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Talk at Tamkang University, “Global Soul, Global Mind, Global Action” November 5-7, 2005 Towards a Cosmic Society: A Tantric Perspective Dr. Shambhushivananda We live in interesting times (1).The developed human intellect aspires to put us face-to-face with reality –in time, space and person- hoping to break the boundaries of relativity that have hitherto separated humanity and shrouded the secrets of our existence. In cosmic and mythical terms, however, we are still no closer to understanding the mysterious realm of Supreme Consciousness (Cosmic Soul or Cosmic Spirit), Cosmic or Global Mind, and the secrets of the vast cosmological order that contains countless galaxies of the visible worlds. I take this opportunity to remind us of the myths of the old Vedic Rs’is (intuitional scientists) and current elucidations of those ancient vedic and tantric thoughts by my mentor Shrii P.R.Sarkar in the hope of gaining some illumination as we explore the ‘futures’ in the context of 'Global Soul', 'Global Mind' and the movement towards a 'Cosmic Society'. The term 'global' is generally used geographically (to represent the planet earth) and also metaphorically (to represent greater or higher dimension(s) that underlie the visible creation. The basic tenet of ancient Vedic Rs’is (intuitional scientists) was that the proof of existence lies in its substantiation (witness-ship) and that something cannot come out of nothing (Mahars’i Kanad). The entity that substantiates may be called the Subject and the existence may be called an Object. Every object has a witnessing entity that may be called its subject. The Supreme Subjectivity is the Supreme Consciousness which is non-causal and therefore the ultimate transcendental entity called Brahma or loosely speaking ‘God’- Generator, Operator, and Destructor. Nirguna, Ta’raka, Saguna Brahma is the variant states of That One Universal Consciousness. Consciousness is the combined name of Cognition (Purus’a or Shiva’) and its concomitant immutable Energy (Prakriti or Shakti).Shiva and Shakti are like two sides of a paper or like fire and its thermal property. The entire creation is an eternal play (liila) of inseperable Purus’a and Prakriti. Cognitive Faculty (Purus’a) is the fundamental stuff out of which all creation is apparently formed and Operative Principle or Faculty (Parama-Prakriti) of that Consciousness is the energy which serves as the agency for the transmutation of One into Many or Many into One. This eternal dance of macrocosm is an unending cycle of evolution and dissolution (Brahma-cakra) is like waves in the Infinite Ocean of Consciousness. The attempts of philosophers and scientists has been to search for a Grand Unified Theory or to discover the seeds of consciousness (such as microvita) as part of a ceaseless endeavor to link the known with the unknown nucleus consciousness.(2) This is the eternal journey of intellect and intuition until it merges into the fathomless cause like a doll of salt which goes to measure the depth of the ocean and looses itself. Here, I begin with a short panorama of the ancient Rs’is world view about our origins and our desideratum: “This universe of ours is the creation of dexterous hands of Parama Prakriti, the Supreme Operative Principle. This Parama Prakriti is non-causal and its cosmic manifestation is called ‘causal matrix’. All that happens with in this cosmos comes with in the ambit of relativity and science is the way to reveal the hidden cause-effect relationships. This causal matrix is the apparent cause of the eternal dance of macrocosm and it is also called liila of Supreme Consciousness (also known as Shiva or Citti-Shakti). Our cosmological order is only a small fraction of the Macrocosmic Consciousness (Shiva) begotten out of the influence of binding faculties of Parama Prakriti. The binding principle of Parama Prakriti that creates the unceasing spell of metamorphosis is called Mahamaya; when it operates with in microcosm, it is called anumaya; when it enables the unison of the microcosm with macrocosm, it is called yogamaya; and when it spans over the whole cosmos, it is called vis’numaya. This universe including all its manifestations like land, money, property etc is also called ks’ara because it undergoes constant change under the influence of the binding faculties of Supreme Consciousness, Shiva or Citti Shakti. Nothing of this world that we own is permanent. Either that thing goes away from us in time or we go away from it. That is the nature of ks’ara. That is why; sages have dissuaded us from making the things of this world as our sole object of ideation. The seed of the Primordial Creative Faculty (ka’ma-biija) of Shiva is called Shambhu-liunga. It is the starting point of creation. Within Shiva lie all the potentialities of creation, preservation and destruction or sublimation. When the Shiva or Transcendental Consciousness does not get the scope to create anything concrete with the help of its binding faculty, it is termed as Para-Shiva or Non-Attributional Consciousness. This Para-Shiva is free from all attributions or karmas and remains at the eternal witness of all transmutations. The waves emanating from para-shiva are in a straight line.The nucleus of Para-Shiva may be called Adi-Shiva , the Supreme Noumenal Subjectivity. This is the origin and terminus of all consciousness. Everything moves around this Cosmic Hub in a circumrotarian fashion.(see appended Cognitive Map) This nucleus is also termed as Taraka Brahma, Mahakaula, Mahasambhuti in Tantra. It keeps both individual and collective relation with all its progeny as Ota-Yoga and Prota Yoga. One of the names given to this Nucleus Consciousness is Jinana-Swarupa i.e., one who knows everything. There is nothing that any microcosm can do that is beyond the knowledge of that Transcendental Consciousness. The advantage is that we are never alone and disadvantage is that we are being watched every moment by our Cosmic Father and cannot do anything secretly. With our small cranium and a tiny brain, we cannot even begin to comprehend that Infinite Entity. The waves emanating from Adi-Shiva have been described in yoga-shastras as “ sarva-dyotnatmaka-akhanda-cidaka-rasah” i.e., it is all vibrating, pause- less, breathless, flow of Cosmic Cognition. That is why; the existential stance of each and every entity of this universe is maintained due to the existence of Cosmic Nucleus Consciousness, i.e., Adi-Shiva. Adi-Shiva is the adi-guru (original-educator), our dearest father. He is the most effulgent and charming one (krs’na). Our existence has no locus-standi without the existence of the original Entity. Intuitional science is the practice of reuniting with the cosmic hub- the final destination of all beings. This ultimate union is the Yoga, Ananda or Samadhi. Mahabha’va is nothing but the different aspects of the joy of that cosmic-fusion. Bhakti Marga- the path of devotion is the name given to that arena which enables the closest proximity to the irresistible joys of staying in tune with the Cosmic Hub.”(3) A society where all are attempting to move towards the attainment of that Cosmic Bliss (Maha’bha’va) may be called a Cosmic Society. Seen in this indo-tantric perspective, Global Soul would be the witnessing counterpart of the Global Mind. Global Mind would consist of different faculties of cosmic intelligences. The unit-cognitive faculties are mere thought projections of the Cosmic Cognitive Faculty.(4) In the words of Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiiji, "Just as every unit-consciousness is a multiplicity of Cosmic Consciousness, so too is every unit mind a part of the Cosmic Mind."(5) The progressive fulfillment of aspirations of each individual would contribute to fulfillment of aspirations of humanity as a whole which lies embodied in the Cosmic Cognition. Human Society then is the conglomeration of all the individuals and all their potentialities. In a broader sense, it is not just the collections of all the humans but everything that provides the context with in which they live, strive and function. Naturally, the physical environment, animate things like flora and fauna and the subtler entities that may be beyond the reach of mortal minds but yet influence the way we think, act or move forward are all the part and parcel of human society. The more we understand the world we live in, the richer will be our understanding of our place in this Cosmos. So far, we do realize that humans are one of the most evolved species on this planet (may not be necessarily in the entire creation). Yet, so far, human beings have not been able to establish one human society free from wars, starvation, hatred etc. We still have a long way to go to establish one universal society based on cardinal human values or virtues. Such a societal state where all are endowed with minimum essentialities of life, where all get the opportunity for expressing their psychic potentialities and where all enjoy the freedom to realize the highest stance of universal consciousness could be called- a movement towards the cosmic society. The evolution of human society from its primitive ape-like days to modern men has been studied and researched by streams of scholars. What can be easily deduced from this research is that the psychic metamorphosis underlies the physical transformations. The brain researches of living beings show that brains have become continuously more and more complex with every evolution of species. Hence, it would not be surprising to find that future humans will have larger brains with a greater capability of manipulating their environment. We may then lose those organs which we use less and increase the size of organs that we use more or even add new physical structures into the human body to accommodate the fresh neural networks generated by the need to explore invisible worlds. These changes would be quite normal evolutionary phenomenon in the gradual evolution of human species. Unit and Cosmic According to the indo-tantric episteme, human beings are endowed with a clearly reflected consciousness which reflects in their developed ‘i’ feeling. This i-feeling is at the core of changes in social systems. Tracing the process of social-dynamics, Shrii P.R.Sarkar remarks “If the resultant cumulative flow of innumerable individuals is termed the social or collective flow, then the latter’s trough and crest is shorter than the trough and crest of the individual flows. This shortness of collective wave length hastens either an evolution or a revolution”(6). Humans are not passive beings even though sometimes they may wait a long time to react to the conditions. The repository of human consciousness, which may be called the ‘cultural-soul’ and its concomitant ‘global-mind’, actually goads the unit-minds towards evolutionary or revolutionary stances. Through its pervasive influence on microcosmic mind-states, it influences opinions, behaviors, life-styles, ideologies and institutions. The society is thereby steered towards newer horizons. With the expansion of unit “i” (a'tman) in microcosms, there emerges a multifarious transformation in the interactions between individual behaviors, ideological leanings and institutional structures. The inspirational ideology, imaginative individuals and integrative institutions are the socio-psychic- instruments of this transformation from mere global to cosmic society. The socio-cultural-economic-political-technological changes in the society are result of evolution or devolution of unit consciousness of living beings. Hence, there is a close connection between individual growth in consciousness and the humanity’s collective consciousness. The collective consciousness, in indo-tantric tradition, has been called by different names such as Bhuma’ Ma’nas (Cosmic Mind), the Cultural Soul, the Global Self or the Universal Self or domains of Transcendental Consciousness (Loka’s) . The collective treasure of humanity lies stored in the archives of the Cosmic Mind and is never lost and can always be accessed with a subtler technology of mind-transcendence. A universal human being with an omni-telepathic mind can know all the secrets of the past. Shrii Prabha’t Rainjain Sarkar has been widely acclaimed as one such person who was an embodiment of such uncanny abilities. In his view, the movement towards cosmic society must involve growth of individual consciousness of all beings towards transcendental consciousness. What cosmic mind has been doing since the beginning of creation is taken over by the unit mind in gradual steps. This constitutes the advancement of human civilization. The stages of Global Mind are related to the evolutionary stages of human society. Marilyn Mehlmann has offered a typology of social-evolution in psychological terms as consisting of patterns resulting from a matrix of child/adolescent/adult and innocent/fluid/rigid categories.(7) In her analysis, societal development parallels psychological development- with all its potential not only for “progress” and maturation but also for conflicts, trauma and regression. Societies like individuals can also freeze into rigidity. On the other hand, universal spiritual renaissance can also unleash energy that can move us into innocent sage-like states where we are in harmony with enlightened mind-states and the highest consciousness. The journey of social collective consciousness has been a difficult one to track down. Some scholars like Sarkar approached this subject from a socio-psychological perspective and traced shifts in collective psychology and identified the societal-stages as a spiral-cyclic order. He, for instance, termed them as shudra (passive mentality); Ksattriya (martial mentality);vipra( intellectual mentality) and vaeshya ( capitalist mentality). Whatever the nomenclatures, we do see that collective psychology is not a mere replication of individual psychologies. The collective psychologies become more complex and lead to social events marked with tumultuous changes and sometimes upheavals in political and social orders. However, social progress is altogether different from mere social change. Progress entails transporting aesthetic objectivity into supra-mundane subjectivity. Such a moral stance leads human beings to the fullest expression of their finer human qualities. In the words of Sarkar “The concerted effort to bridge the gap between the first expression of morality and the establishment in Cosmic Status may be called social-progress. The collective body of those engaged in the concerned effort to conquer this gap may be called Society.” The vision of a Cosmic Society definitely entails the redefinition of social-progress in terms of global ethics(8). Ethics are at the centre of any discussion of social progress. The Global Mind States which embrace the greater welfare of all beings would provide the élan-vital of social evolutions. Layers of the Cosmic Mind Loka’s Macrocosmic Worlds Kos’as Witnessing Entity Bhu Crude World Annamaya Bhuvah " Kamamaya Iishvara Svah Subtle World Manomaya Hiran'yagarbha Mahah " Atimanas Vira'ta or Vaeshva'nara Janah " Vijinamaya Tapah " Hiranmaya Satya Causal World Aham /Mahat Purus'ottama (SSSP) Source: P.R.Sarkar, Idea and Ideology, Ananda Marga Publications, Calcutta, 1993 (9) In Sarkar’s description of Cosmic Mind, there emerge seven stages viz., Bhu-loka, Bhuvah loka, Svah loka, Mahah loka, Janah loka, Tapah loka and Satya loka. These domains of macrocosmic mind embody the collective- citta of microcosm ( annamaya kos’as, kamamaya kos’a’s, manomaya kos’a’s, atima’nas kos’a’s, vijinamaya kos’as and hiranmaya kos’a’s ) and beyond citta ( aham & mahat) of microcosms. Cosmic Consciousness (Cosmic Soul) is the ultimate witness-ship of all manifestations and therefore, may be called as the supreme synthetic subjective proposition (SSSP). In the task of human advancement, public-education can play a very crucial role. Human civilization marches ahead, on the evolutionary path, either in gradual steps or through quantum jumps provided by discoveries and inventions born out of either intuitional flashes or leap-frogging intellectual endeavors begotten out of hard work and cosmic grace. Of course, nature or prakriti plays its invisible role of steering the evolutionary journey in its pre-ordained manner. Despite the advancements in quantum of information, knowledge and analytical abilities, we are still like infants trying to fathom the wisdom of the unseen power, to understand the unexplained regions of the seemingly limitless mind and its concomitant brain and the physical world spectrum lying beyond the known bands of relativity. At the crossroad of this world of ignorance lies our pathway for further human advancement. It is indeed the challenge of each generation to bridge this gap between known and the unknown; between matter and abstract; between crude, subtle and the causal worlds. This will require bold fearless imagination, humble embracing of what lies in the far-realms of periphery in the worlds of thought, and critical reasoning to accurately validate the benevolent nature of all choices. Benevolent choices are likely to empower Good over Evil; Rationality over Dogma, and Culture over Brute force; Truth over Falsehood and Spirit over Matter. To make people aware of those benevolent options is the challenge of public-education today. In order to make cosmic society a reality, certain shared values or guiding principles need to be recognized. Some of them are: 1. Universal spiritual ideology based on universal love irrespective of religious or other beliefs. 2. Scientific Paths: which are intuitively validated & ceaselessly evolving to reflect new learning. 3. Universal social outlook inspired by Neo-humanism which gives recognition to existential and utility value of all beings. 4. A progressive socio-economic system which strives to ensure maximum amenities to all. 5. Compassionate and responsible leadership which is wise, transparent, competent & benevolent as far as possible. These five essential ingredients can further contribute to varied recipes of global actions (including a neo-magna carta) that best suit the thrival needs of an age. Some of the blueprints of visions of a cosmic society including the notion of a world government have already been sketched by great thinkers like Sarka’r, Bahaullah & others. What we need today are the practical modalities that may help us to move in such a direction. The call of times today, therefore, is not mere discovery of few more gadgets of human comfort but finding the proper path that will steer the very direction of our individual and collective movement. We face a crisis of sense of purpose; a crisis of intention; a crisis of living values; a crisis of compassion - all begotten out of disconnectedness to universal spirit. In the words of my late teacher P.R.Sarkar, “without psycho-spiritual guidance, human beings tend towards exploitation and this exploitation can be more dangerous in the psychic level than in the physical level. In order to avoid physical subjugation or intellectual extravaganza human beings require proper physical, mental and spiritual training”.(10) All educationists & enlightened persons need to come forward in order to provide such a training to all citizens. This is the crux of our task- creating learning opportunities & inspiring actions for healing the planet torn by wars and strife, poverty and ignorance, apathy and neglect. A word of caution: in the reform and redesign of the education systems, we must shrug the comfort of adhering to the status quo. The anti-thesis of today simmers to forge out the thesis of tomorrow culminating in the synthesis of the future. The well wishers of humanity must herald the advent of such ideas which may now lie at the periphery but seek to glorify and engolden the future. Let us together fetch that auspicious day closer as we sing in chorus like the sages of the past that we may enjoy the bounties of nature collectively for greater happiness of one and all. (1) George Musser, The Climax of Humanity, Scientific American, www.sciam.com , August 22,2005 (2) Richard Gauthier, The Cosmic Cycle of Creation & Microvita, in Transcending Boundaries, Eds.Sohail Inyatullah & Jennifer Fitzgerald, Gurukul Press, Melany, Australia, p.167-175. (3) Ac.Shambhushivananda Avt., Personification of the Impersonal and the Cult of Devotion, DMS Speech, Fiesch, Switzerland, May 2004 and a summary of ideas from Supreme Expression-I, Collection of Spiritual Discourses by Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiiji, Nirvikalpa Printing, Holland 1978. (4) Shrii Shrii Anandamurtijii, Ananda Sutram,Ananda Marga Publications,1996 (5) Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiiji, Ananda Marga-Elementary Philosophy,Ananda Marga Publications, Calcutta. 1998 p.37 (6) Sarkar, P.R., Human Society -II, Ananda Marga Publications, Calcutta, 1987p. 5. (7) Marilyn Mehlmann, A historical matrix, P-Lab Notes, Felixgruppen, Stockholm. (8) Neo-Humanist Curriculum, Rennaisance Institute of Society & Ethics(RISE), CNS-Ydrefors, Sweden (9) Sarkar, P.R., Idea and Ideology, AM Publications, Calcutta 1993 p.37. (10) Sarkar, P.R. Discourses on Neo-humanist Education, Ananda Marga Publications, Bangkok, Thailand.,1998.p.234