A Reflection on humankind (2)
Manila Times
January 05, 2000
IS THIS the reason for the evolution of the human consciousness? So that the
cosmos, which gave rise to the environment from which life came to be, can think
and reflect on it. Is it true that since we are the rational part of the
universe it is contemplating on itself through us? Is the universe aware of its
own existence in so far as we are the consciousness of the universe, or the one
species with conscious thought. Our striving to learn about the origin, nature
and composition and future is a journey of self discovery not only of ourselves
but the journey of the universe itself of which we are an intimate and
inseparable part. Is humankind the consciousness of the universe or just a tiny
part of a greater consciousness, the
universal consciousness of the entire universe? Is this universal personal
consciousness, the spiritual reality we call God?
Not an easy question to answer. And if that is all too difficult then we have the practical and purposeful teaching of Jesus Christ to turn to, accept and follow for the beginning of the third millennium. The millennium is after all, a celebration of two thousand years of rational civilization profoundly shaped and molded by the teaching of His wisdom and practice. Perhaps his teaching of forgiveness, non- violence and peace has made a profound impact on the world, despite the prevalence of aggressiveness and greed.
The millennium also marks two thousand years of human survival, achievement, tragedy and triumph. The past one thousand years has been a history marked by great achievement but terrible human and planetary tragedy. Human survival has been not only against all other living creatures and the natural environment but also against each other. Our species is unique in that there is no other surviving sub species. Thousands of years ago there was, but humankind, Homo sapiens, rational man, eliminated them. We are the most aggressive and ruthless of all the species on. the planet. We alone are the creatures with the larger brains, with the ability to reason and to think, to plan and to prevent. To co-operate and organize, create and destroy.
We also have free choice, unlike other creatures of instinct, we choose to behave in one manner or another. These past two thousand years of history are remarkable for the numbers of humans who have chosen to kill each other and continue to do so in ever , increasing numbers. Perhaps too, it is remarkable for the large number who have tried to resist and change that destructive human behavior by promoting peace and planting non-violent principles in society.
Us humans have warred on each other and all other creatures to the point of
eliminating them from the planet so we can have it all for ourselves. One group
strives to dominate another, to survive, propagate itself while others perish
and disappear. And so we have seen civilizations rise and fall, grow and
disappear wiped out by others more aggressive. One group grows powerful and
devours another.
Since the time when the first cave man bludgeoned to death a rival, with the leg
bone of an ox to the moments in the recent history when human fingers hovered
over the nuclear button to bring; all life on the planet to an end, humans have
never been more aggressive. Why is this? Is it the ever increasing population,
the chemical changes in the food chain, the disparity between the have and the
have nots? All points for consideration.
We are the planet's most organized and rational creature with under-utilized reason and over-exercised passions of greed, domination and possessiveness.
Let us pause and reflect in a serious way, the course of human and planetary
history and to ask, yet again, who and what we are as a species of this planet.
There will be frivolous and trivial pursuits all over the globe to celebrate an
event that few will be in a conscious enough state to know or understand. Those
celebrations will inebriate the participants to the point where conscious and
rational
thought, the very ability that made history possible, will be blurred, impaired
and befuddled. That unique ability of conscious thought, that defines our
species, that has made two thousand years of history, will be greatly under
utilized amid the fireworks and the festivities. Consciousness and intelligence
will be unable to celebrate its own existence.
