About "The Last Hours"
Question:-
I have
been reading "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" by Thom Hartmann
which has become popular and has also been recommended by N.D. Walsch (whose book, "Conversations with God" I
asked you to comment on .) This book also seems very
sensible to me and also says pretty much the same thing as you say in your book
and articles. Is this impression correct or are there some differences?
Answer:-
It seems
to me that the following comments are appropriate:-
(1) The
book "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" describes the way this
planet is being destroyed by the present Dominant Western Civilisation that
commits crimes against humanity and causes increasing differences in wealth
owing to continuous transfer of it from the majority to a small minority that
controls all affairs in its delusional self-interest. Hartmann has correctly
seen that there is a reciprocal relationship between man and his environment -
that the condition of this planet earth which affects human life, itself
depends on the behaviour of human beings and their societies and that depends
on the thoughts and ideas that govern them; and that these ideas depend on
their state of being. But he does not appear to have noticed that their level
of development depends on factors that drive human evolution. Nevertheless, it
is very good book that has brought together some of the very serious
environmental, social and ideological problems that the world is facing today
and also presents some solutions. It is a book that should be widely read and
newer information from modern research should be added. The developments
brought about by Western Civilisation is certainly causing the world to head
straight for a major global disaster, which the newly emerging Powers such as
China and India are adding to by their imitation.
(2)
Hartmann correctly notes that humanity is in the grip of a web of
misinformation, illusions, delusions and superstitions of all kinds created by
the self-interests, mainly of those who have the power and control, and his
book does much to penetrate the fog. The problem, however, is that the majority
of people are only interested in trivialities and fantasies that render them
psychologically and politically too impotent to make any difference. It seems
that the power groups that control all affairs including industry, government
and information wants things to remain so and actively encourage it in the
power group's own interest because it makes people much more controllable and
exploitable. But it is the members of the power group themselves who have
become victims of this process and see it as normal. Humanity is in a vicious
circle, a trap from which there is no escape, except through an awakening that
requires its own special techniques.
(3) As
Hartmann points out, people are "disconnected" from each other and
from nature - In the terminology I used they are "alienated" from
Reality, and therefore from each other, from Nature and from themselves and
from God. It is evident from a study of the contemporary state of man that far
from the claims to civilisation, freedom and even Democracy made by the so
called "advanced" nations, they are still barbaric and that they are
trapped in fantasies, illusions and superstitions though of a different kind
from the past. They do not, in fact have freedom but are slaves to ignorance
and self-indulgence and far from the self-determination that Democracy implies
affairs are manipulated by a small group of those who hold the wealth, power
and prestige, who are themselves enslaved. It is the System that controls
people and not the other way round.
(4) Though
somewhat simplistically described, Hartmann has noted that there are two ways
of life:- The Ancient Tribal System where people saw themselves as part of
nature and lived in self-sustaining environments, in small tribes that were
stable and organised in an egalitarian and cooperative manner. This system was
disrupted with the development of City States, a new Dominating System, where
self-centred egotism sought power and control over all things including nature
and other human beings, leading to the creation of hierarchies, mutual
exploitation, group conflicts and great inequalities. It also led to
expansionism that has plundered, vandalised and disrupted the environment. This
is also associated with male dominance over all affairs, including women,
animals and property. He points out that the teachings of Jesus were in
conformity with the life style of these ancient people and incomprehensible for
these Domineering cultures and that is why his followers were persecuted and
then transformed and assimilated. The Church undertook the same domineering
policies as history, particularly of the invasion of the Americas by
Europeans shows. He notes that the idea that the so called
"civilised" people are superior to the "primitive" people
and that "progress" has been made is an illusion. He also points out
that changes in nature are not a continuous ascent but that there are cycles of
progress and degeneration.
All this
is true. It is, however, necessary to point out that from the religious point
of view, at least the Islamic one, the aim of existence is the expansion of
consciousness (to know God), though the cycles of "awakening" and
"sleep" are also recognised. Knowledge has certainly expanded, though
much of the awareness that people closer to nature had, has also been lost. The
two ways of life constitute a pair of opposites that appear to reflect also the
two sides of the human brain. There has to be a third stage yet to come where this pair of opposites is reunited and
transcended (51:49-50).
In this
connection it is to be noted that the Islamic notion of Vicegerency and
Stewardship rather than ownership has elements of both and neither system. Man
as a conscious spiritual being is seen neither as part of Nature (though he is
so physically) nor as someone that dominates, enslaves and exploits, but
someone who as an agent of God (11:7, 18:7, 51:56, 67:2), has responsibilities
for the welfare of the world and all things in it. He can be replaced if he
does not fulfil his responsibilities (70:41, 14:19, 11:57). It is true that the
Quran appears to support human dominance in verses such as 2:164 and 14:32, but
that is a misinterpretation as it also tells us about natural laws and
processes that cannot be dominated. Another interpretation is that all these
processes were made for man that he could arise. But the correct interpretation
is that these can be used to benefit us and that they provide lessons from
which we can learn - they are "signs for people who can understand".
Note that the coming of this Domineering
Way of Life was already mentioned in the Quran as
follows:-
"And
when your Lord said unto the angels: I am about to place a Vicegerent (Agent,
Successor, Inheritor) in the earth, they said: Will you place therein one who
will do evil therein and shed blood, while we celebrate Thy praise and glorify
Thee? Said (the Lord): I know what you know not."
2:30
As this
refers to all human beings, the relationship between them is to be based on
personal responsibility and "mutual consultation" (42:36-43) not
coercion.
In the
Domineering system a person is assessed as a slave or employee as having a
value to the employer when the value of his output for the employer exceeds the
value of what he consumes i.e. the wages he is paid by the employer. This
surplus is the profit that the employer seeks to increase. In an Objective
system where all human beings are seen as similar and related and forming a
single system, each individual can be regarded as having a value equal to the
difference between the value of what he consumes and produces for the
development of the world, including the community and himself. This idea should
become a Fundamental Controlling Principles (FCP).
(5) Though
Hartmann has identified some of the psychological problems, it seems that he
has failed to notice that it is the entry of women into the industrial and
commercial sphere and the consequent break down of the family and the
psychologically adequate bringing up of the new generation which is both the
result and the cause of much of the greed, lust and self-centredness that has
produced the world problems. It can hardly be denied that the relationship
between the sexes and between parents and children have a most important
influence on the psychology and behaviour of human beings.
Human
motivation is controlled by three sets of drives - the self-preservative, the
socio-sexual and the self-extensive. These normally emerge in turn as the
previous one reaches satisfaction. It is arrested development, the fixation on
the self-preservative that causes selfishness and greed. This also harnesses
the sexual drive to form the pleasure principle leading to self-indulgence and
the self-extensive drive becomes the desire for power. But in a healthy state,
it is sexuality that joins the sexes and through reproduction where the two are
blended in a harmonious manner, creates the society and that is a network of
families bound by genetic links. It is this drive that harnesses the
self-preservative as well as the self-extensive drives - it causes the feeling
of self to expand and cover spouse and children and through them to other
relatives. Being creative, it also through sublimation provides the creativity
that is responsible for culture, the expansion of civilisation and human
development. But there is no real understanding of the different natures and
roles of men and women in the present dominant culture, and women are still
oppressed but in a different way than formerly - They are either sex object or
required to give up their femininity and behave like men and compete with them.
Indeed, even men are suppressed in many ways, their rights eroded and required
to apologise for their testerone. Both sexes have
become largely irresponsible and frustrated because they cannot complement each
other or obtain what they need from each other. Lest all this misunderstood as
usually the case when a sensitive topic is touched on ,
this is not to say that women should be subordinated or suppressed as in the
past - all have the right to self-fulfilment. But that their particular characteristics
should be allowed full expression in order to maximise benefits to society.
Value in religion is judged not by physical or mental power but by spiritual
function, though the others may aid this. Though membership of a family and the
married state occupies most of life, there is no education for it at all. In
fact the educational system everywhere totally fails to educate people about
how to live an intelligent life outwardly or inwardly.
(6) There
is also an answer in my articles to the problems posed by Hartmann's book. The
gist of this as follows:-
Humanity
is living on the energy of the sun, not only on that which is radiated onto the
earth now, but also stored on earth over millions of years in the form of coal
and oil that were once absorbed by plants and animals. This store is gradually
running out and at an accelerating speed. We will then have to live only on the
solar energy that is falling on earth now. This will either cause much
starvation and death - animals are already going extinct - or it will be a
stimulus to the development of alternative technologies or to space exploration
and possible migration. The earth not only receives solar and other forms of
energy from the rest of the cosmos, but it also radiates some it back directly
R(d), absorbs and transforms R(t) some and re-radiates it R(r). It is only the
balance between what is received and what is radiated that is available for the
development of the earth itself. However, this can be stored as reserves or
"obstructing fat", or the development can be positive or negative,
constructive or destructive, and it may or may not be beneficial for man.
Global warming and the resulting unpredictability of the weather that is
causing much global distress is a result of such surplus energy. It is
perfectly possible to improve the proportion of what is absorbed, radiated and
re-radiated by more efficient means of absorption and transformation and also
to utilise that energy in much more efficient ways. This is not yet fully
realised.
Evolution
is about increasing order or negentropy resulting from the absorption of solar
and other cosmic radiations. Given a certain amount of order, it is possible
for it to be distributed in several different ways:- (i) To produce technology (ii) To create order in the
environment. (iii) To create social and political order of various kinds. (iv)
To expand the bio-mass (v) To expand the population of
higher animals (vi) To cause human evolution. It is not difficult to see that
an increase in order in one of these can produce disorder in the others.
Anti-social behaviour, riots and political conflicts can be results of
oppressive order in the environment. Psychological development can be gained by
sacrificing industrial production. In fact, whenever resources are used to
manufacture order, this has to be paid for by disorder - e.g. waste and
pollution. This accumulates unless processed in reverse. Problems are caused
when the rate of recovery, as in most cases, is slower than the rate of
wastage.
(7)
Hartmann notes that one of the characteristics of the Domineering Civilisation
as part of the desire to subjugate and control, is the tendency to centralise,
assimilate, standardise, remove diversity and create uniformity, which also
leads to intolerance.
All this
is true. We can see this continuing to happen as the pressure exerted by
economic and political forces bring cultural uniformity to the world as
globalisation proceeds or a clashe of civilisations
takes place. This process, of course creates rule bound and inflexible
organisations and conflict between them. This narrows down the range of
possibilities and militates against adaptation and evolution which require
diversity so that what is best fitted to changing conditions will thrive. Here
again, we find that Islam has a solution in that it recognises all religions
and is able to accommodate all cultures and did so. It is only the attack by
other systems that has led to the need to retaliate against them.
(8)
Hartmann thinks that a solution to the world problems is the equalisation of
wealth. He suggests that the highest income should be no more than about 10 to
20 times the lowest income. This does not, however, get rid of the domination
of the few over the many. Attempts have been made at a fairer distribution of
wealth but have failed. This is because the Economic system that has been set
up does not allow it. It depends wholly on profit, the extraction of more than
is put in, without which it would simply come to a halt.
It is true that the great differences of wealth create
social division, alienation and conflicts, but also two other kinds
malfunctions those of deprivation and those of over-indulgence. The poor are debilitated
and deprived of the means to health, education and organisation as well as of a
sense of self-value and hope. The rich, apart from suffering the organic and psychosomatic
diseases caused by an unnatural way of life, have to construct psychological
barriers against others in order to suppress natural sympathy and empathy and by
rationalisations that damage objective perception, thought, motivation and
action.
The Islamic solution is the Zakat (Obligatory Charity),
Spending rather than hoarding, and the abolition of interest and also the
replacement of the employer-employee relationship with partnerships, and the
requirement that there should be no unnecessary waste of resources or
disruption of the ecological system. There is a big difference between a system
that values giving above receiving or taking and a system which values the
reverse. One of the major causes of the difference of wealth and many other evils
is the existence of National Barriers. The removal of these would allow the
migration of people from areas poor in resources to richer areas as in the
past. The Islamic system is not based on territory but on the community and
common ideology.
(9)
Hartmann notes that :- (i) apart from the sources of
energy, coal and oil being used for energy, they are also used (ii) to produce
such things as plastics and even the machinery that is to use renewable sources
as wind, waves and sun. (iii) That resources are used to manufacture arms and
ammunition which have only a destructive use so that destroyed things have to
be replaced. (iv) As technology makes more resources
available the population increases, thereby putting more pressure on the environment.
(v) As more resources are used more pollution is created which has to be
counteracted and (vi) it becomes more and more
difficult to extract and refine resources. Hartmann, however, appears to have
ignored Nuclear Fuel. This, of course, also depends on resources that are
exhaustible and the there is (vii) a mounting problem of the disposal of the
radio-active waste and other waste
The fact
is that there are further problems:- (viii) Not only
is the population increasing but demand per person is also increasing. (ix) A
great proportion of the resources are used to produce no benefit whatever but may also cause harm. (x) If the way of life designed to
extract and use resources causes harm directly or indirectly then resources
have to be used to counteract or undo the harm e.g. hospitals, medicines and
medical equipment, nurses, social workers etc. have to be employed. (xi) If the
harm is not undone, the malfunctions themselves cause waste of resources. For
instance, greed and selfishness that may result from the feeling of insecurity
will need to be fed with the hoarding of resources. This insecurity may itself
result from the recognition of the greed and selfishness of others. (xii) This
greed and fear leads to aggression, non-co-operation, and the construction of
security systems, locks, fences, guards, police, courts, numerous rules for
accounting and also the arms race. All this absorbs vast proportions of the
resources.
In
general, the economic system is so set up that the real cost of manufacture is
not reflected in the price of goods owing to the fact that the State finances
much through taxes and other corporations such as those providing water and
waste disposal services. The diseases caused by the industrial system are
treated by the medical and social services and their costs are not paid for by
the industries. Centralisation of factories means that raw materials, goods and
workers have to use cars, trucks and railways to move backwards and forwards
from and to factories. These modes of transport and the roads and railways use
resources but they are made necessary only by this centralisation. To an extent
they make themselves necessary - the manufacture and distribution of means of
transport make the means of transport necessary.
(10) The
solution, Hartmann thinks, to the problems of the world is to apply a new
science of living. He notes that this is already contained in the teachings of
the religions though not understood or applied. Some of the solutions he offers
are the rediscovery of these techniques; the propagation of "New
Stories"; reconnection with nature and ourselves; learning to create
awareness; re-empowering women which will also encourage population control and
better upbringing of children; the removal of greed for more than what is
necessary and beneficial; respect for other cultures and communities;
renouncing war against all living things; changes in technologies and how they
are used; removal of addictions to TV and other sources of illusions; creating
Intentional Communities; and recreating our daily lives and rituals. All this
and more has been mentioned in "The Alternative Way" and my other
articles. It is not difficult to see that what Hartmann is recommending is a
complete new Way of Life, a Religion in fact. But it cannot be implemented
without faith and requires a comprehensive educational system that includes all
aspects of life and the whole of culture. Such a teaching already exists in
Islam, though not implemented. It is true, of course that the Quran and Hadith
had to cater for the conditions of life that existed in the past. Nevertheless,
there is something in them that also looks forward to the future. But neither
of these can be judged by means of present day prejudices particularly those
that derive from the Western system.
(11)
Hartmann points to the power of thought to bring changes. He speaks of certain
basic attitudes created by what he calls "stories". But they could be
seen as Myths, Values, Memes or Psychons and are really normally subconscious
assumptions underlying the Way of Life. They could be called "Fundamental
Controlling Principles" (FCP). There was a change, for instance, from
regarding the ownership of slaves as perfectly normal to seeing it as evil.
There is a culture of admiration for "the fighting spirit", of war
and military power, and we have expressions such as "war against poverty
and disease" etc. An assumption that controls people in the
"Developed" world, propagated by Commercial interests, and which
creates the consumer society, is the idea that the greater the number of
possessions the happier a person will be. It is supposed that people are
"rich" when they have material wealth most of which is useless but
controls their life, brings tension, anxiety, insecurity, conflict and
physical, mental and spiritual disease and unhappiness. But in reality what is
unconsciously sought and beneficial to man is that which leads to
self-fulfilment. This myth needs to be changed.
In fact,
what is needed is a change in consciousness, of seeing the consistency of
things in a wider context. As Hartmann says, and philosophers and others have
noted, this consciousness is accompanied by a vivid awareness of ones
"presence" in the "now". It is an Awakening. Usually when
thinking begins, consciousness stops, and vice versa. But a new consciousness
brings new thoughts. The spread of Christianity and Islam were due to a change
of consciousness first and then they stimulated thought which then fossilised
as habits. So he recommends meditation. It is true that People normally live is
a state of sleep, of sub-consciousness, unaware of themselves or their
surroundings and that is why things go on uncontrolled mechanically downwards.
The Quran too asks us to Awake (34:46, 5:52, 79:13-14). It is said that we
shall awake when we die being released from mental bondage to the body. But it
can interpreted more widely as being "dead"
to the worldly life. The Quran recommends the practice of
"Remembering" (Zikr). This should revive the dead (6:123, 8:24).
(12) Hartmann,
as many other people who keep themselves informed about the results of
scientific research, have noted that the fundamental units of which things are
made are not particles but waves. They represent probabilities. These waves
only collapse into a particle and actualities when observed. It is the focusing
of attention that causes what we call reality to arise. These units are not
wholly separate from one another. Some are so "entangled" that
changes in one instantly cause changes in the others without considerations of
space or time. There is obviously a non-physical communication between things
that has also been observed in organic life forms. He presumes, therefore, that
"The universe is made of Consciousness...and nothing else."
This view
is close to the Islamic view. Fundamentally, there is a field of probabilities
which is similar to what in Religion is called Spirit and which is connected
with consciousness. However, it is not all there is. There is also an ordering
principle called "The Word of God" in religious terms, also defined
as Truth (6:74) by which all things in heaven and earth are created (15:85).
The contents of the Universe could be regarded as the Thoughts of God by which
all things are defined (15:85).
We can
form an Explanatory Hypothesis about what Reality is probably like as follows:- There is Universal Consciousness of which we and all
other things are a part, and our consciousness is a small part of that. We can
define the Spirit, Universal Consciousness as the Mind of God that contains His
thoughts in accordance with the Quran (6:18, 104, 34:1, 8:47, 41:54, 65:12
etc.) It is the interaction between Universal Consciousness and Personal
Consciousness that produces our Personal Reality. This is, however, only a
small part of Universal Reality, that which is in the Mind of God. But that is
a creation and a part of Absolute Reality (Quran 2:267, 4:131, 27:40, 38:65,
39:4 etc.). Human evolution consists of expansion of consciousness until it
coincides with Universal Consciousness and that fulfils the Hadith Qudsi "Allah said: I wished to be known
therefore I created the World." As the Spirit of God is within us
(32:9), this is also achieved by knowing oneself. This is best known by
interaction with one's fellow human beings and the world created by God. Note,
however, that the soul (nafs) which arises from the Spirit (ruh) is specific to
an individual, knowing one's soul is to know one's particular function,
"Who one is". But through it, one comes to know the Spirit and through
that one comes to know God.
This view
requires the admission that there is an objective Reality to which we must
conform or "surrender". It is not compatible with the view that man
is god, the creator of Reality as some people assert, unless, of course,
Reality is identified with subjective Personal Reality. But the definition of
Reality given in the Quran is:
"That
is because Allah, He is Reality, and that whereon they call instead of Him is
the False, and because Allah, He is the High, the Great. See you not how Allah
sends down water from the sky, and on the morrow the
earth is green? Verily, Allah is Subtile, Aware. Unto Him belongs all that is
in the heavens and that is in the earth; verily, Allah is the Absolute, the
Owner of all Praise." 22:62-64
There is a
Collective Soul from which all individual souls derive (4:1). On the death of
the individual the soul is recycled. The experiences, thoughts and desires etc.
of the individual return into the Collective Soul and when an individual is
created then it receives a portion from the collective soul. Each person can,
therefore, be seen as contributing something constructive or destructive, good
or evil, to the Collective Soul. Human evolution or involution is the result of
this. It is thought that there is also some kind of structure and association
between different parts of the Collective soul and interaction or exchange
between ascending and descending souls.
----------<O>----------
Contents