PROUT

The Concept of Man and the Values of Life Philosophy in its deepest sense must embody the philosophy of life – human life in its entirety, and not just in part. A theory of life is needed to guide humanity towards its destiny. Other creatures don't need such theory because they are guided by nature, by instinct. The aim of philosophy is to suggest and inspire a way of life. Scientific and analytical thought have opened new vistas and dispelled many dogmas. Simultaneously, it must be accepted that this growing scientific and analytic spirit should not destroy and ignore the inner values of life or deny the soul. Humanism needs to be redefined. We have to rediscover ourselves, acknowledge that we humans are the prime mover in all our activities, whether they be religious, scientific, ethical, artistic or spiritual. Science, politics, and economics should not dictate to humanity, rather they should be useful tools guided by awakened intellects for the benefit of all. Religions and Humanism Different religions tried to define humans within their own terms. Eastern religions were long guided by the idea of the spiritual essence of life. This was based on the traditional belief of transcendental monism, that matter is the metamorphosed form of consciousness, which gave rise to a culture based on the concept of unity in diversity. Transcendental monism asserts our spiritual connection with the infinite and encourages the evolution of inner wisdom in order to realise the bond of unity amongst all dimensions of creation. Later, Eastern religions relapsed into traditionalism and confined themselves within meaningless ritualistic observance and idolatry. Monism, the essence of spiritual tradition, ultimately became transformed into dualism that separated the unit beings from supreme consciousness. This religious dogma fragmented the society and created a passive psychology. In the West, the Judeo-Christian tradition took a very different course, personifying God as a being who lived in a distant and sepa¬rate realm and whose attention was centered on earth and its human inhabitants. In this tradition, God's will and wisdom were revealed through prophets, such as Moses, or through the incarnation of his son, Jesus. The earth was believed to be the center of the universe, with the sun, stars, and planets revolving around it. These beliefs remained the foun¬dation of scientific thought and moral and political authority in Eu¬rope until as recently as five hundred years ago. Aristotle's philo¬sophical outlook, later associated with Christian metaphysics, domi¬nated European social psychology for nearly two thousand years, from 500 BC until approximately 1,500 A.D. As a result, society was dominated by the clergy, and scientific investigation was neglected until the startling discoveries of Galileo, Copernicus and others in the sixteenth century. When the absoluteness of the claims of religions were questioned, their impact largely collapsed. Dr. Radhakrisnan wrote, “Humanism is a legitimate protest against those forms of religion which separate the secular and the sacred, divide time and eternity and break up the unity of soul and flesh… religion should have sufficient respect for the dignity of man and the right of human personality… Humanist revivals occur when religions disintegrate and fail to attract men’s attention.”