Is it at all possible to create an ideal world? Is the concept tenable or even desirable? We know that the universe is in constant fluz, that electrons hardly ever stay in their orbits. They fly off at the slightest provocation to form part of other elements and stuff that makes this existence so exasperatingly changeable but never uninteresting. It is the very nature of the Universe to be constantly changing, like tides, like Night and Day. Every second there are children born and there are many who take their last breaths. In between there are people who breathe the same air and dream the same dreams. They experience pleasures and pains which have formed part of human history.
There s hardly any difference between a child's cry of a thousand years ago and a child's cry of today. Both experience the same distress and pain and suffering as will all who are to be born into this earth. History shows us oppression has always been the norm, that human beings exploit and harass and enslave other human beings. Laws and Social Contracts do not protect anyone from plunder and pillaging when the plunderers and pillagers are more powerful than those who envisioned such contracts.
We see all the time the ruins of kingdoms and empires. They all share the same fate as the giants who roamed this earth. The great and the mighty are not immune to the ravages of time nor even to the sting of tiny bacteria and viruses that plague and decimate large numbers of those infinitely greater than them. The father of the Buddha sought to protect his son from the realities of existence to no avail. The young prince still managed to escape his paradise walls to see disease, aging and death, the lot of mortal men.
The humble simplicity of Jesus Christ is a stark contrast to the pomp and circumstance of the Catholic Church which could never blot out the horrors and inhumanity of the Inquisition. Mohammed, whose inheritors cry that God is Great! has spawned a fundamentalist movement which is cruel not only to those of their own faith but even more so to others with different sets of beliefs. That Muslim Fundamentalists skinned alive the sublime martyr Imadeddin Nasimi centuries ago seems a continuation of an idea which is intolerant of other systems of belief.
Is the idea of an Ideal World something which can never be achieved? Is the human race incapable of accepting the fact that human life is precious and must be protected at all costs? What of animal life for that matter? Scientists have discovered that we share a great deal of genetic materials with the humble nematode. Is animal life different from human life? If humans can be cruel to fellow humans, can they be less cruel to animals?
Life goes on and
new mornings always come.
Ching recommends first of all a dose of tolerance and a dash of self-appreciation.
Empires should be built to
link people together in a
community.
