THE
MEANING OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
By: Ashish Toor
WE
are all brought up within human society and, as a result, adopt the practices
and norms of the society around us. One norm that we have picked up is that of
segregation. Humans love to draw lines, and are very good at it. We are also
very creative in our line-drawing, and have come up with an astonishing number
of permutations and combinations of dividing ourselves into groups. Men cluster
together according to skin colour, language, land of origin, land of residence,
clans, religions, social classes, and the list goes on. The variety to choose
from is endless.
There is nothing wrong with identifying oneself with a certain group of people.
It is natural and instinctive and makes one feel comfortable in society. The
danger is when we begin to owe our loyalty to only one group of people, when we
see ourselves as part of a group that is unique and different from �the rest�.
This
entire segregation of humanity is flawed because God did not create a segregated
world or a segregated human species to live in it. It is true that He has
allowed for a staggering degree of variety in the kind of people that inhabit
this planet, in the languages they speak, the food they eat, the way they live
and the beliefs they hold. God has done a remarkable job in this in making the
world such a rich and colourful place to live in. However, God never decreed
that lines should be drawn. God made one world, but man made cities, states and
nations. God created one human species from one single source, but man 'made'
Chinese, Indians, Irish, Spanish, French and Africans. God made every human
being equal and human, but man made the royalty, the middle class, the working
class, the poor and the untouchable. God made only one religion, but man has
made many�Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism.
It is a great folly of us to identify ourselves with only a small group of
people and to be patriotic to only one country whose dominance we desire. There
are two reasons why this is irrational.
First, all divisions that man has made in his world are temporary and changing.
Nothing is static. Today you may call yourself Indian, but 600 years ago, you
might have had some Persian blood, 2,000 years ago you would have been Aryan,
and at the advent of human evolution, members of our species which would have
been born in Africa. People constantly talk about preserving one's roots and of
never forgetting where one comes from. Then they go on to assume their roots in
something that can never be permanent. You could put your roots in one country,
but with plate tectonics and continent migrations, that country would have moved
around so much and been invaded by so many people that your roots might still
not have found anything firm to anchor on. Nobody deposits his life-savings in a
bank whose future is uncertain. And there is no need to, for God has
'advertised' His package to us�He is the only bank that is open for eternity, He
charges no interest, and His returns are phenomenal. When someone asks a true
saint where he is from, he does state that he was born in place A, grew up in
place B, and then moved to place C. A true saint comes only from God, his roots
are in God and God's Kingdom is his home.
The
second reason why divisions are unreasonable is because we are confining
ourselves to one tribe of the world when God has clearly endowed us with the
whole world with its endless wonders. The Kingdom of God is gifted to His
believers in its entirety, replete with its diversity of people, customs,
languages and foods to savour. Still, man has the arrogance to decline this
generosity and to stick to his tiny piece of territory that he claims is only
his. He builds fences around his property and calls himself of a certain race,
claiming it the best race in the whole world. Then, he decides that his
neighbour is his evil enemy, and he will have to cause grief by waging war
against him so that they can both kill some of each other's kins.
We must never forget that although every person on the earth appears to be a
separate physical entity, humanity was fashioned to be a reflection of its
creator. God made man in His own image. Thus, the human race represents the body
of God, and all humans are intrinsically linked to each other by the thread of
God. Those, who sing, are the voice of God; those, who listen, are God's ears
and those, who carry the burdens of society, are the arms and legs of God. Just
as every member of the human body is irreplaceable, every human in the body of
God is necessary and priceless.
It
hurts us deeply even to lose a toenail; no other part can replace its role. Yet,
human beings are repeatedly plundered, massacred and disposed of as if they have
no worth. Moreover, each strike of pain that is inflicted on any part of our
body, is felt throughout. The pain caused by a broken finger infiltrates through
every cell of the body, and the whole body feels the pain. Despite this, we
continue to strike blows of hatred upon those around us without realising that
the pain is ultimately felt by God.
When
an earthquake kills a hundred people in our town, it touches us much more than
if the hundred were killed somewhere else. A soldier dying for our country hurts
us more than a soldier dying in the enemy camp. The welfare of my own child
always comes before the welfare of the neighbour's child. We attach ourselves to
small portions and lose sight of the big world that belongs to us and for which
we are responsible and owe allegiance to.
God's universe is borderless. He is neither Indian nor Pakistani, He is neither
white nor black. He is a citizen not of any one country but of the universe. God
is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian and Jew. He speaks all languages, He enjoys
all music, He appreciates all beauty where it is due. Most of all, God is drawn
to where love, compassion, humility, faith and other of His most noble virtues
flourish. Since man has been sculpted in the image of God, we can never ever
claim to come from just one tiny sect of the human race, but must embrace whole
of His kingdom as our on. This is the true meaning of Universal Brotherhood.
Small souls enquire belongs this man
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