This is some advice I have for ensuring the survival of the human race. It is the second of two blogs on this subject. Link to my earlier blog is below:
As I said in my first blog I am not an enlightened mystic and also I am not a spokesman for the Universe. My advice may be sincere and well meaning but it is not authoritative. Keep that in mind and take my advice with whatever amount of salt that you deem appropriate.
But the basic point that we are here to serve the Universe is not inconsistent with Christian teachings. I think that Christianity stresses serving God and all else is a means to that end (please check and verify).
My first point is that there is a distinction in Hinduism between Shruti and Smriti. According to a Google search:
However, Shruti and Smriti are two types of Vedic Literature. Shruti, which means “to hear,” is canonical and eternal and includes the Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads. It consists of revelation and unquestionable truth. In contrast, Smriti meaning is based on human memory and tradition.
The key point is that in Hinduism Shruti is canonical and eternal and unquestionable truth. Smriti on the other hand is of secondary importance and it changes with time. So my first piece of advice is that it is necessary to make the distinction between Shruti and Smriti and give each its due importance.
My second point is the teaching from the Bible – For many are called but few are chosen.
Out of the entire human race many are called so most are not even called, many are called and few are chosen. It is not required that the entire human race should try to become saints. In fact to try to have them do so is counterproductive. The world economy is based on demand for and consumption of products and services and if everyone were to renounce worldly life and try to become saints then the world economy would collapse overnight.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam also (an ancient Hindu scripture) it is mentioned that the Universe requires only a limited number of saints and mystics. Following is a relevant extract from the book:
Brahma’s first human creations were saints, who immediately upon being created, fell into deep meditation finding no interest in things of the world. Thus, through them Brahma saw no possibility of the propagation of the human species. While he was meditating upon what course he should pursue his own form divided itself; one half became man and the other half became woman.
The man was called Manu and the woman Satarupa; and from them have sprung all mankind.
So the saints may be on top of the food chain but humanity does not need too many of them.
The next point is that we, most likely, have much to learn from past civilizations that survived for many centuries. I am thinking in particular of the civilizations of China, of the Hindus, of Islam and the Roman empire. As Bertrand Russell said in Sceptical Essays:
A system that has had this extraordinary power of survival must have great merits and certainly deserves our respect and consideration.
Russell was speaking of the civilization of China but the points he made apply equally to other cultures.
Next two points – firstly if the human race needs to survive it will be due to scientific inventions that make survival of the human race on a sustainable basis possible. So the Western nations (in fact all countries) need to stress on producing talented scientists who can come up with these inventions. For more on this subject please refer to The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell in which he makes the point that in our situation we need more science not less.
Also the green movement needs to be tolerated and (if possible) supported as much as possible. Commercial considerations and electoral politics might make this difficult but try to do what you can.
The last point I want to make in this blog is simply to make haste slowly and choose the sources from whom you take advice carefully. I have commented on my own expertise earlier in this blog. That might apply to a lot of experts. There are also two concepts that may be relevant:
- The American maxim – If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Clearly there is something wrong or climate change would not be happening. So the system needs to be fixed.
- The Japanese concept of Kaizen. What I understand of kaizen is that you need to make small changes and see if the system absorbs the changes. If one small change has worked then make another change and see what happens. And so on. Don’t make drastic changes that might result in disaster.
For more advice and clarifications or if you have any questions please get in touch with me.
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