Бахаи призывают к переходу от конкуренции к глобальному сотрудничеству ради достижения мира

Dr. A. K. Merchant* In the Ishavasya Upanishad there is the Shanti sholaka, it also appears in Brihadasanyaka Upanishad: Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Puurnnam-Udacyate | Puurnnasya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate || Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih || Translated into English it means: “That (the invisible, infinite Brahman) is whole and complete. This (the visible, manifested universe or creation) is also whole and complete. From that wholeness, this wholeness comes forth. Taking the whole from the whole…Peace, Peace, Peace.” This natural, original state of unity is the glue maintaining the coherence of all things. A hidden thread of wholeness connects and unites all things in existence. Unfortunately, present-day society is characterized by conflicts and disputation pushing the vast majority of peoples into existential crises. From the perspective of the Bahá’i Faith throughout the course of history, humanity has experienced recurring cycles of unity and disunity. Each cycle, after a great deal of turmoil, leads to a greater degree of wholeness. Unity is an evolving principle in which ever-expanding circles will eventually merge into one whole. A unitive worldview reflects the understanding that all things in the entirety of existence make up an interdependent whole, a oneness in which everything in the whole is an inseparable part. Many of the world’s spiritual and Indigenous traditions have long embraced a reality in which all things were created from an original Wholeness. There was a time, in the very early days of humanity’s infancy, when all things existed in relative harmony and balance. Now, the latest scientific breakthroughs are confirming that our entire universe exists and evolves as a wholly unified entity with everything in it interrelated and interdependent. A 2016 Science Magazine article concluded that the most astonishing fact about the universe is that the entire universe obeys the same laws of nature. Many see the creation of the universe as so precise that had the relationship between its physical attributes and associated numerical constants been any different, even by a minute amount, our universe would have ended in chaos long ago. This means that the balanced wholeness of the universe implies that creation itself represents the most exact and meticulous expression of unity there is. This makes the universe a living superorganism, organizing the deep order of its own wholeness. This wholistic perspective was envisioned by quantum physicist David Bohm. In 1980, his Wholeness and the Implicate Order described all of creation as the holomovement, or a wholeness-in-motion. It gives all of creation the properties of inherent balance and a deep sense of order, meaning, and purpose. Bohm envisioned this wholeness-in-motion as consisting of two parallel orders, each one contributing to the balanced, unified flow of evolution. The Implicate Order, at the core of the universe, is a field of unitive consciousness that creates, orders, and directs our world. Reflecting this, its manifestation in the material universe he called the Explicate Order. The holomovement is a weaving of the two together. These two orders are interconnected, interdependent realms of one reality. One can be seen as the changeless order (directed by the Creator) and the other as the changing order (with its own free will). The changeless always flows in balance, harmony, unity, and peace. The changing order, designed to reflect this greater unity and peace, flows on its own, with many twists and turns on its way toward mirroring the changeless. For many millennia, the changing order has maintained its sovereignty, resisting the inevitable. Anthropocene Age has caused far-reaching imbalances. Enduring peace requires a transition from a predominantly competitive conception of international relations toward cooperative forms of global governance supported by ethical education, inclusive institutions and a culture of consultation. Overcoming the paralysis of will to act collectively for the wellbeing of the entire planet is the most pressing need for the survival of the planet. Bahá’is see the mirroring aspects of one reality namely unity and peace as the natural state of the changeless. While the changing order has unity and peace as its intended outcome. From this evolutionary perspective, the implication is that there will be a time when convergence happens and may be perceived as one unitive reality. The direction and purpose of the two orders described by David Bohm is toward the re-uniting of the whole. The organizing principle of wholeness defines and directs a singular evolutionary impulse toward the ageless vision of peace on earth. This wholistic view sees evolution as moving humankind towards a time when majority of people would voluntarily choose to live with a unitive consciousness, applied unitive principles in all their endeavours, and establish local, regional, national, and international structures for achieving and maintaining the unity of the human family and at the same time celebrating diversity. This vision can be more effectively achieved by collectively applying a strategy of building strong, vibrant, coherent, and harmonious communities. With the grandeur and perfection of the entire creation being a unified wholeness-in-motion, all created things have come into being as a reflection of that unity in diversity. As one observes and investigates the nature of existence from this vantage point one may grasp the intricacies of all created things, and take ownership of the absolute order as one’s own. A unitive world view reflects the understanding that all things in all of existence make up an interdependent whole, a oneness in which everything in the whole is an inseparable part, each an expression of the other, all having originated from one source. In unitive consciousness, reality is one and all seeming differences, differentiations, and distinctions are imaginary. Even apparent opposites –like yin and yang, feminine and masculine–are complementary, interrelated halves of the same whole, balancing, integrating, uniting, and transcending their assumed duality. The separation between us and everything else vanishes in unitive consciousness. This is the “truth” that followers of Bahá’u’lliáh are striving to convey to the peoples through the structured program of educational activities throughout the world. For, the unity of “truth” will make illusory differences to vanish away. Past several decades of sustained efforts have resulted in hundreds of thousands of individuals from children to junior youth to youth and adults daily interacting with receptive souls. All are learning how on the basis of unitive consciousness a new vision, a new heart and new set of wholistic skills make societal transformation possible. For Bahá’is, a genuinely peaceful world would therefore not be a world without diversity, disagreement or difference. It would be a world in which diversity is understood as a source of strength, disagreement is addressed through consultation, justice replaces domination, and international institutions reflect the reality that humanity has become one interconnected community. Perhaps, a great way for unravelling the quantum entanglement. *The writer is a social worker, independent researcher, & member of the Bahá’i Community of India.