HUMAN ETHICS EVOLVED BY THE END OF SECOND MILLENNIUM A.D.

 

Dr. Achyuta Rao, Iyyanki

 

1. Evolution of Life on the Earth:

 

            The solar system, consisting of the sun and nine planets including the earth, was formed 4.6 billion years ago. The first living beings on the earth viz. the bacteria, viruses and other single cellular plants and animals, appeared on the earth about 600 million years back. Life proliferated on the earth, including the process of evolution into higher forms of life. The age of fishes on the planet was 395-345 million years ago and that of the reptiles 275-65 million years ago. Then the mammals appeared, on the scene, in all diversity. While the process of evolution was continuing, the form of a wild man appeared on the globe one million years ago.

 

            This man had developed into a civilised human being 10,000 years back. Archaeological evidence of organised human civilization dates back to 3000 BC. At present 1.4 million kinds of animals and half a million of plants exist on the earth, after 99% of all plants and animals have become extinct.

 

2. Life-less other Planets:

 

            The planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, revolve round the Sun in elliptical orbits, in that order. The average distance of Mercury from the Sun is 52 million km and that of Pluto 5900 million km. The maximum and minimum temperatures on the surface of earth are comfortable enough for the existence of life. But those on the other eight planets are either too low or too high for the existence of life. Hence no life exists on these planets.

 

3. The Universe:

 

            The billions of stars in our Milky way galaxy (the Sun is one of them) and those in millions of other galaxies in the expanding universe are beyond our comprehension. The distances involved are thousands of light years, not millions of kilo meters (A light year means the distance travelled by light in a year at the speed of 300,000 km/sec)

 

4. Survival of man on the Earth:

 

            In the struggle for existence, ‘survival of the fittest’ is the most important law in natural history. ‘The fittest’ means the one (Species) which can adapt itself well to the environment and its changes. Secondly, it is the strongest that can overcome its natural enemies in the physical battle for survival. Thirdly, the degree of development of the brain determines, the survival capability. In fact, man excels all species in this regard.

 

            If we consider the number and diversity of man-made things, we can appreciate the rapid development of human brain compared to all other living beings, with some form of developed brain. Presently, man is on the top of the pyramid of life.

 

5. Man, Nature and God:

 

            Man uses his highly developed brain for several purposes:

 

- to increase his survival capability

- to improve his physical comforts of life

- to understand Nature in all its might and utilise it for his benefit.

- to defend himself against his natural enemies like disease and danger

- to increase his knowledge about his environment as well as about various forms of life, the nature, the universe and the Creator of them all, if any.

 

            While appreciating the live nature around him and its mighty potential, the early man began to worship the Sun, the Moon, the clouds, the rain, the rivers, the fire, the trees, and certain animals. When he observed the planets and distant stars moving around in the sky, his imagination went quite far. He believed that there is a Supreme Force which created all these ‘live wonders’, sustained them for long and finally destroyed them at its Will. This Supreme Force is called God, the Brahman, Sakti, Allah etc., in different religious faiths.

 

            Some scientists and rational thinkers say, Nature is the Supreme Force, which is not created by any but exists already by itself. Whereas, some scientists strongly believe that God created Nature. Human ethics does not depend on the presence or absence of God. Let us see how it is evolved.

 

            When the civilized man formed his society, consisting of several humans, an order or discipline was enforced, in a voluntary fashion, with the primary objective of safeguarding the interests of the community at large. All actions are classified into two types-the good and the bad deeds. Those that serve the interests of the community are good and those that harm the community are bad. Subsequently when the local authority or state took control of the enforcement, rewards and praise are given for good deeds and punishment and blame for bad actions. Some of the actions do not come to the notice of the public. How is justice done in such cases? People have experienced that in the long run good deeds bring happiness and bad deeds unhappiness and suffering to the individual. There emerged a strong faith/feeling that ultimately justice or goodness will prevail in nature.

 

            Most of the people, of all religions, believe that there are two worlds outside our earth. After death, the souls of good people go to heaven (a place of untold happiness) and those of bad people go to hell (a place of rigorous punishment). These other worlds, without fail, take care of even the actions taken secretly or outside public notice.

 

            The ultimate aim of man is to establish righteousness in the whole community. What is right and what is wrong were clearly, defined. All religions are uniformly vociferous about this. But human ethics does not call in religion to justify righteousness.

 

7. The universal Gospel:

 

            In order to facilitate a rational outlook, let us set aside for a moment the belief in:

 

- the God with form or formless God

- Heaven and Hell

- the existence of Soul or Atma

and

- the Re-incarnation of Soul for multiple births and deaths of body until Moksha or Nirvana, or liberation (joining the Almighty)

 

            An analytical and rational perusal of all religious scriptures, the Gita, the Upanishads, the Dharmapada (of Buddhism), the Bible, the Koran etc., and their preachings, leads us to the simple but universal gospel. “HELP ALL; HARM NONE”

 

            “All” means all living beings in air, water and land on the Earth; that is, in the three dimensional space in the Bio-sphere. This is also the modern scientific concept of ‘Environmental Preservation’. In the domain of time, it becomes “HELP EVER; HURT NEVER” as often preached by Sri Satya Saibaba of Puttaparthy. This hurting should not be done in thought, word, or deed.

 

8. Universal Love:

 

            This concept of Universal Love was propagated by:

 

            the Upanishads-since pre-historic times, Buddhism & Jainism - since 6th Century B.C, Christianity - since 1st Century A.D, Islam ­since 8th Century A.D., Sikhism - since 17th Century A.D. Other world religions also preached the same, since several centuries. Prophets, saints, sages, mystics, yogis and others preached the same.

 

            Even in this 20th century of Science and Technology, the century of two world wars and one cold war, the age of atomic and nuclear explosions, chemical & biological weapons of mass destruction, there exist a number of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, wild life sanctuaries, organizations for the protection of endangered species etc. Man should channelise his efforts towards universal love.

 

9. Happiness or Bliss:

 

            All living beings aspire for happiness. This is ensured by proper sleep, adequate food, security of life and conjugal bliss. Besides they enjoy community life by forming families or groups. Even wild animals like lions, tigers, elephants, etc., have their emotional life within their groups. It is no wonder that a highly developed human species has higher ambitions for a total happiness or bliss. For understanding this let us describe various constituents of it.

 

You are happy

 

- if you are content with whatever you have

- if you do not envy your friends or neighbours

- if you are not greedy or over-ambitious

- if you help somebody in need, especially the old, the weak, poor and your friends

- if you do not hurt others, mentally or physically

- if you could excuse others for their mistakes, the hurt caused to you, the insult heaped on you, the loss brought to you etc.

- if others think good of you or praise you

- if you do not have any enemies or ignore them, if any

- if you find others happy, especially friends and relatives

- if you have no worry for future and so on

 

            If every man in the world and every living being in the environment are happy, it is total happiness or Bliss. In Upanishads it is called Santhi (Peace) and in Buddhism it is called Ahimsa (Non-violence). The highest happiness every where is the Bliss the saints and rishis were after. It is tantamount to feeling the presence of God everywhere (ANANDO BRAHMA)-the ECSTASY.

 

10. The Mind:

 

            The human mind is highly complex. It travels with infinite speed, and far in all directions, (Speed of light is nothing compared to speed of mind). It sees through opaque objects, obstacles etc. It can even visualize imaginary things which are not felt by sensory organs. Nobody can stop the mind from working. But it is controlled by will. It works in the direction we want, if concentration is there. Otherwise, it is chaotic or unreal like in a sleep full of dreams.

 

            If the mind is properly controlled, excellent results can be obtained. Good thoughts will result in good words and good actions. Vice­versa for bad thoughts. So purity of mind is essential. Happiness or suffering results from the state of mind, hence by controlling the mind we can always achieve happiness. A happy mind leads to a healthy body, which in turn leads to a healthy and happy mind. The saints used to enjoy this happiness by meditation. We can enjoy this by thinking leisurely about the beauty of Nature and that of different forms of life on earth (land, water and air) and their living characteristics and also by meditation.

 

            It is left to the reader to find that all the do’s and don’ts preached by all religions are derived from the Universal Gospel “Help-All, Harm None”. The saying “Live and Let Live” is a variation of the Universal Gospel.

 

11. Outlook for the future:

 

            In a healthy environment the “Species Diversity Index” will be maximum - that is a maximum number of species co-exist in a stable fashion for a long time.

 

            The Universal Gospel, evolved over the centuries and millennia, defining the best human ethics, crossing the barriers of all religions, deserves a place high in our curricula starting from the nursery/primary level of education. If it is impressed deep in the young minds of babies and children, in all countries, the present day type of violence in all walks of life can definitely be prevented. Fights, terrorism and wars can be minimized.

 

            Illustrations from appropriate scriptures, specific to the community, will lay firm foundation for the Gospel. All audio-visual media should highlight this ideal. The human rights and animal rights issues of today are the simple corollaries of the Gospel. Let the humans behave as humans and contribute to further development of the human brain, in rapid strides, in the next millennium. The loss of millions of intelligent brains in terrorism, fights and wars is the greatest human tragedy on the earth.

 

            The essence of this article is

 

            “Life is precious and enjoyable by all living beings. Let us all enjoy it, helping all and harming none”.

 

 

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