The Story of Revolutions

The Baba continued: ‘Revolutions, as we have already seen, can be violent or non-violent. Violence begets more violence. The oppressors in this case have at their disposal the police, the army and the entire state machinery… 

‘The only power the oppressed and deprived people can have in such a case is the power of the fire of hunger or anger burning in their empty stomachs. This ‘fire’ of hunger or anger will lead them to indiscriminate violence and destructive reactions which will be put down mercilessly by the power of the state. Such merciless violence by the state will also be justified by the laws of the state… 

‘However, even if such a violent revolution succeeds by the sheer strength of numbers and magnitude of bloodshed, the resulting system will be equally, if not more, unjust and exploitative…. This is what we have seen and learnt from the experiences of Communist revolutions across the world….

‘Learn from history, my son. The Gandhian revolution, the Martin Luther King revolution or the Mandela revolution can provide us inspiring models of the kinds of non-violent revolution required in the modern world….. 

‘But also remember, none of these leaders were poor or illiterate.. They were part of the educated elite of their societies…. 

‘Non-violent revolutions can be initiated and led by enlightened leaders who also have to be integrated personalities of great character and courage. Emergence of such men and women of integrity, character and courage is essential for a non-violent revolution to succeed…

‘But history also bears testimony to the fact that such enlightened leaders often emerge out of the better off sections of the society. They are educated, mature and deep-thinking people…. Have you observed this fact?’ 

The Baba asked his disciple who was deeply attentive to every word spoken by him.

‘Guruji, is there a process through which such leaders go through and develop themselves to become effective instruments of God for a non-violent revolution?’ Asked Atma Prakash.

‘Yes, of course. Nothing in the divine providence happens by accident. Everything has a purpose behind it. Everything also goes through a process.’ The Baba said and continued:

‘The evolutionary growth of human personality and consciousness, my son, is from the ‘herd’ to the ‘sovereign’, from the collective to the singular. This means that as one grows mature in life with age and with the resulting expansion in consciousness, one tends to become more and more detached from the herd mentality and collective identity of the earlier times in order to grow as an independently strong and sovereign personality…..

‘No tree can grow big under the shade of another big tree, my son. Like a majestic oak tree, each one of us has to find a space for oneself to grow and expand… But at the same time, we also have to remember that we are social beings living in a network of relationships. We cannot exist like islands cut off and separated from one another, or like Billiard balls always clashing with one another…... 

‘We need the love, respect, appreciation and support of others to make our own lives happy, peaceful and fruitful in this world. This is possible only when we are able to give love, respect, appreciation and support to others. The ultimate goal of human life in this world is to become such ‘sovereign spiritual persons’ capable of loving, respecting, appreciating and supporting others unconditionally…..

‘Thus, we come to the realization that, while there is a need to remain distinct from others and to uphold the uniqueness of our individual personalities for allowing our own individual growth and fruitfulness, there is also at the same time a greater need for us to be related to one another with mutual love, respect, appreciation and support….. 

‘The harmonious development of the human personality can be achieved only if and when the growth in one’s individual consciousness is associated with a similar growth in one’s ability to love, respect, appreciate and support others. If this does not happen, we will find it very difficult to live and work with people of different ideologies, opinions, characteristics and faiths. Such individuals and groups end up in conflicts and breakups within and among themselves….. 

‘Understand this process and apply it. You will be an enlightened leader and a sovereign spiritual person, my son.’ The Baba stopped and closed his eyes.

Excerpts from ‘Integral Revolution’.