Message from canaise

[Anonymous]

The Mohists had a philosophy that the human species was not ready for. Too bad. Because it does seem apparent that if we started thinking of "family" in broader terms, as Einstein himself suggested in an interview in the New York Times in the 1970s, and looked at all other persons as precious, as precious as our own blood family that a lot of disowned and discarded humanity would not suffer as they now do. Would a Mohist pass the beggar on the L.A. sidewalk and think, "Too bad about them. I'm glad that's not me!" The human heart has not expanded enough to include the beggar on the street as our lost mother, father, brother or sister. Einstein said that we must expand our notion of compassion to include everyone and all on the planet itself. He said that no one could do this completely, but that the striving to do so was a part of liberation from suffering and a part of personal liberation. What is it that BREAKS OUT when we, without consideration for our own welfare, move to save someone, a total stranger in grave danger? Isn't is a shared human consciousness that says, "I AM THAT PERSON"? How can we move human consciousness forward a truth that the smartest guy on the planet saw? We don't see the invisible threads that connect us. Perhaps one day science will enable us to see this web of relationship. Can we transcend a mentality of predation?

The Mohists wanted us to discard the wasteful practice of war by concentrating on practical matters, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and providing rest for the exhausted. But, music can feed us in other ways. The arts feed another aspect of humanity and it's a pity that the Mohists didn't recognize this. Still, I think they were on the right path. But, it does seem that gentle philosophies are crushed because we simply do not see ourselves in others.