Ac. Shambhúshivánanda Avt.
We have come a long way from dwelling in caves to celebrating ourselves as masters of the universe, but how much of our progress is truly civilizational, and how much depends solely on physical science and technology? The way we proceed at the moment, will we continue to benefit from science, or will we be destroyed by it? In his tracing of the transhumanist movement, Aaron Frank shows that it fails to lead us towards a neohumanist society endowed with ethical principles and spiritual inspiration.
The latest additions to our common tech toolkit are deep learning and generative artificial intelligence. One of our esteemed contributors, Sudhir Tiku, eloquently addresses this theme by drawing our attention to its power to either colonise the Global South once again or lead to human emancipation. While delineating an existential manifesto for the Global South, Sudir Tiku declares that intelligence is not the monopoly of algorithms but the shared inheritance of humanity; that the South will not be a silent scaffolding of Northern empires but the author of its own architectures; that the future of intelligence will not be written in the clouds above us but in the soil beneath our feet.
This issue is greatly enriched by Justin Hewitson’s article on Tantra and its perspectives on consciousness. He discusses the properties and functions of consciousness in terms of expressive qualities, addressing whether AI can be sentient.
In his discourse on “the discipline of love,” futurist and foresight practitioner Richard Hames offers enlightening perspectives in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach incident in Australia. His call to expand love, from being pivotal to private romantic affairs to inhabiting the heart of the public domain, is a powerful reminder of the relevance and force of the neohumanist movement.
Shermon Cruz draws from the theme of Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar on river valley civilizations . He indicates that rivers are not just providers of essential vitality but also serve as bedrocks for the birth of civilisations. Here, we also share the insights of Shrii Sarkar on the oldest civilizations of North Eastern India, particularly Ra’r’h and its offshoots.
In her work on Bengali mystical poetry and music, Sumaya Machado Lima compares Tagore’s poetry with Shri Sarkar’s Prabhat Samgiita. Sumaya concludes that “Sarkar, Tagore, and Spivak possess an agency-like discourse and, directly or indirectly, invite that call for the agency of the universal collective, inviting the planet society to a revolution of love and determination for unity and justice, elements that still resonate in these songs in the struggle for a more equitable and tender world.”
Anthony Carlyle’s interview with a leading Dutch homeopath, Erik van Woensel, also provides us with excellent insights into classical homeopathy.
At the moment, humanity on planet Earth seems to be on a steep learning curve, learning essential lessons in how to live together to facilitate one another’s progress, rather than rushing forward in mad selfishness, crudely stepping over one another in the process. It is our hope that the enlightened articles in this issue will shed further light on pathways worthy of our exploration in our quest for Supreme Humanity.