Hazrat Inayat Khan now begins to look at the social aspect of the problem of the day, and the need to develop brotherhood in the human family. The previous post in the series is here.
Brotherhood has been the central theme of every religious message and social reform, given in every period of the world’s history. Although so much is being said today on the question of brotherhood, yet it appears that the condition today is worse than ever before.
Brotherhood is the innate desire of every soul. It is not learned; it is the desire which every soul has been born with, and consciously or unconsciously every soul is striving in its way to realize this desire. It is only the wrong method which is often taken in bringing about the state of brotherhood that, instead of accomplishing the desire, works against it. Once there existed class difference, which is very much enfeebled now, although the causes of it are yet to be found; but the difficulty which presents itself before humanity today is the activity which is going on in different sections of humanity that is called brotherhood but which is the brotherhood of one section getting ready to work against another section. People of different grades in life develop unions of different professions, uniting together, in this way realizing brotherhood in a limited section and using that unity and strength which is created by it against one another. And the reason is that brotherhood is being formed from outside and not by the help of inner realization.
The same thing one finds in the brotherhood of nations. Each nation in itself is realizing the value of patriotism and realizing it as a virtue more and more every day, preparing that strength as a blow against another nation. Also a number of nations joining together form a brotherhood of nations, and in this way increasing power, each having before their sight their own interest, and in this way dividing the whole humanity, which is one, into parts.
It is the spirit of brotherhood which is working behind it all, but at the same time it is working outwardly; it does not work inwardly. It may be called a material brotherhood, but material brotherhood will always prove to be a failure in the end, for it is not built on hard rock; it is built on sand.
There must be a central ideal in order to form a brotherhood. If it is the nation as the central ideal, then all other nations in the world are foreign. If a profession is a central ideal, then all those who do not belong to that profession are foreign – one is entitled to take the best of [i.e. gain an advantage over –ed.] others; one is ready to take the side of those belonging to his own profession. If it is a community, then it is only for the interest of the community that every member of the community stands; but at the same time he stands against others. There are commercial unions working in the same manner, the societies of women and pro-suffragette existing, at the same time working against one aother; political unions working for their own ideals against one another and calling it at the same time a movement of brotherhood – so that the different religions, churches, societies, have their own interest at heart, at the same time claiming it to be brotherhood.
To be continued…