Change : Social Conflict or Harmony?
Values lie
at the heart of human behaviour. They determine what we do and how we do it.
Values are based on what people consider to be “of social value” or of
important in their lives. They can be categorised as social, human, moral or
spiritual values etc. Goodwill, kindness
and mercy are a few essential human values. Respect, integrity and non-violence
are examples of moral values. Spiritual
values such as inner peace and contentment are related to a higher transcendent
order of consciousness.
The ironies
of modern ‘progress’ are only now becoming apparent. The planet at large has
witnessed a growing democrastisation, greater scientific achievements,
unimaginable advances in comm-unication technology and a heightened global
awareness, yet inspite of all these miracles, less than two-fifths of the
world’s population benefits from them.
Another one-fifths lives below the poverty line with insufficient food,
water and shelter. In India alone more
than 2.5 million people live their entire lives on the street.
It has been
said “There is enough for man’s need, but not for man’s greed.” Consumerism and
the greed which drives it, prohibit the world’s poor from being properly fed,
even when the planet has sufficient resources to feed them. The problem is not
one of supply but of the economic self-interest which prohibits more equitable
distribution.
Americans,
for instance, comprise five percent of the world’s population, but use 30
percent of the world’s resources and 25 percent of the world’s annual
consumption of fossil fuel. One third of the world’s grain harvest is fed to
animals in order to produce eggs, milk and meat for the American-style diet. If
everyone were to switch to a vegetarian diet, it would allow another billion
people to be fed-in other words, the billion who are currently without enough
to eat.
The
scientific age with all its many advantages has led us away from kindness and
compassion. Human relationships are falling apart. Community seems to be
something we all keep striving for, yet rarely manager to attain The image which sticks in my mind of the
inner cities is of cold, concrete housing blocks ravaged by stone throwing and
graffiti. No neighbourly feeling there. Family life too, is under threat. One
in every three marriages in the UK ends in divorce; it is predicted to be one
in two by the end of the decade.
Erosion Of Values
The
noticeable decline in public and global morality and its accompanying
lawlessness can be seen as the direct result of the erosion of human and moral
values.
These
values are formed within the individual from two primary sources. The first of
these is an intrinsic sense of right and wrong, which moral philosophers have
called the ‘conscience’. The conscience is the inner mediator of the human
psyche. It is the ultimate guide for human behaviour. The second way a person’s
values are formed is according to influences from the outside, for example from
parental guidance, peer pressure, religion, education, the media etc.
When the
conscience is strong, an individual is self aware. In other words, he or she understands and
realises the self as a thinking, discriminating being and acts according to
high principles. Observing his or her own thought patterns, attitudes and
beliefs contributes to self-control and the ability to make value-based
decisions. All individuals possess the
capacity for self-awareness.
However, as attention is drawn away from the self and focussed more and more on the external and the material, the memory of goodness slips away. Negativity enters and begins to erode human and moral values. This in turn impacts on human behaviour, leading to negative trends which ultimately affect the social fabric in a negative way.
Sustained exposure to negative influences leads a person to
negative thinking which further weakens the conscience, in the way that
dis-ease weakens the body. The conscience is then rendered ineffective in its
ability to influence decisions and behaviour. When this happens, an individual
becomes truly the product of his or her society and external conditioning.
Today,
external influences have become so strong that people often find it difficult
to decide a correct course of action. Even when one knows what is right, there
often isn’t the strength of character to withstand such external forces. This
stress leads to a loss of self-respect (which in itself is an inverted form of ego)
and therefore a need to replenish the self through external support systems.
All
negative human behaviour can be linked to a spiritual lacking. Anger is the absence of peace, violence the
off-shoot of anger. Waste or exploitation of resources as an attitude or action
is linked to dissatisfaction and greed.
Jealousy and possessiveness are the absence of contentment and inner
satisfaction; they can eventually lead to abuse or murder. Ego is the lack of respect for the self. This results in a lack of respect for others
as well as the planet and an attempt to dominate and control.
Whilst it
might seem as a little wacky to think of mounting a campaign to stop greed and
ego in the world, this is what the world sorely needs. A return to a more
simple lifestyle is not some puritanical measure to curb happiness and the
pursuit of pleasure Rather, it is based
on a more holistic understanding of the way life operates.
If we are
to reverse the decline of morality, we need to regenerate human and moral
values within society as well as strengthen individual conscience. There is
need for a total spiritual re-education, a transformation of the ego energy,
whereby individuals can gain sufficient inner power to judge right from wrong.
A Revival
The process
of strengthening individual conscience in order to promote acceptable human
behaviour and ultimately social harmony, begins with strengthening the human
psyche. Mental mindsets which lock people into destructive forms of behaviour
need to be changed so that people can learn to construct more positive ones.
It is one thing to recognise the importance of such spiritual principles and another to live by them. Positive change can only occur when people are prepared to take full responsibility for their actions on both individual and societal levels.
You are whole heartedly welcome to
Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya
