Jain Spirit 2004 06 No 19

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 33

FEATURES
Whatever we approach with consciousness must respond to us in kind, not only other human beings but even the rocks!
W e cannot have a tribeless society any more than we can have a classless society, but we can replace artificial social orders with those that follow the rhythms of the soul and place us in harmony with the universal life.
While we may recognise the importance of 'human' rights, we have forgotten the rights of other creatures, along with their feelings. Even human rights have largely been reduced to only 'individual rights', forgetting the rights of the family, community and ecosystem, without which the individual has no meaning. True universal rights are the rights (and rites) of the universe, not the selfish demands of our single species. Today we have eliminated our greater ties to both humanity and the world of nature. We have become isolated individuals, each seeking his or her private fulfillment through career, money, status or pleasure. If we are successful we are left with no one to share our success with. If we fail, there is no one to console us or to inspire us to try again. No matter how much we gain, we still feel empty. This is because our evolutionary heritage conditions us to find happiness only as part of a greater community that cannot be separated from the whole of life.
inclusive of all those who share similar values. This includes especially the Jains, whose reverence for life is unsurpassed. A new group of this type is the Vedic Friends Association (VFA), which is seeking to create a broad, non-sectarian Vedic fellowship in the West. There is a need for a community that includes all of nature, not just our fellow human beings. We must have a relationship with the rocks, plants and animals that also inhabit our world, and with the Earth, atmosphere, sky, Sun, Moon and stars. Such a relationship should be one of unity, as one manifestation of consciousness to another, not based on our superiority over other creatures, much less on our exploitation of them. We cannot hope to have harmony in our society if our society does not recognise the consciousness that pervades the entire universe.
Our main sacred role as modern men and women is to embody the cosmic masculine and feminine forces and recognise the soul both within and around us. This is to mirror the Divine back to each person we meet and each being we see. This is to perceive the Purusha in all creation. A simple way to do this is with the Hindu greeting of "Namaste' meaning "I bow to the Divine in you", which is made along with raising one's hands together in the gesture of prayer. This gesture reflects raising our inner flame to welcome the same flame in others, uniting the light with the light. It is also an integral part of the Yoga of devotion, in which we honour the Divine presence in all life. We live in a 'user friendly conscious universe that will respond to our every sincere call for help, support or guidance. We have nothing to fear but our own unwillingness to open up to life. Whatever we approach with consciousness must respond to us in kind, not only other human beings but even the rocks! If we offer our respect, our greeting of Namaste to everything, even the wind, each thing in nature will communicate to us in its own way and give us its blessing. Everything in the universe is our friend and well-wisher. All creatures are part of our own greater family with whom we have eternal and unbreakable ties. Even the forces of nature are powers of our own greater Self and spirit.
For such a new sacred society, we need a new collective fire. We need new social identities forged in that common fire. We need new rituals that link us with the greater communities of life, honouring our ties to the rock, plant, animal and god. Out of this new fire we can create a new culture of life and consciousness, with organic forms of art, science, medicine, philosophy and religion that unite us with all worlds and all creatures. If we fail to create a new spiritual sense of community, then a darker form of tribalism will arise within our societies. Denying any sacred community, the energy of our collective urge to ritual must come out in distorted forms as gangs and cults of criminal and fanatical types. Nazi Germany was a country that came under the grip of a destructive tribalism that arose to fill such a spiritual vacuum. Even communism was largely a non-spiritual cult, with politics elevated to a religious fervour.
We should therefore seek a new sense of community, a 'new spiritual tribalism' with universal appeal, to restore our organic link with the conscious universe. We need a new 'sacred community' based not upon the interests of one segment of society against another, but upon our ultimate ancestry with the Cosmic Person or Purusha. We must restore our link in the chain of life, placing ourselves in the network of souls that forms the necklace of God. We must forge a new spiritual fellowship (sangha) much like the Vedic communities of old, led by seers and yogis, rather than by politicians, preachers or businessmen. Although inspired by Vedic tradition, such spiritual communities will be
Dr David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) is Director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies http://www.vedanet.com
Jo Eduan International 2010_03