Greetings / Namaskar

A form of literature is that of mythology.

According to the Maori people of New Zealand, Rangi is the Sky Father and
Papa (his wife) is the Earth Mother. In the mythology of the Maori of New
Zealand / Aotearoa, Papa is the personification of the Earth and is a female
goddess. The personification of the Sky - Rangi, a male god, fell in love
with Papa and embraced her. There is complete oneness. As well, there are
also no attributional qualifications or vibrations in the Universe.

This was at a time when there was no light in the universe. At the beginning
of time, Rangi, the male sky, and Papa, the female Earth, were entwined in a
timeless embrace. Rangi wanted with this embrace to prevent the creation of
the world. However, the Creative Principle (Papa) was permitted to act on
that Consciousness (Rangi). Papa and Rangi had many children. This is
Creation personified, and expressed in multiplicities.

The journey is then back to the source - Oneness. This reflects the
spiritual essence in everything. So, while there is apparent heterogeneity,
in essence all is homogenous. This is the theme of the reflective journal
piece below based on being in New Zealand / Aotearoa over the 1980s and
1990s, which takes an approach of melding Maori spiritual mythology and
Tantric meditation.

The journal was inspired by the discourse of Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar
entitled "Problems of the Day" which was given on 26 January 1958 for
Renaissance Universal at Trimohan in Bhagalpur, India. A number of passages
in the reflective journal are drawn from that discourse.

ONE
---

Perhaps now is the opportunity to look at the beginning. Is Papa (Maori)
just another name for the Cosmic Consciousness (Tantric) in whom all things
lie? Is Rangi (Maori) just another name for the Cosmic Operative Force
(Tantric) which has the ability to create everything? This gives Sky Father
and Earth Mother. Therefore Papa and Rangi are the parents of all creation.
If so, then the universe is my homeland because I am a child and we are all
children from the same never ending forces of creation, operation and
destruction. We are all citizens of this Cosmos.

Rangi and Papa cannot bear to be separated. Nor can we people as
expressions of those same forces be separated from each other. We may have
different expressions - indeed we must all have different expressions, but
we are also one family. That is a fact of life in the world, rather in the
universe, of relativity. Everything is different. But Rangi and Papa are
just like two sides of a piece of paper. They are one. Try to separate
them and the result is unknown - it is a mystery. This universe is the
creation of that One mystical entity.

This universe is within the imagination of the One entity. This is the
imagination of Io (the Macrocosmic Mind - GOD). The universe is created in
the imagination of Io, the Supreme Entity, so the ownership of this universe
lies with Io and not the microcosms (including us people) created out of
Io's imagination.

All the property of this earth, moveable as well as immovable, animate and
inanimate, does not belong to any particular individuals, but everything is
the common property of us all. We all have a common source in the spiritual
sense. Every living being should be able to utilise their rightful share of
this property, just like the members of a joint family.

Like members of a joint family, living beings should safeguard this common
property in a befitting manner, utilise it properly and make adequate
arrangements so that everyone enjoys it with equal rights. The Treaty of
Waitangi seems to be saying the same thing. So we in Aotearoa, in
partnership together with each other, must share our resources (physical,
mental and spiritual) and ensure that everyone lives with a sound body and a
sound mind and with the basic necessities. Sharing resources of all types
does not mean we all become the same or fit into the same mould. That is an
impossibility. We may not all receive the same, but we are all equally
governed by the same high universal values. And we need to reduce the gap
between high and low, rich and poor, so that all receive their amenities and
necessities in life.

There are so many uplifting different expressions in the web of life, for
which the world's mundane, supramundane and spiritual potentialities can be
utilised, and for which each individual's and collective body's physical,
metaphysical and spiritual potential must also be properly utilised. The
property of the universe is collective and we should use it in a way that
does not cause waste.

Maori tribal land perhaps had behind it the idea of joint property for all
and that we should not forget even for a moment that all of us in this whole
animate world are part of a large joint family. Nature has not assigned any
property to any particular individual. Individual ownership has been
created by opportunists and selfish motives. This was the case with Russell
as a land speculator in New Zealand in the 1860's.

Under the Native Lands Act 1862 he sponsored a system that was socially
defective and that only provided opportunities for those who liked to grow
fat in a parasitic way. This was just a step in the destruction of Maori
cultural and spiritual values, which recognised the importance of the land.

A member of a partnership or joint family cannot be called a social being if
they do not have a common heart with other members, or if they do not accept
the high ideals and the self-evident truth of joint rights. Accordingly a
system of individual ownership cannot be accepted as absolute and final.
Individual versus collective life was seen as the main difference between
mainstream European and Maori cultures when Aotearoa was colonised.

But "We are all one people" said Captain Hobson at the signing of the Treaty
of Waitangi. Why has the fashion been to take this phrase in a negative
way. Papa and Rangi cannot bear to be separated. This is a recognition of
oneness. The unity of the universe depends on oneness. Just because we are
all one people does not mean that we cannot have different individual or
collective expressions, e.g. Maori and Pakeha (non-Maori). Expressions may
be different but that does not mean we cannot be in unison as one people.
So the negative image created around this expression "We are all one people"
should not be exaggerated. It can be turned into a positive. Universalism -
the recognition of a joint family, one human race - will not deny the
humanitarian expressions of it members.

TWO
---

Everything is the joint property of all living beings. This has to be
recognised as a matter of principle. After its recognition the ideas that
this is national and that this is foreign, that a particular person is fit
for the citizenship of a particular country while others are not, or have
less claim or no rights at all, cannot stand. Such words are narrow
expressions.

All persons are world citizens by birth. The ancient explorers taught us
that. Papa and Rangi are still teaching us that. Every person has the
right to go and settle anywhere and to live like a human being, just like
the ancient explorers did. Things are getting so mixed these days. At one
time Maori people thought that the fantail was the portender of death. Upon
intermixing of Christianity the perspective of the fantail changed to being
one of the portender of life. See how things change through cultural
intermixing. The same will in time happen with the limited notion, for
example, that Maori women should not speak on the marae (meeting place).

Everything is always changing. That is a part of the process of evolution.
Social Darwinism is however wrong in fact and in theory. Evolution is not a
rat race of one group of persons trying to get there first. It is not just
a competitive pursuit. That kind of evolution is really counter to human
progress. This is because it can imply social genocide of one culture by the
superior culture. That does not have anything to do with evolution in the
human sense because it amounts to destruction.

Evolution means working together and also developing ourselves individually
and collectively (from whatever collective identity we perceive we may have
and which should be allowed to change and vary through social time).
Without individual good there cannot be collective good, and without
collective good there cannot be individual good. The two must be in harmony
and balance as envisaged by the Treaty of Waitangi.

The absence of an integral outlook is the root of most problems today. The
powerful British groups at the time perpetuated atrocities and injustices on
others in the process of colonisation. The Treaty of Waitangi has been
broken in this fashion so many times in the past.

An integral outlook means that Maori and Pakeha history is yet to unfold in
a way not yet completely known. This is why the Waitangi Tribunal is not
just concerned with righting past wrongs but also with finding new formulas
to see that things do not go wrong in the future. It can perhaps shape
history, and reshape the past also by it excellent efforts in finding the
true history of this land since the 1840's.

With further mechanisation and transportation gradually the people of one
part of the world will have to meet the people of various other parts more
frequently, and for this definite attention will have to be made to create a
better understanding between people. The Maori people as shipbuilders,
navigators and sea traders expressed this as well. The Treaty of Waitangi
tried to spell out this meeting of the minds. At the time of colonisation
the British realised that they could no longer adopt the approach of
claiming new territory by conquest. They had to settle and negotiate in a
civilised way - at least we are told. Still even then the propensity of
conniving was there due to lack of a spiritual outlook. Also, the Maori
visited England. They enjoyed this interaction and attention. This is
natural.

THREE
-----

The human race has many languages. These are expressions of humanity. Every
language is our language - every language is the language of all of us. Let
us share these treasures. The dogmatists claim "This is my language, that
is yours; this is a native language, that is foreign". These are defective
ideas. Only this much can be said - that we have so many languages and each
one of us can express ourselves in one or more languages from amongst them.

In spite of the fact that all languages of the world stand on an equal
footing in respect of position, a common language for the convenient
exchange of thoughts between people of different parts of the globe will
have to be selected open heartedly as the world language. Governments in
different parts of the world may at their convenience accept the world
language and any other language as their official language or languages.

However, no matter what language is accepted as the official language of the
State by any particular government (e.g. English and Maori by the New
Zealand government), there should not be any slackness in facilitating the
study of the world language. In no case can anyone keep themselves aloof
from the rest of the world like frogs in the well, and keep their heads in
the darkness so as to keep themselves away from their brothers and sisters
in other parts of the world. Currently, English can help fulfil this
togetherness.

All languages are subject to birth and death. Although English is at
present an international language, it may not enjoy the same status for an
indefinite period. In any particular age only that language or mix of
languages which will have the maximum use in different parts of the world
will tend to be the world language. This could be a mixture of Chinese,
Spanish and English later on. So in New Zealand we can readily live with
and accept both the Maori and English languages as being official languages.
Although, it is practical to recognise English as the world language.

English is the language of commerce. This is a popular saying. The Maori
were quick in learning it and also reading and writing it when it was
introduced into Aotearoa. So it can be seen that English was recognised as
the language of commerce even back in the early 1800's. It still is today,
but perhaps may not be for longer as the Asian economies expand more rapidly
than the English and American economies.

A world language helps human unity without affecting the development of
different parts of the world or the people living there, e.g. the Maori in
New Zealand. This is because the local people should still retain their
local identity and their own language, while also using the world language.
There is harmony in this way, as intended by the Treaty of Waitangi.

Unity among the members of any society or social structure is absolutely
necessary otherwise the structure will start to disintegrate. Lack of unity
among the members of society because of too much self interest and different
levels of development along with the formation of different economically
disparate or social groupings is wrong. A lack of understanding of each
other's acts not only brings about the downfall of a social structure but
can also wipe out groups of local indigenous people within society.

The problem, therefore is the preservation of unity in society. The common
ideal here must be to create an economic system so that property is shared
by all members of the society. For unity in society there should not be any
small groupings within society claiming unjustifiable and disproportionate
economic and social privileges. Love for all and the idea that humanity is
one family should be the guiding principles. The Treaty of Waitangi can be
made to work in this way.

At present, lack of security of taonga (treasures), land, food sources, and
estates can lead to the disintegration of those important taonga or
treasures - especially cultural and collective treasures or the ritual
backbone - belonging to the tangata whenua (indigenous peoples) of Aotearoa.
If there is no security against injustice in New Zealand (Aotearoa), then
the social structure may weaken. The most important requisite for social
security therefore, is that there should be no injustice. Injustice in
society has lead to the struggle of the Maori people to regain and retain
their identities and heritage. If security in society is to be maintained
there should be no economic or racial injustice. The two are often found
together (along with sexism). These injustices are often due to lack of
appreciation of what other people can offer to society.

The British colonialists thought they were members of a particular race who
were superior to others when they came to Aotearoa. This attitude
frequently inflicts injustices on other sections of society. The expulsion
of Jews from Germany by Hitler's so-called superior Aryan race is a glaring
example of racial injustice in society. This should not happen even if the
Jews where not tangata whenua (indigenous) of Germany. Oppression and
hunting of the aboriginal people of Australia is another example, which
cannot be tolerated.

To remove this type of injustice we must do away with racial distinctions in
society. That is, no race is superior or inferior. All members of all
races should take part as equals.

Sentiments, traditions and customs which are innate or natural in human
beings and which do not hamper their development should be encouraged. There
may be many local and indigenous differences and these should be appreciated
and encouraged for the indigenous, and overall, development of society. But
in no cases should there be a compromise in principle to the healthy ongoing
creation of a human society.

The human race is one family. There are different dances, songs, and
ceremonial celebrations from different sections of the human race. That is,
there are different local variations. However, these local variations in
customs and behaviour should not be considered separate from the human race.

Local indigenous variations of human beings and culture cannot be removed by
the force of the law as appears to have been intended by the British in
breach of the Treaty of Waitangi during the wars that came to be known as
the so-called "Maori wars". If attempts are made to bring about the
destruction of common practices, languages and various local manners and
customs, it will result in violence and mutual distrust and will lead
collective life to doom. Thus, the education system should be ever vigilant
of such attempts.

Social synthesis naturally arises as people come into intimate contact with
one another and as the corners of the world become nearer. This means that
the local variations of conduct will assume ever new forms as a result of
frequent mixing. Maori and Pakeha intermixing is a somewhat simple or naive
analysis. There are so many variations in this so-called Pakeha
categorisation. In addition, there is the Pacific Islander influence.
Thus, Maori and Yugoslav mixtures, Maori and Pacific Island intermixture,
etc has created a wonderful diversity.

There are some Pakeha 'guilt trippers' who still go around and like to think
they have to blame themselves for all that has gone wrong. But this is just
negative thinking. We all need to keep analysing our attitudes and this is
an ongoing process. Just because we have done something wrong in the past
as individuals or as a collective group does not mean we need to carry
around these burdens forever, if we have rectified our past mistakes. We
all have the scope to change and move on in a positive way.

FOUR
----

The flowers of different gardens will unite into a bouquet and this bouquet
will be more beautiful than the individual flowers.

The melodies of the Pacific can be intermixed with Indian ragas while
classical music can take the shape of Maori tunes and mixed harmonies. Dame
Kiri Te Kanawa is a living example of the intermixture of good things
between the cultures. Although not living in New Zealand (except for a bach
in Taupo) she is a world "citizen" in her activities. She mixes European
music/opera with her cultural background. She lives sometimes in England
and sometimes in the USA. She has proven that the world has come close
together.

If different human communities make an effort in establishing social
blending then social synthesis will continue to develop. To some extent we
notice the reflections of this intermixing in cosmopolitan cities in
Australia and USA. Active Maori communities exist in both Sydney and
Melbourne. This is a good development in the spread and intermixing of
cultures.

It would be wrong to preach ideas (or rather a dogma) that there should be
no further outside influences coming into Aotearoa. Aotearoa cannot live in
isolation from the rest of the world. It is too small to shut itself off
from the rest of the world. We cannot live like frogs in the well.
Inevitably Aotearoa will have more cultural influences coming into its
realms. However this should not detract from the development of indigenous
cultures within Aotearoa. A strong culture can survive while parts of it
also become parts of other cultures.

What has happened in the past is that the colonialists have set one group of
people against another. They could do this because of political support and
with the help of politicians indulging in tall talks from high posts. We as
a society have not remained vigilant of such people.

The honest and benevolent people of society must adopt a feeling of
co-operation. Politicking is not a solution. We need to identity as human
beings. Party politics has tended to create different negative sentiments
amongst the people, and welfare for all has not been achieved. The greatest
social welfare can be achieved by mobilising the living spirit of those
people who are desirous of establishing service and constructive work to
bring about social welfare. Likewise, educationalists have to remain
engaged in the task of social welfare with all sincerity without having any
ulterior motive in mind.

Unity and good sense carry people forward towards success in life. Unity
cannot rest on any geographical, racial and personal differences. That is
why only a spiritual philosophy should be adopted as the pole-star of life.
We are all children of God. There is only the same God. All humanity
belongs to one race. Every human being has got equal rights.

FIVE
----

We cannot just think about the welfare of our own community or family in
today's global world. It is necessary to act locally and think globally,
however we cannot ever violate the interests and natural growth of other
communities. We cannot these days think only of one, or our own, group in
isolation. That would amount to what can be described as geo-sentiment.
That is, only thinking about one's own group in a particular area, while
lacking a global or universal outlook.

The principle for the world today that can cure injustices and disparity is
that of Social Equality. This must be understood from the core of one's
heart. As people, we have developed our conscience in understanding the
issues of inequality in Aotearoa. This means that we as a group have begun
to understand in fine detail how things have gone wrong in the past between
the Maori and other races or "visitors" to New Zealand. Now we need to do
more study on these matters.

Study is essential, knowledge is essential to come to an understanding. This
requires the path of rationality. If we only follow a path of going by our
sentiments then we could become caught in the current of sentiments and not
be able to discriminate further and develop finer methods of understanding
the impact, interaction and future of the Treaty of Waitangi in Aotearoa and
cultural development in Aotearoa.

Parallel development of Maori and so-called Pakeha will not achieve unity on
it own. Sure there can be development of local indigenous cultures, but to
have two developments completely separated from and not attuned to each
other is inconceivable in practice. It would create unnecessary
distinctions, particularly where there is intermixing of Maori and Pakeha
matrimonial and blood relations. A synergistic approach is what is needed
and is happening. That is, all of the cultures can take things from each
other in a sharing way (not an exploitative way) to develop for their people
what is appropriate to their needs.

We need to eradicate all inequalities. If we compromise then there will
only be disparities in collective life. The progress of all will be
accelerated if the inequalities are uprooted. The Treaty of Waitangi can be
interpreted in its spirit and intent as trying to achieve this objective.
These are of course cardinal objectives which should exist in the human
heart anyway.

The principle of Social Equality contains the seeds of wellbeing for all of
us. All educationalists need to cherish the ideal of forever promoting the
welfare of all. This requires removing all superiority and inferiority
complexes that have been supplanted in society due to social conditioning.
If anyone feels that they are treated as a second class citizen in this
country then it is the result of fear complexes created by social
inequalities. This is a form of exploitation. That is why the
encouragement of Maori language through the media and in communications in
general is so important. The more it is used, the more stature it acquires,
and the more influence and prestige it gives to the tangata whenua. This
helps gives rise to control of one's destiny and removes all the influences
of psychic exploitation.

Much of what we call Pakeha culture contains pseudo-culture. For example,
it is ridiculous to think that going to MacDonald's for a hamburger or
smoking Winfield cigarettes is culture. Addictions of this nature are a
creation of pseudo-culture. Today it is obvious that large cigarette
companies are aiming there advertising campaigns at women and the working
classes. In particular, they have aimed them at third world communities and
indigenous communities as well.

In turn this form of exploitation has created high death rates in the Maori
community from lung cancer and related diseases. We must set the example by
overcoming the effects of this pseudo-culture. We should do this in
partnership will every culture. If the Pakeha culture can develop its core
values based on human well-being and co-operation, then the partnership in
the Treaty will be enhanced.

SIX
---

We must keep our eyes open and be reflective and vigilant in how we approach
things.

In this reflective journal I have attempted to place myself in a social
context and as if I am roaming around as part of a flow of consciousness and
observing a collective mass or at times different parts of different
collective masses. It also reflects what I am subjected to. It is a method
of saying, "Yes, I am a reflection of society and let that society have a
look at itself". For this purpose the word "we" was used regularly. It
signifies my position in society as if I were the society having a look at
itself.

In considering bicultural issues it is necessary to recognise that we are
reflections of a society which is hopefully advancing forward.
Unfortunately today a lot of humanity is in despair and people think too
much about their imperfections. They think: "Can I do it?". It is better
to think along the lines "Yes, we are human beings and each of us are
destined to do great things - that is why we are here." This type of
positive thinking is needed to remove the injustices of the past and the
breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Our underlying motive is surely to move in harmony with each other. There
may be quarrels along the way. But there will always be clash and cohesion
in anything we do. There will always be the need to struggle through the
bad times and enjoy the good. So let us move together, let us sing together
in karakia (incantations) and let us come to know our minds together.

In this way we can share from our past so that all people together may enjoy
the universe and the diversity of interaction in this world and this
country. Let us unite our intentions for a united human race with maximum
colourful expressions from our different cultural heritages and backgrounds.
While doing so let our hearts be inseparable. Let our minds be as one mind
but with so many different expressions like different flowers in a bouquet
of flowers held in a hand of unity as we truly come to know one another.

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