Alliance of Civilizations: A Perfect Match between the West and the East Part IV

K.Wong

Introduction

During the recent May, 2008 massive catastrophes assailing Myanmar and China, the innate divinity or essence of God is unveiled. The outpours of non-discriminative compassion and aids transcend barriers and nationalities mirroring the truth that there is one world with one dream – helping our fellow brothers and sisters in distress or crisis. Both local and foreign rescue and relief aid managers and workers compassionately rushed to the scene to help the victims. It was a unveiling experience to witness the spiritual humanism in which the selfless heart predominated over the selfish mind. The magnificent alliances of civilizations between the west and east, and east and the east were so warm and pulsative. It is the international collaborative unity of humantarian aids that the sufferings in the aftermath of major catastrophes that sufferings of the victims of cyclone and earthquake in Myanmar and China have been reduced to the minimum. An ugly physical world has been turned into a beautiful spiritual world. This mirrors the supremacy of Man in fighting massive natural disasters of unprecedented scale together.

Great Compassion

It was the most touching moment in human life to perceive that Premier Wen Jiabao led the rescue and relief efforts in the midst of multitudes of aftershocks. Almost the whole populace of China and international donors and aid workers rushed and converged to help. It was so humane and touching to witness beautiful side of human behaviour and the power of global unity of compassion. This is the external manifest of the universal Self (Dharmadhātu, God, Buddha or Tao) through alliance or unity of civilizations. Self or the destruction of selfish ego evidences that human beings are intrinsically divine, and pantheistic. Dharmadhātu cannot be perceived directly as it is beyond the senses. It can be discerned from the sacrifice of self or ego in  humanistic behaviour of Man in time of major catastrophes.

Beautiful Side

Spectators of the earthquake perceived rescue and relief workers, deaths, injuries, emergency aids, dust, debris, rubble, muds, destructions, tears, collapsed buildings and structures and so forth. The virtuous ones perceived sublime loving-kindness, compassion, generosity, charity, bravery, empathy, sympathy, co-operation, team-spirit, heroism and so forth – unveiling innate divinity in all human beings of all nationalities. Most importantly, I perceive the divinity of unity in humanism especially among the crisis rescue mangers and humanitarian aid workers of United Nations Organization and the countless backyard bodhisattvas of the members of International of Red cross and Red crescent who always respond swiftly to all crisis. There were the original human face and heart. The most beautiful side of human behaviour was unveiled - sending coal to the poor or the needy during the freezing winter night.

Human Family

Another super-model of the alliance of civilizations after the United Nations Organization is none other than the Olympic Games Festival. Pope Benedict described appropriately the Olympic Games Festival as a grand fellowship gathering of human family in friendly competitive sports. This magnificent sports assembly comprises not only the supreme athletes, sport leaders from the participating countries but also audience from all nationalities of dissimilar cultures, politics, races and religions from all stratas of society.

This greatest alliance of civilizations between the west and the east is another form of divine unity of humanism to be worshipped by all. The Olympic Games Festival is the unity of the global villagers to bring about such a grand human family gathering. The athletes united all contigent conditions at their disposal to give their best performances. All the world class performances were the unity of the most excellent contigent conditions which all athletes had synthesized before participating in an international sport meet. Every unity is the totality of universal Self – the Totality of all the conditioned conditions to produce the best results for the audience to enjoy and rejoice. Owing to the totality of all excellent conditions, first class athletes were produced and their performances were nectars to the eyes of the spectators.

Creation of Super Athletes

Some Monotheists claim that a world class athlete is produced by the power of God.That is theological view. Theosophically discerned, the power of God (Buddha or Tao) is the power of the force of unity all the conducive contigent conditions at the disposal a five-star athlete. The Mahāyānists perceive that it is the power of Emptinesss (śūnyatā) that a five-star athlete is produced. Emptiness is the dependently co-arisen Unity of contigent conditions which mould the performance of the five-star capacity of an athlete. Therefore, we can perceive that unity of contigent factors constitutes the necessary existent or conditioned phenomenon. A first class athlete is a necessary existent or conditioned phenomenon dependently co-arisen from the unity of the first class contigent conditions.

Theosophically defined, every Unity is the face of God (God or Tao). Every performance of an athlete is unity of contigent conditions. Hence, performance is a face of God (Buddha or Tao). Every Olympic stadium is too a unity of countless contigent conditions. There are many Olympic stadiums to stage the Olympic Games. Hence, there are many faces of God (Buddha or Tao). Therefore, in the Olympic Games, the spectacles are entertained with countless faces of God (Buddha or Tao) everywhere. This is what ‘God (Buddha or Tao) is immanent and pervasive everywhere’ really means. Do you or do you not witness faces of God around you now? If you have, my congratulations are extended to you.

Esotericism

 The universal Self is the essence of dependently co-arisen Unity or Non-duality. What is worshipped in God (Buddha or Tao) is actually the worship of the essence of Unity. Only Unity is real; multiplicity or individuality is unreal. This is the esoteric dimension of all religions missed by all exotericists. The exotericists are those religious believers or devotees who practise their respective religions exoterically in terms of ritualism and seeking refuges from external divine forces without seeing the faces of God (Buddha or Tao). In actual fact, besides the notion of Unity attributed to God, the esoteric dimension of all religions is the inner Heart in which the universal Self or God (Buddha or Tao) dwells. The inner Heart is the house of universal Self (Dharmadhātu) which is God. In this sense, God is seen inwardly instead of outwardly. The universal Self (Dharmadhātu) is dissimilarly designated as Brahman, Buddha, Tao, Principle, God or Allah. Soteriologically, they are identical in essence.

Globalization

The current clashes of civilizations between the west and east, between the west and west and between the east and east locally, nationally, and internationally work against the eternal Truth of universal Self (Dharmadhātu). Universal Self (Dharmadhātu) essentially connotes Unity of interdependence and interconnectedness – the universal brotherhood or sisterhood of mankind. Only with the worship of universal Self (Dharmadhātu) can we promote and foster the alliances of civilizations locally, nationally and globally.

In fact, modern corporate leaders of multinational companies are wise to have selected the option of economic liberalization and globalization to expand and share the economic cake globally. They have economically discerned that economic smart partnership of universal Self (Dharmadhātu) can create a win-win situation for all partners in a global village sharing the increasing size of economic cake. This explains why an increasing number of millionaires and philanthropists are produced annually according to the report of Fortune Magazine. Currently, India and China currently have produced the greatest numbers of millionaires because they have liberalized and globalized their economies. Theosophically put, there are currently rapid rise of Indian and Chinese economies because they have enlarged the universal Self (Dharmadhātu) of their economic cakes. Succinctly put, the universal Self (Dharmadhātu) is the unity or totality of its parts. The parts are contigent conditions of becoming. The unity or totality is enlarged because the parts  have been globalized and thus enlarged.

Haves and Have-nots

The millionaires cum philanthropists are the golden geese which produce the golden eggs to help the masses of the poverty-striken developing and underdeveloped countries. It is revealed by United Nations Organization that 37 impoverished nations annually need financial and humanitarian aids from the United Nations Organization, affluent nations of G8 and other rich nations to combat diseases and shortage of food in impoverished third world countries. The rich nations are wealthy because they collect taxes from the tax-payers especially from the golden geese. The poor nations need humanitarian aids from the affluent nations. The rich nations also depend on the vast populations of the poor nations for international trades. This is dependently co-arisen co-existence and reciprocal relationship between the rich and the poor. Human beings are dependent upon on another. This non-duality is the essence of Unity (God, Buddha or Tao).

Conclusion

The Truth of Dharmadhātu (universal Self) or the Mind of the Buddha or God is not located in the temple or church. It is located everywhere internally as well as externally. Internally, God dwells in the inner Heart of Man. Externally, God is manifested in the essence of Unity of all conditioned phenomena. The multiplicity of the world or universe is collection of conditioned phenomena in which God exists in every phenomenon in terms of the principle of dependently co-arisen Unity. Since multiplicity is countless, God is said to be immanent everywhere in the multiplicity. However, only Unity is real and the appearances of contigent beings or conditioned phenomena are illusive or unreal. The Buddha or God is worshipped by Man because without the Buddha or God (Unity), the world is not sustained or preserved.

Esoteric religion expounds the knowledge of Unity, multiplicity and their reciprocal relationship. The Unity is the One (universal Self or Principle); the multiplicity is the many (phenomena). Human beings are portions of the phenomenal world. We are thus not separate from the God (Buddha or Tao)  which is the unifying force which preserves the mould of the world from collapsing. God (Buddha or Tao) is just the force of Unity which unites everything together without separation. God, Buddha or Tao is just the force of Dependent Co-arising and the ultimate Reality of Emptiness. When one acts individually with the notion of self-centric ego, one is divorced from God (Buddha or Tao).

When you divorce yourself from your father or mother, how does your father or mother react? Likewise, the western civilization and the eastern civilization cannot be divided. Collective action of vice that angers God may invite too heavy a retribution to bear. For instance, global warming and climate change actually mirror the angry faces of God. Global warming and climate change have swamped us severely with epic catastrophes of unprecedented scale globally. Fortunately, it is the superb alliances of civilizations between the east and the west that we are able to combat them successfully in Asia.