Intuition and Science of Social Harmony:

Spiritual Unity or Alienation?

The report o­n the visit to the Brahma Kumaris and Business Academy in India

October 30 – November 18, 2012

December 21, 2012

By

Dr. Leo Semashko

GHA President

Publication in languages:

English: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=545

Russian: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=566

© Leo Semashko, 2012

Organizations abbreviation and web addresses:

Brahma Kumaris - BK: http://www.bkwsu.com,

Indus Business Academy - IBA: www.iba.ac.in,

Global Harmony Association - GHA: www.peacefromharmony.org

Contents

Part 1. General characteristics of the trip and its spiritual meaning

Part 2. Brief theoretical and practical summarizing

1. How and why the GHA’s aspiration to cooperate with BK emerged

2. Intuitive and scientific knowledge of harmony: mutual complementarity

3. The necessity and insufficiency of the intuition of harmony in BK

4. The necessity and sufficiency of the unity of science and intuition

5. Intuitive and scientific spiritual harmony

6. Why not start cooperation between GHA and BK?

Part 1. General characteristics of the trip and its spiritual meaning

I have to stress that my almost three week trip to India was not tourism. Therefore the report will not be travel. Though, naturally, I was happy to be in this wonderful country for the second time and to be enriched with new, unique tourist impressions of its people, nature, temples and other sights. They will be present o­nly in a small photo series of this report – 25 pictures (see website) as visual images of harmony. I express my heartfelt gratitude for these photos to three colleagues o­n the trip: Yuri Cherenkov, Viktor Tikhonov and Yana Shevchenko. But the photo series was not complete because my ten colleagues promised to send me pictures and sent o­nly three. In this regard, I want to underline the observation that spirituality, to which the trip was devoted, as it turns out, does not eliminate irresponsibility and empty promises. This is a fact. However, the photo series limitations are more than compensated by the wonderful video "Golden Morning: Spiritual Wisdom" of the talented producer Valery Dobrov. The video is available in the GHA film library: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=252 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=812aAZyP__A. With it are other videos of spiritual harmony and mantras of harmony.

The key meaning and main content of trip were the events of two spiritual organizations in India: (1) The BK International Retreat "Golden Morning: Spiritual Wisdom in Epoch of Rapid Changes," which was held from October 31 to November 10, devoted to lectures and meditations of spiritual harmony and (2) Communication, lecture and workshop in IBA, November 12-17. These events defined the spiritual core of the trip in a wide range between intuition and science of social harmony. It covered Indian spiritual harmony from God to business. To this I will devote the second, main part of the report, the comprehension of which required a lot of time - more than a month. This part, in substance, is philosophical, concerning main issues of the knowledge of harmony.

To conclude the first part I want to express my deep gratitude to the leaders of both organizations for their warm hospitality in India. I owe my wonderful trip to Didi Santosh, head of the BK St. Petersburg branch (http://www.brahmakumaris.ru/index.php), who invited me to the retreat and showed constant attention to me. I warmly thank her, all great leaders of BK as well as the entire Russian-speaking group (about 100 people), in which the spirit of harmony prevailed.

I am also deeply grateful to the IBA leadership and professors for their cooperation and warm, caring attitude: Prof. Subhash Sharma, IBA Director, Prof. Manas Garai, Prof. Pradeep Kumar, Mr. Ritesh Jain, IBA CEO, as well as students of IBA, with whom I constantly communicated: Santosh, Siva, Srikant, Manesh, Munibaby, Tanaki, Abishek and others.

I am sincerely grateful to Prof. Surendra Pathak and Dr. Laj Utreja, Presidents of GHA departments in India and the U.S., who came specially to meet me at Mount Abu, at the BK headquarters. I express my sincere thanks to Mr. Rajanicant Verma, IASE University Adviser, who met me at the airport and brought the IBA 20 copies of the ABC of Harmony in English to me, and Prof. Sunita S. Sengupta, Delhi University, who took me to the IBA. Many thanks to all! o­nly your help and participation ensured high efficiency of my trip.

Part 2. Brief theoretical and practical summarizing

1.How and why the GHA’s aspiration to cooperate with BK emerged

My acquaintance with BK began in May 2012 with the participation in the meeting dedicated to the Victory Day. Then I gifted Didi Santosh the GHA program book "The ABC of Harmony" (2012: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=478). This book was also presented to almost all the leaders of BK, including the BK Administrative Head Dadi Janki in Mount Abu with another GHA book "Harmonious Civilization" (2009). At this time I bought the BK brochure "Universal Harmony" (1996, in Russian), which I read with great interest. I was very glad to read it and published it o­n the GHA website under the title: "Brahma Kumaris: "Universal Harmony": Masterpiece of Social Intuition" (www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=ru_c&key=550). From this beginning of my attention and study in the BK experience, I saw a kindred spirit GHA organization that had been dedicated to the social and spiritual harmony long before the GHA. In this brochure, I saw an excellent intuitive introduction to the ABC of Harmony and an excellent expression of social harmony in all spheres of society at a high level of intuitive thinking. To create a universal and holistic harmony o­n Earth, the brochure proclaims the necessity of vision and knowing deep harmonious world order that was originally there, but that was violated by the historical disharmonies because of ignorance in harmony (pp. 16-17). These ideas are very important for the development of knowledge of social harmony. It found the first scientific expression in the ABC of Harmony, but it started with its ancient intuition, finding perfect expression in BK. Even then, I wrote a letter to the BK with the offer to cooperate with GHA: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=546

This letter defined an objective interest in mutually beneficial cooperation: our two organizations have the knowledge, vision and understanding of the social harmony of the two equally necessary, but different and insufficient separately cognitive sides: science and intuition, which require mutual complementarity and unity. To unify the advantages of intuitive and scientific knowledge of harmony was the deepest source of my search for cooperation between our two organizations, which embody these forms of knowledge. Therefore, when Didi Santosh kindly invited me to retreat in India, I happily agreed. This was motivated by my deep spiritual interest in BK and my appreciation of its spiritual harmony. I realized that o­ne pure science is not enough for the knowledge and study of harmony, and that this also requires the spiritual power of intuition in the form of meditation and highest moral values that have been honored ​​in thousands of years of practice of Raja Yoga, adopted in BK. For knowledge of this experience, I went o­n the BK retreat with a great desire and hope.

Here I was introduced to the practice of spiritual meditation in Raja Yoga, with lectures about God, the soul and the highest moral values. Almost every meditation and a lecture focused o­n harmony. In fact, the central concept of the Raja Yoga - peace (rest), through which it defines God, soul and moral values, is harmony, equilibrium, balance and other similar characteristics. God, soul and morality - it is harmony, and harmony – it is God, soul and moral. This is reminiscent of Plato's philosophical ideas about the Cosmos as a living God, good and harmony in the "Timaeus" and Kant's view of them. But our report - this is not a place where we can afford a deep and detailed comparison of these philosophical views and Raja Yoga. I will confine myself to a general comparison of the main forms of knowledge of harmony, at its different levels, considering what was associated with my Indian trip and sense of it.

2. Intuitive and scientific knowledge of harmony: mutual complementarity

Universal and holistic harmony exists o­n different levels: at the individual level of the person, at the global and local social levels of human society and o­n an infinite level of the Cosmos, the Universe and God. It is clear that these levels are inseparable and exist o­nly through each other, and mutually interpenetrate, including each other. This determines their infinite complexity and inexhaustibleness of knowledge. Any knowledge of harmony is relative and limited, constantly extending, deepening and supplying in the historical process of human knowledge.

It is also natural that, for universal, holistic and infinite harmony, there is no single and absolute form of human knowledge that is necessary and sufficient for its knowledge. There are many forms of its private knowledge, necessary but not sufficient, each o­n its own. There are two main forms of its knowledge: intuitive and scientific.

Intuition (contemplation, flair, insight) –is the direct apprehension of truth without logical analysis based o­n imagination, empathy, and previous experience (Wikipedia). Intuition - is the knowledge of any event of harmony of any kind and level that does not require facts as the sole basis of knowledge and is based ultimately o­n historical collective experience of people. Intuition - it's primarily a sensory perception and thinking.

Science – it is theoretical systematization of objective knowledge, the basis of which is the collection of facts, their constant updating and generalization (Wikipedia). Science - is knowledge of o­nly limited phenomena of harmony, about the circle of which a human may have the facts to confirm these phenomena, their properties and relationships. Science - is primarily the theoretical mediated knowledge and thinking.

The dignity of intuition is its limitlessness and support of itself and the internal potential of knowledge. The dignity of science is in finiteness and support of the facts and of the external potential of knowledge. Science and intuition are necessary but not sufficient in any knowledge of any subject, including harmony.

Intuition covers the endless spiritual pyramids (qualities) of God, society and humanity. It aims to provide a holistic and sensuality available in images representing the infinite harmony of God (the infinite point of light in Raja Yoga), a human (the soul as the point o­n the person’s forehead) and society (moral values ​​or good). At the level of communion with spiritual infinity, intuition unites and harmonizes people. This is its dignity and the advantage in the knowledge of harmony. But intuition does not and cannot give universally accepted, even limited, knowledge of the structure of harmony o­n any level: God, society or human. As soon as there is a question among people regarding understanding of their structure, there always are dissenting opinions which divide people and lead them to misunderstanding and then to enmity and war. o­n this side, it leaves people disharmonious and disconnected and therefore weak in knowledge and creation of harmony. Therefore, intuition is not enough, is limited in its use and requires the addition of the science.

Science is able to cover, but o­nly partially, the spiritual pyramids (qualities) of the society, the person and his or her harmony. Infinite harmony of God, as well as the associated infinity of the soul and the highest moral values, is not available in science, which always has to deal with objects, limited facts. God and His Harmony are not available to science o­n a science definition. They are o­nly available to the intuitive knowledge, the most advanced form of which is religious thought, including religious philosophy, and different beliefs, including Raja Yoga. But the infinite harmony of God, society and humanity is necessary for science as the support and symbol of its integrity, though not proven facts and the remaining by faith. God is a symbol of the highest spiritual harmony and ethics of science. This symbol is not available to science itself. Science without divine spiritual harmony loses its supreme guidance and meaning in understanding and knowledge of a limited harmony. That is why even a limited harmony of society and the person does not become a subject of science so far. Up to now there is no science or scientific theory of social and individual harmony, except tetrasociology which appeared o­nly three decades ago, and got its perfect expression in the ABC of Harmony, in 2012.

On the other hand, science without God, without a higher spiritual harmony, integrity and ethics, is easily converted from a positive into a negative and destructive tool that we see in the industrial society and its people. Industrial science and limited mechanical knowledge does not give them knowledge of their own harmony as their most important and useful knowledge. Therefore science is insufficient and limited in itself. It requires addition and synthesis with intuition, faith and God. This conclusion led me, as a scientist, in the BK, to intuitive knowledge of the infinite divine harmony, and for its use in the form of meditation in the scientific knowledge of limited social and individual harmony. Understanding and confidence in this – it is the main thing that gave me a retreat in BK and what enriched me most as a scientist.

But not o­nly science is insufficient. Intuition and its understanding of social harmony are also insufficient and limited in themselves, so they require addition and synthesis with science. This is particularly evident in the case of the BK representations of social and individual harmony.

3. The necessity and insufficiency of the intuition of harmony in BK

Above, we stressed the need of harmony intuition for its scientific knowledge and understanding. Now, o­n the basis of a brief analysis of the BK intuitive idea of ​​social harmony, we will show its insufficiency, from which the logical necessity of its synthesis with the scientific knowledge of social harmony is included in the GHA, especially with the ABC of Harmony. Intuition harmony is presented in two BK books:

·"Universal Harmony" (1996, in Russian, see above; 1995, "Harmony" in English, published here: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=540)

·Brahma Kumar Jagdish Chander, Building a Value-Based, Peaceful and Prosperous Society (2000), published in English in the main fragments here: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=543. (I was happy to buy 20 copies of the wonderful brochure Harmony to give it to my friends in India).

Moreover, the first book is almost entirely included in the second, so we'll o­nly talk about it.

First, we must emphasize its undeniable merits as an intuitive masterpiece of social harmony, as the intuitive ABC of Harmony of 2000, 12 years before the GHA ABC of Harmony and as the BK intuitive sociology of harmony. For brevity, we shall call it the "BK Sociology."

The BK Sociology dignities, which determine its necessity and unity with the science (scientific sociology), are:

1. Definition of harmony as a "universal and holistic" uniting and defining any viable diversity, which is fully identical to its scientific definition in the ABC of Harmony. This provides a unity of its intuitive and scientific knowledge and understanding.
2. Definition of the existing society as a disharmonious and spiritually impoverished "Iron Age" with a priority of material wealth, which (this age) is to be replaced with the harmonious and spiritual (value-based) society as a "Golden Age" with a priority of spiritual values. The ABC of Harmony expressed a similar definition, but in scientific terms: the current civilization is industrial and disharmonious with priority o­n economy which is going to be replaced by harmonious civilization with priority o­n the spiritual culture of harmony.
   
   
   
3. Definition of harmony as "the Prime Value", which includes other values: love, unity, peace, justice, harmony, brotherhood, etc., which makes harmony by holistic value. A similar understanding of harmony develops in the scientific ABC of Harmony.
4. The dawning of the harmonious society/civilization or the "Golden Age" is impossible without appropriate, harmonious spirituality presented and developed in BK in Raja Yoga. Harmonious society requires, above all, harmonious divine spirituality of all people, which can be acquired o­nly through Raja Yoga in BK. Similarly, in the ABC of Harmony, the conscious and non-violent building of harmonious civilization is impossible without the harmonious spirituality presented and developed, first of all, in the theoretical science of social harmony - in tetrasociology. Harmonious civilization requires, primarily, scientific knowledge of social harmony, which will get everyone in the schools and universities a global harmonious education through the study of the ABC of Harmony disclosing this scientific knowledge.
5. The root cause of disharmony as a negative force that generates the defects and pathologies of society is ignorance of harmony as a lack of knowledge of its infinite spiritual source - God. Similarly, in the ABC of Harmony: the main cause of disharmonious industrial civilization is its ignorance in the scientific (positive) knowledge of harmony and its neglect of this knowledge. It is expressed in the absence of this science and the inability to create o­ne in industrial society. The social need in this science (as the ability of its development) will o­nly appear together with the first signs of a harmonious civilization in the early 21st century, as defined in the ABC of Harmony. o­nly in this civilization will diversity, universality and integrity of the social harmony correspond with the diversity, universality and integrity of its knowledge, which transcends its industrial partiality and fragmentation, achieving harmony in cognitive diversity, including harmony between intuition, faith and science.
   
   

We have named o­nly the basic, fundamental, dignities of the BK intuitive sociology that define its social need and demand unity with the science of social harmony, with tetrasociology presented and unfolded in the ABC of Harmony.

The insufficiency of BK intuitive sociology is expressed in its following qualities and definitions.

1. The main weakness and lack of the BK intuitive sociology is individualist reductionism, expressed in the fundamental thesis: "change of human changes society" or "a person who positively change, positive change society," etc. o­n this basis, the center of its activities, BK accomplishes spiritual transformation of personality, individual, believing it is sufficient for positive societal transformation. Such individualistic reductionism can not see specific social laws at different levels from the family to global humanity. Society and humanity are not a mechanical sum of individuals - as well as social harmony, which is not a mechanical sum of harmonious persons. Therefore, even if each individual can have positive change and become harmonious, it will not lead to a positive change in the society, to the creation of a harmonious society, to harmonious change of its other parts: families, communities, professional groups, classes and other social groups, nations, peoples, and etc. Each person can become a harmonious and peaceful, and the groups and classes of people can remain hostile, mired in wars, in social disharmony and pathology. We see this today in many facts. Individual harmony must be supplemented by social harmony in the form of a harmonious organization and order in all other parts of society: spheres, sectors, industries, businesses, families, regions, etc. This requires the special scientific knowledge presented in the ABC of Harmony.
   
   
   
2. The BK intuitive sociology distracts from making a single structuring, systematization and ordering of society as a social organism. It talks about society at the level of traditional everyday concepts, which lead naturally to the intuitive approach which neglects scientific analysis and theoretical generalization. The ordinary concepts of everyone are special. Hence o­n their level there cannot be unity in the understanding of social phenomena. Intuitive sociology does not give a clear, detailed and generally accepted answer about the structure of individual and social harmony. Intuitive understanding of the harmony leaves infinite its specific interpretation: everyone interprets it as he/she likes, in his/her own way, unlike all the others. This prevents spiritual unity of people in knowledge and use of harmony and this practically nullifies the social importance of intuitive harmony, making it weak in comparison with the powerful organizational forms of negative and destructive forces of disharmony. The intuitive sociology as a spiritual harmony loses in power and its social impact to these forces of disharmony, which remain for it as invincible within millennia.
3. The basic methods of intuitive knowledge of harmony in BK are induction and analogy, based o­n the endless examples. They, very often, are bright, wise and persuasive, showing dignity of the intuitive ideas. These examples make the most difficult thought accessible to the very unpretentious mind. This is the methodological dignity of intuition, which we must adopt. At the same time it is its logic lack from which we want to free.
4. Intuitive knowledge of harmony is devoid of quantitative aspects and mathematical approaches. Its scientific knowledge, in contrast, has broad mathematical approaches that are presented in the ABC of Harmony. As we know, o­nly mathematics transforms knowledge into science, making this knowledge, by conclusive, verifiable, universal concepts, acceptable o­ne for all. Mathematics lifts this knowledge over an infinite variety of subjective intuitive opinions.
5. The BK, as an organization of intuitive harmony and sociology which exists among the many spiritual organizations in India, develops intuitive knowledge of harmony and submits its infinite spiritual variety, the richest in the world. Nowhere in the world have we found similar spiritual wealth. This is a vivid testimony of the real advantages and power of intuitive knowledge of spiritual harmony at all levels, from the social to the individual and the divine. But the striking and the other, negative, side: these organizations exist independently of each other, not trying to find a harmonious unity among themselves to demonstrate spiritual and organizational harmony in mutual relations. Such harmony in unity could be a much strengthened social influence of spiritual harmony and its many organizations both in India and globally. The unity ofspiritual organizations in India would provide the country world leadership in spiritual and interfaith harmony. However, these organizations, including BK, remain in the power of industrial law of the parts rule, not the whole, and are powerless to overcome it. So, unfortunately, the harmonious union of these organizations does not happen and we do not see even the desire for it as if a social need did not exists in it. Why?

The intuition of harmony can overcome its social weakness o­nly by integrating the science of harmony, which represented the most developed in the GHA collective global textbook: the ABC of Harmony.

4. The necessity and sufficiency of the unity of science and intuition

The variety of harmony requires unity of diversity of its knowledge, above all the unity of science intuition. Harmony diversity is represented in its intuition, but the unity of this diversity cannot be achieved beyond that of science. Therefore, unity of harmony intuitions is possible o­nly o­n the basis of common scientific understanding of harmony presented in the ABC of Harmony. This unity is necessary in equal measure for both knowledge of harmony: for intuition, and for science. o­nly in this unity can necessity acquire sufficiency in mutual complement.

Complementarity, integration and synthesis of science and intuition are the highest level of their cognitive harmony and integrity, and these are adequate to objective integrity of harmony. Their synthesis transforms from possibility into a social need and necessity, along with the sprouts of a harmonious civilization in the early 21st century. Science and intuition of harmony must combine their strengths and overcome their weaknesses and limitations in harmonious internal unity in this civilization to ensure its full knowledge of harmony in its various forms. o­nly o­n the basis of this integral knowledge will this civilization be able to develop itself deliberately, nonviolently, freely and the most effectively as for society and nature in a whole as and for each individual.

5. Intuitive and scientific spiritual harmony

Two types of knowledge of harmony are two kinds of its spirituality: (1) the scientific spirituality of harmony, which was first launched in the ABC of Harmony and (2) intuitive spirituality of harmony detailed in the BK texts and others. The necessary and sufficient unity of these two forms of spirituality requires the integration and cooperation of relevant organizations - GHA and BK, in which they develop. GHA recognizes the social necessity of unity for the two forms of spirituality, and also the cooperation and integration of our organizations. We have already mentioned the first offer of our cooperation. After it, we have formulated also two offers of cooperation in the GHA projects:

1.In the project of a new global civil movement: Peace and Disarmament from Harmony o­n the ABC of Harmony Base (www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=539), which was directed by the BK leaders and delivered personally during the retreat to Administrative Head Dadi Janki

2.In the project "Interfaith Harmony" o­n the ABC of Harmony basis within the Week of Interfaith Harmony established by the UN: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=541.

6. Why not start cooperation between GHA and BK?

Unfortunately, until now the GHA has not received a response to any offer of cooperation. We see the different causes of the BK alienation from the offers of cooperation, but do not lose hope that BK is aware of the strategic benefit of our proposals and projects, allowing it to raise an intuitive spiritual harmony to a new level of harmonious civilization of the early 21st century. We understand the colossal spiritual and social complexity of our cooperation, which is reflected in the complexity and imperfection of our report. For the GHA this is also not an easy process in all respects. But we are aware of its essence. Its understanding came with the help of BK and found its shape during my trip.

Presented philosophical reflections and practical conclusions are the deepest spiritual essence of my trip to the BK retreat, as well as in the IBA to India. This is the recharge of "a battery of my soul". It is extremely important for my mind and personality. In this is a unique value for me the BK retreat. But its main question of our spiritual unity or alienation remains open. It is a historical question of the unity or alienation of science and intuition, including faith, o­n the threshold of a new, harmonious civilization for the 21st century.                                                           Edited by Dr. Bruce Cook, writer, USA, December 21, 2012

Leo Semashko, Ph.D.:

State Councillor of St. Petersburg; Philosopher and sociologist; Author of Tetrism as unity of Tetraphilosophy and Tetrasociology as a science of social harmony and harmonious civilization since 1976; Director of Tetrasociology Public Institute since 1993; Global Harmony Association Founder and President since 2005; Teaching experience at universities is about 20 years; Author of more 300 scientific publications, including 16 books and brochures. Initiator, Coauthor and Editor in Chief of the ABC of Harmony: www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=478.

Address: 7/4-42 Ho-Shi-Min Street, St. Petersburg, 194356, Russia.

Telephone: +7 (812) 597-65-71,

Email: leo.semashko@gmail.com;

Web: www.peacefromharmony.org;

Personal webpage: http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=253