"There is in the living being a thirst for limitlessness"
The following sections present main topics with links and few extracts from them.
Social Philosophy
All should be afforded equal opportunity for their development
Progressive Utilization Theory
All long for the Supreme, either knowingly or unknowingly. All want infinite happiness; perfect peace.
Neohumanism
Neohumanism is the practice of love for all created beings of the universe, animate and inanimate. It is the spirit of humanism extended to all: the elevation of humanism to universalism.
As human beings we have intellect as well as instinct. Intellect can either be used sentimentally or rationally. If it is used sentimentally it leads to dogma. If it is used rationally it leads to devotion.
Sentiment is intellect minus rationality. It allows the mind to be attracted to whatever it wants, without any regard for the consequences. It is based on selfish pleasure, and therefore is dangerous to oneself as well as to the society.
Sentiment is intellect minus rationality. It allows the mind to be attracted to whatever it wants, without any regard for the consequences. It is based on selfish pleasure, and therefore is dangerous to oneself as well as to the society.
Sentiment leads to dogma. A dogma is an irrationally established idea devoid of logic. It is a preconceived idea which "stifles the spontaneous growth of human intellect." As such it gives rise to superstition, oppression and pseudo-spirituality. "With dogma, even 10-20 percent of human intellect cannot be properly utilized… The human intellect has got to be liberated from all sorts of bondages, from all kinds of dogma."
Rationality, on the other hand, is the ability to discriminate between right and wrong, between what should and should not be done. Rationality is a great asset, and it is only found in humans.
Rationality gives rise to devotion. Devotional sentiment is the highest and most valuable treasure of humanity. It makes the heart sweet and strong, and leads to expansion of mind because it is not a limiting sentiment. As such it transforms the sense of worldly existence into the supreme spiritual stance.
Education
Three fundamentals of education are: Education
1. It must be based on factuality,
2. It must awaken a thirst for knowledge, and
3. Students and teachers must both have a balanced mind.
Spiritual philosophy
"The Supreme Entity is the vastest entity;
the ultimate source of all cosmic emanations.
The Supreme Entity, which is difficult to conceive,
is the subtlest of the subtle.
He is farther away than any other entity,
but again He is nearer than the nearest.
Only the one who looks into the innermost recesses
of himself can realize the Supreme Entity."
Realms of the mind (kosas)
"The mind is composed of five layers, just like the banana flower."
Service to Humanity
In synch with the prevalent mindset of our present-day society, we tend to think of life in terms of sensual gratification and spend a good deal of our time going about acquiring the objects we believe will give us that gratification. When we fail to get lasting satisfaction from those material objects and the sensual pleasures they give us, we automatically believe it's because we didn't get enough of them, or that we need to try something new.
That's the illusion. The reality is something quite different. We need to go the other way; to give instead of take; to think about the well-being of others as much as of our own . It should not mean that we deprive ourselves (or allow ourselves to be deprived) of our basic necessities. But for our mental and spiritual wellbeing we need to move away from the tendency of getting more for ourselves, and move towards giving more to others, without expecting anything in return. That's why service is a big part of spirituality.
