The time is right to seek spirituality in humanitarian services. Prashant Agarwal tells us how to balance spirituality and humanity with selflessness
Spirituality is the higher perception of religion and philosophy. It is about inner consciousness of human thought that eventually rules behaviours and emotions. It deals with the fundamental nature of human beings and their interaction with the physically manifested world.
Spirituality is the way to connect the self to a higher consciousness. An interesting question is: What is the effect of no spiritualityIJ How does a non-spiritual person behaveIJ This can be understood from the concept and understanding of spirituality itself. As spirituality is about human consciousness, it is the basis of conscience. The effect of spirituality is abruptly apparent in the conscience of a person. Traits such as morality, righteousness, and virtue manifest in a spiritual person and just the opposite happens to the unspiritual.
In this context, the line between spirituality and religion can be drawn. There is a vast difference between the two. While spirituality is about the questions of life, existence and its relation to the world, religion is about the means to follow a particular set of beliefs. While spirituality is more about theory, religion is more about practice.
However, spirituality manifests as religion, faiths and believes. Spirituality is inclined towards the concepts of self, sprit and the world. On the other hand, religion is more inclined towards the perception of God. Concepts such as afterlife are some intimate meeting points of spirituality and religion. Religion is about rules and regulations formed on a firm ground of belief and faiths. But spirituality is open ended with no constraints and boundary. A thing is spiritual as long as it is one and identifiable with the higher objectives of life and living. Aspects such as humanity are pragmatic approaches to spirituality.
Many philosophies integrate humanity and spirituality. Humanity is an expression of spirituality. love and compassion are the physical manifestation of spiritual behaviour. Without these traits, spirituality cannot be complete. On the other hand, humanity is one with love and compassion. love for humankind is said to be equal to loving god.
A famous maxim from Bible about hating the sin and not the sinner is about this humanistic approach. Human beings are intrinsically good by nature. As long as the soul exists within a body, as long as there is life, consciousness is always accompanied by conscience. And conscience is about intrinsic moral and goodness of human beings. Sin is the result of ignorance.
Selflessness is the string that connects spirituality and humanity. A person who can restrain the self from sense gratification can cultivate compassion. To be compassionate, one needs purity of heart as well as the mind. The character of selflessness emanates within a personality when one has a holistic approach to the life and its interaction with the manifested world.
The practical aspects of selflessness have strong influence on people and on the world. For instance, the existence of social and economic status is due to many factors that are not necessarily related to selflessness. However, the reason for the burgeoning gap between the economic classes is certainly due to lack of responsibility and a growing sense of self-gratification among human beings.
A sheer contrast of richness and living style is observed across the world. It is not specific to any geography or a particular place. Slums where people live in abominable human condition exist side by side rich mansions and buildings. In one part of society, lavishness reaches to a point of wastage of food and in another section of the same society children sleep hungry. These existent differences in society raise some serious concerns about human character and mindset.
If human beings are born good, why the humongous disparity and inequality among menIJ Can’t the rich share with the poor and bring equality of life and living throughout humanityIJ Surveys have indicated that a mere 3 per cent of the total population owns more than 50 per cent of the total wealth on earth. This leaves a huge section of population in utter poverty, who cannot even afford a day’s meal. A child dies of hunger and malnutrition every 18 seconds.
In a backdrop of such bleakness, facets such as spirituality, humanity and selflessness hold a little significance in themselves. But humanity will have to endure the consequences of its own debasement, the emergence of which has already begun. Poverty is a plague and eventually it will affect those who are still not affected by it.
The living example of this fact is the growing disturbances in poorer countries and the effect on economies of rich and affluent countries. The African countries being the major producers of food grain are going through the gravest crisis of poverty and malnutrition. The problem has affected the rich nations, manifesting as rising price of food commodities.
Illegal immigration has become a burning issue in today’s world. Thousands of migrants from African nations illegally migrate to European nations through the Mediterranean. There is no way to stop these migrants and they eventually affect society of the developed nations. Many mass graves have been found in Malaysian jungles where hundreds of illegal migrants were buried. These are the most recent issues that are creating a global enigma.
Had there been no poor people and no poor countries, such dilemmas would never exist. However, the problem of poverty and poor has reached a significant level and is ringing the bell consistently within the well-off section, especially the middle class.
The time is right to seek spirituality in humanitarian services. Humanity is on the threshold of breakdown with killings, massacres and deaths happening every day. The endeavours of super powers seem to shrink within themselves trying to contain their own complexities. In this period, the only thing we can do is to remain aware of who we are with practical approaches to save our existence.
A little act of selfless kindness can render a great effect. Spirituality is essential for peace and peace is essential for progress. Being selfless and humane will build morale to offer ourselves holistically to the world. A change from oneself is enough to propagate the reaction. As Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see.” We must initiate selfless humanitarian service from ourselves. Selflessness is a practical approach to humanity and humanity is a practical approach to spirituality.
The writer is president at Narayan Seva Sansthan