Our View of Ourselves and how it affects the world.

[loverofhumanity]

Failure to establish peace seems to have stemmed from a paralysis of will based upon how we see ourselves. We say peace is good and want it and say we are ready for it but then we say it can never be achieved because man is incapable of it, turning to our bloodstained history as proof.

"Indeed, so much have aggression and conflict come to characterize our social, economic and religious systems, that many have succumbed to the view that such behaviour is intrinsic to human nature and therefore ineradicable."(Promise of World Peace)

But isn't war and aggression a distortion of the human spirit not man's true self?

Isn't our past history just a stage of immaturity in our development as a species?

Isn't the next stage of our development our coming of age?

A reassessment is required if we are to move forward past this paralysis of will and establish peace. If we view our past as just an immature stage of our development we can move forward.

"Humanity can have confidence that it can erect a social system at once progressive and peaceful, dynamic and harmonious, a system giving free play to individual creativity and initiative but based on co-operation and reciprocity. (Promise of World Peace)

O Son of Spirit!

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.”

Bahá'u'lláh. “The Hidden Words.”

 

[Unveiled Artist]

The words of Bahaullah are beautiful. Peace among diversity means not seeing ourselves as a part of another's world but seeing their world as distinct and separate in its own right.

We say peace is good and want it and say we are ready for it but then we say it can never be achieved because man is incapable of it, turning to our bloodstained history as proof.

It can be achieved if we didn't try to make people think like us. For example, in Catholicism and many forms of Christianity, there is a thought that "if you are not like us, you do not have the same and correct love as we do in Christ." Yet, I've met many many of people who display love. Those I find who I personally call authentic or genuine love, live for themselves and their community not for another. They usually find similar experiences and understanding that say "I can't say I am Cherokee" and they can't say they are African American even though we are both humans and our cultures may overlap given our history, even some religious thought; however, because of minority views, there's a sense of "this is our community and this is yours." It's territorial, is another way to put it.

Can we find peace among territorial religions? I feel we can. Muslims don't band people from coming on their sacred land, we just have to respect their values (or get arrested). Jews may or may not mind going on their promise land but will have high feelings if a Christian disrespects it by incorporating Jewish beliefs into Gentiles because of the Apostles not their own understanding of Jewish faith. We are territorial beings. So respect for each person's territorial is a must for peace.

I feel its possible. It won't be in my life time though.

"Indeed, so much have aggression and conflict come to characterize our social, economic and religious systems, that many have succumbed to the view that such behaviour is intrinsic to human nature and therefore ineradicable."(Promise of World Peace)

Think of it this way. Are your views succumbed and behavior intrinsic therefore ineradicable?

If yes, then I'd say we do need some peace if we look into ourselves for our true nature. If not, there are many people like you. Finding peace is changing how we see things even in our speech and our personal worldview. Some people call me gullible because of how I see things. I guess it is what it is.

But isn't war and aggression a distortion of the human spirit not man's true self?

War can be healthy if it means survival. If it is political and just for wants rather than needs, then yes, I'd find it an distortion. We are territorial beings. I don't agree with war. I don't feel its a distortion just unproductive to solving human disagreements.

Isn't our past history just a stage of immaturity in our development as a species?

No. It just means we are spiritually growing. This is another way of looking at the world that we can change with our language. It's a start.

Isn't the next stage of our development our coming of age?

We'd like to think that since a lot of us feel our spirits will live forever. I feel we need to be comfortable with one, not knowing or two, death (or disappointment that someone we want may not be in our short life time). It's not negative just a way to see life as it is not how we want or have faith it should be.

It could be in the coming of age. We would not know since a lot of us would not be here to see it. How would you define peace among humanity? By whose definition would you define that peace? If you asked people individually, do you think they would all agree with you? Some things that many religious need to think about when they want peace defined by their faith not by individual people as a whole.

A reassessment is required if we are to move forward past this paralysis of will and establish peace. If we view our past as just an immature stage of our development we can move forward.

Actually, as a pagan, I find the past a very good spiritual step to our present. If anything, I find the present worse than the past. In the past before Christians and Muslims came in, the native people of religions did fight among themselves but they did have their own religions. Their worldview wasn't of colonization and authority over people like them. If Christians didn't introduce the concept of hierarchy and power, I think we'd have been better people involving spiritually rather than separating spiritual from the material.

You go to other countries and they have spiritual and holistic healing principles together than can cure the same diseases we take chemical medicines for in the states. We put down other countries and cultures a lot as primitive and "people of the past." This is another observation of changing our worldview and in our language as well.

O Son of Spirit!

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.”

Bahá'u'lláh. “The Hidden Words.”

 

[loverofhumanity]

Carlita. I enjoy reading your posts as I learn a lot from you. You make me question and think which is very good and healthy and I thank you for that. You are helping me spiritually grow..

Life at best is just temporary. We are all just travelers passing through this world in a journey. There's so much we don't know. My understanding is we are spiritual beings having temporarily been given a body to learn certain spiritual lessons, virtues and attributes.

So although we are just passing through, we can do a lot of good or harm to our progress depending on our actions here. So I think we are 'becoming our true selves' day by day. But how do we know what our true self is supposed to be? Most people refer, for this purpose in life to one of many Educators.

Here I will refer to Baha'u'llah's vision of what is our mission spiritually on earth but all the other Teachers have similar visions just in different words.

"All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth."

So we seem to have a twofold purpose. One is to develop ourself spiritually and secondly to assist civilization that is society, our children , junior youth and fellow man to foster good will and spirituality throughout the world through the practice of virtues in other words, by example, which will assist others to develop spiritually.

It is the most difficult time for a spiritual person to exist as we are surrounded by so much superficiality and materialism which is mostly meaningless and does not enrich our lives or bring us true happiness.

People are the most beautiful creations in this world. I believe in people, trust them and am supremely confident in the goodness of humanity. We are ignorant but we are learning and as we become more virtuous peace will come naturally.

Peace is more than an end to war. Just ending war will relieve a lot of stress on economies to make life easier for the poor and needy but it will not bring about inner peace. However when our minds are free from the bread and butter stress of day to day struggles we will have a lot more time to dedicate to our spiritual development and the acquiring of virtues.

Humanity's future is very bright although it's immediate future is distressingly dark.

Positive people like you who by example open minds and hearts and see the truth and good in all people and Faiths are what will breathe life into our world once again.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Peace is more than an end to war. Just ending war will relieve a lot of stress on economies to make life easier for the poor and needy but it will not bring about inner peace. However when our minds are free from the bread and butter stress of day to day struggles we will have a lot more time to dedicate to our spiritual development and the acquiring of virtues.

Yes, you're right. Peace is more than ending war. I wonder what we would do if everything was calm (though I wouldn't know who would define calmness. In Buddhism, to end peace and war is to relieve suffering but he didn't say to relieve suffering as in birth, growth, age, and death. So, suffering, in that respect ends at death rather than ever going). I think that is something we have to accept in one time or another.

Our inner peace, I believe, doesn't come by our having a religion. A Pagan shouldn't need to claim himself a Pagan and see another different as a Christian and a Christian sees someone different as a Muslim. Although our religions are drastically different, for example Christians define peace in Christ, Muslims do not, I'd see peace as trying to find the definition of the world that all three parties can agree on. However, their methods and ways of defining peace and from whom makes the definition different from each other.

I would say finding that one definition of peace is productive in a Buddhist since but then there is another side of me saying, if I do that then I am robbing people of their own faith that is completely different than mine. How I define peace may be completely different than how you define it. Given that fact, how do you find similarities among our differences?

Inner peace does come with a lot of reflection and (hint to many) reading posts that the reader would like to reply to. Observation and just thinking in the other person's shoes is a way to find inner peace. I spent time with my mother at the Casino two days ago and we talked about our conversations we had with her mother and my grandmother (father's side). It was a beautiful conversation. We clicked.

Not many people believe in the spirits and ancestors. Given that fact, how, in my personal opinion can they find peace in the way I define the word?

Why would I even ask? That is the beginning of wisdom. When you no longer need to ask. Then again, in the states, to tell us not to ask is like binding us to a chair. Wishful thinking.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Yes, you're right. Peace is more than ending war. I wonder what we would do if everything was calm (though I wouldn't know who would define calmness. In Buddhism, to end peace and war is to relieve suffering but he didn't say to relieve suffering as in birth, growth, age, and death. So, suffering, in that respect ends at death rather than ever going). I think that is something we have to accept in one time or another.

Our inner peace, I believe, doesn't come by our having a religion. A Pagan shouldn't need to claim himself a Pagan and see another different as a Christian and a Christian sees someone different as a Muslim. Although our religions are drastically different, for example Christians define peace in Christ, Muslims do not, I'd see peace as trying to find the definition of the world that all three parties can agree on. However, their methods and ways of defining peace and from whom makes the definition different from each other.

I would say finding that one definition of peace is productive in a Buddhist since but then there is another side of me saying, if I do that then I am robbing people of their own faith that is completely different than mine. How I define peace may be completely different than how you define it. Given that fact, how do you find similarities among our differences?

Inner peace does come with a lot of reflection and (hint to many) reading posts that the reader would like to reply to. Observation and just thinking in the other person's shoes is a way to find inner peace. I spent time with my mother at the Casino two days ago and we talked about our conversations we had with her mother and my grandmother (father's side). It was a beautiful conversation. We clicked.

Not many people believe in the spirits and ancestors. Given that fact, how, in my personal opinion can they find peace in the way I define the word?

Why would I even ask? That is the beginning of wisdom. When you no longer need to ask. Then again, in the states, to tell us not to ask is like binding us to a chair. Wishful thinking.

Hi Carlita. I think that each person has to find what works for him or her with regards to inner peace. What works for one person won't work for another. I think we need to accept that.

You've found inner peace through Buddhism so it would be wrong of me to say no you haven't found inner peace unless you accept Baha'u'llah. Only you know how you feel.

It is a problem where Muslims and Christians maintain that people are infidels or not saved unless they follow their brand. The problem is that it leads to them trying to force their ways on others.

As a society we need to give every religion freedom of worship but not freedom to attack or harm people who don't follow their faith.

With inner peace people have to be left alone to pursue the method they find works for them.

But with world peace or an end to war many things need to change. Arms cannot be sold to people who have conflicts but consultation at the conference table needs to be the way we solve disputes.

Then we need more of a feminine element in society. For far too long male aggression has dominated society and now we need the caring family understanding of women.

 

[Tabu]

Failure to establish peace seems to have stemmed from a paralysis of will based upon how we see ourselves. We say peace is good and want it and say we are ready for it but then we say it can never be achieved because man is incapable of it, turning to our bloodstained history as proof.

"Indeed, so much have aggression and conflict come to characterize our social, economic and religious systems, that many have succumbed to the view that such behaviour is intrinsic to human nature and therefore ineradicable."(Promise of World Peace)

1.But isn't war and aggression a distortion of the human spirit not man's true self?

2.Isn't our past history just a stage of immaturity in our development as a species?

Isn't the next stage of our development our coming of age?
”

I will try to answer these questions based upon my understanding of Islam , and BK faiths.
1. True, anger , aggression and the resulting attitudes are not the innate nature of human spirit .
As a proof from Quran I would refer to those verses which say that , He created Humans on His fitra ( nature ) , and say that man shouldn't change this nature , and the religion affirming to the true nature of the human soul is " The Deen ul qaiyyimah " or " The steadfast religion"
And according to BKs, human soul being the child of the Father Soul is most elevated as long as it remains in its true state of purity. In such a state no sorrow can touch it .
2. As for your succeeding questions, I somewhat disagree ,and my reply may sound pessimistic.
Our past was a stage of immaturity and our present is worst still , it is a stage of degradation.
As a proof from Quran I refer to the verse which says ,' We created humans in the best of forms and then abased him to the lowest of low'
This predicts a downward spiral of human morals , and many Hadiths indicate the same.

A reassessment is required if we are to move forward past this paralysis of will and establish peace. If we view our past as just an immature stage of our development we can move forward.

"Humanity can have confidence that it can erect a social system at once progressive and peaceful, dynamic and harmonious, a system giving free play to individual creativity and initiative but based on co-operation and reciprocity. (Promise of World Peace)

O Son of Spirit!

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.”

Bahá'u'lláh. “The Hidden Words.”

A reassessment is certainly required , but will the entire humanity feel the need for it , even Hadiths or other scriptures predict that only a bunch full will accept and follow the savior who would come in the last days , and the rest of humanity would be wiped out.
At Brahmakumari it is explained like this , as the tree gets old , there are still many new leaves sprouting , so these new leaves are still fresh and blooming , they hardly realize that the tree is ageing and the other leaves are withering , so they are best the way they are.
So we probably have to wait for all the leaves to appear and age to feel anything , but before that it is predicted in Bks that the branches of this aged tree will rub against each other and the entire tree would be set on fire.
Destruction is imminent because even if all the souls are purified ,(and those receptive to the uplifting message ascend to the golden age) , the pollution caused to the elements would become irreparable.
And when a new tree is planted , only a sapling of the old tree is planted not the entire tree ,
and only at the trunk the tree is united, as it branches there will be differences, and these differences will keep segmenting further and further , and this is the nature by which a tree grows and spreads out. I am stressing this point here because IMO it becomes easier to live with this realization than expect all the branches to amalgamate.