Is there a clash of civilizations between Eastern and Western civilizations?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
thank you are we seeing a civilizational clash between the east and the west with no chance for a peaceful coexistence answer there is no need to be that alarmist certainly there is conflict the idea that there is a conflict between civilizations has been made prominent by certain thinkers who hold that there are irreducible differences a particular Indian thinker who has million followers or a million followers on twitter several million followers and his thesis is that Indian civilization religion Dharmic civilization is non-prophetic non-history centered based on practices for realization rather than dogmas so prophetic religions tend to be exclusivist depending on one particular prophecy one particular revelation and they try to either exterminate other religions or incorporate those religions within themselves by conversion and thus they sentence the world to bigotry and violence in contrast those religions that are Dharmic because they don’t make any history centered claims they don’t come in conflict with fact-based science so when evidence-based findings through archaeology or whatever come in conflict with truth claims of history centered religions then that creates a conflict between faith and reason leading to a rupture of faith so over the time the west has lost its religion but it has still retained its history centrism its universalism which has now taken on various forms such as consumerism communism or colonialism and these lead to the destruction of the host cultures wherever they go so the conflict is between universalistic western claims for universalism and dharmic civilizations in India which have an integral unity between humans nature and the divine so the lack of this integral unity because there is in the prophetic religions there is a chasm between creature and creation so because of that the lack of integral unity creates a fervent attempt to create external unity by power and domination whereas the dharmic traditions are comfortable because they are internally synergistic integral unity is there they are comfortable with disorder or chaos or things like that so now and all these theses are there so the solution is that there is a particular culture which is the universal culture how we have to frame it we have to see if it is framed properly then the solution can come forward properly are there differences yes is there the best trying to make universalistic claims is there Indology which is studied from western perspective often denying traditional sidelining or even demonizing traditional voices yes that’s true now what is the solution for all this is it that we need intellectual Kshatriyas who will battle the misconceptions that’s needed also but ultimately the misconception is not so much about one civilization being out to destroy another civilization and be countering it that is one aspect to it but ultimately it’s the self-centered ego which needs to be dealt with and the self-centered ego can come in the west and it can come in the east also and when that self-centered ego comes up it actually makes whatever we are doing impossible to deal with impossible to sustain we cannot do anything constructive without causing doing something destructive towards someone else so what we need is a expansion and elevation of consciousness by which we can perceive broader realities and while there are differences between different civilizations the clash is not so much between civilizations as between conceptions and trying to use broad strokes to paint any particular civilization is itself problematic so nuanced understanding means that we see that no civilization is monochrome that within the same civilization there can be people with different disparate mentalities and depending on the kind of thought process a particular person grows by they will have particular way of looking at things and now we can look at Sattva, Rajas and Tamas Sattva will find the harmony between good and bad by creating a proper stability wherein the bad is at one level provided facility to become good and another level the bad is regulated and controlled and disciplined and penalized the Rajas will want to have one way as the only way so the good are in power if they are in Rajas they will themselves want sole power and Tamas will destroy all competitors so we have to see that ultimately it is not civilization but conception and consciousness that matters and people who are in Sattva can see beyond differences and to at least a working relationship even if the differences cannot be dissolved and they many times they cannot and should not be dissolved also but Rajas and Tamas we highlight differences and then we demonize that which is different from others so at one level yes there are many eastern values just cyclic time that are different from the west but highlighting differences is different from demonizing those with differences those who are different from others so is there space in the universe for us to be different from others yes there is is there space for us to seek unity despite our differences yes there is so rather than are there misconceptions which have been portrayed by Indology yes definitely do they need to be countered most certainly but rather than reducing all this to specific civilizational crisis or clashes we need to see it more as a matter of consciousness and conceptions and we need education and sometimes confrontation to correct conceptions we need purification to elevate the consciousness at the same time we have to find allies wherever we can and not essentialize or reduce civilizations down to specific attributes sattva arjas and tamas are present everywhere in the world and therefore where sattvic forces from various sides can align together and find ways to work together rajasic forces will confront tamasic forces want to destroy the other to the extent we learn to move onwards in our own spiritual growth rising towards sattva and beyond to that extent we will be able to see the sattva in others and find ways to work together certainly one culture need not be allowed allow itself to be dominated consumed by another culture but at the same time the confrontation is not between cultures per say it is between conceptions and it is between conceptions that need to be changed and for that whatever is required needs to be done so instead of seeing that there is some evil other which we have to confront we have to see that there are different kinds of mentalities and there are some mentalities which are conducive for peace and harmony and coexistence and there are some mentalities that are destructive and those mentalities are not the monopoly of any particular region in the world so at one level the clash of civilizations is a reality because the different civilizations have different ways of living and yes intolerant exclusive civilizations may want to eliminate those which are more inclusivist or pluralist and at a particular level confrontation is required just like violent attackers from a particular country attack another country they have to be repelled they may have to be neutralized also but at the same time the country doesn’t have to be reduced to its most violent members and so similarly no civilization need be reduced to its most adversarial members so confrontation is often required but the confrontation has to be between modes of living sattva sattva has to come together with sattva has to regulate rajas and sattva can be there in the western civilization sattva can be there in the eastern civilization and all can come together ultimately we are all searching for the universal we are all searching for meaning for purpose for love for belonging for fulfillment and how we can find it is a universal human question in different parts of the world specifically different answers may have been sought and got but still beyond such differences is the commonality of the human quest for meaning purpose love belonging and fulfillment and it is that commonality that is if it is highlighted then either differences can be reconciled or differences can be lived with or differences may have to lead to confrontation but it doesn’t have to be an all out confrontation of one civilization with another but rather of the disruptive elements of one civilization with the protective elements of the other civilization thank you