A form of literature is that of mythology.
For the Maori people of New Zealand, Rangi is the Sky Father and Papa (his wife) is the Earth Mother. In the mythology of the Maori of New Zealand / Aotearoa, Papa is the personification of the Earth and is a female goddess. The personification of the Sky – Rangi, a male god, fell in love with Papa and embraced her. There is complete oneness. As well, there are attributional qualifications or vibrations in the Universe.
This was at a time when there was no light in the universe. At the beginning of time, Rangi, the male sky, and Papa, the female Earth, were entwined in a timeless embrace. Rangi wanted with this embrace to prevent the creation of the world. However, the Creative Principle (Papa) was permitted to act on that Consciousness (Rangi). Papa and Rangi had many children. This is Creation personified, and expressed in multiplicities.
The journey is then back to the source – Oneness. This reflects the spiritual essence in everything. Such an outlook can be found in Maori mythology and is similar to the philosophy surrounding Tantric meditation.
The piece was inspired by the discourse of Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar entitled “Problems of the Day” which was given on 26 January 1958 for Renaissance Universal at Trimohan in Bhagalpur, India.
ONE
Perhaps now is the opportunity to look at the beginning. Is Papa (Maori) just another name for the Cosmic Consciousness (Tantric) in whom all things lie? Is Rangi (Maori) just another name for the Cosmic Operative Force (Tantric) which has the ability to create everything? This gives Sky Father and Earth Mother. Therefore Papa and Rangi are the parents of all creation. If so, then the universe is my homeland because I am a child and we are all children from the same never ending forces of creation, operation and destruction. We are all citizens of this Cosmos.
Rangi and Papa cannot bear to be separated. Nor can we people as expressions of those same forces be separated from each other. We may have different expressions – indeed we must all have different expressions, but we are also one family. That is a fact of life in the world, rather in the universe, of relativity. Everything is different. But Rangi and Papa are just like two sides of a piece of paper. They are one. Try to separate them and the result is unknown – it is a mystery. This universe is the creation of that One mystical entity.
This universe is within the imagination of the One entity. This is the imagination of Io (a possible Maori expression for the Macrocosmic Mind – GOD). The universe is created in the imagination of Io, the Supreme Entity, so the ownership of this universe lies with Io and not the microcosms (including us people) created out of Io's imagination.
All the property of this earth, moveable as well as immovable, animate and inanimate, does not belong to any particular individuals, but everything is the common property of us all. We all have a common source in the spiritual sense. Every living being should be able to utilise their rightful share of this property, just like the members of a joint family.
Like members of a joint family, living beings should safeguard this common property in a befitting manner, utilise it properly and make adequate arrangements so that everyone enjoys it with equal rights. The Treaty of Waitangi seems to be saying the same thing. So we in Aotearoa, in partnership together with each other, must share our resources (physical, mental and spiritual) and ensure that everyone lives with a sound body and a sound mind and with the basic necessities. Sharing resources of all types does not mean we all become the same or fit into the same mould. That is an impossibility. We may not all receive the same, but we are all equally governed by the same high universal values - that of the principle of social equality. And we need to reduce the gap between high and low, rich and poor, so that all receive their required amenities and basic necessities in life.
There are so many uplifting different expressions in the web of life, for which the world’s mundane, supramundane and spiritual potentialities can be utilised, and for which each individual’s and collective body’s physical, metaphysical and spiritual potential must also be properly utilised. The property of the universe is collective and we should use it in a way that does not cause waste. This is the classic idea of the usufructuary right.
Maori tribal land perhaps had behind it the idea of joint property for all and that we should not forget even for a moment that all of us in this whole animate world are part of a large joint family. Nature has not assigned any property to any particular individual. Individual ownership has been created by opportunists and selfish motives. This was the case with Russell as a land speculator in New Zealand in the 1860's. Of course, we need some individual rights to property for our families and own existence, but that does not mean that we forget that its source is collective and that we still owe collective responsibilities to each other, while also developing our individual potential.
Under the Native Lands Act 1862 Russell sponsored a system that was socially defective and that only provided opportunities for those who liked to grow fat in a parasitic way. This was just a step in the denigration of Maori cultural and spiritual values, which recognised the importance of the land. A Maori revival of culture helped turn this around to some extent, but much more work is required to establish the benefits that are possible from the principle of social equality.
A member of a partnership or joint family cannot be called a social being if they do not have a common heart with other members, or if they do not accept the high ideals and the self–evident truth of joint rights. Accordingly a system of individual ownership cannot be accepted as absolute and final. Individual versus collective life was seen as the main difference between mainstream European and Maori cultures when Aotearoa was colonised.
But "We are all one people" said Captain Hobson at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Why was this phrase later taken in a negative way. Let's go back to the fundamentals. Papa and Rangi cannot bear to be separated. This is a recognition of oneness. The unity of the universe depends on oneness. Just because we are all one people does not mean that we cannot have different individual or collective expressions, e.g. Maori and Pakeha (non–Maori), and of course we can combine both. Expressions may be different but that does not mean we cannot be in unison as one people. So the negative image created around this expression "We are all one people" should not be exaggerated. It can be turned into a positive. Universalism – the recognition of a joint family, one human race – will not deny the humanitarian expressions of it members.
TWO
Everything is the joint property of all living beings. This has to be recognised as a matter of principle. After its recognition the ideas that this is national and that this is foreign, that a particular person is fit for the citizenship of a particular country while others are not, or have less claims or no rights at all, cannot stand. Such words are narrow expressions.
All persons are world citizens by birth. The ancient explorers taught us that. Papa and Rangi are still teaching us that. Every person has the right to go and settle anywhere and to live like a human being, just like the ancient explorers did. Things are getting so mixed these days. At one time Maori people thought that the fantail was the portender of death. Upon intermixing of Christianity the perspective of the fantail changed to being one of the portender of life. See how things change through cultural intermixing. The same will in time happen with the limited notion, for example, that Maori women should not speak on the marae (meeting place).
Everything is always changing. That is a part of the process of evolution. Social Darwinism, or at least a very narrow view, is however wrong in fact and in theory. Evolution is not a rat race of one group of persons trying to get there first. It is not just a competitive pursuit, one over the other. That kind of evolution is really counter to human progress. This is because it can even imply social genocide of one culture by the superior culture. That does not have anything to do with evolution in the human sense because it amounts to destruction.
Evolution means working together and also developing ourselves individually and collectively (from whatever collective identity we perceive we may have and which should be allowed to change and vary through social time). Without individual good there cannot be collective good, and without collective good there cannot be individual good. The two must be in harmony and balance as envisaged by the Treaty of Waitangi.
The absence of an integral outlook is the root of most problems today. The powerful British groups at the time of colonization perpetuated atrocities and injustices on others in the process of that colonisation. The Treaty of Waitangi has been broken in this fashion so many times in the past.
An integral outlook means that Maori and Pakeha history is yet to unfold in a way not yet completely known, as well as being mixed with even more cultures and at the same time also retaining individual elements - many forms are possible in this diverse world. This is why the Waitangi Tribunal was not just concerned with righting past wrongs but also with finding new formulas to see that things do not go wrong in the future. It can perhaps shape history, and reshape the past also by it excellent efforts in finding the true history of this land since the 1840's.
With further mechanisation and transportation gradually the people of one part of the world will have to meet the people of various other parts more frequently, and for this definite attention will have to be made to create a better understanding between people. The Maori people as shipbuilders, navigators and sea traders expressed this as well. The Treaty of Waitangi tried to spell out this meeting of the minds. At the time of colonisation the British realised that they could no longer adopt the approach of claiming new territory by conquest. They had to settle and negotiate in a civilised way – at least we are told. Still even then the propensity of conniving was there due to lack of a spiritual outlook. Also, the Maori visited England. They enjoyed this interaction and attention. This is natural.
THREE
The human race has many languages. These are expressions of humanity. Every language is our language – every language is the language of all of us. Let us share these treasures. The dogmatists claim "This is my language, that is yours; this is a native language, that is foreign" (PR Sarkar). These are defective ideas. Only this much can be said – that we have so many languages and each one of us can express ourselves in one or more languages from amongst them.
In spite of the fact that all languages of the world stand on an equal footing in respect of position, a common language for the convenient exchange of thoughts between people of different parts of the globe will have to be selected open heartedly as the world language. Governments in different parts of the world may at their convenience accept the world language and any other language as their official language or languages.
However, no matter what language is accepted as the official language of the State by any particular government (e.g. English and Maori by the New Zealand government), there should not be any slackness in facilitating the study of the world language. In no case can anyone keep themselves aloof from the rest of the world like frogs in the well, and keep their heads in the darkness so as to keep themselves away from their brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. Currently, English can help fulfil this togetherness.
All languages are subject to birth and death. Although English is at present an international language, it may not enjoy the same status for an indefinite period. In any particular age only that language or mix of languages which will have the maximum use in different parts of the world will tend to be the world language. This could be a mixture of Chinese, Spanish and English later on. So in New Zealand we can readily live with and accept both the Maori and English languages as being official languages. Although, it is practical to recognise English as the world language.
English is the language of commerce. This is a popular saying. The Maori were quick in learning it and also reading and writing it when it was introduced into Aotearoa. So it can be seen that English was recognised as the language of commerce even back in the early 1800's. It still is today, but perhaps may not be for longer as the Asian economies expand more rapidly than the English and American economies.
A world language helps human unity without affecting the development of different parts of the world or the people living there, e.g. the Maori in New Zealand. This is because the local people should still retain their local identity and their own language, while also using the world language. There is harmony in this way, as intended by the Treaty of Waitangi.
Unity among the members of any society or social structure is absolutely necessary otherwise the structure will start to disintegrate. Lack of unity among the members of society because of too much self interest and different levels of development along with the formation of different economically disparate or social groupings is wrong. A lack of understanding of each other's acts not only brings about the downfall of a social structure but can also wipe out groups of local indigenous people within society.
The problem, therefore is the preservation of unity in society. The common ideal here must be to create an economic system so that property is shared by all members of the society. For unity in society there should not be any small groupings within society claiming unjustifiable and disproportionate economic and social privileges. Love for all and the idea that humanity is one family should be the guiding principles. The Treaty of Waitangi can be made to work in this way.
At present, lack of security of taonga (treasures), land, food sources, and natural estates can lead to the disintegration of many important taonga or treasures – especially cultural and collective treasures or the ritual backbone – belonging to the tangata whenua (indigenous peoples) of Aotearoa. If there is no security against injustice in New Zealand (Aotearoa), then the social structure may weaken. The most important requisite for social security therefore, is that there should be no injustice. Injustice in society has lead to the struggle of the Maori people to regain and retain their identities and heritage. If security in society is to be maintained there should be no economic or racial injustice. The two are often found together (along with sexism). These injustices are often due to lack of appreciation of what other people can offer to society.
The British colonialists thought they were members of a particular race who were superior to others when they came to Aotearoa. This attitude frequently inflicts injustices on other sections of society. The expulsion of Jews from Germany by Hitler's so–called superior Aryan race is a glaring example of racial injustice in society. This should not happen even if the Jews where not tangata whenua (indigenous) of Germany - but over course of time, then surely they were. Oppression and hunting of the aboriginal people of Australia is another example, which cannot be tolerated.
To remove this type of injustice we must do away with racial distinctions in society. That is, no race is superior or inferior. All members of all races should take part as equals.
Sentiments, traditions and customs which are innate or natural in human beings and which do not hamper their development should be encouraged. There may be many local and indigenous differences and these should be appreciated and encouraged for the indigenous, and overall, development of society. But in no cases should there be a compromise in principle to the healthy ongoing creation of a human society.
The human race is one family. There are different dances, songs, and ceremonial celebrations from different sections of the human race. That is, there are different local variations. However, these local variations in customs and behaviour should not be considered separate from the human race.
Local indigenous variations of human practices and culture cannot be removed by the force of the law as appears to have been intended by the British in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi during the wars that came to be known as the so–called 'Maori wars'. If attempts are made to bring about the destruction of common practices, languages and various local manners and customs, it will result in violence and mutual distrust and will lead collective life to doom. Thus, the education system should be ever vigilant of such attempts.
Social synthesis naturally arises as people come into intimate contact with one another and as the corners of the world become nearer. This means that the local variations of conduct will assume ever new forms as a result of frequent mixing. Maori and Pakeha intermixing is a somewhat simple or perhaps naive analysis. There are so many variations in this so–called Pakeha categorisation. In addition, there is the Pacific Islander influence. Thus, Maori and Yugoslav mixtures, Maori and Pacific Island intermixture, and many others have created a wonderful diversity.
There are some Pakeha who retain a 'guilt' feeling who still go around and like to think they have to blame themselves for all that has gone wrong. But this is a kind of negative thinking. We all need to keep analysing our attitudes and this is an ongoing process. Just because we have done something wrong in the past as individuals or as a collective group does not mean we need to carry around these burdens forever, if we have rectified our past mistakes. Which we can surely do. We all have the scope to change and move on in a positive way.
FOUR
The flowers of different gardens will unite into a bouquet and this bouquet will be more beautiful than the individual flowers.
The melodies of the Pacific can be intermixed with Indian ragas while classical music can take the shape of Maori tunes and mixed harmonies. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a living example of the intermixture of good things between the cultures. Although not living in New Zealand (except for a bach in Taupo) she is a world 'citizen' in her activities. She mixes European music/opera with her cultural background. She lives sometimes in England and sometimes in the USA. She has proven that the world has come close together.
If different human communities make an effort in establishing social blending then social synthesis will continue to develop. To some extent we notice the reflections of this intermixing in cosmopolitan cities in Australia and USA. Active Maori communities exist in both Sydney and Melbourne. This is a good development in the spread and intermixing of cultures.
It would be wrong to preach ideas (or rather a dogma) that there should be no further outside influences coming into Aotearoa. Aotearoa cannot live in isolation from the rest of the world. It is too small to shut itself off from the rest of the world. We cannot live like frogs in the well. Inevitably Aotearoa will have more cultural influences coming into its realms. However, this should not detract from the development of indigenous cultures within Aotearoa. A strong culture can survive while parts of it also become parts of other cultures.
What has happened in the past is that the colonialists have set one group of people against another. They could do this because of political support and with the help of politicians indulging in tall talks from high posts. We as a society have not remained vigilant of such people.
The honest and benevolent people of society must adopt a feeling of co–operation. Politicking is not a solution. We need to identity as human beings. Party politics has tended to create different negative sentiments amongst the people, and welfare for all has not been achieved. The greatest social welfare can be achieved by mobilising the living spirit of those people who are desirous of doing and establishing service and constructive work to bring about social welfare. Likewise, educationalists have to remain engaged in the task of social welfare with all sincerity without having any ulterior motive in mind.
Unity and good sense carry people forward towards success in life. Unity cannot rest on any geographical, racial and personal differences. That is why only a spiritual philosophy should be adopted as the pole–star of life. We are all children of God - of one Infinite Consciousness - of one Creation. There is only the same God. All humanity belongs to one race. Every human being has got equal rights.
FIVE
We cannot just think about the welfare of our own community or family in today's global world. It is necessary to act locally and think globally, however we cannot ever violate the interests and natural growth of other communities. We cannot these days think only of one, or our own, group in isolation. That would amount to what can be described as geo–sentiment. That is, only thinking about one's own group in a particular area, while lacking a global or universal outlook.
The principle for the world today that can cure injustices and disparity is that of Social Equality. This must be understood from the core of one's heart. As people, we have developed our conscience in understanding the issues of inequality in Aotearoa. This means that we as a group have begun to understand in fine detail how things have gone wrong in the past between the Maori and other races or 'visitors' to New Zealand. Now we need to do more study on these matters.
Study is essential, knowledge is essential to come to an understanding. This requires the path of rationality. If we only follow a path of going by our sentiments then we could become caught in the current of sentiments and not be able to discriminate further and develop finer methods of understanding the impact, interaction and future of the Treaty of Waitangi in Aotearoa and cultural development in Aotearoa.
Parallel development of Maori and so–called Pakeha will not achieve unity on its own. Sure there can be development of local indigenous cultures, but to have two developments completely separated from and not attuned to each other is inconceivable in practice. It would create unnecessary distinctions, particularly where there is intermixing of Maori and Pakeha matrimonial and blood relations. A synergistic approach is what is needed and is happening. That is, all of the cultures can take things from each other in a sharing way (not an exploitative way) to develop for their people what is appropriate to their needs.
We need to eradicate all inequalities. If we compromise then there will only be disparities in collective life. The progress of all will be accelerated if the inequalities are uprooted. The Treaty of Waitangi can be interpreted in its spirit and intent as trying to achieve this objective. There are of course cardinal objectives which should exist in the human heart anyway - love for all, a universal outlook, that we are citizens of one world and the universe.
The principle of Social Equality contains the seeds of wellbeing for all of us. All educationalists need to cherish the ideal of forever promoting the welfare of all. This requires removing all superiority and inferiority complexes that have been supplanted in society due to social conditioning. If anyone feels that they are treated as a second class citizen in this country then it is the result of fear complexes created by social inequalities. This is a form of exploitation. That is why the encouragement of Maori language through the media and in communications in general is so important. The more it is used, the more stature it acquires, and the more influence and prestige it gives to the tangata whenua (first inhabitants). This helps gives rise to control of one's destiny and removes all the influences of psychic exploitation.
Many elements in society are sometimes described as culture, and indeed Pakeha culture also contains pseudo–culture. For example, it is ridiculous to think that going to MacDonald's for a hamburger or smoking Winfield cigarettes is culture. Addictions of this nature are a creation of pseudo–culture. Today it is obvious that large cigarette companies in developing countries are aiming there advertising campaigns at women and the working classes. In particular, they have aimed them at third world communities and indigenous communities as well.
In turn this form of exploitation has created high death rates in the Maori community from lung cancer and related diseases. We must set the example by overcoming the effects of this pseudo–culture. We should do this in partnership will every culture. If the Pakeha culture can develop its core values based on human well–being and co–operation, then the partnership in the Treaty will be enhanced. We should move in this way and enhance all lives and communities around us.
SIX
We must keep our eyes open and be reflective and vigilant in how we approach things.
Each of us are placed in a social context, and we can by our subtle and developed consciousness observe a collective mass or at times different parts of different collective masses. It means we have a lot of scope to understand, and what we subjected to. It is a method of saying, "Yes, I am a reflection of society and let that society have a look at itself". For this purpose the word "we" is used. It signifies my position in society as if I were the society having a look at itself.
In considering bicultural issues it is necessary to recognise that we are reflections of a society which is hopefully advancing forward. Unfortunately, today a lot of humanity is in despair and people think too much about their imperfections. They think: "Can I do it?". It is better to think along the lines "Yes, we are human beings and each of us are destined to do great things – that is why we are here." This type of positive thinking is needed to remove the injustices of the past and the breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Our underlying motive is surely to move in harmony with each other. There may be quarrels along the way. But there will always be clash and cohesion in anything we do. There will always be the need to struggle through the bad times and enjoy the good. So let us move together, let us sing together in karakia (incantations) and let us come to know our minds together.
In this way we can share from our past so that all people together may enjoy the universe and the diversity of interaction in this world and this country. Let us unite our intentions for a united human race with maximum colourful expressions from our different cultural heritages and backgrounds. While doing so let our hearts be inseparable. Let our minds be as one mind but with so many different expressions like different flowers in a bouquet of flowers held in a hand of unity as we truly come to know one another.
Based on Problems of the Day by P R Sarkar (1958) and inspired by the spirit of Neo-humanism and Universalism.
