Unit 1

Vision for Human Society

Basic aspiration of a Human Being
Aspiration

A strong desire to achieve something high or great is called aspiration.

There are two basic aspirations of every human being.

Continuous happiness and prosperity.

These are the bases of all our desires and the efforts that go towards achieving these.

The correct meaning of these two terms is given below.

• Happiness:-

➢ It’s a process of assemble circumstances which make a person feel happy. There
is a set of state of mind which we are able to accept naturally. Such as trust,
respect, loyalty being confident about your future etc.

➢ It is a continuous process and these feeling always continue is ourselves. We find

these, that are the situations when we are in harmony and these feeling are a
replication of that harmony.

➢ For an example- respect is a state of harmony between two human beings. When
I respect the others and the others respect me, I like to be in that situation. It gives
me happiness. When I observe myself I have harmony in my thought, my
feelings I feel relaxed, happy.

➢ If this harmony disturbed, I feel uneasy.

i) So the state of happiness is: -the state/situation in which I live if

there is coherence/collaboration in it then I like to be in that state
or situation.
ii) To be in a state of liking is happiness. On the other hand when we
experience feeling such as failure, disrespect, lack of confidence,
being doubtful in ourselves or about other, we feel unhappy as
they are states of conflict.
 ➢ These are the states when there is lack of harmony either within us, or between us and
others.
➢ So the state of unhappiness is:-
i) The state/situation in which I live, if there is conflict/contradiction in it
then I do not like to be in that state or situation.
ii) To be in a state of disliking is unhappiness.

We can define happiness and unhappiness as:-

A) To be in a state of harmony is happiness.

b) To be in a state of disharmony is unhappiness.

• Prosperity:-

➢ The material things or what we say physical facilities are related to prosperity.
➢ It is conception that to acquire more physical facilities are prosperity.
➢ To know what prosperity is two things are essential.
a) Correct assessment of need for physical facilities.
b) The competence of making available more than required physical facilities.

➢ One thing can be clearly stated that we can prosperous only if there is a limit to the
physical facilities. If there is no limit what so ever be the availability in us. The feeling of
prosperity can’t be assured.

➢ Secondly just assessing the need is not enough. We need to be able to produce or make
available more than the need.

➢ Suppose, a person has a lot of money, but does not want to share even a bit of it. The
person has wealth but feels deprived similarly a person who not have a lot of wealth may
welcomes you and ask you to stay back for a few days and help you out. This is an
indication of feeling prosperity. So, Wealth is a physical thing. It means having money or
having a lot of physical facilities or both.

➢ Prosperity is a feeling of having more than required physical facilities. It is not just
physical facilities.

➢ It is the misconception in the society that only accumulate physical facilities are
prosperity. But we need to understand it clearly.

➢ The basic requirements for fulfilling the aspirations are:-

 • Right Understanding:-This refers to our skills – the need to learn and utilize our
intelligence effectively.

• Good Relationships:-This refers to the interpersonal relationships that a person

builds at home, at the workplace and in society.

• Physical Facilities:-This includes the physical needs of individuals and indicates

the necessities as well as the comforts of life.

Program to fulfill basic aspiration of human being

Our basic aspirations are happiness and prosperity and it’s continuity. To achieve them we
continuously involve in various activities and accumulating various things. But unfortunately, we
are not able to fulfill our aspirations. The reason is that we don’t know what we really need to
fulfill our requirements and their correct priority.

The basic requirements for fulfilling the aspirations of every human being are:
➢ Right Understanding: This refers to higher-order human skills – the need to learn and
utilize our intelligence most effectively.
➢ Good Relationships: This refers to the interpersonal relationships that a person builds in
his or her life – at home, at the workplace, and in society.
➢ Physical Facilities: This includes the physiological needs of individuals and indicates the
necessities as well as the comforts of life.
Now ask yourself : “Do I need all the three or I can live a fulfilling life with only physical
facilities?”
We can verify this by a set of proposals.
“Physical facilities are necessary for human beings.”
“Physical facilities are necessary for human beings and they are necessary for animals.”
“Physical facilities are necessary and complete for animals, while they are necessary but not
complete for humans.”

For Animals:

Animals need physical things to survive, mainly to take care of their body.

For Humans:
While physical facilities are necessary for human beings, they are not complete by themselves to
fulfill our needs. Our needs are more than just physical facilities; Besides physical facilities, we
want relationship.
By relationship, we mean the relationship we have with other people, or human beings; father,
mother, brother and sisters, our friends, our teachers; we desire good relationships with all of
them.

We Want

In Relationship: Mutual Fulfillment:

If there is a problem in relationship, we feel uneasy, it bothers us. Even if we are interacting with
someone, and something we said or did offends them, it makes us uneasy; i.e. we want mutual
fulfillment in relationship.
In Physical Facilities: Prosperity in Us, Enrichment in Nature:
Prosperity means the feeling of having or being able to have more physical facilities than is
needed. If we don’t have the feeling of prosperity we will exploit others. Similarly, as we interact
with nature for our various physical needs, either exploit nature or enrich it. But our natural
acceptance is that we want to live in harmony with nature.

Need for family and relationship for a Human Being

The family is the basic unit or. building block of human organisation. It provides a base for
appreciating, accepting, understanding and practicing to live in relationship and harmony
(order).

Family is the Basic Unit of all Interaction: Each of us is born into a family which includes a
number of relationships. These relationships are the reality of our life. We recognize and identify
these individuals. We share our feelings, tastes, interests and understanding with these people
and have an affinity for them.

Beginning with our family as the basic unit of interaction, we extend our interactions to the
immediate neighbourhood such as the shopkeepers, servants, classmates, teachers, colleagues
etc. Thus we extend our interactions from beginning from our family to a bigger social order and
then move further to a still bigger web of interdependency.
 Set of proposals to verify Harmony in the Family:

1. Relationship IS and it exists between the Self (‘I’) and the other Self (‘I’): In a family, we do
not create relationships. Instead we are embedded into relationships that are already there and all
that we need to do is to recognize them and understand them.

2. The Self (‘I’) has feelings in a relationship. These feelings are between (‘I’) and (‘I’): In any
relationship, it is the person’s Self (I) that is related to the other person’s Self (I). The body is
only a means to express our relationship. For example, in a mother and a child, it is the Self of
the mother and the Self of the child who feel connected. Their bodies are incapable of
understanding or having feelings.

3. These feelings in the (‘I’) are definite. i.e. they can be identified with definiteness: The
feelings in a relationship between “I” and “I” such as Trust, Respect, Affection etc., can be
identified with clarity. These feelings are the values which characterize any relationship.

4. Recognizing and Fulfilling these feelings lead to Mutual Happiness in a relationship: Once
we recognize the values essential for any relationship, we start working and behaving according
to these feelings. We begin evaluating ours’ and others’ feelings in the relationship. Thus living
with these values leads to mutual fulfillment and happiness in all our relationships.

Justice (Nyaya): Justice is the recognition of values (the definite feelings) in relationship, their
fulfilment, the right evaluation of the fulfilment resulting in mutual happiness. Justice concerns
itself with the proper ordering of things and people within a society. There are four elements:
Recognition of values, fulfilment, evaluation and mutual happiness ensured. When all the four
are ensured, justice is ensured. Mutual fulfilment is the hallmark of justice. And justice is
essential in all relationships. Justice starts from family and slowly expands to the world family.
The child gets the understanding of justice in the family. With this understanding, he goes out in
the society and interacts with people.
If the understanding of justice is ensured in the family, there will be justice in all the interactions
we have in the world at large. If we do not understand the values in relationships, we are
governed by our petty prejudices and conditionings. We may treat people as high or low based
on their body (particular caste, or sex or race or tribe), on the basis of wealth one possesses or the
belief systems that one follows. All this is source of injustice and leads to fragmented society
while our natural acceptance is for an undivided society and universal human order. Having
explored the harmony in the human beings, we are able to explore the harmony in the family.
This enables us to understand the harmony at the level of society and nature/existence. And this
is the way, the harmony in our living grows. We slowly get the competence to live in harmony
with all human beings.

Present Scenario: Differentiation (Disrespect) in relationships on the basis of body, physical

facilities, or beliefs –
Respect means accepting individuality and doing right evaluation (to be evaluated as I am). Our
basis for respect today is largely quite contrary to our discussion above. Instead of respect being
a basis of similarity or one of right evaluation, we have made it into something on the basis of
which we differentiate i.e. by respecting you mean you are doing something special, because you
are special or have something special or are in some special position. Thus, all of us are running
around seeking respect from one another by trying to become something special.
Today, we are differentiating in the name of respect. We either differentiate people on the basis
of their body, on the basis of their wealth and possessions or on the basis of their beliefs. There is
no notion of respect in terms of right evaluation. Thus, there is no real feeling of relationship,
only one of differentiation.

On the basis of body

• Sex/gender: We ignore the fact that being male or female is an attribute of the body, and
not an attribute at the level of ‘I’. And differentiate in giving respect on the basis of gender
called male and females. In many countries, people even prefer a male child to a female
child, and in some other societies, the other way round.
• Race: If the person is of the same race as oneself, then we treat them differently. For
example, we differentiate on the basis of skin colour – white, brown, black etc. or on the
basis of whether the person is of Aryan race, Mongolian race etc. or on the basis of caste.
Again here, we don’t do the evaluation on the basis of ‘I’, but on the basis of the body
• Age: We have notions such as ‘one must respect elders’. There is no such notion as
respect youngsters. Here, we see that we are again evaluating at the level of the body – age
is related to the body, and not to ‘I’.
• Physical strength: If someone is stronger, we again treat him/her differently. This is
again at the level of the body. In fact, we think that we are respecting the other while it is
fear; the fear that if we do not treat them like this, we will be harmed.
On the basis of physical facilities
• Wealth: We differentiate people because some have wealth than others. What we term as
a “rich person” gets idolized. We don’t even bother to find out whether such people are
feeling prosperous, or if they just have wealth. This way, we are over-evaluating physical
 facilities first, which are just meant to fulfil the needs of the body, and then on this basis, we
are wrongly identifying our relationship.
• Post: We try to respect on the basis of a person’s position. The post is wrongly evaluated
as the mark of a person’s excellence and differentiation sets in. The post is considered
important either on the basis that it gives more physical facilities or on the basis that certain
positions are assumed to be important. In our education, we are trained directly or indirectly
to earn posts for us to fetch respect.
On the basis of beliefs
• ‘Isms’: ‘Ism’ means any belief in terms of a ‘thought-system’ that we have, or that we
have adopted. There are also many modern ‘isms’ such as capitalism, socialism, communism,
etc. The people following these sets of beliefs are called capitalists, socialists, communists,
and so on. The people that have adopted them or are following them have been exposed to
them since childhood. Believing theirs to be the right belief. However, all beliefs, as we have
seen are at the level of desires, thoughts and expectations (selections) in ‘I’. There is no
definiteness at this level, and hence, this becomes a cause for differentiation.
• Sects: People of one sect only consider those with a similar belief system to be their
‘own’ and worthy of respect. Following a particular tradition, or what we call as religion,
becomes the basis of respect and disrespect in relationship.

The Problems Faced Due To Differentiation In Relationships:

Differentiation based on sex/gender: Issue of women’s rights, and women protesting and
demanding for equality in education, in jobs, and in peoples’ representation. People are insecure
and afraid of one another based on their gender.
Differentiation based on race: there are many movements and protect against racial
discrimination and demands for equality, racial attacks, movements against cast discrimination
has people living in fear of such racism, racist attacks, casticism and discrimination.
Differentiation based on age: Protests and movements demanding for equal rights for children
on the one hand and for rights for elderly people on the other, generation gap
Differentiation based on wealth: Class struggle and movements to do away with class-
differentiation. Many people suffering from a lack of self-esteem and some even committing
suicide,
Differentiation based on post: Protests against high handed government officials. At the level of
the individual, leads to depression, etc.
Differentiation based on ’isms: Fights, turmoil, terrorism and war, people converting from one
Ism to another in order to be able to get more respect.
Differentiation based on sects: Countless religions and sects and each sect has its own
movement to ensure that there is no discrimination against people of their belief and demands for
special provisions in jobs and in education.

Human- relationship and role of work in its fulfillment

 There are certain basic and important values in maintaining relationship. These values, we all
know, are the backbone of health and happy family relations. The feelings, emotions, sentiments
and respect all are of real importance. These values lead to elimination of friction and
establishment of total harmony in relationship on long term basis. Values that are important in
any relationship are:

Feelings / Values in Relationships

S.No. Feeling

1 Trust / Visvasa

2 Respect / Sammana

3 Affection / Sneha

4 Care / Mamata

5 Guidance / Vatsalya

6 Reverence / Shraddha

7 Glory / Gaurava

8 Gratitude / Kritagyata

9 Love / Prema

1. Trust: Trust or vishwas is the foundational value in relationship. “To be assured that each
human being inherently wants oneself and the other to be happy and prosperous.” If we
have trust in the other, we are able to see the other as a relative and not as an adversary.

There are two aspects in trust:

i. Intention (wanting to – our natural acceptance)
ii. Competence (being able to do)
Both intention and competence are the aspects of trust. Intention is what one aspires for (our
natural acceptance) and competence is the ability to fulfil the aspiration. In intention every
human being wants to do what is right, only the competence may be lacking which needs to be
developed through proper understanding and practice. But what we are doing today is that when
we are judging ourself we are judging on the basis of our intention, whereas, when we are
judging the other we are judging him on the basis of his competence.
“ If you trust everybody, people will take undue advantage of you”. What is the basic
error
in this statement?
The basic error is that if we trust everybody people will not take undue advantage of me. On the
contrary, it gives us inner strength and we become far more effective in interacting with and
“dealing with different people”. This is simply because, we already are sitting with the
knowledge of what the person truly wants, truly intends, even though the person may not know
this himself/herself! Hence, our ability to interact with people becomes far more effective and in
the process, we don’t get hurt, we don’t get disturbed, we end up becoming an aid to the other. In
other words, becoming aware, having the right understanding, living with the assurance in
relationship does not mean becoming “stupid”! It only makes us, more competent. Further, what
is being said here is that we have trust on the intention of everyone, but, when it comes to
making a program with someone, I evaluate my competence, I evaluate his competence and
make the program accordingly. This makes me more effective.

2. Respect: Respect means individuality. The sense of individuality is prime object. This is
the first basic step towards respect (sammana). Once we realized that we are individual then only
we can see our self different from others. In other words, respect means right evaluation, to be
evaluated as I am.

Difference between Respect and Differentiation / Disrespect:

Respect Differentiation
1. Respect is right evaluation. 1. Differentiation is lack of understanding of respect.
2. Respect for others is generated by the 2. This differentiation can take the form of:
right evaluation and understanding which o Gender bias
leads to fulfilment in relationships. This o Generation gap
further creates a sense of respect among o Caste struggle
people o Power play and domination
o Communal violence
o Clash of race, religion, etc.
o class struggle,
3. This leads to the escalation in the problems of
society which further lowers the respect shown to
others in society.
3. Affection: Affection is the feeling of being related to the other. Affection comes when I
recognize that we both want to make each other happy and both of us are similar.

4. Care: The feeling of care is the feeling to nurture and protect the body of our
relative. Or in other words a state of mind in which one is troubled; worry, anxiety, or concern is
called care.

5. Guidance: The feeling of ensuring right understanding and feelings in the other (my
relative) is called guidance. We understand the need of self (‘I’) for right understanding and
feelings. We also understand that the other is similar to me in his/her faculty of natural
acceptance, desire of wanting continuous happiness and the program of living in harmony at all
the four levels.

6. Reverence: The feeling of acceptance of excellence in the other is called

reverence. When we see that the other has achieved this excellence- which means to understand
and to live in harmony at all the levels of living ensuring continuity of happiness, we have a
feeling of reverence for him/her.

7. Glory: Each one of us wants to live with continuous happiness and prosperity. Each one of
us has the similar faculty of natural acceptance, has the same goal and program and we have the
same potential to realize this. Glory is the feeling for someone who has made efforts for
excellence.

8. Gratitude: Gratitude is the feeling of acceptance for those who have made efforts for
my excellence. Gratitude is an emotion that occurs after people receive help, depending on how
they interpret the situation.

9. Love: Love is the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In other words,
love is a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or
friend. This feeling or value is also called the complete value since this is the feeling of
relatedness to all human beings. It starts with identifying that one is related to the other human
being (the feeling of affection) and it slowly expands to the feeling of being related to all human
beings.
The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging
from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my wife").
"Love" can also refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to the
sexual love of Eros (cf. Greek words for love), to the emotional closeness of familial love, or to
the platonic love that defines friendship, to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love.
This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved,
makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.
The above mentioned values are the core of all relations. One has to follow all to gain on
the day to day problems. These values are intrinsic and available in every person. We need to
find out in ourselves and implement. Without implementation, one cannot think of a strong
family relation.

Comprehensive Human Goal

Identification of the Comprehensive Human Goal

In order to facilitate the fulfillment of the basic aspirations of all human beings in society, the
following comprehensive human goal needs to be understood.

➢ Right understanding is necessary for human beings, for all human beings. When
one does not have the right understanding, one remains disturbed and also acts in a
manner so as to create disharmony with other human beings as well as with the
rest of nature.

➢ Prosperity is needed in every family. Prosperity in the family means that the
family is able to identify its needs and is able to produce/ achieve more than its
requirements.

➢ Trust in society means every member of society feels related to everyone else and
therefore there is trust and fearlessness.

➢ Co-existence in nature means there is a relationship and complementarity among

all the entities in nature including human beings.
This is the Comprehensive Human Goal.
With a little exploration, we find that all four are required for human society. We are not
satisfied with anything less than this. This is the basic minimum requirement to ensure
sustainable happiness and prosperity. We can’t cut down any of them. This is the minimum level
that each one of us wants, and also the maximum we can think of. We can’t think of anything
more than this.
This is the target for each one of us, the whole human race, and the human tradition. The
moment we leave anyone of them out, there will be a loss of continuity, and the goal cannot be
achieved.
Samadhan
We can solve society’s problems when we see beyond the contradictions of life. When we live in
higher consciousness, we obtain the higher knowledge that sees the higher harmonies which
enable the resolution of every problem.
Samridhi (Prosperity)
Prosperity is the state of flourishing, thriving, success, or good fortune. Prosperity often
encompasses wealth but also includes other factors which are independent of wealth to varying
degrees, such as happiness and health.
Abhay
Man is eager to live and afraid to die. Most problems owe themselves to this fact. The fear of
death might be reckoned as a prime fear but the most primeval and basic fear is that of
expectation being defeated, or more specifically, that of losing what one delusively thinks one
owns (the delusion “this is mine”). Fear of losing what one is attached to (the family, for
example) gives birth to the fear of death and therefore the former is the most basic fear because
one is attached to the body and is afraid to lose it. Fear resides within and not outside us.
External fear is mere fiction. If we succeed in cultivating fearlessness no incident, no external
circumstances can strike fear in us.
Sah-astitva (Co-existence)
The world is full of Diversity – there are different nations, cultures, religions, communities,
languages, and beliefs. The beauty of existence can only be maximized if everything in this
world is in harmony. Peaceful, symbiotic co-existence is the key to harmony in the world.
For peaceful co-existence to occur in a diverse society the following must happen:

1. People must recognize that traditional interpretations of peaceful co-existence are

outdated.
2. Governments and individuals must recognize that society needn’t be homogeneous or
institutionalized to serve an important purpose for people.
3. Members of varying cultures, countries, and faiths must learn to respect the traditions,
beliefs, and boundaries of one another.
4. Religion and politics must be separate.
5. People must agree to disagree regarding certain moral values and beliefs and come to
recognize that others can be different from them and yet be equally capable in their own
unique manner.
The above-mentioned goal is not only comprehensive but also universal i.e. equally applicable to
all human beings and for all times. It includes all our aspirations and this is the goal for each one
of us. Thus it becomes the goal of human society or the basic need of human civilization.
It should be noted that

1. The harmony in society begins with the individual. We need to ensure the right
understanding in the individual as the foundation of harmony in the society.
2. With the right understanding, the need for physical facilities in the family can be
ascertained. By assessing our needs correctly and by producing more than required the
family can be prosperous.
3. Assurance of right understanding in the individuals and prosperity in the families,
understanding of human relationships leads to harmony and trust (fearlessness) in the
society. When every individual is able to live harmoniously in a relationship, and the
needs of all the families are ensured, fearlessness (mutual trust) in society will naturally
follow.
4. When human beings with the right understanding interact with nature, it will be in
consonance with the co-existence and will be mutually enriching.

Also,
1. Right understanding ⇒ 2. Prosperity ⇒ 3. Fearlessness (trust) ⇒ 4. Co-existence

Need for Undivided Society

The Basis of Undivided Society (Akhanda Samaja) – The World Family:

The feelings of being related to every human being leads to our participation in an
undivided society. By living in relationship in the family, we get the occasion to gain the
assurance that the other person is an aid to me and not a hindrance. The family is a laboratory of
sorts, in which we live our understanding and relationship. With the understanding of values in
human relationship, we are able to recognize the connectedness with every individual correctly
and fulfil it. On getting assured, it becomes easy to see that society is an extension of family and
that it is possible to live in harmony with every human being- thus laying the foundation for an
undivided society- from family to world family.

Need for Universal Human Order

Universal human order (sarvabhatima vyavastha) is a feeling of being related to every unit

including human beings and other entities of nature. Having understood the comprehensive

human goal, we are able to be in harmony not only with human beings, but also with the rest of

the nature. We are able to see that we are related to every unit in nature and ensure mutual

fulfillment in that relationship.

On the bases of understanding of harmony, we get the notion of an undivided society and
universal human order. The universal human order will comprise of:

1. The five dimensions of human endeavor (education, health etc.) towards a fragmented
society.
2. The steps of organization from family to world family, each anchored in right
understanding will integrated in the correct way.

Implications of value based living at all four levels of living

The implications of value-based living can be studied in the following terms:

1. At the level of the individual —

Transition towards happiness and prosperity will take place at the individual level. It will
instill self-confidence, spontaneous joyfulness, peace, contentment and bliss in the self,
and also perseverance, bravery and generosity in living of the individual.

2. At the level of the family –

Mutual fulfillment in relationships, prosperity in the family, sustenance of joint families,

family as the building block of societal order in place of law enforcing bodies, respect for
all without differentiation on the basis of age, gender, caste, race, money, post, creed, etc.

3. At the level of the society —

Fearlessness in the society, holistic systems for education, health, justice, production,
exchange and storage, harmony between nations, world growing as a family.

4. At the level of nature —

Co-existence of all units in nature, earth getting more and more suited for sustenance of
all entities on the globe, balance of seasons, proper development
Pragmatic implications of value-based living at the four levels
The implications of value based living can be understood in the following terms:

1. At the level of the individual —

Achieve happiness, peace, contentment and bliss in the self, perseverance, bravery and
generosity in living of the individual. The individual get rid of the tensions, frustrations,
depression, and other such situations

2. At the level of the family –

Mutual fulfillment in relationships, prosperity in the family, sustenance of joint families,

family as the building block of societal order in place of law enforcing bodies, respect for
all without differentiation on the basis of age, gender, caste, race, money, post, creed, etc.

3. At the level of the society —

Fearlessness in the society, holistic systems for education, health, justice, production,
exchange and storage, harmony between nations, world growing as a family.
Differentiations on the basis of body, physical facilities and beliefs will be reduced.

4. At the level of nature —

Co-existence of all units in nature, earth getting more and more suited for sustenance of
all entities on the globe, balance of seasons, proper development. The problems of
pollution and resource depletion can be solved.