(As per the request of some students, I am uploading 9th chapter again.)
HUMAN VALUES AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
LECTURE NOTES
UNIT –III : CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX: Harmony In The Society – From Family Order To World Order
Extending Relationship from Family to Society
Right Understanding at the individual level leads to harmony in the family. This leads to harmony in the society.
For the fulfilment of the basic human aspirations of all human beings, the following Comprehensive Human Goal should be understood:
All the above four constituents form the Comprehensive Human Goal in the same sequence as above.
Where are we today?
Right Understanding (in individuals) – We have only information and skills, no right understanding, no true happiness.
Prosperity in Families – We forgot that the need for physical facilities is limited and are trying to generate only more and more wealth.
Fearlessness/Trust in Society – We are working for strategic power and not fearlessness (In the name of defence, we are misusing the valuable resources of nature to make weapons and ammunition). Thus, we are becoming more fearful (of wars, fights etc.). We have organizations like the UNO, but we don’t have programs to ensure trust among people.
Co-existence (with Nature) – We are not giving importance to co-existence with nature and are figuring out ways to exploit Nature.
(The goal of our technological development is to get victory over Nature, to subjugate the entities in nature and to disrupt nature’s cycles for our whims and fancies.
Conclusion: We have missed the core things in life and are unable to understand the harmony at all levels of our living.
Programs needed to achieve the Comprehensive Human Goal: The five dimensions of Human Endeavour
In order to achieve the Comprehensive Human Goal, the following five dimensions of Human Endeavour are to be shaped and implemented in the society:
(leads to Right Understanding, Right Feelings and an all compassing solution,Samadhana)
Education = To understand Harmony at all four levels of living)
Right Living = Commitment and Preparedness to live in harmony at all four levels of living
The goal and objective of education is to ensure Right Understanding, Right Feelings and An-encompassing Solution(Samadhana) in every individual through Right Living.
2. Health – Self Regulation (Svasthya – Sanyama)
(leads to Prosperity)
Health = Harmony among the parts of the body and having a fit body which acts according to the needs of the Self “I”
Self-Regulation = A feeling of responsibility for nurturing, protecting and rightly utilizing the body.
Self-regulation is the basis of Health.
(leads to Fearlessness and Co-existence)
Justice = Human-Human Relation (relationship between human beings) – its recognition, fulfilment, evaluation – leading to mutual happiness
Preservation = Human – Rest of the Nature Relation – its recognition, fulfilment, evaluation – leading to mutual Prosperity
Preservation involves ensuring the following three aspects:
1. Enrichment – (I cultivate wheat; this enriches wheat as the quantity grows)
2. Protection – (I protect it so that it is fit to eat)
3. Right Utilization – (I use it for the nurturing of the body and do not let it get wasted)
Production – Work ( Utpadana – Karya)
(leads to Prosperity and Co-existence)
Production = Things obtained out of work
Work = Labour that a human being does on the rest of the Nature
Two important questions come to our mind when we talk of Production – Work :
1. What to produce?
2. How to produce?
We should decide what to produce depending on the right identification of needs for the right utilization of the body.
How to produce refers to the technology or systems we use for production.
In Nature,
1. The systems are cyclic and not open ended. For eg. Water cycle, Nitrogen cycle, Food chain etc.
2. The systems are mutually fulfilling and mutually enriching. For eg. When birds, animals or humans eat guavaswhich come from nature, finally they go back to nature(soil) itself through excreta.
Hence we should design our production systemsinsuch a way that the mutual fufilment in nature is ensured and not disturbed.
Exchange = Exchanging of produce for mutual fulfilment and not for madness of profit
Storage = Storing of produce after the fulfillment of needs with a view of right utilization in future and not for hoarding.
What is our state today?
· Our programs of education are based on literacy, training and information transfer and do not have anything to do with the study of Self
· We are looking for new sources of sensual pleasures and losing control over self-regulation. We are producing new diseases through irresponsible living.
· Today, we have the court of law to get justice. Yet in spite of thousands of courts and lawyers, the judgements passed and punishments given are unable to ensure real justice. Family values are deteriorating, communal violence and conflicts between people and communities are on the rise and nations have rising fears of destructive wars. Misusing the growth in Science and Technology has adversely affected the three aspects of Preservation namely Enrichment, Protection and Right Utilization.
· Although Nature is cyclic and enriching, human production processes are largely Acyclic or Open-ended. For eg. We are carelessly using the fossil fuels like coal, petrol, diesel etc. which not only pollutes the atmosphere but also results in their depletion over a period of time. Several things produced by man are acyclic in nature and cannot be decomposed by Nature such as plastics, foams etc. These are very harmful to the atmosphere and are leading to the extinction of many species of plant and animal life.
· Today man has developed from the early barter system to using currency for the sale and purchase of goods. With the greed to increase his income and profits, man is hoarding currency and other things, exploiting mankind and nature as well.
Harmony from Family Order to World Family Order: Universal Human Order
· Once we understand the Comprehensive Human Goal and the five dimensions of Human Endeavour, in the light of Right Understanding, our Natural Acceptance extends from the level of Individual to the levels of Family and then Society and finally into a feeling of World Family. This forms the basis of an undivided society (Akhanda Samaj) a feeling of relatedness for all (we are all one family).
Thus, when we expand into a world family, we realize our responsibility in the society and participate in it.
Undiveded Society (Akhanda Samaja) – feeling of being related to every human being
Universal Human Order (Sarvabhauma Vyavastha) – feeling of being related to every unit including human beings and other entities of nature.
Right Understanding at the individual level leads to harmony in the family. This leads to harmony in the society.
· Understanding relationships in family, recognizing the feelings in these relationships and living according to these feelings leads to mutual happiness and fulfillment.
· Slowly we become aware of our relatedness to all the human beings beyond the confines of our family such as friends, colleagues, people in the neighbourhood and even strangers.
Try to answer this question:
“ Do I want to live in harmony inly within a limited set of people or with everyone?”
· Try to observe some most sought-after public figures. Also observe how famous personalities like Buddha, Mother Teresa, Vivekananda etc. established their connectivity with a vast majority of people – It is because they did not remain confined to the harmony with a limited set of people. They developed a relatedness with all the human beings.
· The more you feel connected/ related to more and more number of people, the more you feel relaxed and satisfied. This helps to develop a feeling of assurance, trust and fearlessness in the social web.
Trust--------->Fearlessnes (Trust is the basis of Fearlessness, Peace and Harmony.)
· Our Natural Acceptance extends from the level of Individual to the levels of Family and then Society and finally into a feeling of World Family. This forms the basis of an undivided society (Akhanda Samaj) a feeling of relatedness for all (we are all one family).
Thus, when we expand into a world family, we realize our responsibility in the society and participate in it.
Identification of Comprehensive Human Goal:
For the fulfilment of the basic human aspirations of all human beings, the following Comprehensive Human Goal should be understood:
The Comprehensive Human Goal comprises of four constituents namely:
1. Right Understanding (Samadhana) -----------> In every individual
2. Prosperity(Samriddhi) ------------> In every Family
3. Fearlessness / Trust (Abhaya/Vishwas) --------> In Society
4.Co-existence
(Sahstitwa) ----------------> In Nature
(Sahstitwa) ----------------> In Nature
All the above four constituents form the Comprehensive Human Goal in the same sequence as above.
Where are we today?
Right Understanding (in individuals) – We have only information and skills, no right understanding, no true happiness.
Prosperity in Families – We forgot that the need for physical facilities is limited and are trying to generate only more and more wealth.
· Our economy, education, market is all luring us to generate more wealth.
· We are interested in the lists of millionaires and trillionaires in our society and not in the lists of prosperous people.
· We give importance to sensory enjoyment and are forgetting that wealth is needed only for keeping our body healthy.
Fearlessness/Trust in Society – We are working for strategic power and not fearlessness (In the name of defence, we are misusing the valuable resources of nature to make weapons and ammunition). Thus, we are becoming more fearful (of wars, fights etc.). We have organizations like the UNO, but we don’t have programs to ensure trust among people.
Co-existence (with Nature) – We are not giving importance to co-existence with nature and are figuring out ways to exploit Nature.
(The goal of our technological development is to get victory over Nature, to subjugate the entities in nature and to disrupt nature’s cycles for our whims and fancies.
Conclusion: We have missed the core things in life and are unable to understand the harmony at all levels of our living.
· The problem is that, the very first step towards change i.e. the Right Understanding is missing.
· Right Understanding is the only route to prosperity and social harmony.
Programs needed to achieve the Comprehensive Human Goal: The five dimensions of Human Endeavour
In order to achieve the Comprehensive Human Goal, the following five dimensions of Human Endeavour are to be shaped and implemented in the society:
1. Education – Right Living ( Siksha – Sanskar)
(leads to Right Understanding, Right Feelings and an all compassing solution,Samadhana)
Education = To understand Harmony at all four levels of living)
Right Living = Commitment and Preparedness to live in harmony at all four levels of living
The goal and objective of education is to ensure Right Understanding, Right Feelings and An-encompassing Solution(Samadhana) in every individual through Right Living.
2. Health – Self Regulation (Svasthya – Sanyama)
(leads to Prosperity)
Health = Harmony among the parts of the body and having a fit body which acts according to the needs of the Self “I”
Self-Regulation = A feeling of responsibility for nurturing, protecting and rightly utilizing the body.
Self-regulation is the basis of Health.
3. Justice – Preservation ( Nyaya – Suraksha)
(leads to Fearlessness and Co-existence)
Justice = Human-Human Relation (relationship between human beings) – its recognition, fulfilment, evaluation – leading to mutual happiness
Preservation = Human – Rest of the Nature Relation – its recognition, fulfilment, evaluation – leading to mutual Prosperity
Preservation involves ensuring the following three aspects:
1. Enrichment – (I cultivate wheat; this enriches wheat as the quantity grows)
2. Protection – (I protect it so that it is fit to eat)
3. Right Utilization – (I use it for the nurturing of the body and do not let it get wasted)
Production – Work ( Utpadana – Karya)
(leads to Prosperity and Co-existence)
Production = Things obtained out of work
Work = Labour that a human being does on the rest of the Nature
Two important questions come to our mind when we talk of Production – Work :
1. What to produce?
2. How to produce?
We should decide what to produce depending on the right identification of needs for the right utilization of the body.
How to produce refers to the technology or systems we use for production.
In Nature,
1. The systems are cyclic and not open ended. For eg. Water cycle, Nitrogen cycle, Food chain etc.
2. The systems are mutually fulfilling and mutually enriching. For eg. When birds, animals or humans eat guavaswhich come from nature, finally they go back to nature(soil) itself through excreta.
Hence we should design our production systemsinsuch a way that the mutual fufilment in nature is ensured and not disturbed.
5. Exchange – Storage (Vinimaya – Kosa/ Kosh)
(leads to Prosperity and Fearlessness)Exchange = Exchanging of produce for mutual fulfilment and not for madness of profit
Storage = Storing of produce after the fulfillment of needs with a view of right utilization in future and not for hoarding.
What is our state today?
· Our programs of education are based on literacy, training and information transfer and do not have anything to do with the study of Self
· We are looking for new sources of sensual pleasures and losing control over self-regulation. We are producing new diseases through irresponsible living.
· Today, we have the court of law to get justice. Yet in spite of thousands of courts and lawyers, the judgements passed and punishments given are unable to ensure real justice. Family values are deteriorating, communal violence and conflicts between people and communities are on the rise and nations have rising fears of destructive wars. Misusing the growth in Science and Technology has adversely affected the three aspects of Preservation namely Enrichment, Protection and Right Utilization.
· Although Nature is cyclic and enriching, human production processes are largely Acyclic or Open-ended. For eg. We are carelessly using the fossil fuels like coal, petrol, diesel etc. which not only pollutes the atmosphere but also results in their depletion over a period of time. Several things produced by man are acyclic in nature and cannot be decomposed by Nature such as plastics, foams etc. These are very harmful to the atmosphere and are leading to the extinction of many species of plant and animal life.
· Today man has developed from the early barter system to using currency for the sale and purchase of goods. With the greed to increase his income and profits, man is hoarding currency and other things, exploiting mankind and nature as well.
Harmony from Family Order to World Family Order: Universal Human Order
· Once we understand the Comprehensive Human Goal and the five dimensions of Human Endeavour, in the light of Right Understanding, our Natural Acceptance extends from the level of Individual to the levels of Family and then Society and finally into a feeling of World Family. This forms the basis of an undivided society (Akhanda Samaj) a feeling of relatedness for all (we are all one family).
Thus, when we expand into a world family, we realize our responsibility in the society and participate in it.
Undiveded Society (Akhanda Samaja) – feeling of being related to every human being
Universal Human Order (Sarvabhauma Vyavastha) – feeling of being related to every unit including human beings and other entities of nature.
