Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "peace"
When you are Wise, Peace shall follow
Peace and War are two sides of the same coin. Where there is peace, there will be war - where there is war there will be peace. War is only the making of peace. This war does not necessarily have to be external. In most cases, the real war is internal, which means, it takes place within the human mind - within you. One way or another, war will keep on festering on this planet, until humanity becomes a real wise species. And we have a long to go till we actually achieve it, mostly because, we are still not an advanced species, no matter how much we boast about it. We just like to feel that we are advanced, for all the basic technological discoveries that we have made. But the point is, technological discoveries may make a species advanced, but they do not necessarily make a species wise. A wise species would be the one at peace with the self. Without the self there is no excellence. Without the self there is no advancement.
All creatures have it - the self, but the humans are the most advanced, because, they have the most complicated form of the self on this planet, thanks to the process of Evolution, which led to a uniquely intricate neural network inside our head. Other creatures just have the taste of it, because most of their brain power goes to managing the physical functioning of their body, and very little is left for mental faculties beyond the needs of survival. However, do not for a second think, that we are the best there shall ever be. Yes it is true, that in aspects of excellence, especially the ones that have to do with the faculties of the mind, we are indeed the best. But we still have a long way to go to become a real wise species, at least the way we hail ourselves to be in the very title "Sapiens".
To become real Sapiens, we need to act as sapiens. And even though some humans do act as true sapiens, or at the very least, they try to act that way, the unfortunate reality is, most humans don't. These humans often lose their basic faculty of reasoning to such an extent, that they adamantly vote for a narcissistic, human-looking, orange orangutan and make him the leader of a great nation. Such a scenario is only possible because a huge portion of the human society is still infested with superstitions, prejudices, sectarianism, mysticism and bigotry. And we the humans shall not be worthy of the title "sapiens", unless we do away with these primitive evils, that consistently drag the human civilization back to stone age.
Do away with prejudices - do away with separatism - do away with bigotry, and you shall witness the dawn of a new world- a world of real peace - real harmony - real acceptance. In that world, love and kindness shall run in the veins of humans, instead dogma-induced hatred. Such humans will be worthy of the title Sapiens. They shall be qualified, by all means, for the title "human". But the point is, it is not going to happen so easily. And more importantly, it is not going to happen, unless humanity learns to value humanity over everything else - and I mean everything else. No Bible, no Church, no Priest, no dogma of any kind, shall be above the humans - above basic human elements, such as love, compassion and reasoning. Human character should be judged only by the measure of these elements, not a book, a prophet, a messiah, or an institution. To quote from Principia Humanitas"
"Human you are, and your religion Humanism."
That's it. That's all there is. If you are a human, you have all the religions in you, if not, then no matter how many scriptures you hold dear, it will not make you worthy of the title "human", let alone the title "religious." As I have said in "Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism"
“Let your conscience be your scripture and your actions be your religion. Let the humans be your church and compassion be your worship. Let love be your gospel and acceptance be your revelation.”
When you are wise, peace shall follow, or we can also see it the other way round. When you are at peace with the self, you will be wise. And from that internal wisdom, shall emerge peace for the whole world - real peace - peace that will unite, not divide - peace that will be celebrated, not fought for. So, start working for that peace my friend. Let your child have a better world, than the one you were born in.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
All creatures have it - the self, but the humans are the most advanced, because, they have the most complicated form of the self on this planet, thanks to the process of Evolution, which led to a uniquely intricate neural network inside our head. Other creatures just have the taste of it, because most of their brain power goes to managing the physical functioning of their body, and very little is left for mental faculties beyond the needs of survival. However, do not for a second think, that we are the best there shall ever be. Yes it is true, that in aspects of excellence, especially the ones that have to do with the faculties of the mind, we are indeed the best. But we still have a long way to go to become a real wise species, at least the way we hail ourselves to be in the very title "Sapiens".
To become real Sapiens, we need to act as sapiens. And even though some humans do act as true sapiens, or at the very least, they try to act that way, the unfortunate reality is, most humans don't. These humans often lose their basic faculty of reasoning to such an extent, that they adamantly vote for a narcissistic, human-looking, orange orangutan and make him the leader of a great nation. Such a scenario is only possible because a huge portion of the human society is still infested with superstitions, prejudices, sectarianism, mysticism and bigotry. And we the humans shall not be worthy of the title "sapiens", unless we do away with these primitive evils, that consistently drag the human civilization back to stone age.
Do away with prejudices - do away with separatism - do away with bigotry, and you shall witness the dawn of a new world- a world of real peace - real harmony - real acceptance. In that world, love and kindness shall run in the veins of humans, instead dogma-induced hatred. Such humans will be worthy of the title Sapiens. They shall be qualified, by all means, for the title "human". But the point is, it is not going to happen so easily. And more importantly, it is not going to happen, unless humanity learns to value humanity over everything else - and I mean everything else. No Bible, no Church, no Priest, no dogma of any kind, shall be above the humans - above basic human elements, such as love, compassion and reasoning. Human character should be judged only by the measure of these elements, not a book, a prophet, a messiah, or an institution. To quote from Principia Humanitas"
"Human you are, and your religion Humanism."
That's it. That's all there is. If you are a human, you have all the religions in you, if not, then no matter how many scriptures you hold dear, it will not make you worthy of the title "human", let alone the title "religious." As I have said in "Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism"
“Let your conscience be your scripture and your actions be your religion. Let the humans be your church and compassion be your worship. Let love be your gospel and acceptance be your revelation.”
When you are wise, peace shall follow, or we can also see it the other way round. When you are at peace with the self, you will be wise. And from that internal wisdom, shall emerge peace for the whole world - real peace - peace that will unite, not divide - peace that will be celebrated, not fought for. So, start working for that peace my friend. Let your child have a better world, than the one you were born in.
Further Reading
Principia Humanitas
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Right to Religion is Human Right, but on one condition
Right to religion, is an actual basic existential right of humankind, at least, at its present evolutionary condition. I am beginning this piece, with this, perhaps a bit radical statement, because it would reveal to you your own deep stance on religion without any ambiguity. It would either enrage you fueled by your illustrious atheistic superiority, or it will soothe you, fueled by your innate closeness to your own religion. But to go deeper into this piece, neither of these two extremes would do.
You would have to take off your glasses before you begin – the glasses of theism as well as the glasses of atheism. And when I say “have to”, I do not mean it as an obligation, rather I mean it as a necessity. Because broken souls cannot perceive wholeness. And both the theist and the atheist have obvious perceptual limitations because of their innate brokenness – because of their innate loyalty to a label. Labels may help you feel comfortable in a certain domain, but to see the whole picture, these tiny internal domains must be destroyed first. If, and only if, you are willing to do that, then we can proceed with utmost naivety, with no thesis or antithesis in mind.
What is a right – is there any such thing? The term “right” only exists in a society where people don’t have something that’s necessary for sustaining existence. If this were the animal kingdom instead of a human society, we would not need the term “right”, instead we would simply fight and acquire what’s necessary or die fighting. We use the term “right” in a so-called civilized society, because we want to acquire it with as little fight as possible. In a truly civilized society, we would not need the term “right”. Think about it. You breath in air all the time for its content oxygen, which is necessary for existence. But what would happen, if clean air becomes scarce, like it has become in China, and slowly becoming in India! Then clean air would be manufactured, like some companies are already doing. Hence it becomes a product, which you may or may not have access to. In the extreme case that you do not have access to it for free, clean air which clearly is an existential necessity for humans, would become a matter of right. But it would ultimately depend on the companies whether or not to give their product of clean air away for free – or to be more specific, you would be at their mercy. You may feel access to clean air is your right, but in reality, you no longer have that luxury. Because the companies manufacturing the product, have the ultimate right to that product.
Religion is not much different from clean air, for religion is basically the psychological counterpart of clean air. Clean air is a physiological necessity, whereas religion is a psychological necessity. Here you may think of the term “religion” to be a very simply term with very specific common meaning to all humanity, but in reality, no other term could have as diverse array of meanings as the term “religion” has in the psyche of the humans. But when I say “meanings”, I am not talking about etymology – etymology does not say anything about the place of a term in the human mind. Here I am talking about the wide range of human perceptions of the very term religion. What is this whole religion phenomenon – is it a kind of shampoo – is it a kind of smartphone – is it a kind of computer – or is it a kind of ideals! I don’t think anybody would see it as a shampoo, or a smartphone or a computer even, but perhaps some or perhaps most humans would see it as a kind of ideals and beliefs. Let’s be a bit articulate here. Most humans see religion as a set of beliefs, sustained through rituals. This is what you know as organized religion, that is, an organized structure where an institution of fake superiority determines the lifestyle of a group of people. These institutions say – “give your life to us, to our savior, or to our prophet, and you will have peace.” And they call it religion, by it, I mean this blind obedience to a fake authority, in the hope of psychological security and well-being. Most people are too entangled at a deep subconscious level with this sense of illusory security, hence they shall do everything in their power to defend their beliefs, which to them are synonymous with “religiousness”, if confronted with refutal.
Now the real question is – if this is the global idea of religion and religiousness, can it be hailed as a basic human right! Hard as it may be, a civilized human being would have to be willing to recognize the basic need for this so-called organized religiousness of the humans as a basic human right. But – yes, there is a “but” involved – not the double t one, you dirty fella! This little “but” is involved because, this very religion that we are talking about here, is a messed up form of religion, and has a lot of negative implications on the human society as a whole – here I am referring to the global human society, not a specific group of people. The problem with organized religion is that, because it involves, its own customized god, its own messiah, its own prophet, its own scripture – it inadvertently induces its followers to foster a kind of implicit hatred or simply a sense of conflict towards people of other organized religions. So, though right to practise one’s own religion, may be a basic human right, by all means, it must be watched over by the very humans practising those religions, so that they do no let hatred creep into their heart, no matter how many verses in their beloved scripture proclaim people of other religions to be infidels.
If the humans are able to keep hatred out of their religious practise, then and then only it’s a religious practise – and then only organized religion as it is, can be hailed as a basic human right. But any religion that endorses such hatred, instead of trying to eliminate them, has no right itself to be a part of a civilized human society. Anybody who says – my religion is the only true religion, all others are fake or inferior, has no right to any religion whatsoever, for this creature is not a human – it’s ancient animal living in a modern society under the skin of a human. Religion is for humans, not animals. And any religion that advocates its own supremacy over all other religions, is not religion, rather it’s merely a sophisticated form of tribalism, which belongs in the jungle, not in the human society. So in short, a human can have right to religion, only and only if, that human, as well as the religion he or she wants right to, do not endorse any kind of conflict, either explicit or implicit. Which means, a human has a right to religion, not an animal with self-imposed superiority. Bear in mind, religion must bring oneness, otherwise it’s not religion, but merely a cheap parody of religion. And that’s the religion, every single human being of pure soul has the existential right to – or to simplify even further, without the religion of oneness, there shall be no human life in human body, but only animal life in human body.
Keep in mind, my friend – “We are not divine beings in mortal bodies, We are mortal bodies in pursuit of constructing divine perfection within us.” (quote from Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human)
Further Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human
You would have to take off your glasses before you begin – the glasses of theism as well as the glasses of atheism. And when I say “have to”, I do not mean it as an obligation, rather I mean it as a necessity. Because broken souls cannot perceive wholeness. And both the theist and the atheist have obvious perceptual limitations because of their innate brokenness – because of their innate loyalty to a label. Labels may help you feel comfortable in a certain domain, but to see the whole picture, these tiny internal domains must be destroyed first. If, and only if, you are willing to do that, then we can proceed with utmost naivety, with no thesis or antithesis in mind.
What is a right – is there any such thing? The term “right” only exists in a society where people don’t have something that’s necessary for sustaining existence. If this were the animal kingdom instead of a human society, we would not need the term “right”, instead we would simply fight and acquire what’s necessary or die fighting. We use the term “right” in a so-called civilized society, because we want to acquire it with as little fight as possible. In a truly civilized society, we would not need the term “right”. Think about it. You breath in air all the time for its content oxygen, which is necessary for existence. But what would happen, if clean air becomes scarce, like it has become in China, and slowly becoming in India! Then clean air would be manufactured, like some companies are already doing. Hence it becomes a product, which you may or may not have access to. In the extreme case that you do not have access to it for free, clean air which clearly is an existential necessity for humans, would become a matter of right. But it would ultimately depend on the companies whether or not to give their product of clean air away for free – or to be more specific, you would be at their mercy. You may feel access to clean air is your right, but in reality, you no longer have that luxury. Because the companies manufacturing the product, have the ultimate right to that product.
Religion is not much different from clean air, for religion is basically the psychological counterpart of clean air. Clean air is a physiological necessity, whereas religion is a psychological necessity. Here you may think of the term “religion” to be a very simply term with very specific common meaning to all humanity, but in reality, no other term could have as diverse array of meanings as the term “religion” has in the psyche of the humans. But when I say “meanings”, I am not talking about etymology – etymology does not say anything about the place of a term in the human mind. Here I am talking about the wide range of human perceptions of the very term religion. What is this whole religion phenomenon – is it a kind of shampoo – is it a kind of smartphone – is it a kind of computer – or is it a kind of ideals! I don’t think anybody would see it as a shampoo, or a smartphone or a computer even, but perhaps some or perhaps most humans would see it as a kind of ideals and beliefs. Let’s be a bit articulate here. Most humans see religion as a set of beliefs, sustained through rituals. This is what you know as organized religion, that is, an organized structure where an institution of fake superiority determines the lifestyle of a group of people. These institutions say – “give your life to us, to our savior, or to our prophet, and you will have peace.” And they call it religion, by it, I mean this blind obedience to a fake authority, in the hope of psychological security and well-being. Most people are too entangled at a deep subconscious level with this sense of illusory security, hence they shall do everything in their power to defend their beliefs, which to them are synonymous with “religiousness”, if confronted with refutal.
Now the real question is – if this is the global idea of religion and religiousness, can it be hailed as a basic human right! Hard as it may be, a civilized human being would have to be willing to recognize the basic need for this so-called organized religiousness of the humans as a basic human right. But – yes, there is a “but” involved – not the double t one, you dirty fella! This little “but” is involved because, this very religion that we are talking about here, is a messed up form of religion, and has a lot of negative implications on the human society as a whole – here I am referring to the global human society, not a specific group of people. The problem with organized religion is that, because it involves, its own customized god, its own messiah, its own prophet, its own scripture – it inadvertently induces its followers to foster a kind of implicit hatred or simply a sense of conflict towards people of other organized religions. So, though right to practise one’s own religion, may be a basic human right, by all means, it must be watched over by the very humans practising those religions, so that they do no let hatred creep into their heart, no matter how many verses in their beloved scripture proclaim people of other religions to be infidels.
If the humans are able to keep hatred out of their religious practise, then and then only it’s a religious practise – and then only organized religion as it is, can be hailed as a basic human right. But any religion that endorses such hatred, instead of trying to eliminate them, has no right itself to be a part of a civilized human society. Anybody who says – my religion is the only true religion, all others are fake or inferior, has no right to any religion whatsoever, for this creature is not a human – it’s ancient animal living in a modern society under the skin of a human. Religion is for humans, not animals. And any religion that advocates its own supremacy over all other religions, is not religion, rather it’s merely a sophisticated form of tribalism, which belongs in the jungle, not in the human society. So in short, a human can have right to religion, only and only if, that human, as well as the religion he or she wants right to, do not endorse any kind of conflict, either explicit or implicit. Which means, a human has a right to religion, not an animal with self-imposed superiority. Bear in mind, religion must bring oneness, otherwise it’s not religion, but merely a cheap parody of religion. And that’s the religion, every single human being of pure soul has the existential right to – or to simplify even further, without the religion of oneness, there shall be no human life in human body, but only animal life in human body.
Keep in mind, my friend – “We are not divine beings in mortal bodies, We are mortal bodies in pursuit of constructing divine perfection within us.” (quote from Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human)
Further Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Lord is My Sheep: Gospel of Human
What is Right Religion
Today we are going to talk about perhaps the most significant element of human existence - the most significant part of human life - that is religion. You know about religion - you have heard about religion - perhaps you have been taught by your traditions to be religious in a certain manner through various rituals and various methods - yet all those rituals and methods vary throughout the world - they are not exactly universal - yet they talk about something universal - they talk about something ultimate - they talk about reaching an ultimate truth. All of the so-called advocates of religion talk about different religions being different paths to the same truth. I'm afraid they are not exactly right on this - they are partially right. I wonder whether they have any idea of what religion really is!
Now before we continue I need to ask you something - I need to ask you to at least try to turn all those predominant ideas, notions and perceptions about religion off, because none of my statements is going to make sense if you try to find meaning in them by using your own predominant perceptions, notions, ideas, thoughts and opinions about religion. Traditions throughout the world have distorted religion - they have dismantled the very fundamental basis of religion - they have distorted it to such an extent that today's humans deem rituals, orthodoxy, dogmas, doctrines, set of ideals, beliefs, imaginations, illusions, prejudices and stereotypes to be synonymous with religion. As a result the whole world is being burnt in the fire of religious violence. Perhaps most of the terrible violence on planet earth are actually occurring in the name of religion - it's not my opinion - you know it as well as I do.
Now one wonders why? Let's go deeper into this why. It is because, apparently devout religious people think by standing true to their own dogmas, traditions, orthodoxy, beliefs, ideals and set of doctrines, they are actually walking on the path of right religion. But that's not right religion - that's precisely the wrong religion - be it Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or anything else. Any religion that has to do with dogmas and doctrines, and does not evolve with time is only the most immature form of religion - it's only the most barbarian form of religion. Now I'm not specifying any religion. I'm not going to say Christianity is barbarian - Islam is barbarian - Hinduism is barbarian. You can look at it yourself - we don't need to conclude anything - we don't need to belittle one religion and glorify another. All religions one way or another have committed great evils because they wanted to stand true to their doctrines - because they held their doctrines and dogmas to be more significant, valuable and holier than life itself. This has caused immense bloodshed.
So, now we must inquire - what is religion? The term religion means to unite - it refers to something that unites all of us. Now let's look at it - don't conclude - don't be hasty please! I urge to you - don't be hasty - let's think over it - what is it that makes us unite! Is it our dogmas! No - because various regions of the world have their own unique dogmas - they have their own doctrines - they have their own scriptures - and because all of those scriptures came from humans, (yes they came from humans - no God gave them to humans - humans created the scriptures) all those scriptures have both good and bad elements just like their creators the humans do - we all have good and bad elements in us.
So books, scriptures, dogmas and doctrines cannot - just cannot - unify humanity. They can unify the humans of a certain region, which was probably the feasible and productive thing to do in the ancient times when humanity was not a global species, but now we have advanced a lot - we have come a long way since our ancient times. When we were barbarians, we needed to stay in groups, but that's called "tribalism" which proved effective in the jungle - in the desert, but now is it necessary? Since, this tribalism is no longer necessary, why should we just give it a pompous name such as "religion" or "nationalism" and glorify it - and be proud of something like that - which is basically an over-glorified tribalism!
So what makes us unite - the whole humanity - not just a group of people thinking that they're modern yet in their mind they're so barbarian and foolish that they want to stay cooped up in their tiny little tribes! Humanism makes us unite - humanism as in the quality of being human - the fusion of all human elements - goodness, kindness, empathy, sympathy, love, compassion, strength of the mind and all these vivacious fundamental elements of civilized humanity - these are the elements that unify us - these are the elements that unite all humanity and these are the elements that can - that do - and that will - construct the foundation of right religion. That religion has no label - it's not a Christian religion - it's not a Jewish religion - it's not a Muslim religion - it's not a Hindu religion - it's just the religion of humanity - "humanity" which is defined and unified by one quality, that is being human. And being human is the right religion - it doesn't need any name - it doesn't need any label - it doesn't need any over-glorified title of an uncivilized barbarian tribalism. Being human is what makes us a civilized species and being human is our religion - the religion of whole humanity.
Recommended Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
Now before we continue I need to ask you something - I need to ask you to at least try to turn all those predominant ideas, notions and perceptions about religion off, because none of my statements is going to make sense if you try to find meaning in them by using your own predominant perceptions, notions, ideas, thoughts and opinions about religion. Traditions throughout the world have distorted religion - they have dismantled the very fundamental basis of religion - they have distorted it to such an extent that today's humans deem rituals, orthodoxy, dogmas, doctrines, set of ideals, beliefs, imaginations, illusions, prejudices and stereotypes to be synonymous with religion. As a result the whole world is being burnt in the fire of religious violence. Perhaps most of the terrible violence on planet earth are actually occurring in the name of religion - it's not my opinion - you know it as well as I do.
Now one wonders why? Let's go deeper into this why. It is because, apparently devout religious people think by standing true to their own dogmas, traditions, orthodoxy, beliefs, ideals and set of doctrines, they are actually walking on the path of right religion. But that's not right religion - that's precisely the wrong religion - be it Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or anything else. Any religion that has to do with dogmas and doctrines, and does not evolve with time is only the most immature form of religion - it's only the most barbarian form of religion. Now I'm not specifying any religion. I'm not going to say Christianity is barbarian - Islam is barbarian - Hinduism is barbarian. You can look at it yourself - we don't need to conclude anything - we don't need to belittle one religion and glorify another. All religions one way or another have committed great evils because they wanted to stand true to their doctrines - because they held their doctrines and dogmas to be more significant, valuable and holier than life itself. This has caused immense bloodshed.
So, now we must inquire - what is religion? The term religion means to unite - it refers to something that unites all of us. Now let's look at it - don't conclude - don't be hasty please! I urge to you - don't be hasty - let's think over it - what is it that makes us unite! Is it our dogmas! No - because various regions of the world have their own unique dogmas - they have their own doctrines - they have their own scriptures - and because all of those scriptures came from humans, (yes they came from humans - no God gave them to humans - humans created the scriptures) all those scriptures have both good and bad elements just like their creators the humans do - we all have good and bad elements in us.
So books, scriptures, dogmas and doctrines cannot - just cannot - unify humanity. They can unify the humans of a certain region, which was probably the feasible and productive thing to do in the ancient times when humanity was not a global species, but now we have advanced a lot - we have come a long way since our ancient times. When we were barbarians, we needed to stay in groups, but that's called "tribalism" which proved effective in the jungle - in the desert, but now is it necessary? Since, this tribalism is no longer necessary, why should we just give it a pompous name such as "religion" or "nationalism" and glorify it - and be proud of something like that - which is basically an over-glorified tribalism!
So what makes us unite - the whole humanity - not just a group of people thinking that they're modern yet in their mind they're so barbarian and foolish that they want to stay cooped up in their tiny little tribes! Humanism makes us unite - humanism as in the quality of being human - the fusion of all human elements - goodness, kindness, empathy, sympathy, love, compassion, strength of the mind and all these vivacious fundamental elements of civilized humanity - these are the elements that unify us - these are the elements that unite all humanity and these are the elements that can - that do - and that will - construct the foundation of right religion. That religion has no label - it's not a Christian religion - it's not a Jewish religion - it's not a Muslim religion - it's not a Hindu religion - it's just the religion of humanity - "humanity" which is defined and unified by one quality, that is being human. And being human is the right religion - it doesn't need any name - it doesn't need any label - it doesn't need any over-glorified title of an uncivilized barbarian tribalism. Being human is what makes us a civilized species and being human is our religion - the religion of whole humanity.
Recommended Reading
Illusion of Religion: A Treatise on Religious Fundamentalism
The Being is The Bridge (The Sonnet) | Mücadele Muhabbet
I came to life at Dakshineswar,
At Kapadokya I got my sight.
I found my might at Shaolin,
At Liberty Island I came to light.
In Pernik I bathed in love,
By the Volga I tasted sapience.
Lika taught me the role of innovation,
Sudbury gave me the sail of science.
Streets of Calcutta showed me suffering,
Streets of Chicago reminded, I'm the answer.
It's not the place but people who hold magic,
Revolution rose when all of them came together.
You won't know me as the father of a nation.
You'll know me as the maker of amalgamation.
At Kapadokya I got my sight.
I found my might at Shaolin,
At Liberty Island I came to light.
In Pernik I bathed in love,
By the Volga I tasted sapience.
Lika taught me the role of innovation,
Sudbury gave me the sail of science.
Streets of Calcutta showed me suffering,
Streets of Chicago reminded, I'm the answer.
It's not the place but people who hold magic,
Revolution rose when all of them came together.
You won't know me as the father of a nation.
You'll know me as the maker of amalgamation.
How come we can invent better ways to kill each other, but not one to preserve peace! – Abhijit Naskar
Couple of years back I once wrote – how come we can invent better ways to kill each other, but not one to preserve peace! Tracking back the origin of the statement I found out that, it’s not from any of the books, but a part of an introduction to the Memorial Day Sonnet released on my wordpress site.
Anyway, the point is – today that question rings more evident than ever. So, I shall convey it in a few other languages in order to make it more universally organic. Because guess what – even though English is the universal language of earth, due to its primitive colonial escapades, and indeed the most convenient, it is neither the most beautiful nor the most soulful language on earth.
Therefore at this difficult humanitarian moment I say to you once again:
How come we can invent better ways to kill each other, but not one to preserve peace!
¡Cómo es que podemos inventar mejores maneras de matarnos unos a otros, pero ninguna para preservar la paz!
Come mai possiamo inventare modi migliori per ucciderci a vicenda, ma non uno per preservare la pace!
Nasıl yani, birbirimizi öldürmenin binlerce yol biliyoruz, ama barışı korumanın bir tane bile yok!
كيف يمكننا أن نبتكر طرقاً أفضل لقتل بعضنا البعض، ولا نجد طريقة للحفاظ على السلام!
ایمان انسانیت،
مذہب محبت؛
خون کی نہیں،
امن کی ہے چاہت۔
Hur kommer det sig att vi kan uppfinna bättre sätt att döda varandra, men inte ett sätt att bevara freden!
Wie kommt es, dass wir bessere Wege finden können, um einander zu töten, aber nicht um den Frieden zu bewahren!
Anyway, the point is – today that question rings more evident than ever. So, I shall convey it in a few other languages in order to make it more universally organic. Because guess what – even though English is the universal language of earth, due to its primitive colonial escapades, and indeed the most convenient, it is neither the most beautiful nor the most soulful language on earth.
Therefore at this difficult humanitarian moment I say to you once again:
How come we can invent better ways to kill each other, but not one to preserve peace!
¡Cómo es que podemos inventar mejores maneras de matarnos unos a otros, pero ninguna para preservar la paz!
Come mai possiamo inventare modi migliori per ucciderci a vicenda, ma non uno per preservare la pace!
Nasıl yani, birbirimizi öldürmenin binlerce yol biliyoruz, ama barışı korumanın bir tane bile yok!
كيف يمكننا أن نبتكر طرقاً أفضل لقتل بعضنا البعض، ولا نجد طريقة للحفاظ على السلام!
ایمان انسانیت،
مذہب محبت؛
خون کی نہیں،
امن کی ہے چاہت۔
Hur kommer det sig att vi kan uppfinna bättre sätt att döda varandra, men inte ett sätt att bevara freden!
Wie kommt es, dass wir bessere Wege finden können, um einander zu töten, aber nicht um den Frieden zu bewahren!
Democracy is people-approved dictatorship (Sonnet 1306) | Abhijit Naskar | Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets
Doctors are not official representatives,
Yet they do their job quite efficiently.
Teachers are not official representatives,
Yet they do their job quite respectfully.
Public transport drivers ain’t representatives,
Yet they carry their duties quite diligently.
Factory workers ain’t official representatives,
Yet they fulfill their tasks rather honorably.
All the professions that actually require
some tangible skillsets and expertise,
don’t rely on the jungle whim of democracy.
Yet the most glorified profession of all,
has no performance standards compulsory.
If this is your idea of a civilized democracy,
No wonder you still crave peace in nuclear weapons!
Only monkeys could confuse homicide with defense,
It takes a human to plant peace through illumination.
Yet they do their job quite efficiently.
Teachers are not official representatives,
Yet they do their job quite respectfully.
Public transport drivers ain’t representatives,
Yet they carry their duties quite diligently.
Factory workers ain’t official representatives,
Yet they fulfill their tasks rather honorably.
All the professions that actually require
some tangible skillsets and expertise,
don’t rely on the jungle whim of democracy.
Yet the most glorified profession of all,
has no performance standards compulsory.
If this is your idea of a civilized democracy,
No wonder you still crave peace in nuclear weapons!
Only monkeys could confuse homicide with defense,
It takes a human to plant peace through illumination.
Diagnosis: Patriotism (The Sonnet) | Abhijit Naskar | World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets
You know what distinguishes
a reformist from a terrorist!
The capacity to destroy the world,
yet choosing not to.
The capacity to press the button,
yet choosing not to.
The capacity to pull the trigger,
yet choosing not to.
The capacity to oblige the state,
but choosing humanity instead.
The capacity to be patriotic,
yet choosing to be human instead.
War is the symptom,
patriotism is the disease.
Terrorists harbor patriotism,
Reformists harbor peace.
a reformist from a terrorist!
The capacity to destroy the world,
yet choosing not to.
The capacity to press the button,
yet choosing not to.
The capacity to pull the trigger,
yet choosing not to.
The capacity to oblige the state,
but choosing humanity instead.
The capacity to be patriotic,
yet choosing to be human instead.
War is the symptom,
patriotism is the disease.
Terrorists harbor patriotism,
Reformists harbor peace.
The Great Superstition (Sonnet) | Abhijit Naskar | Little Planet on The Prairie
Fundamentalists radicalize
children for illegal terrorism,
nationalists radicalize
children for legal terrorism,
I radicalize children for peace-n-oneness,
using only their brain and backbone,
without spilling the blood of human.
Only leeches live by guns and call it honor,
brainwashed by the witchcraft of patriotism.
Fundamentalism, nationalism, these are the real
witchcraft, still practiced by modern savages.
Teachers, coppers, politicians, civil servants,
all (most) mindlessly carry the paradigm of death.
Give me a hundred humanitarian hearts,
I’ll wipe out the very concept of war.
Pack your flags with other talismans,
there is no greater superstition
than the superstition of nation.
children for illegal terrorism,
nationalists radicalize
children for legal terrorism,
I radicalize children for peace-n-oneness,
using only their brain and backbone,
without spilling the blood of human.
Only leeches live by guns and call it honor,
brainwashed by the witchcraft of patriotism.
Fundamentalism, nationalism, these are the real
witchcraft, still practiced by modern savages.
Teachers, coppers, politicians, civil servants,
all (most) mindlessly carry the paradigm of death.
Give me a hundred humanitarian hearts,
I’ll wipe out the very concept of war.
Pack your flags with other talismans,
there is no greater superstition
than the superstition of nation.
Give me a pen, I’ll give you peace (Sonnet) – Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood
One pen can defeat a thousand guns,
that’s why books get banned, not guns.
There’s nothing more dangerous than
books that radicalize you against war.
When you take away fear from the citizens,
you take away their initiative for war.
And when citizens no longer conform to war,
that’s the biggest threat to political power.
You cannot ask citizens to pay for the bombs,
if they believe more in peace than paranoia.
Stupid taxpayers are the biggest sponsors of war,
patriotism is genocide, military is massacre.
I have zero tolerance for any civilian, politician
or scholar who takes pride in the military –
go back to the jungle, because that’s where you
belong, with the rest of your animal society.
that’s why books get banned, not guns.
There’s nothing more dangerous than
books that radicalize you against war.
When you take away fear from the citizens,
you take away their initiative for war.
And when citizens no longer conform to war,
that’s the biggest threat to political power.
You cannot ask citizens to pay for the bombs,
if they believe more in peace than paranoia.
Stupid taxpayers are the biggest sponsors of war,
patriotism is genocide, military is massacre.
I have zero tolerance for any civilian, politician
or scholar who takes pride in the military –
go back to the jungle, because that’s where you
belong, with the rest of your animal society.
Swords, Guns and AI (Excerpt) – Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army
Technology will take us far, far
and farther, until it dumps us
back where we came from, in the
caves, but of concrete ruins.
We will once again fight with
spears and axes, made of broken
bits of chips and circuit boards.
Silicon, lithium, gold, all will
be worthless, apes will barter
again with sheep and boars.
Yesterday’s world was obsessed with swords,
today’s world is obsessed with guns,
tomorrow’s world will be obsessed with AI,
and it always ends up with death and destruction.
Day after tomorrow it’ll be business as usual,
savage world will be back obsessing with fire,
then again with swords, then guns, and so on,
till the sky pours ashes and seas boil over.
What’s so advanced in being the master of war,
we’re advanced when we rise master of peace!
and farther, until it dumps us
back where we came from, in the
caves, but of concrete ruins.
We will once again fight with
spears and axes, made of broken
bits of chips and circuit boards.
Silicon, lithium, gold, all will
be worthless, apes will barter
again with sheep and boars.
Yesterday’s world was obsessed with swords,
today’s world is obsessed with guns,
tomorrow’s world will be obsessed with AI,
and it always ends up with death and destruction.
Day after tomorrow it’ll be business as usual,
savage world will be back obsessing with fire,
then again with swords, then guns, and so on,
till the sky pours ashes and seas boil over.
What’s so advanced in being the master of war,
we’re advanced when we rise master of peace!
