanskritised-Bahasa: bhinneka tunggal ika, many in one.

Ø In the same vein, the formulations of successful world constitutions in non-western countries should also be examined. For example: Malaysia recognises two parallel systems of law. The Muslim Malays are approximately 50% of the population and have chosen to live by Muslim law; they prefer to be left alone to live by their own rules. The other 50% are Hindu, Christian, Buddhist and indigenous who are free to practice their own religions and customs with the common acceptance of civic law modeled after the British system. In a recent check of the nineteen public holidays in Malaysia, only four were Muslim, the rest were Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Indigenous. The Malays are living in a Muslim state and the rest live in a secular state, on the same land, yet hari raya, the song celebrating the Muslim holy day, can be heard in non-Muslim establishments and is played with equal gusto. Also the government provides all necessary supports for tai pusam, the major Hindu festival in which half a million people go in a procession to worship at the sacred Batu caves[7] .

Ø The USA, often legally and emotionally insistent on one language, makes its Spanish speaking populations suffer many disadvantages. India, with four times the population has the denomination written in fifteen languages on the one hundred rupee bill. Thank God and the wisdom of those who framed the constitution, that the slogan ‘unity through uniformity’ has not yet fully made a home in the Indian mind in spite of the lapses referred to above.

If it was not for the traditional wisdom, South Asia would be divided not only into the seven states of the SARC, it would be divided into as many countries as there are in Europe, for, Orissa and Kerala are as different from each other as Sverige and Magyar. Despite a European cultural unity, Sverige, Magyar and Helvetia insist on maintaining sovereignty; but India’s parallel cultural cohesion keeps Uttaranchal, Orissa and Kerala in one single nation-state.

Why speak of a giant nation-state like India when even the city-state of Singapore with a population of over 4 million (July 2004 estimate) has four official languages: English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil. One may choose to send a child to a school of whichever language medium. As one lands at the Singapore airport, some female immigration officers are wearing headscarves, others bindis – the red dot of marriage Hindu women wear – the same is true of female police officers. The Kuala Lumpur airport is no different in this regard.

Here, if we have not given sufficient space to the countries of Africa, it is simply out of the ignorance perpetrated by the world educational systems, of which the author may also be a victim. At this time, not enough is known of the contribution of African philosophies, even unwritten, in forming the constitutions, national policies and leaders of the people. One reads of the civil wars in Congo, Rwanda, Burundi or Nigeria, but no one tells the world how Benin, the land of an ancient civilisation, with a population of over 7 million and 60 languages, lives in peace by following the principle of unity and peace through diversity. Is the validity of a culture dependent on its wealth?

Two examples, out of possibly numerous others, of the greatness achieved through the guidance and inspiration of the African traditions are those of Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan. Mahatma Gandhi is quite accurately cited as a source of Dr. Mandela’s inspiration, but why his own very positive African heritage is not recognised remains a puzzle. According to Richard Stengel, collaborative editor on Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom[8] :

“one of the things that he [Mandela] absorbed there [in his tribal environment] was this ability of the chief to listed to what everybody had to say. The chief didn’t speak until everybody had had their say, and then he sort of weighed that. One of the things that was reflected in the negotiations, is that Mandela didn’t weigh in with his opinion until everybody had spoken. . . in negotiations, in politics, he’s enormously patient and part of that comes from his upbringing as a boy and seeing how the chief listened to what everyone had to say.”

The concept of truth and reconciliation as developed by Dr. Mandela and His Grace Archbishop Desmond Tutu is mainly derived from the traditions of arbitration practiced by the civic and administrative leaders of the African village society. Nations would do well to study the attitudes and philosophy of the indigenous African traditions to help solve not only the problems of Africa, but often other areas of conflict.

Kofi Annan also is not only a product of McAlester College and M.I.T., his personality is strongly rooted in the wisdom of the African tradition:

Se eye ndzeye pa enum yi a, na eye barima.
Gather the five virtues, then you are a man.
Fante proverb
The five virtues he lists are:
enyimnyam
awerhreyemu
akokodur
ehumboror
gyedzi[9]

As we have seen above, greatness is not to be thought of as a monopoly of specific cultures. The models to be examined for forming a world confederation and, eventually, a global nation-state, must include the wisdom and experience of all lands and peoples, not only of those powers that have been dominant for the short period of the last two and a half centuries.

This goes to show that many of the oft neglected constitutions and policies of the less prosperous (like India) and the more prosperous (like Singapore) as well as the more populous (like India) and the less populous (like Singapore) can serve as models to be examined in framing a world constitution.

To return to Asia, the Buddhist kingdom of Thailand is exemplary and is the only country in Asia that remained independent during the time of the colonial empire[10] . How did Thailand avoid the damage that the other Asians suffered during the Japanese occupation? Why are not such long-term diplomatic successes, with a strong background of personal and national philosophies practiced in these lands, not given as much prominence in the history of diplomacy which is dominated by the records of European experience?

The Buddhist spiritual guides have always played a major role. The king has to be trained in the ideals of renunciation as a young boy since he must spend a number of months as a novice monk during his youth. A mention of the Buddhist philosophy of Thailand brings us to the question of the relationship between church and state. In developing a universal model for a world with a rich diversity, the discussion should be altered to regard the role of philosophy and the philosophers in running a state. For this we need to look at the dialogues of Socrates and the philosophers in Asia who guided many kings.

The thinkers of Asia would not agree that philosophers should become kings. They would propose that the kings (read modern stateswomen) should be advised by the philosophers, and as they grow in wisdom, these kings should themselves become philosophers.

One example of the success of this model in the west is that of Marcus Aurelius, who shines as a man of wisdom apart from the long array of arrogant Roman conquerors. He could be cited as the exception that proves the rule.

In India, there is a long tradition of philosopher kings or rajarshis such as Janaka whose court, in Vedic times, was the gathering place of philosophers; Ashoka, who declared unilateral disarmament and disbanded all his armies and ruled over an empire the size of Europe through spiritual wisdom; King Bhoja, into whose capital city no one could enter, it is said, who could not create instant poetry – all the way down to the kings of the Chola and Pandya dynasties and the royals of Travancore-cochin who were literateurs, poets, playwrights and authors of commentaries on philosophical texts.

There is a strong tradition in India, not equally observed in all areas and periods of history, where the counsellor to the king lived the life of a renunciate so that his advice would not be tainted by personal self interest. The relationship here is not between church and state, but between the precepts of philosophy and duties of the state[11] .


The success of such a philosophy in a global statecraft will not be derived only from what is enshrined in constitutions and then drafted into legal codes. Its success will have to depend on conventions of personal ethics, where the training of leaders or stateswomen would prepare them through education and personal ethics, to act from within their conscience by the universal laws of applied spirituality (dharma).

This would require a much wider philosophy of education incorporating the vast variety of education systems that have prevailed, some of which are still struggling to maintain continuity in diverse human societies on all continents. For more on this topic, please refer to this author’s essay entitled Education and Parenting for Peace (SRSG Publications, Rishikesh).

A common denominator in such a universally inspired education system or a variety thereof, would be,
Spirituality beyond religion in its two aspects:
a common contemplative tradition practiced without violating any religious precepts
and,
applied spirituality in the form of ethical principles of renunciation and consequent non-violence, compassion, equitable sharing and so forth, to be practiced by those who lead political and commercial lives at whichever level.

To elucidate the same principles further,

1. Renunciation would mean:
a. renouncing ownership as a definition of sovereignty and replacing it with a trusteeship. The citizen, states and nations then are only trustees of earth, water, fire, air, space and knowledge, sharing in the universal trusteeship of humanity.

b. nothing will be taken from Mother Nature without universal agreement that what we receive is not exploitative and destructive, but within the capacity of nature to regenerate. This is not the same as sustainable development which is a selfish commercial proposition, easily violated and without any altruistic and intrinsic values based on the spirituality of nature and living beings.

2. Since anger and violence arise from desire and fear[12] , education systems will need to train citizens in the ideals of renunciation, universal love and compassion, both through contemplation methods and through exercises in personal ethics[13] .

3. The same principles of renunciation, compassion and equitable sharing will guide global economic and commercial organisations to a code of ethics whereby:
a. organisations shall set rules for the workforce with a view to providing ample opportunity for developing both a positive family life and contemplative experience.
b. just as from Nature, so also from individual human beings or from groups and communities thereof, nothing shall be taken beyond their capacity. Such capacity to be defined by whatever might be left over after providing the essentials of food, shelter, health care, education and opportunity for developing family and contemplative life on a worldwide.

4. The vastly diverse knowledge of humanity as yet often unrecorded and uninterpreted will be treated as the common heritage of humanity in the world confederacy or global nation-state. Such a state would not only provide all possible means for preservation and continuity for such knowledge, but will also introduce lessons in the civic polity of the world.

Without such a spiritual philosophy of contemplation, renunciation, compassion and equitable sharing, it is not possible to create for humanity, a full opportunity to benefit from the principles of ‘liberty, equality, and fraternity’. As we have seen in the last centuries since the French revolution, those three words are often used as props to justify their opposites in the relationship among various rungs of different societies. But this trend can be changed with a little wisdom from the philosophers.

5. Councils of philosophers will need to include not only official heads of well-known religious organisations and those renowned in ethical philosophy in a Socratic sense[14], but equal place will be given to the leaders in wisdom from the economically disadvantaged and less articulate indigenous parts of humanity (patronisingly called by the euphemism ‘indigenous’). These councils of philosophers will guide the state. No laws shall be passed without approval of the philosophers council which, once gain, will include representation of all schools of wisdom.

This is by no means a prescription for a Utopia. Even though a universal society based on these principles has not been established, many societies in different periods of history and geographical areas have successfully implemented at least some part of these principles in practical forms. An in depth research project indifferent to the usual histories of wars and treaties will yield surprising values which we can learn. We can investigate why some succeeded where they did, why they failed where they did – and how to avoid the pitfalls of past failures, while repeating the historical successes on a universal scale. At the same time, we have the scientific means available to covert any of these principles into practical forms universally, while avoiding all that may violate the natural human urge to contemplation, compassion and equitable sharing.

We suffer because we suppress these natural human urges. Let us cease to suppress them; let us find ways to live by them. May we make human society a celebration of peace in unity through diversity.

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[1] For a background to the same, see this author’s Yoga, Polity and Economy in Nightbirds. SRSG Publications, Rishikesh, India

[2] This line is a translation by G. Buhler, vol. 25 of the Sacred Books of the East series, reprinted MLBD, Delhi 1964 et.seq.

[3] See the author’s Bhishma, SRSG Publications, Rishikesh.

[4] The first law-giver

[5] Unfortunately, Kashmir alone remains a festering sore. The ex-king , known as a philosopher-king, was a candidate in the last election for the presidency of India.

[6] For a vast array of references in the ancient law books of India, prohibiting the king from being a law maker and enjoining him/her to protect and implement the vast diversities of common laws, please see P.V. Kane: History of Dharmashastra, Vol II, Chap 33. It would interesting to search notes on case laws, if any survive, from the States.

[7] The Malaysian model is, in our view, the perfect solution to the Israel/Palestine problem, where similarly parallel systems of law can be practiced, with Jews living in a Jewish state and Palestinians in a Muslim/Christian state.

[8] See www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/boy/stenel/html

[9] see Joshua Cooper Ramo’s article, The Five Virtues of Kofi Annan: Drawing on his days, in the classrooms of M.I.T. and on the playing fields of Ghana, the UN leader pursues a moral vision for enforcing world peace. In TIME magazine, September 4, 2000 vol. 156, i10, p34

[10] Excluding landlocked Nepal, whose relationship with the rulers of India was in a class of its own.

[11] We can cite numerous examples from texts on polity and ethics in Hindu, Jaina and Buddhist traditions and historical evidence to support these statements. This would require a lengthy treatise which may be undertaken by a doctoral student studying theory and history of the relationship between philosophy and state Such a dissertation must also include the frequent failures in philosophers of renunciation.

[12] see Bhagavad-gita 2.62ff; Yoga-sutras 2.9,9, see this author’s Commentary Vol II, published by MLBD, Delhi.

[13] Richard Davidson et al: Long-term meditators self-induced high amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice. Madison, WI. published online by the National Academy of Sciences.

[14] We use the word Socratic as a synecdote to include other similar philosophies such as the Sharamas Brahmins, Taoist philosophers, Sonomas and others.

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