Book Title: World of Philosophy
Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan
View full book text
________________
pealed to the people on the humanitarian ground for preserving peace, solidarity and unity of the society. Science does not have within itself any inherent leverage by which it can prevent its exploitation by human impulse and passion. Since science can produce great results, its exploitation can also be great. It is now well recognized that the development of science should be supplemented by enormous development of human goodness. Now, the present world is searching for universal unity, integrity and solidarity. Material prosperity of the science provides us enormous comfort and utility but not universal good and peace. It has no mechanism for generating peace and goodness independent of religion. Similarly religion has no technology to create machine or computer for generating peace and goodness independent of science and it has no technology to avoid agony and misery of the people of the universe with out any help of scientific investigation. Science cannot afford to be value neutral; it can build a bridge between knowledge and value. Sufism is one of the important gates by which science and spirituality can enter into the domain of ethics to save the world.
From the above discussion it is vivid to us that the following utterances of Diwan-i- Shams of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi are very relevant for present humanism and global spiritualism:
What is to be done oh Muslims? For I do not recognize myself: I am neither Christian, nor jews, nor Magian, nor Muslim I am not the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea; I am not of nature's mint, nor of the circling heaven. I am not of earth, nor water, nor of air, nor of fire; I am not of the Emirian, nor of the dust, nor of the existence, nor of entity. I am not of India, nor of China, nor of Bulgeria, nor of Suqsin I am not of the kingdom of Iraqi an, nor of the country of Khurasan; I am not of the world, nor of the next, nor of the paradise, nor of hell. I am not of Adam, nor of Eve, nor of Eden and Rizwan, My place is placeless, my trace is the traceless, (I am Infinite). He sends open invitation to all mankind and said: Come, come where ever you are Wonderer, idolater, worshipper of fire Come though you have broken your vows a thousand times Come, and come yet again Our is not a caravan of despair (It is the caravan of hope and love).
I think, here deserves the success of Sufi notion of spirituality and universal harmony. Therefore, Sufism is not a religious movement but at the same time it is a socio-cultural awakening to establish perfect harmony in this world with out any reluctance.
408