The 20th century worldview driven by scientism and materialism is fast being replaced by the 21st century worldview driven on spirituality

1. Options Before
Modernity: Change or
Perish
By: Sandeep Gupta, India
ISUD 10th World Congress, Craiova, Romania
(The Human Being: Its Nature and Functions)
July 7th, 2014

2. Greetings from India
2
Science of Human Consciousness

3. Some Global Hard Facts
 Wealth Distribution: 1% of global populations holds 57% of global
wealth (UNDP 2013)
 Terrorism: 8500+ terrorists attacks globally (CNN 2013)
 Rape: 1 every 2 minutes - USA; every 4 minutes – South Africa; every
6 minutes – UK & Wales; every 10 minutes – India (various sources)
 Murder (homicide): 1 every 1.4 minutes (UNODC website)
 Unemployment: 75 million youth in 2012 (World Economic Forum)
 Economic Frauds: 70% companies hit by at least 1 fraud per year
(Kroll: 2013/2014 Global Fraud Report)
 Possession of Guns by Public: 18.3 numbers/100 people – approx.
19% world population (The Washington Post)
3

4. Concern
 ―Is there a way to control and change the culture of unabated
greed for ‗power, wealth and sex‘ which is dominating our lives
and has distanced man from man and man from nature?‖
 YES – we need to look beyond our selves, and
 Analyze ―modernity‖ against the ―inviolable law of nature‖
 Understand the true nature of man and his potential
 Appreciate the ―sciences of human consciousness‖ & its powers
4

5. Inviolable Law of Nature &
Modernity
5

6. Inviolable Law of Nature
―We live in two worlds simultaneously, one the internal (our
mental world of thoughts, values, desires, and experiences) and
the other external (the material world in which we are born,
interact and perform actions) and both the worlds need to grow in
tandem.‖
(Swami Vivekananda, 1907)
6

7. Modernity
 Modernity is the shorthand term for the world we live in and it
represents:
1. An attitude that the world is open to transformation by human intervention
2. A complex maze of economic institutions
3. Political structures of nation-state and mass democracy.
7
Scientism &
Materialism
Ethical Sense &
Spiritualism

8. Kourie (2006) Believes
―Modernity can no longer be seen as the panacea for the future. It
effects a general loss of spirituality due to its one-dimensionalism;
political self-interest spawns oppression and racism; economic life
concentrates on profits rather than on the real needs of the
consumer; education policies lead to a general atrophy of the
spiritual faculties; the very real factor of ―might determines right‖
infiltrates apparently open and ―democratic‖ structures; and what
started as a legitimate revolutionary impulse all to soon becomes its
opposite, namely tyranny. Furthermore, the transition from
community to impersonal society has had disastrous effects,‖
8

9. Where Did Modernity Falter?
 Mistaken belief that the mysteries of the creation can be
solved by material science (physics)
 Rejection of anything and everything that had experiential
experience attached to it
 Materialist conception of reality
 Changing the focus of secular education from humanization of
man to industrialization of man
 Failure to recognize that ‗everything affects—and is affected
by—everything else‘ in the universe
9
To survive and come out of such an environment requires a mental
revolution in self-aware consciousness in society

10. True Nature of Man &
His Potential
10

11. Man’s True Nature
 Man is essentially a spiritual being and is fundamentally
motivated by the need to make sense of his life
 HIGHER NATURE – Attributes of the spirit i.e. love, peace,
harmony, selflessness, reflexive wisdom but dormant till made
kinetic
 Lower nature – Attributes of the demon i.e. desire, anger,
attachment, greed and ego but can be suffused by making
higher nature kinetic
 Thus man is:
 Lit with the divine spark but is not wholly divine
 His divinity is not an actuality but only a potentiality
 Is God and brute crossed
11
Blessed with unlimited potential to change himself and the world

12. Ability to Change the World and
Himself
 Man is the only species blessed with a two dimensional
consciousness
 1st dimension: Awareness of the external environment and ability
to react to external stimuli
 2nd dimension: To fall back as a reflex upon itself and gain self-
awareness, self-consciousness or say self-knowledge
 The second dimension
 Gives man the ability to break away from his genetic compulsions
of organic survival, organic satisfaction & organic reproduction
 Thus makes him the most powerful species with the ability to
change himself as well as his environment
12

13. Law of Our Being
―That whatever we hold in our consciousness becomes manifest as
our experience. Our thoughts and dreams form the only blueprint that
the eternal builder in us uses to shape our future. In other words, our
lives and affairs are completely influenced and shaped by the
character of our thinking. A person is not limited by God‘s will or
heredity or by fate or circumstances but by his own dominant state of
mind. Stirrings of greatness and groans of downhill slide begin within
the mind‖
13

14. Science of Human Consciousness
& Its Powers
14

15. Man ‘Perfect Microcosm of The
Macrocosm’
15
Spirit Force
Mind Force
Matter Force

16. Consciousness
―Consciousness is intrinsic to the grand cosmos, both at
macroscopic as well as microscopic levels. Man, a creation on
planet Earth happens to be a perfect microcosm of the
macrocosm. Spirit-mind-brain consciousness interactions are at
the microscopic levels analogous to consciousness interaction
between Supreme Being (Universal Spirit) – Universal Mind –
Physical Universe at the macrocosmic levels‖
(His Holiness Prof. P.S. Satsangi, 2012)
16

17. Consciousness in Action in Man
17
Spiritual
Plane of
Existence
The Absolute
The Divine Consciousness (integral vision of all planes) - Existence (Pure
Spirit), Conscious Force, Delight
Super Knowledge by Identity – Truth (object of knowledge sought created within)
Intuitive Intuitions, Revelations (total object of knowledge without thought)
Illumined Light & Illumination (descent of knowledge without thought)
Higher Silence of Mind (enabling better thought, greater knowledge)
Mental Plane
of Existence
Pure Mental
Ideas, Concepts, Rational Thinking, Logical, Pure Thoughts, Conscious
Self-Conception
Vital Mental
Knowledge Imbued with Emotions, Feelings (interests, opinions,
sentiments, beliefs, values, ideals)
Physical Mental
Input of Information, Storage, Understanding, Comprehension, Decision
making
Vital Plane of
Existence
Mental Vital
Emotional Thoughts as Attitudes, Life Intelligence, Higher Emotions (incl.
conduct, social norms, conscience)
Pure Vital Emotions, Feelings, Passions, Intense Human Relationships
Physical Vital Sensation of the Nerves (urge, desire, fear, seeks action, relationship)
Physical
Plane of
Existence
Mental Physical Body Knowledge of How to Act, Primary Skills of Existence
Vital Physical Physical Urges and Sensations (pain, hunger, lust, craving, etc.)
Pure Physical Origin of Physical Movement, Instinct for Survival

18. Types of People
 Sattvikas - wise, sincere, generous, non-violent, have altruistic
mentality, and render detached services. They possess a highly
developed ethical sense
 Rajisika - egoists, active, ambitious, they do well to others with the
expectation of getting something in return for their actions for self-
aggrandizement, are intolerant and revengeful. Their ethical sense
is developed but they tend to ignore it when their self-interest
in under attack or threat.
 Tamasika - are indolent, egoistic, violent tempered, indiscriminate
in pursuit of pleasure, completely disregard the interest of others
and would do anything to fulfill self-interest. They possess no
ethical sense.
18

19. Challenges of Modernity Met
19
BEFORE
Training of
Consciousness
SATVIKAS
Developed Ethical
Senses
TAMASIKAS
No Ethical Sense
RAJASIKAS
Low Ethical Senses
AFTER
Training of
Consciousness
SATVIKAS
Developed Ethical
Senses
RAJASIKAS
Low Ethical Senses
Training of
Consciousness
Result
SATVIKAS
Strengthening of
Ethical Sense
TAMSIKAS
Develop Low Ethical
Sense
RAJSIKAS
Increase in Ethical
Sense
 Note: All the 3 categories will always exist, but with increased inner-awareness
the influence of Tamsikas & Rajasikas in society will reduce, resulting in the
elimination of the crisis of moral and values (culture of greed for power, money &
sex) that exists today

20. Thank You
Sandeep Gupta
G – 192, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi – 11076, India
Cell: +91 9810730653
Email: sandeep1956@gmail.com