Human Choice

The individual choice: The individual makes choices all the time unconsciously, rarely consciously. The world has been searching for a strategy to make the individual consciously choose the very best possible in the circumstances. It is similar to the key Mother was searching for, for the body at the social level. While explaining it, it has the trick of appearing to be too obvious. When seen from the individual's point of view, it is a world revolution of an order unknown till now.

Message of Life Divine for the Theory of Social Evolution that reveals the human choice.

"Leadership in Thought that urges to ACT"

• The West has achieved materially and has an energetic mind
• The East is poor and has no formal thought, leave alone mind.
• Mother says, The Westerner can express his knowledge but has none. The Indians have the knowledge but cannot put it into expression.

What is the knowledge Mother refers to?

• Running the country or a house is the same -- Mother

What is the strategy Mother refers to? Is it the process of creation also? If so, do we know that PROCESS?

• A process needs energy, motivation, knowledge, strategy. In the creative process, energy is that of the involutionary pressure, motivation is seeking after delight, knowledge is it is he who is searching for himself through spiritual evolution and the strategy is self-discovery.
• One who knows logically all the steps of the various arguments that explain the above, especially the inevitability of spiritual evolution can apply it to the theory of social evolution and can arrive at an answer for that human choice which will enable man to fully exhaust all the material and mental potential that surrounds him.
• That process is mind directing the vital energy based on a solid physical foundation of institutionalized skills in a spiritually silent or patient atmosphere towards social or individual accomplishment.

-- To be able to show that all achievements so far are such achievements but unconsciously, and to

-- plead for making it conscious in terms of current events, is to render Life Divine in terms of our life.

It will find the Westerner the knowledge he does not have and the Indian the expression he is presently not capable of.

• An individual who does it in his own life will suddenly see the finite circumstances around him turn into infinite potentialities. The easiest place to demonstrate it is corporate life, particularly using the computer to the maximum possible extent.

Human choice, a prerogative he exercises in his own individual life, determines the social progress. There have been times in history when man exercises that choice in a fashion he had not done so far, which proved to be periods of greatest progress. The elite of the nation which rose to that position having exercised that choice in one fashion, is always at a loss to persuade the masses that are unaware of that choice, to follow them and rise in status. Potentials being very great, man chooses to pick up the very lowest. Certainly, he does not on his own choose the very best. What is this human choice? How has it been exercised so far? Is it possible for the collective to direct the individual choice? Is it possible for the individual to move the collective towards a certain choice?

•  The individual human choice is the subconscious collective choice.
• The collective choice is not only made up of several of the individual choices, but is led by the choice of one individual who, after all, represents the subconsciously mature collective choice in an earlier phase.
• The choice has a range.
• The various individuals of the collective also belong to a range.
• During periods of social stagnation, most exercise their choice at a low level.
• During periods of social transition, the collective tends to exercise that choice at a high level.
• When the transition is completed almost all the individuals exercise that choice for the maximum benefit.
• Leadership is successful in the measure they lead the masses to choose the high or the higher.
• What the leadership achieves in one phase, is achieved in the next phase by organizations and later by institutions.
• These attitudes come to be symbolised by physical properties, vital organizations, mental ideas.
• Landed property, factories, professions were the physical symbols at various periods.
• Aristocracy, market, education were the vital organizations that served as such symbols.
• Chivalry, greed for money, expert knowledge were the mental symbols during these periods.
• Titles, automobiles, computers were the products that symbolised these periods.
• The below average individuals are helped, persuaded and encouraged to make a better choice by these properties, organizations, attitudes and products.
• Physically the property serves as a security for the man to act better.
• Vitally, the organizations enable greater proportion of the population to go for a higher choice.
• Mentally the attitudes act as incentives or ideals to do so.
• Products in the market come to become status symbols and hasten the transition and complete the process all over the population.
• In this last quarter of the century the social welfare schemes, the laws that compel welfare gradually try to replace the physical property as the basic security. Even the expertise of the profession is somewhat giving way to the perceived RIGHT of the citizen to live a very comfortable life. The revolution of rising expectations seems to be achieving its goal.
• Thus the physical basis is lifted to vital basis.
• Therefore the attributes of the mind---information, ideas, theories, opinions, especially public opinion, in sum Thought----start playing a greater role.
• Thus THOUGHT now leads to action more than before.
• What was achieved by action in earlier centuries can be achieved now by thought, if only it can lead to action.
• The world powers are no longer in a position to ignore thoughts that are likely to be accepted widely. Rather they are led to action by such thought.
• Mother says the knowledge required to run the country or the house is the same.
• If so, the individual is also governed by the same rule.
• Our theme is every event contains infinite potentials.
• Our goal here is whether the society can lead the individuals to make that choice in their own lives.
• Physical security, vital institutions, mental ideas, I said, go to make the individuals exercise that choice.
• Guaranteed employment gives that physical security.
• The fast moving communications and media serve as these vital institutions.
• 'Mental Idea' is what the leadership can give that the infinite potential  is there everywhere.
• So far this has been the one process, but mostly unconscious..
• To initiate this process consciously is leadership.
• Education, enlightenment have played a great role in that choice.
• That enlightenment issuing out of education once had the university as its centre and focus.
• That (institutional) organizational character has now shifted to enlightened public opinion created by writers and others who are leaders of thought.
• Thought has always been eminent but most remained shining thought.
• At some stage in history, thought showed itself capable of leading to action. That characteristic has become more and more pronounced recently.
• There was a time when what the government thought was right. If anyone has to move the people to action, they had to get the govt. leaders to act.
• Now, it does not have the same force. Govts. have sometimes acted in deference to enlightened public opinion.
• The Infinite Potential we speak of is for the individual life.
• A very good example is the third world countries who having seen the West achieve, can at least achieve half their level. It happens sporadically, but not in full possible measure.
• As every other thing, choice is an act. It has a mental idea, vital energy and physical need.
• Theory of choice:

Physical need compels. Vital energy sustains. Mental preference guides. That mental preference is arrived at by the vital social approval and the security of physical property. We see two phenomena there. Man risks everything when the social support is there. As man risks everything for social approval and exercises his choice for his greatest benefit, NOW -- 1998 or 2000 -- is the time when he can act exactly in the same fashion for his own conviction of a higher idea.

• Just now the leaders of the society are there who rebelled against the Establishment in the sixties and sought the inner truth.
• They were the cream of the society which moved away from the conforming social man (or social worm) to the INDIVIDUAL.
• It is to that Individual, that individual conscience that we now appeal. Our appeal will be a success because,

-- they are the social leaders now

-- they are MORE EDUCATED than the previous generation.

-- they vowed by their Individuality.

-- they  dropped out of formal education in favour of life education.

• Still, they do not have the enlightenment on their own. They need it and they are eager to get it. When they get it, they will act on their own,  not for the sake of the authority that enlightens them.
• On top of the enlightenment, they would prefer to hear it out of the mouth of those who have accomplished that Truth in their own lives. That power of accomplishment is LEADERSHIP.
• What should they see? 

They need a demonstration that any event has infinite potential. In the US, there is no better field than the corporations. To take a few of them and raise them ten or fifteen fold is infinity for them.

• It is best done in the huge corporations.
• Once it is done, the individual is ready to make his choice.
• That theory and that demonstration reveals the process of the individual's choice which can rise his status and his income ten fold or more.

So far the individual human choice was made by the external physical property or external social organisation of a market or an external curriculum of a university while NOW it will be made by the inner individual by his inner values, a choice made entirely on his own.  Hence to appeal to him is a greater possibility. The response will be more widespread. 

Part 2

• Man, the best and the worst moves to action ONLY under pressure of crisis.
• Low man needs lower crisis, i.e. physical threat or liquidation.
• Vital man responds to the loss of prestige or social status.
• Mental man is urged to action by his own opinion, values etc.
• Crisis for the low man is loss. For the higher man the crisis is the loss of opportunity.
• There must be innumerable examples for the response of the higher man.
• Urge for social upward movement is a loss of opportunity, called competition.
• Man going to the moon moved the entire nation in spirit. This is the best example for opportunity.
• Every man does this every day, i.e. responds fully 1) to preserve what he has already acquired and 2) to acquire what he fully understands as practically useful. That is what I call thought that leads to action. In my definition education is that. That is what I said about formal college education.
• Here I talk of self-education that enables one to outgrow society and become an individual. Mother says USA wants to know. It looks like a chick newly out of the egg. That cross section of the population that wants to know is in their fifties.
• They are no longer enamoured of the idea of defying the establishment. They are enamoured of ACTION that can enrich them by their own RIGHT action. Their love of music shows that purity.  That population wants  1) a happy home, 2) abundant affluence.
• The rules for both are the same. In the face of feminine intransigence that subconsciously enjoys male domination, to resolve the inner conflict of forces is more difficult than earning affluence.
• Money is easy to earn. It is enough one masters the material laws.
• Happy home needs human love that is self-giving out of strength. Strength tends to dominate, not give. To give oneself to the customer is easier than giving oneself to a spouse where prestige intervenes.
• The rule in both places is selflessness.
• To make the man recognise that selflessness earns more than selfishness has been the endeavour of the market for the past five or ten decades. But now, the same self-giving can yield 100 times greater result. As travel, freedom, comfort etc. have changed their complexion in fifty years, self-giving too has changed and its results too are different.
• This is the point one has to demonstrate that selflessness earns more than selfishness and now it earns 100 times more than 50 years ago. To collect facts and figures (which everyone knows) and to present them in this light is to make the human choose the best.

Part 3 of Human Choice:

• The physical man needs ocular demonstration for him to respond.
• The vital man needs competition. Someone from his peers should have achieved for him to compete with.
• The mental man needs neither a demonstration, nor competition because what he understands is enough demonstration in thought for him. He needs no competition as he seeks no social goal but works for his own self-fulfillment.
• Of the three, the mental man is the easiest to move by a thought.
• When the mental individual accomplishes, as he happens to be a social compeer at hundred points, the vital man takes the cue and gives a complete response which in turn becomes the demonstration for the physical man.
• In doing so, among the mental men - the elite you try to approach -- there will, of course, be the three grades of Mind (the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3).
• Here too one has to start with No. 1 who will readily understand and from there go to No. 2 and NO. 3.
• Starting at No. 3 or No. 2 may not have the expected response.
• Even in the MAN who represents No. 1, the pure mind response will readily be forthcoming, if the presentation of the Idea is in terms of HIS OWN FIELD WORK. Thus he too fulfils the role of being a person at the three levels of mind, vital and physical.
• We cannot go all out to accommodate at every step the other man and his point of view. Thus we will find ourselves veering round to his own view.
• It is to make him SEE a higher point of view that we make concessions in thought, not to be absorbed into his own thought.
• Well then, try it from both ends, the ends of carrying conviction with ONE mental man and the other end of being an ocular demonstration.
• Before we make another person exercise his choice successfully, we must be capable of doing it ourselves. It will be a real beginning.