The present 18 years old shooter
doesn´t seem to know his motive for shootings… But he was interestid of games and guns...Why in Finland so many cases? Something can speculate: I
think Finnish people are too cool, too serious and too perfectionists. Parents and
teachers demand esp intellectually so much and you try to please them until you
break down and do something inconsiderate, while the social and spiritual side
is neglected. Could this be the prize of goody goody country… with most
well educated kids and one of the happiest places (pretending and externally?) to
live – as the international statistics praise?
Another thing; people here are isolating too much
themselves. Then actually one starts to have some unrealistic, strange way of
thinking – and the more while being influenced by net; videos, war games etc. Many
specialists say that Finnish people are too engaged with mobiles and computers
and have no real relationships with people.
Just one my own example; I was reading every morning for ab
5 days a book (in this case good) which was about young man in hunger strike in
order to gain justice for his case. At same time in that place where I was, I
felt there was some injustice done to me, so I didn´t want to eat there.
Afterwards I realized that my fasting had probably something to do with the
hunger strike in the book that I was reading, although consciously I was not
aware of the connection at that time. What come to feeling of injustice I might
have exaggerated it too due to the book I red.
Sarkar
explains: Whenever any of the inferential waves emanating from any object catch
your attention, instantly an identical wave also forms in your afferent nerves.
Thereafter that wave, reaching your ectoplasmic body (citta), causes your mind
to be identified with the similar thought.
For
instance, looking at a book is an action which the mind performs with the help
of the eyes. When the mind sees a book, what actually happens is that the mind…
takes the shape of something we call a book. This shape which the mind takes is
different from the image which is formed on the retina, as the mind can see and
become like a book even when the eyes are closed.
It is with
this mind that the action of seeing a book is performed, and this is termed
psychic assimilation of rúpa tanmátra. Through abhyása, through prolonged
and meticulous (spiritual) practice, one strives to make the citta flow with a
particular wavelength permanently. This sort of spiritual practice is mostly
performed by citta.
Through
abhyása or repeated practice the static citta is converted into the mutative
citta, the mutative citta into the sentient citta, and the sentient citta into
Cognitive Faculty (Spirtitual). But when the mind is converted into crude object…the
sentient citta is gradually transformed into mutative citta, and the mutative
citta into the static citta. Eventually the whole mind is converted into matter...
The mind is
continuously tossed between good and bad. But when the practice of sádhaná
inspires one to accept shreya (path of benevolence) as one’s ideology, one
attains the true state of ekágra bhúmi. Thus it has been said that the
passengerlike charioteer takes the body-like chariot… The sound waves reach the
citta through the medium of the acoustic nerves (afferent nerves) with the help
of their vital force.
Every human
being, having evolved from animals. Animals display predominantly the
animality, while human beings due to a well-reflected consciousness also
possess rationality. The animality in people draws them towards gratification
of animal desires, but the rationality of their consciousness remains
ungratified since all these are transitory and short-lived. The animal aspect
pulls them towards instant earthly joys, while their consciousness, not being
satisfied with these, draws them towards the Cosmic Entity – the Infinite.
If their
consciousness lies dormant behind their animality, people are bound to behave
like animals. They in fact become worse than animals as, even though endowed
with well-reflected consciousness, they do not make use of it. This longing for
the Infinite is the innate quality or dharma which characterizes the human
status of people. And so people derive real happiness only when they can attain
the Cosmic Entity or get into the process of attaining it.
You know,
there is a particular insect in India,
it is called peshaskrt. It kills cockroaches. And cockroaches are very much
afraid of that insect. So when a cockroach sees that insect, that insect
becomes its object of ideation; that is, its objective counterpart of the mind
becomes, takes the form of – what? [The peshaskrt.]And what happens? Slowly the
body of the cockroach is converted into the body of that peshaskrt.
Criminals
will have to be regarded with benevolent, humanistic sentiments, and means of
curing them must be suggested…Prisons are not for punishment, rather prisons
are hospitals for treatment of disease.
Born
criminals. Psychologists cannot treat the mental diseases which inflict born
criminals all alone; the cooperation of physicians and sociologists is
essential….Of course at the present time the patient may not make a complete
recovery… However as long as society fails to take such humanistic measures in
dealing with born criminals, it is farcical to compel them to stand trial.
It can of
course be cured quite quickly through spiritual practices and in a slightly
longer period through yogic methods, but for this a congenial environment is
essential. Prison environments should therefore be made more pure, more humane.
Criminals
out of Habit… (Lack of discipline) if …obstacles which keep people from moving
along the path of evil becomes weak, people will tend to engage in antisocial
activities…In this way people get accustomed to performing antisocial
activities and finally turn into hardened criminals. However, habitual
criminals can easily be treated if they are provided with a proper moral
education, a method of acquiring moral strength and a strictly regulated social
environment. Although it is extremely difficult to convince habitual criminals
to follow the path of spirituality, it may be possible through psychological
means.
Criminals
Due to Environment…Civilized society looks down on them because they are
criminals when they could have been revered as ideal human beings with
impeccable characters if they had been given a proper environment. Where the
parents or guardians are evil by nature, they try to infect the other members
of their family with their disease. It will be the duty of the judge to remove
them from that environment with the help of sociologists and psychologists. In
prisons also those criminals of this type who have already turned into habitual
criminals should be housed with great care, otherwise their disease will spread
to others.
Criminals
Due to Poverty. Most crimes throughout the world are committed due to poverty,
except in countries where the minimum necessities of life have been met.
Throughout history millions of people have died due to artificial famines
created by other human beings.
Criminals
out of Momentary Weakness. Another type of crime occurs occasionally. This is a
temporary criminal urge, a special type of mental disease which suddenly
appears in a certain type of environment and again subsides after a short time.
If the feeling of mental agitation recurs due to the influence of temporal,
spatial or personal factors, they will immediately commit a crime…After
witnessing a brutal murder, sometimes such weak-minded people begin to think of
themselves as criminals.
Crimes
involving cruelty are generally caused by the following factors: loss of
judgement due to intoxication or extreme excitement; jealousy over property or
wealth; a severe blow to one’s prestige or the influence of any of the ripus; fights
over women; serious differences of opinion.
The causes
of these types of crime lie in the weaknesses of the human mind. However, where
the thought of committing a crime gradually develops over a long period of
time, where the offender deliberately becomes intoxicated in the hope of
committing the crime with calm nerves, or where the offender gets others
intoxicated in order for them to commit a crime, it is rare for the offender to
receive clemency.
Benevolent
people may wonder how much value corrective measures have for criminals who,
for whatever reason, have not turned into habitual criminals but still do not
show any sense of remorse after committing a crime; for first-time offenders
who have not produced any type of evidence to demonstrate that circumstantial
pressure was the reason for their crime; or for those who have not shown any
physical or psychological symptoms which would warrant their being declared
mentally ill. In such circumstances experienced judges and social well-wishers
would take penal instead of corrective measures. From the moral standpoint, we
cannot but support this. Yet…, is it not society’s duty to make them aware of
their wrongdoing and help them to learn how to develop their higher
propensities and strengthen their minds? And is it not also the duty of society
to ensure that this awakening is a corrective rather than a penal process? Of
course it is necessary to retain tough penal measures as a part of the
corrective system. Moreover, if punishment has an important place in correcting
behaviour, people will, out of fear of being punished, avoid drifting along
according to the inclinations of their lower propensities. As a result of this
environmental pressure, dishonest people will be compelled to live an honest
life and society will be greatly benefited.
Crime and
Politics. Calumny, jealousy, factionalism, indolence, grandiloquence, etc., are
all social defects which, given a congenial environment, turn people into great
criminals. These human defects are glaringly apparent in the modern world; the
reason for this is the proclivity to indulge in politics. Politics today is
concerned solely with satisfying the desire for power; all connection with
selfless service has been lost. Unless the desire for power loosens its grip on
the human mind, the unhealthy proclivity for politics will not be eliminated
from modern society.
The
Judicial System. Although the system of capital punishment is unacceptable from
the moral viewpoint, people do sometimes resort to this custom under specific
circumstances. It does not contain any corrective measures and has no purpose
other than to instil fear into people’s minds. It is possible that although the
person fails to evoke our sympathy because of the seriousness of his or her
crimes, he or she may sincerely repent and be prepared to dedicate the rest of
his or her life to the genuine service of society.
Some people argue that criminals…will have to
be sentenced to life imprisonment, because few countries have the facilities to
cure them of their mental disease… A prison should be just like a reform
school, and the superintendent should be a teacher who is trained in psychology
and who has genuine love for society…If a criminal is imprisoned for a serious
crime, what will happen to his or her dependents? They will still have to
somehow go on living. The boys of the family may join a gang of pickpockets and
the girls may take to prostitution.
The Need
for a Spiritual Ideal. Civilized people today should be more interested in
preventing base criminal propensities from arising in human beings in the first
place, than in taking corrective measures…
No penal or
social code, no matter how well-planned, can liberate society. Without a
spiritual ideal, no social, economic, moral, cultural or political policy or
programme can bring humanity to the path of peace. The sooner humanity
understands this fundamental truth, the better.
A Universal
Penal Code. Finally, it is my sincere belief that, except for those social
problems which are caused by geographical factors, the solution to all complex
social problems may be found by implementing a universal penal code, one which
is applicable to all humanity. The constitution of the world should be drafted
by a global organization recognized by the people, otherwise the possibility
exists that at any moment a minority in a country might be persecuted.
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Didi Annapurna