A Giant Leap for Mankind in Ethnic Transcendence (2/3)
Wong Weng Hon
Duty and Responsibility
The world is a bipolar Reality of the relationship between Man and the Principle (Brahman, Tao, Buddha, God or Allah). Man must be responsible in his works or perform assigned duties to his utmost excellence. Responsibility or duty is deontological ethics. It is responsibility or duty to oneself, to the nation and to the world. Economic concrescence is the most significant or crucial integral part of the cosmic Self of the Process Reality of dynamic becoming (sanātana dharma). Man is the key contigent condition among the set of dependent conditions in a global process becoming . Man affects the economic concrescence through his moral behaviour. The entire global labour force engaged in economic activities has an enormous influence on the global economy. Just a few cancerous elements in the labour force suffice to falter the global economy. Greedy, corrupted, irresponsible and spiritually perverse men can affect the whole industry or the entire world adversely with grave consequences.
The ongoing 2008-2009 financial crisis, ecocrisis, wars, terrorism, extremism, sectarianism, demonization of others and the like are rooted in ugly human behaviours rooted in religious ignorance or erroneous interpretation of the key religious principles and the eternal Truth designated dissimilarly as God, Tao, Brahman, Buddha and Allah.
Every duty is part of the cosmic unity. When all parts are contributed through duties, the unity of existence is consummated. Consummated unity is an accomplishment. Monotheistically put, every unity of cohesive unity is the Unity of Existence of God or Tao. Unity of Existence is God or Tao itself. Process-theistically put, worship of unity of harmonious co-existence is the worship of God or Tao. Harmonious, co-operative teamwork is the existence of God or Tao. Buddhistly put, Unity of Existence is Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā) of inherent or substantial existence. Therefore, Emptiness is the main attribute of God or Tao. With duties responsibly performed by all participating members in any group or collective assignment or task, all contigent parts of the participants are conglomerated into the Unity of Existence. This is the accomplishment of God, Tao or consummated Emptiness. Secular accomplishment is never divorced from religious principles and ethics.
The Unity of Existence is manifested in terms of an accomplishment. Work unity and consummated productivity are the divine consequent nature of God, Tao or Emptiness. Cohesive workforce is the harmony of association. Harmonious association to actualize the common goal or good is the consequent nature of God, Tao or Emptiness. Secular accomplishment and spiritual wisdom are dependently co-arisen. They are inseparable. Ethnic transcendence promotes and fosters national unity of cohesive co-existence. Ethnic transcendence is the divine attribute of God, Tao or Emptiness in human interrelationship.
According to Whiteheadian process philosophy, the Unity of Existence is a determinate actual entity (conditioned phenomenon). An actual entity is unity of parts which is the Essence of God . Thus, any actual entity is an accomplishment of God, Tao or Emptiness. Human efforts of impositions and determinations are integral parts of God, Tao or Emptiness. God, Tao or Emptiness is the Unity of the whole. The whole is process Reality. This is how Man and God are reciprocally and non-dually related. An accomplishment is not resulted when the contigent conditions of the participating members of work force or questionable clientele are defective or toxic in their deontological ethics of duties or responsibilities. The 2008-2009 financial meltdown is occurring because of some grave toxic and cancerous contigent conditions of economic concrescence.
For instance, the 2008 financial meltdown is a negation of U.S/EU economies as well as the global economic concrescence. The contagious influence is being diffused globally because the whole world one Unity of Existence of process reality of process becoming. The obstruction of the process becoming is the collapse of the mould unity of God, Tao or Emptiness. For instance, the 2008-2009 financial meltdown is clogging the flow of the process becoming of economic growth. The collapse of the mould of God , Tao or Emptiness is form of a divine retribution against the sin created by Man. The sin is the irresponsible attitude of some participating members of work force or some questionable clientele involving in speculating activities and non-sanctity of contracts. Worst of all, a few toxic members can bring about the meltdown of the entire national or global financial market. A financial institution or market is an organic process becoming. A cancerous cell is contagious and can adversely affect the entire financial organism which unceasingly moves globally.
Motivated by the fervent desire to elect the best and the brightest brain to be their president, the Americans had acted unprecedentedly and wisely elected a black American president to lead and rescue them from the pit of financial crisis. The American voters are wise in two aspects : Firstly, they transcended ethnic distinction and selected the best presidential candidate so that the new president can bring the Americans and other affected global villagers out from the dark financial and economic pit . Secondly, the American election is a supermodel of maturity of the representative democracy of ethnic transcendence in their national politics. Ethnic transcendence appeases human souls and promotes and fosters harmonious unity of cohesive co-existence. Cohesive co-existence to realize communal growth and prosperity is the satisfaction of God, Tao or Emptiness.
In the 2008 American presidential election commencing from the primary election campaigns until the election of the president, U.S political election strategy and culture are a set of supermodel of democracy, freedom and respect of fundamental human rights worth to be emulated by all democratic nations all over the world. The 2008 American presidential election captivated the whole world because of the ethnic transcendence to bring about the highest good to a free, democratic nation. Ethnic transcendence brings a nation closer to God, Tao or Emptiness.
I love to see concrete actions of democracy, freedom and human rights in practice and not merely in theory. I see Buddhist precepts or Divine commandments in the non-violation of declaration of human rights. Preaching through leadership by example is more convincing than mere utterance of words. I love more to see non-discriminative ethnic transcendence in political elections , just polity and sharing of economic cake. I jubilantly saw the face of God in the American election just as I exuberantly witnessed the faces of God in 2008 Beijing Olympics through the marvelous unity, utmost prudence and awesome beauty in its opening and closing ceremonies. I also saw face of God in the Olympic gold medalists in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I saw God in the champion of 2009 All England Badminton Championship, Lin dan. Buddhistly put, Buddha-natures are found in all sentient beings.
Again, the appointments of the best and the brightest brains in President Obama administration are divine efforts to impose and determine the most ideal contigent conditions for the concrescence of God, Tao or Emptiness in American internal politics. The presidential recommendations of administrative candidates must also be examined, evaluated and approved by an independent selection committee on the basis of meritocracy. Only the best and brightest brains are selected to manage a nation. This is political TQM. TQM is orientated towards excellence and perfection. Excellence and perfections are divine attributes of God, Tao or Emptiness. Other developing and undeveloped nations should emulate American ethnic transcendence to improve their national development. The present American internal politics is highly blessed from the Divine perspective. They should be able to emerge from the dark pit eventually. Nevertheless, the American foreign politics in international diplomacy and interrelations seems to be relatively ineffective and unproductive because of the hidden complicated external contigent conditions which work evilly and underground to defeat the good and the concrescence of the world. The FBI should strive harder to defeat the unity of vices working underground globally.
However, the 2008 financial turmoil and economic recession have upset me the most because it is a scenario of anti-God, anti-Tao or negation of Emptiness. It is denial of Truth. Being a fervent lover of Truth of God, Tao or Emptiness, I am being saddened by the current financial crisis, economic downturn and other equally grave global crises. The incessant faltering economy mirrors that the face of God has been epicly and direly disfigured. The concrescence of God, Tao or Emptiness is being retarded. Buddhistly put, the eternal Principle of Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā) has been gravely violated and the creative advance of Emptiness has been slackened or even aborted. Emptiness means interconnected unity of harmonious existence.
Healthy economy and politics, the most vital organs of global organism, are being eroded in crisis after crisis. Not only the U.S and E.U but also the entire global villagers have been plunged into a deep pit of financial crisis and economic recession much worse than the economic depression in the 1930s. Politically, racial politics also retards the national as well as global economic concrescence, political stability and ethnic harmony.
President Obama’s political philosophy of Change gives the Americans the hope and the breaths. From the process philosophy of dynamic process becoming, change is not a mere American dream. It is a possible dream - It is a possibility that can be actualized into a reality through possibility of process reality of God, Tao or Emptiness. The knowledge of God, Tao or Emptiness unveils this possibility of economic resurrection. The world must change and be more responsible to avoid any crisis from being transmuted into catastrophe. Thus, the paradigm shift and the resurrected virtue of duty and responsibility offer us hope of recovery from human fallibilities and vulnerabilities. The defects ought to be rectified and restore normal dynamic process becoming of God, Tao or Emptiness. The normal Process Reality of God, Tao or Emptiness propels the world forwards.
President Obama’s presidential inauguration speech diffused constructive message of duties and responsibilities to resurrect the global economic concrescence – the creative advance of God, Tao or Emptiness. God, Tao or Emptiness is normality. Crises are abnormalities. They mirror the absence of God, Tao or Emptiness. Religion normalizes the world through the self-rectification of human hearts. Sound politics and economy are issues of sound hearts. Sound hearts are the Mind of God, Tao or Emptiness.
Being universal, God, Tao or Emptiness is a divine message not confined to the Americans or Europeans. The easterners are not free from moral defects or flaws. The message of eternal Truth transcends ethnicity and is equally applicable globally and non-racially . Virtues are quiet forces of progress in human history. The Truth is ancient but its applicability is never absolete. Truth transcends space and time. Most significantly, it transcends diverse ethnicity and religious discrimination.
I like to write about president Obama not because he is an American President. I write about him because he preaches humanism in politics. Furthermore, he illustrated simple application of virtues which harmonize human interrelationship. He shed light on how to apply the divine commandment of non-discriminative love of neighbour. They were beautifully uttered. He recommends that it is kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break. He also proposes that it is selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose his job which sees us through dark hours. He also extolls a firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke. He recommends that a parent’s willingness to nurture a child who finally decides our fate (fate of a nation).
The aforementioned recommendations are praiseworthy religious practices much more meaningful than daily prayers seeking the external blessings of God. Externally seeking God’s blessings is actually idolatrous. Idolatry negates the existence of God, Tao or Emptiness. Proper prayer is rememberance (right mindfulness or intrinsic awareness) of God. Rememberance of God is non-dual between prayer and the prayed. It is non-duality between the perceiver and the perceived. Rememberance of God (Truth) is Zen practice in Zen Buddhism. Hindu yoga meditation is rememberance of Brahman. Different practices are utilized but the final spiritual destination is identical. Non-duality or Unity with God, Tao or Emptiness denotes the final station of the summit of spirituality of Non-duality – the reconnection of Man with the cosmic Unity or cosmic Self. It is the reunion of the small man (microcosm) with the Big Man (macrocosm). This final station is beyond the description by words. It is ineffable. Non-duality is Unity. Unity is God, Tao or Emptiness. God, Tao or Emptiness is the highest eternal Truth - the communal road map to the highest blessings and happiness for all.
Gross National Happiness
President Obama in his 2009 inauguration speech emphasizes that the success of a national economy depends on not just the size of the national prosperity. The real happiness of national success is to diffuse national prosperity among the citizentry equitably. The national success is contigent upon the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart not out of charity but because it is the surest route to common good. In other words, President Obama is in favour of GNH (Gross National Happiness) rather than GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
The deficiency of classical or traditional economics is excessive emphasis on the size of the GDP without consideration of the negative impact of economic development on the wellbeing of the society and the natural environment. GNH is derived from GDP minus anti-benefits that depreciate or deplete the well-beings of the citizentry. The non-discriminative election of a black American president by the white voters has appreciably increased the happiness index of Gross National Happiness of U.S. Racial transcendence is Godly behaviour.
The great American change under a new president expected and awaited by the world is U.S supportive and cohesive relationship with U.N. The greatest global saviour is still the U.N and not U.S. . U.N is the unity of nations. Without the cohesive support of its member nations, U.N is made impotent. If U.S can collaborate constructively with U.N leadership and other participating member nations, U.N can be very efficient and effective in addressing global problems.
Conclusion
U.N has been always playing a crucial ‘bodhisattva’s role’ in the construction of healthy politics and economy of the developing and underdeveloped nation. It pacifies war-waging nations and mitigates or fixes global crises particularly eco-crises. Member nations should collectively help U.N fulfill its agendas to rescue the world from the pits of a number of dire crises. They comprise financial crisis, eco-crises, wars in Iraq , Afghanistan and Middle East, Energy crisis, soaring prices of commodities , terrorism, extremism, sectarianism, human right violations , ethnic conflicts and violences and so forth.
Spiritually put, U.N is a very important instrument to promote and foster the existence of God, Tao or Emptiness. U.N is our common backyard ‘bodhisattva’ that has been marginized by the world. U.N is the unity of many nations. If U.N is truly united by the participating member nations, it has the power of God, Tao or Emptiness that can mitigate and fix global problems. Every form of unity of existence is the existence of God,Tao or Emptiness. Therefore, when we turn around , we see many faces of God or Budhha-natures .
I present my view through the process philosophy of process Reality unveiled by the Supreme Masters. The perennial wisdom of God,Tao or Emptiness is a golden solution to all secular problems. However, it requires collective human efforts to pull together all participating members or parties concerned to create the unity of existence because every member is an integral part of any totality or the whole. The culture of zero-defect is conducive to create the unity of exsietnce. The Japanese economic miracle after the second world war was constructed on the basis of the Japanese culture of zero-defect – collective consensus and harmony of association. Consensus or harmony is unity of existence. God, Tao or Emptiness is the perennial wisdom of unity of existence. Buddhistly put, it is the perfection of wisdom which actualizes the perfect culture of zero defect. Zero-defect mechanism implies the consummation of political as well as economic TQM (Total Quality Management). Consummated TQM is determinate unity of existence. Every determinate Unity of Existence is the existence of God, Tao or Emptiness. Religion is so pragmatic and realistic if you understand and know God, Tao or Emptiness through yourself. If secular TQM is sanctified, it does not fail. |
