THE NEW WORLD CULTURE OF THE FUTURE

BY MRS. INDUMATI DESHMUKH, M. A., B. T. 

The whole world has been going through a crisis. It is faced with innumerable problems. Racial hatred and narrow nationalism, religious fanaticism and blind aggressiveness, worship of gold and economic exploitation— these have been poisoning and perverting the cultural life of humanity for generations together: and the world' s most imperative and pressing need is more light. In order to meet these forces that tend to create chaos, there have naturally come into existence many spiritual movements which aim at creating order out of this confusion. Our age is, therefore, also an age of spiritual awakening. But as there is a keen rivalry between many spiritual and religious forces, our minds are tossed in the currents and counter- currents of thought. In this critical period of humanity there is in our midst one Person whose teaching is destined to restore steadiness to our minds by inculcating the right outlook and establish unity amongst the people of the world inspite of the differences of sex, nation, creed, religion or culture. He is Shri Meher Baba. He loves all; and His comprehensive philosophy is bound to influence the biggest sphere of human- ity. The modern world-culture has to face the most important problems of synthesising the material and the spiritual aspects of life. Very few per- sons can avoid going to one extreme or the other. There are those who worship gold and are utterly indifferent to spiritual values. And there are others who try to seek spirituality by running away from life and avoiding its responsibilities. Shri Meher Baba' s teaching on this point helps us to have a balance between these two extremes. According to Him, everyday life and true spirituality cannot be separated from each other. If the world-culture is to be sound, it must find a way of uniting the two. Progress of humanity from the material point of view is not in any way unimportant. If a man is required to waste all his life only in the struggle for maintenance, he can have no time for higher things. Shri Meher Baba advises His disciples to discharge their worldly responsibilities completely. If He finds any disciple neglecting, his duties He admonishes him. He teaches that those who can behave properly in everyday life will certainly gain the higher life. And those who cannot attend well even to the ordinary things of life can never achieve anything of spirituality. But at the same time, material achievements cannot be looked upon as ends in themselves. If they are not completely subordinated to spiritual values, they are likely to be used for destructive purposes. Even today many scientific inventions are used in wars for killing each other. The kingdom of eternal harmony and joy can come only through the spiritualisation of life. The way to achieve it is not bloodshed but kindness, not war but friendship, not enmity but love. People have forgotten the true and the lasting values with the result that accumulation of wealth for selfish pur- poses has been the guiding philosophy of individuals and nations. This type of outlook has created in our social structure pernicious class distinctions. There is a wide gulf between the rich and the poor. The rich are in possession of abundance of wealth, whereas the poor are half-naked and starving; and there is exploitation of the poor and the weak for selfish ends. Our political tangle expressing itself through international rivalry and conflict is also due to collective greed for money and power. Shri Meher Baba, therefore, uncompromisingly denounces all forms of greed which is the root cause of all our troubles. But He does not advise the people of the world to give up their worldly pursuits. He only asks them to remain unattached in the midst of worldly pursuits and to spiritualise them by subordinating material acquisition to spiritual considerations. The frame-work of the economic and political structure of society must facilitate sound cultural life; and the application of Shri Meher Baba' s teaching concerning brotherhood and love requires thorough reconstruction in these fields. Not only will the basis of the new world-culture of the future be thus entirely transformed, but our very ideas of true culture will change radically in the light of His teaching. Culture does not consist in possessions or power or academic qualifications. It is a certain attitude to life—the attitude of love and reason. Shri Meher Baba emphasises both of these aspects of Divinity equally; and He is Himself an inspiring example of a perfect development of love and reason. He is an embodiment of true culture. The sign of culture is a balanced mind, not the static balance of a lifeless thing, but the dynamic equilibrium of mind which manifests itself through the creative response of love and reason to all the incidents of life. The spiritual man does not shun life if sorrows befall him; nor does he wish to add more years to his life if years shower upon him. He is not moved by the opposites of joys and sorrows, pains and pleasures, hut transcends both and enjoys eternal bliss in conscious union with the Divinity within. Some persons have a wrong notion that Supermen or spi- ritually cultured persons go away from the world and that they lead a life of inaction, taking no interest in life. But in truth the Super-man is more active than ordinary persons. The common man is engaged in activities concerning his own self; but the Super-man has to consider the good of the world and has, therefore, a much wider sphere for his activities. He takes great interest in life and lives a full life of creative action. He does not trifle with anything, but he does everything with all his being. For the transformation of our cultural life we naturally look to religion. But unfortunately religion has been often misunderstood, with the result that it has deteriorated into sectarianism. Sectarianism makes men fanatically aggressive instead of broadening their minds. Instead of promoting the Truth, it leads to the spreading of dogmas. Instead of reconciling the differences among men, it accentuates them. Instead of increasing the happiness of man, it makes him unhappy and narrow. Thus chaos and the misery in this world are due to the misinterpretation of the true meaning of religion. Shri Meher Baba preaches freedom of spiritual culture. The freedom of the individual in matters concerning spiritual life should not in any way be curtailed by convention or dogma. There are as many diverse paths as there are temperaments. All persons need not accept. the same path to Divinity. The basic belief of sectarianism is that there is only one path to realization and that it is binding on everyone. But this philosophy leads only to external conversions and compulsions. Shri Meher Baba expects from us not only tolerance of all religions, but the active attitude of appreciation for the truths which they reveal. He brings to the forefront the vital truths of all religions and shows them as being identical. In his ex- positions of the Truth we find him using the terminology of the Sufis, of Vedanta, or of the Christian mystics without any sectarian bias. The spirit of tolerance is a very healthy preservative of the uniqueness of individuality. It. secures in the cultural life of the world a rich variety instead of dull uniformity. Everyone has his own path to Divinity, and yet the goal of all is the same. Freedom of spiritual culture, therefore, leads to unity, a harmony in differences. The history of humanity has been a history of blunders. But humanity has been redeemed again and again by the Masters of Wisdom and Love. Shri Meher Baba brings to the world a new dispensation of the spiritual Truth. He has come to promote the life of the spirit which alone can contribute to- wards happiness and harmony. If a person has learnt the art of spiritual life, he is bound to express creative culture in all the different spheres of human activities, and thus transform entire life by the release of love. Not only by his teaching but also by the inspiration of his supreme example, Shri Meher Baba helps humanity in its onward march towards Divinity. He sees God in every person and teaches us the fundamental truth of the unity of all life. The Light which he brings will lead us towards that Abode of Eternity which is God and which is the fountain-source of life, creating harmony out of chaos and giving meaning to all the mundane activities of man.

Meher Baba Journal, Volume 1, No. 4 February 1939