HOW TO START AN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT?

What is enlightened democracy?

A system of organizing the social, political and cultural conducts of the members of the society which is based on the ideas of «enlightened knowledge», «enlightened moral», «enlightened freedom and meaning» and «enlightened awareness» about the nature of the self and human possibilities.

I. Enlightened knowledge

About the universe:  We live in a purposeful and designed universe, which is controlled and organized by a cosmic power in such a profound manner that no human intellect would ever be able to conceive it. Everything in the universe, starting from the tinniest to the largest structures, is entangled together as an inseparable whole. Every existence has a meaning in bringing forth the cosmic symphony where every note sustains and enhances the existence of the other so that what emerges in the small carries the beauty and order of the whole.

About consciousness and evolution: In this meaningful universe the life evolves and transcends from a primitive stage to a higher level when mind may be capable of revealing greater dimensions of existence. It emphasizes that there exist higher and lower paths. Along the lower path man may regress towards the animal instincts, while by following the higher path mind may reveal the greater mystery of the creation of the cosmos through our existence. The higher path is the path of the cosmic mind - an unfoldment towards greater and greater awareness of truth about the oneness of all existing in the universe. Every human being possesses the capacity to develop the mind by projecting different spheres of consciousness.  How one projects the consciousness,  which may involve the consciousness of the primitive life to the consciousness of the cosmic mind, which sees the unity of all existent beings, creates the experience of reality of one`s life. By projecting the higher consciousness one evolves from primitive life to “higher-man”.

II. Enlightened moral

The way the cosmos is organized and designed gives us the perspective about what is right and wrong, and what should be the universal moral basis of actions when we interact with the fellow human beings and nature. The questions of right and wrong represent forces of the will, which bring order or chaos, suffering or joy, freedom or bondage. The forces, which may liberate and free life from bondages and servitude of nature, or systems representing the primitive power of the mind, can be called the right paths. Actions, which recognize the relations that exist among all in an entangled universe, and abide by the principle of harmony existing in the cosmos, and draw life to seek the higher realm of consciousness, can be considered as the right way of living.

III. Enlightened freedom and meaning

Freedom: All life is endowed with will to seek freedom from the bondages which the conditions of the environment and the circumstances of life may impose. Only in conditions when human beings enjoy security of life the freedom to choose and act receives a true meaning. This freedom extends beyond biological necessities to realms of the mind where one dreams, and strives to achieve greater experiences of life outside the material bondage. This is the realm of the creative man. The freedom to explore new frontiers of intellectual and emotional life, which may open a path to experience the greater nature of the self, constitutes the realm of the enlightened freedom.

Meaning of life: The meaning of human life is to seek higher-path i.e. to evolve from a lower state of the mind to a higher state and help to create conditions of freedom for oneself and others in harmony with the symphonic melody of the universe. Life receives its meaning in realizing the relations one bears with all life and nature, which follows the movement of time in a timeless universe. Meaning of life is to return again and again to its source and reappear again and again as symphony of life to reveal the beauty and order of the cosmic mind. This meaning takes it expression of love and compassion for all beings.  

IV. Enlightened awareness

Spirituality: It is basically a confrontation with the “self”, which seems to exist as a part of a higher-self, to whom all others belong. It is a journey in search of the knowledge of the “self” and a process through which one may become acquainted with many unknown territories of consciousness and mind. By this process one can realize the paucity of human knowledge and limitations of the world, which one may have built, based on logical arguments and relations comprehended through the use of scientific language and reason. The spirituality is a way to experience oneness with the cosmos and the cosmic consciousness, which penetrates all existence. It is a way for the mind to seek freedom from the constraints of the material laws, and thus experience freedom from bondage of the world received through perceptions. This is a way to experience love, which inspires man to make sacrifices in order to secure freedom of the fellow human beings. Enlightened spirituality leads to the realization of oneness of all and give an insight into how the cosmic being may manifest in human life. This manifestation takes form depending on the state of the evolution of the mind in which the ego may have taken its abode. It is a way to free oneself from the darkness which tradition, culture, belief or interests for economic and political power may promote and enhance.

God and religion: The evolution of religion and spirituality is expressions of social institutions, which attempt to provide answers to the fundamental questions of existence. It is a way for the people, facing myriads of challenges of survival, to seek psychological security. The religious faiths, which create conflicts and wars with other faiths, and divide human beings according to religion and culture, are considered undesirable in an enlightened world. While accepting the premises of science, which have formed the foundation of modern culture, and recognizing the success of science in explaining things, which were once attributed to divine agents, the openness to the dimensions of existence which may not have any scientific explanation is a way for the enlightened minds. God exists above knowledge and cannot be confirmed and explained with intellectual arguments. God is inseparable from the universe and all beings existing in it.

 

Science and religion: Enlightened man seeks to confront the deepest questions of existence without prejudice to science or spirituality. It is based on the conviction that human existence cannot be reduced only to phenomena, which can be tested, proved and disproved by using scientific methods. It includes much more than these. Our existence extends to extra dimensions where mind may have a different reality outside the realm of matter. Although mind may emerge in association with matter it is not synonymous with matter. The matter describes our physical state on which the will and mind take their abode. Mind appears from a source of consciousness which impregnates all beings. The state of evolution of the body decides the way the mind emerges in the world by using body as its vehicle. In dissolution of the body the consciousness, which took worldly form as will, does not disappear. It remains as existence which cannot be explained by law-bound states of things. With increasing knowledge of science, and the liberation of human beings from material needs, and growing security of life against survival, larger groups of human beings would receive opportunities for deeper exploration of this self.

What kind of world we envisage?

Classless society:  Every individual may enjoy equal dignity and respect and the possibility to contribute in the progress of social-political and cultural development of the society.

Security of life: The enlightened-order gives highest priority to the security of life against hunger and basic needs, and protection of liberty and freedom to develop one`s potential as a human being possessing higher-level of consciousness beyond the needs of physical survival.

Rule of enlightened democracy: The society will seek to achieve the goal of meaningful participation of all without any discrimination of race, culture and gender while everybody is made aware of the possibilities of development and the rights they are entitled to. In an enlightened democracy, people are equipped with the “enlightened knowledge” and “enlightened moral” and informed about the “enlightened freedom and meaning” and made aware of the possibilities that “enlightened awareness” offer in the social, political and cultural participation.

Economic justice: Its goal is to dismantle the institutional structure and mechanism which have grown out of the old feudal system and the colonial history, and remove the oligarchs, who may aim at gaining control over resources in their hands in order to shape the developments of the economic life of the society for their personal interests. The main goal of the economic justice will be to clean the society from the presently functioning “casino-culture” of wild financial speculations in a market driven by values, which intends to create money from “nothing”. It will remove monopoly capitalism, supported by present banking system which dominates the world, and replace it with a just global system where people will possess the power to decide how economic transactions and benefits should be distributed and ensured. People`s representatives will manage the banks, and steer the development of the economic infrastructures, while the Civic-organs and the Government will guide and help them in pursuing the desired path of justice.

Universal culture: The goal is to remove barriers among human beings due to class, caste and belief and bring an end to all forms of discrimination including race and gender. The new culture will set up support centers under the guidance of the Civic-organs to promote universal culture free from religious dogmatism and traditional practices driven by illiteracy and ignorance. It seeks to keep scientific knowledge at the helm of the new cultural order while creating openness to frontiers of experiences, which may not be understood by using the knowledge of science alone. While recognizing the spiritual nature of man, the enlightened culture will take distance from religious institutions, which may deprive the human beings of the benefits of scientific knowledge, and the freedom to explore the frontiers of life outside an ignorance-bound narrow tradition of an age-old culture. By recognizing the superiority of the universal culture over all other cultures, which have hampered the development of the human beings towards the evolution of a “higher-man”, all institutions, which may have played political roles in exploiting the human beings, should be replaced by cultural institutions promoting universal values. In this new cultural-order the Civic-organs will set the guidelines for public culture, which emphasizes on the nature of man as a creative being, who seeks to experience the greater realms of the mind beyond the instinctual pleasures and squandering of life in meaninglessness entertainments.  It will spread this cultural awareness by building social networks.

Environment: The new order will keep as its goal to guard against the destruction of nature, which supports human life together with millions of other species, participating in sustaining a fine-tuned eco-system on Earth. All activities of development, which may jeopardize the harmonious existence with nature, will be avoided.

Peace and contain conflicts: Other goals will include demilitarization of the world and work against the formation of military and economic alliances and free the international organizations from the hegemony of a few powerful nations with colonial history. It will seek to check any intervention of one group of nation, enjoying military-technological and financial superiority over others and motivated by the desire to maintain hegemony over other nations. Instead, it should follow the principles set by the highest Civic-Organ established in the global level, which may intervene on behalf of mankind, in situation when the enlightened-order may face threats of its existence. The enlightened-order will also develop mechanisms to handle conflicts, which may arise among nations and religions (existing in the present cultural diversity) before a peaceful world may emerge from the present world-order.

How we may realize such a world?

Being cognizant of history of wars, invasions, plunder, looting, exploitation, where military might decides who should rule, one is inclined to submit to the “natural moral” of the powerful and accepts it as the true nature of the human beings. One argues that we are basically another animal species in nature and endowed with the qualities which nature has bestowed on us. Deception, treachery, lie, corruption, abuse, violence and manipulation are some of the traits of characters we have inherited as our natural endowment. Those, who can make best use of these traits, are destined to be the winners and the rulers of the society. Thus history of the human race is mostly a history of the despots, feudal oligarchs and those who can snatch power by military means. The mass has lived to supply the wealth and the military strength of the rulers. Only in recent time mass has been liberated from the traditional authoritarian rules with the introduction of democracy. However, freedom of mankind still remains under the control of the rich and the powerful.

With the rise of the globalized free market economy, where the capitalist countries have enormous leverage over the rest of the world (not to talk about the poor), the democracy has become a new way for the same “natural moral” to emerge and ensure the supremacy of those who possess military and economic might. The values are based on money, and people see less and less meaning of life outside one`s personal sphere. Freedom is defined as possibilities of accessing consumer goods, and doing what one may like. All the diseases of democracy, which Plato had mentioned in “The Republic”, are visible in todays` democracies – from moral chaos to loosening cohesions among human beings living in an apparently meaningless world. It resembles the same story of the cave dwellers of Plato`s “Simile of the Cave”, who watch on the TV screens advertisements and movies, and receive manipulated information catering to the economic and political interests of the rulers.

One may feel forced to believe that there is no way to get out of the clutches of the animal instincts which still hold the power over the development of the social-political order in the world. Enlightened world professes a way for the human beings to take individual responsibility to bring change to this history of mankind.

What can we do right now?

 Form enlightened civic organs and spread the ideas of the enlightened world.

 Organize events in support of enlightened democracy: Calling for change in the economic-political system which may pave the path of enlightenment for all.

 Build local cells of activists whose aims would be to remove the divisions among human beings due to cultures, religious beliefs and faiths and protect humanity from the exploitation by spreading knowledge and information about the possible ways to gain true freedom and counteract the oppressive mechanisms which may exist in the society. Use knowledge and information, and compassion for the oppressed and the unfree as the arms to wage this struggle. Make appeal to the higher nature of man, which sees non-violence and moral unity as the best means for bringing social-political change.

 Spread knowledge of science and spirituality – bring the scientific and spiritual man closer together. Hold festival where people will meet to discuss and disseminate information.

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