Humanism.
Humanity. Humanitarism.
What does one mean by humanitarian rules and humanity? Babaji says one should not have hatred towards anyone; one should try not to let down other people; one should try to help others; one should try to love all. Teachings of Babaji, P.16.
A certain heathen came to Rabbi Hillel (died about 10 C.E.) and said to him: "Convert me provided that you can teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot..." Hillel said to him: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary; (...)" Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
Be compassionate and help all afflicted humanity. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 219.
Act for the good of others and not indulge in selfish pursuits. Selfless service will raise your status whereas selfish pursuit results in your degradation. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 234.
Those who dedicate themselves to universal service are fortunate and great. Teachings of Babaji, P.32.
You have been granted this human birth for doing good and humanitarian work. Hence suffer yourself but try to make others happy. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 925.
Pious is he who gives spiritual support to others through mind, word and deed. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 994.
The true service of humanity is to extricate people from the subjugation of attachment and inculcate in them Lord's pure love. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 1135.
If you really want to help someone in life, make an attempt to guide him on to the path of devotion. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 1184.
Wherever you may be stationed in life, as far as possible, make everyone happy with your noble behavior. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 1185.
You do good to one and all selflessly and do not expect anything in return, the Lord will Himself reward you. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 1411.
Every single moment of the Great Saints is spent in the spiritual upliftment of humanity. Shanti Vachan Bhandar, 1843.
(...) I seek the general good of all people in the world. You must all work to perfect humanity. By saving humanity, everyone will be saved. (...) Learn to love your religion and consider yourself a soldier of your country. Feel this in your heart. You must work to elevate humanity and eradicate pride, jealousy and hatred. (...) Unite in love to elevate yourselves. (...) Teachings of Babaji, P.42.
I say all this in the service of humanity. To work, think good, and dedicate your life to Humanity is the best. (...) It is my desire that there be harmony in the universe. My plan is one of love - one where the lion and the goat can drink from the same well. Teachings of Babaji, P.45.
Our main aim is that there be universal peace. How can we obtain this peace? We can achieve this by eliminating all differences between caste and creed, by eliminating all inhumanity among us. There must be only one caste and one creed - humanity. Become human. Teachings of Babaji, P.65.
(...) The world now is in a state of turmoil. It is suffering from three kinds of pain - physical, mental, spiritual - and there is only one way of being cured from these. We have to root out inhumanity and replace it with humanity. I have told you before that I do not want differences of caste, creed, colour or race. When there is only one Humanity, how can there be different creeds and castes? (...) Differences were created for selfish motives. There are people in this world who, when they see someone else's house is burning, are happy. There are people who want to live in comfort at the expense of the labour of others. There is only one God, who created all men in His image. This is why we have to re-establish humanity. Teachings of Babaji, P.92.
(...) Nowadays humanism has been completely killed. Human beings have become like animals. I want to bring back humanism into the soul of every person. Because of the lack of human spirit, every individual is in tension and fear. I want to relieve everyone from this state.(...) I want to bring happiness to every living being by reforming the hearts of all individuals.(...) For this purpose, the only path is Karma Yoga. Only Karma Yoga can bring satisfaction and good fruits of action. With this, happiness will automatically come into the hearts of the people. Hence, all of you should work hard and follow the path of Karma Yoga. Teachings of Babaji, P.95.
(...) we must annihilate the feelings of "I - ness" and "my - ness" from our minds. You must march forward like a soldier, dutifully and bravely. The thing which brings man down is "attachment" to his own kith and kin. When all belong to this whole universe, where is the place for "I" and "mine"? We must unite as one universal family and march forward in unity. By this means only will the world be benefited. This is not the concern of one individual but the whole universe. The only true man is one who practices "humanism". Every man must cultivate the qualities of "humanity" - this is the only way to success in life. Teachings of Babaji, P.99.
(...) "Humanity" will not be elevated by lecturing and talking but we must awaken the spirit of humanism in all of mankind. Everyone must remove the differences between themselves and others and work in the world in unity; otherwise the disorder which is spreading in the world will go on increasing and there will be no cure for it. There is only one way for mankind to be saved and that is by changing the hearts of all people. (...) As long as there is no change of heart, humanity is in great danger. Teachings of Babaji, P.99.
I wish to engrave in every heart the sign of love. If you love all mankind, then there is peace in you. If you are at peace with all men, it is the kingdom of love. Our Lady of Medjugorie, January 18, 1984. Words from Heaven, P.362.
The loveliness of the humanity which God has taken to Himself in love is,
after all, to be seen in the humanity of our friends, our children, our
brothers, the people we love and who love us. Now that God has become
Incarnate, why do we go to such lengths, all the time, to
"disincarnate" Him again, to unweave the garment of flesh and reduce
Him once again to spirit? As if the Body of the Lord had not become
"Life-giving Spirit." You can see the beauty of Christ in each
individual person, in that which
is most his, most human, most personal to him, in things which an ascetic might
advise you sternly to get rid of. But these attachments, too, are relevant to
your life in Christ, and I have noticed that novices who try to be too grimly
detached from parents and friends, and from other
people in general, often lack a most important spiritual dimension in their
lives, and frequently fail altogether as monks. Those who are more
"human" make better monks, precisely because they are more human and
because they simply do not believe the injunctions of those who try to tell
them that they must be less human. Merton Thomas. Conjectures
of a Guilty Bystander. PP.193-194. Submitted to L-Center Discussion
Group by Gary Horn <ghorn@uswest.com>
I sense that we have a way of denigrating our humanity because we want
control over ourselves, rather than allowing ourselves to be what God has made
us to be his sons and daughters. We also forget that as the early Church
Fathers said, "God became human so that humans could become God." It
is in our humanity that God makes the connection and brings us to divine life
not outside our humanity. Submitted to L-Center Discussion
Group by Andre Heuer.
May all be happy and safe! May all beings gain inner joy - all living beings whatever ... seen or unseen. Dwelling afar or near, born or yet unborn - may all beings gain inner joy. May no beings deceive another, nor in any way scorn another, nor, in anger or ill-will, desire another's sorrow. As mother cares for her son, her only son, all her days, so toward all things living a man's mind should be all-embracing. Friendliness for the whole world, all-embracing, he should raise his mind above, below, and across, unhindered, free from hate and ill-will. Sutta Nipata, The Buddhist Tradition, PP.37-38.
"...our humanity takes precedence, as an existential and irreversible fact, over any willed commitment. When one comes into existence as a human being, then prior to every other obligation is the obligation to be what one is: a human being. Any form of perfectionism that tries to take us beyond our human reality or to put us outside it (to make us gods) will only cheat us of our own humanity. That is the temptation of any absolute belief, whether Christian, Marxist, or other: it may seem to entice us to go beyond our human condition, to be "as gods," and to use our supposed infallibility to destroy other people. In other words, our commitments are good insofar as they help us to fulfill our primary vocation: to be men. If they make us less human, then there is something wrong somewhere. The commitments themselves have gone wrong." Thomas Merton, in an interview in Motive magazine, 1967. Submitted to Merton-L Discussion Group by Gary Horn.
He (Ramakrishna) desired something infinitely greater than the reconciliation of warring creeds - that man as a whole should understand, sympathise with, and love the rest of mankind - that he should identify himself with the life of humanity. For, since Divinity is inherent in every man, every life for him was a religion, and should so become for all. And the more we love mankind, however diverse, the nearer we are to God. It was unnecessary to seek Him in temples, or to call upon Him for miracles and revelations. He was here, everywhere, every second. We could see Him, we could touch Him, for He was our brother, our friend, our enemy, our very self. And it was because this omnipresent God flowed from the soul of Ramakrishna, because his light illuminated, quietly and imperceptibly, the crowd surrounding him, that men felt themselves, without understanding why, uplifted and strengthened. Rolland, Romain. (1994). The Life of Ramakrishna. P.182.
You can see the beauty of Christ in each individual person, in that which is most his, most human, most personal to him (...). Those who are more "human" make better monks, precisely because they are more human. Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, P.213.
I am impressed by the
simple grace and dignity, the theological depth and poetry, of some of the
monks I meet. Deep humanness and freedom are purchased at a price. Pennington,
Basil. (1978). O Holy Mountain! Journal of a Retreat on Mount
Athos. P.248
(…) if your desires are personal, for your own enjoyment, the energy you give them is necessarily limited; it cannot be more than what you have. (…) When you desire the common good, the whole world desires with you. Make humanity’s desire your own and work for it. There you cannot fail. Sri Maharaj Nisargadatta. (2005). I am That. P.25.
Last updated: 2013/05/20
See the related subjects: Charity, Compassion, Filial Piety, Human Love, Kingdom of God, Righteousness, Service