The Liberation of Intellect-Neohumanism

“What is the difference between the consciousness of a protoplasm and that of a human being?” Dharma Guru Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar gives fascinating, profound and rational answers to many questions about his Ananda Marga (“Path of Bliss”) philosophy, which is the ideological basis of his international socio-spiritual mission to restore Dharma on Earth and create a universalistic society. In P. R. Sarkar’s spiritual philosophy, the universe originates from infinite Non-qualified Supreme Consciousness, which evolves an infinite Cosmic Mind and then evolves our finite universe within this infinite Cosmic Mind. Protozoic minds and bodies are formed and evolve over many lifetimes through plants and animals to human beings, whose minds finally merge into Non-qualified Supreme Consciousness. This Cosmic Cycle of Creation is unending. Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921-1990) was a universal spiritual master and social preceptor in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna.

“Ananda Marga (‘the Path of Bliss’) is not a change merely due to the cycle of time, but a revolution – a radical change – in the true sense,” explains Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar. “Never before in the entire history of this world, or the universe, if that could be known to mortals, has a system of life embracing the economic, social, mental and spiritual spheres been correlated in a closely- knit society, as it has in Ananda Marga.” P. R. Sarkar explains how the basis for creating a universal society has been laid through the social, economic, metaphysical and spiritual approach of Ananda Marga. Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921-1990) was the Dharma guru of the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga that he founded in 1955 and which became a global movement for a new society based on spirituality and neohumanism.

This is a collection of inspiring messages and guidelines for building a universal, spiritually-based society based on Neohumanism. Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar (1922-1990), also known as Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, was a spiritual guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. He founded the international socio-spiritual organization Ananda Marga (“Path of Bliss”) -- Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, December 24, 2020.

“Shivashaktyátmakaḿ Brahma” -- The Cosmic Entity is the composite of Shiva (Consciousness) and Shakti (Operative Principle). Thus begins Ánanda Sútram, meaning “aphorisms leading to ánanda, divine bliss.” The eighty-five sútras of this book serve, with breathtaking conciseness, as a framework for a new Cosmic ideology. In this book, the author has in a few vivid strokes presented humanity with original concepts of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and macro-history. He has also set out for the first time a socio-economic approach conceived in the light of spiritual philosophy, blending subjective approach with objective adjustment, that offers the world a progressive social system based on economic justice. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (1921-1990), or Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar, was a spiritual guru and social philosopher who propounded PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”). Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, April 22, 2021.

The universe originates from non-qualified infinite Supreme Consciousness, which evolves an infinite Cosmic Mind and then evolves the universe within this Cosmic Mind. Protozoic minds and bodies evolve over many lifetimes through plants and animals to human beings, whose minds finally merge into non-qualified Supreme Consciousness. This Cosmic Cycle is unending. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti answers questions about his Ananda Marga (“Path of Bliss”) philosophy that is the ideological basis of the international Ananda Marga socio-spiritual movement. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar) (1921-1990) was a spiritual guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. – Richard Gauthier, St. George, Utah, USA. April 3, 2022.

"Shivashaktyátmakaḿ Brahma"--The Cosmic Entity is the composite of Shiva (Consciousness) and Shakti (Operative Principle). Thus begins Ánanda Sútram, meaning "aphorisms leading to ánanda, divine bliss." The eighty-five sútras of this book serve, with breathtaking conciseness, as a framework for a new Cosmic ideology. In this book, the author has in a few vivid strokes presented humanity with original concepts of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and macrohistory. He has also set out for the first time a socioeconomic approach conceived in the light of spiritual philosophy, blending subjective approach with objective adjustment, that offers the world a progressive social system based on economic justice. This is Chapter 1 of his 5-chapter book Ananda Sutram. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (1921-1990), or Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, was a spiritual guru and social philosopher who propounded PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”).

The title of this talk is Spiritual Humanism: A Formula That Works. Spiritual Humanism is a term I arrived at to describe an important aspect of the work of Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) in both the West and in India. It relates to his conviction of the supreme importance of the human individual, not just as a unique, physically embodied being, but also on account of the capacity to evolve and express in full the divinity innate in every one of us. I see this as an integration of the Western notion of humanism (to which he was exposed as a student and which he felt was so very unavoidable and necessary in contemporary times) and the Indian ideal of self-transformation through yoga to the excellent human being, the ideal, the real, or Brahman, which was innate in his Indian soul. I have been able to trace this vision to his experiences with Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) and also to how he implemented the various stages of its unfoldment in his life during his period of public work:

Spiritual humanism is, I believe, a fundamental teaching of Swami Vivekananda. However, I don’t think that Swami Vivekananda himself used the term spiritual humanism. Rather, he lived and taught its reality and left it to us to understand what it means and how it affects our way of thinking and living our lives. Let us study the idea briefly and see why it is so important and how it has tremendous implications for us, as individuals, as Westerners and as citizens of the global village. I shall first look at the possible meaning of spiritual humanism and how it developed over time. Then I shall go into how Sri Ramakrishna conveyed to the young Vivekananda a new way of understanding it and, finally, how Swami Vivekananda transmitted it to us, especially in the West and with emphasis on how we are to work to understand it and apply it. On the face of it, the term spiritual humanism is paradoxical.

“Billions of microvita produce a single carbon atom” explains Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar. “That is why it cannot be said that everything comes from carbon atoms. Rather, the carbon atoms come from microvita. Not only carbon atoms, but all other kinds of atoms are the creation of microvita.” Microvita, according to P. R. Sarkar, are subtle subatomic living entities that spread life and minds in the universe. Also, “Each structure of carbonic origin in this universe, whether animate or inanimate, has a mind. That is, a mind is associated with every structure either in manifested form or in dormant form.” P.R. Sarkar describes individual and social problems resulting from the mind being engrossed in carbonic pabulum (the material world): 1) “the mind will gradually and steadily drift towards crude matter” and 2) “oneʼs mind will think in terms of devouring othersʼ carbonic pabulum (physical possessions). This is the psychological explanation of imperialism.” “In order to wipe out imperialism, which is rooted deep in the human psyche, Neo-ethics based on the following points is indispensable: 1) The Macrocosmic Entity must be accepted as the supreme desideratum in human life. 2) There should be happy adjustment and balanced blending between carbonic (physical attractions) and non-carbonic pabula (mental and spiritual attractions).” “While following the path of neo-ethics, human beings will attain enormous progress in the spiritual sphere with greater speed.” P. R. Sarkar (1921-1990) was the founder of the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“Path of Bliss”).

Over the course of history, many humanist cultures have come and gone, each developing the notions of a human-centred and worldly philosophy in a different manner. Modern humanism is secular and traces itself to the Renaissance through the Enlightenment, but the real origins of humanism are much further back in history, and are spiritual in nature. The first verifiable examples of humanist thinkers occurred in around 600BCE, with the thinkers Siddhārtha Gautama and Lao Tzu.These thinkers began the Eurasian tradition of humanism by rejecting notions of divine authority and metaphysical entities other than the universe itself. In doing so, they outlined a spiritual humanism that is excluded from the prevailing notions of humanism. This is because the principal strand of contemporary humanism is secular humanism, which insists that religions have nothing to offer humanism as a philosophy, as exemplified by thinkers such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. This rejection includes belief systems that are tarred with the brush of religion, despite having no gods or metaphysical rules. In conflating philosophical systems like Buddhism and Daoism with religion, modern humanism weakens itself by ignoring its history. In the first, internal case, putting Buddhism and Daoism in humanism’s history has benefits for internal discussions within humanism, since it forces a critical awareness of a lineage at least as old as many major religions. Secondly, there is a spiritual aspect that has historically been the most stable form of humanism, but has been lost in the modern era. Perversely, secular humanism often appears inhuman to those who reject the hard scientistic stance, and acknowledging the contributions of Buddhism and Daoism offers a humanism that fits with, rather than rejecting, their previous models of thought. NOTE: this paper is the second in a series tracing the development of humanist thought across Eurasia. For an overview and details on how the philosophy developed and 2 was transferred across Eurasia, please see the first paper, which presents a historical overview. Subsequent papers detail the development of humanist ethical, legal and professional systems through Han China, Medieval Islam, and modern medical practice.