नीत्शे ने ईश्वर की हत्या क्यों की?

फ्रेडरिक नीत्शे ने घोषणा की थी कि “उसने ईश्वर की हत्या कर दी है, और ईश्वर अब मर चुका है”| लेकिन प्रश्न यह उठता है कि उसने ‘ईश्वर’ (God) की हत्या क्यों की? उसने अपने विश्वविद्यालीय छात्रों के समक्ष बीच चौराहे पर ईश्वर की हत्या कर उसका अंतिम संस्कार कर रहा था| नीत्शे उन्नीसवीं शताब्दी का एक महान जर्मन दार्शनिक प्रोफ़ेसर था| उनका यह प्रसिद्ध घोषणा रहा कि ‘ईश्वर मर चुका है’ (God is dead)| यह कहा जा सकता है कि इस घोषणा का कोई शाब्दिक मतलब नहीं है, बल्कि यह एक रूपक (Metaphor) मात्र था| फिर भी, उसने ईश्वर को क्यों मारा?

इस प्रसंग को समझने के लिए हमें उस क्षेत्र, समाज, राष्ट्र एवं संस्कृति को उस समय एवं उस पृष्ठभूमि के सन्दर्भ में समझना चाहिए| चूँकि शब्दों के अर्थ, शब्दों के ढांचे एवं संरचना भी अपने सन्दर्भ, पृष्ठभूमि, क्षेत्र एवं काल के अनुसार बदल सकता है, या बदल ही जाता है, इसीलिए किसी भी ‘असामान्य शब्द’ को उसके सन्दर्भ, पृष्ठभूमि, क्षेत्र एवं काल के अनुसार ही समझना चाहिए| उस समय लगभग सभी प्रमुख यूरोपीय देश अपना साम्राज्यवादी विस्तार कर चुका था, और इस दौड़ में पिछड़ गए देशों की सूचि में जर्मनी भी शामिल था| यूरोपीय प्रबुद्धता के जागरण आन्दोलन से लगभग सभी यूरोपीय देश लाभान्वित था, लेकिन इस दौड़ में जर्मनी कहीं नहीं था, जहाँ इसे होना चाहिए था| ऐसी स्थिति में किसी भी प्रबुद्ध नागरिक को अपने समाज, राष्ट्र एवं संस्कृति की चिंता होना स्वाभाविक है, यदि उनमे कुछ भी चेतना का स्तर होगा तो, यानि यदि वह वास्तविक रूप में जीवित होगा तो| फ्रेडरिक नीत्शे जर्मनी के वैसे ही चेतनायुक्त यानि जीवित महान दार्शनिक हुए|

नीत्शे के समकालीन समाज एवं संस्कृति पर धर्म का आडम्बर छाया हुआ था| हर कार्य एवं परिणाम के लिए ईश्वर की ओर और उसके अभिकर्ताओं की ओर ही उन्मुख हुआ जाता था| जैसी ईश्वर की इच्छा होगी, वैसा ही परिणाम होगा, फल मिलेगा| तो फिर किसी भी अलग एवं विशिष्ट परिणाम के लिए चिंतन एवं प्रयास क्यों किया जाय, जब सब कुछ पहले से ही नियोजित एवं निर्धारित है? यह एक बहुत अहम् सवाल सामान्य जनमानस के समक्ष था|

यूरोप में विज्ञान की प्रगति धर्म ग्रंथों में स्थापित तथ्यों, यानि स्थापित सत्यों को एवं प्रतिपादित सर्वकालिक सिद्धांतों को क्रमश: ध्वस्त करता जा रहा था| समाज के प्रबुद्ध वर्गों में ईश्वर की स्थापित अवधारणा भी टूट कर ध्वस्त होती जा रही थी| चार्ल्स डार्विन आदमी के ईश्वरीय कृति मानने के सर्वव्यापक और सर्वस्थापित धार्मिक सिद्धांत को अपने ‘उद्विकासीय सिद्धांत’ (Evolution Theory) से पहले ही ध्वस्त कर चुके थे|

धर्म आस्था का विषय होता है, और इसीलिए ईश्वर से सम्बन्धित कोई प्रश्न कभी भी नहीं किया जा सकता| धर्म में ‘ईश्वर’ को बिना तथ्य, तर्क, कारण के ही मान लेना होता है| लेकिन विज्ञान सदैव संदेह पर खड़ा होता है, और यही संदेह/ संशय ही विज्ञान के विस्तार एवं गहराई को पाने का आधार होता है, और इसी विधि से विज्ञान विकसित होता रहता है|

विज्ञान का प्रकाश तेजी से और अपने तीखे प्रभाव से समाज एवं संस्कृति को गहराई तक व्याप्त कर रहा था| ऐसी स्थिति में विज्ञान के प्रकाश में ईश्वर को पहाड़ों और जमीनों की कंदाराओं एवं दरारों में छिप जाना पड़ा था (और यह आज भी छिपा हुआ है)| लेकिन जब भी विज्ञान अपने विकास- यात्रा की अवस्था में किसी गहन एवं नवाचारी सवालों से जूझने लगता था, तब ही धार्मिक व्यक्ति उस सर्वशक्तिमान, सर्वव्याप्त, सर्वकालिक ईश्वर को उन कंदराओं से बाहर निकाल कर प्रकट करने का प्रयास करता रहता था (और आज भी करता रहता है)| तब वे लोग यह कहते हैं कि विज्ञान की एक सीमा होती है, और उसके बाद ईश्वरीय व्याख्या ही काम आता है| महान वैज्ञानिक आइजक न्यूटन ने भी ग्रहों के गतियों के सम्बन्ध में रह गयी त्रुटि के सम्बन्ध में ऐसे ही ईश्वरीय व्याख्या की घोषणा की थी, क्योंकि वे एक धार्मिक पादरी भी थे| इस त्रुटि को बाद में महान वैज्ञानिक ‘पियरे साइमन लैप्लास’ ने दूर किया था| वैज्ञानिक समाधान पा लेने, या विज्ञान के और विकास के बाद ईश्वर फिर से उन्ही स्थानों में छुप जाता है, और कुछ समय के लिए प्रसंग से बाहर भी हो जाता है|

दरअसल नीत्शे यह समझ गये थे, कि सरल, साधारण एवं अशिक्षित जनता के समक्ष प्राकृतिक शक्तियों की क्रियाविधि को ‘मानवीय स्वरुप’ (Personification) में प्रस्तुतीकरण किया जाना ही ‘ईश्वर’ है| प्राकृतिक शक्तियों के ‘मानवीय स्वरुप’ के रूप में प्रस्तुतीकरण करने से उन प्राकृतिक शक्तियों के मध्यस्थ (Middle-Man) या  अभिकर्ता (Agent) के रूप में कोई विशेष व्यक्ति बन सकता था, और फिर वह शेष बहुसंख्यक को अपनी व्याख्या से अपना धंधा (व्यवसाय) चला सकता था, या चला रहा था| इस तरह वह एजेंट सत्ता की एवं सामान्य जनमानस की यथास्थितिवादी नजरिया, प्रवृति और इच्छा की निरंतरता को बनाए रखता था| नीत्शे सत्ता और धर्म के इस गठजोड़ को देख समझ रहे थे, जो ईश्वर नामक कल्पना पर आधारित एक ‘व्यक्ति स्वरुप’ मात्र था| ईश्वर की कोई उपयोगिता और सार्थकता इस विज्ञान के युग में नहीं रह गयो थी| इस ईश्वर के नाम पर तत्कालीन धर्म जर्मन युवाओं को काहिल, निकम्मा, निठल्ला, अतार्किक और बेकार बना दिया था, और तथाकथित डिग्रीधारी युवा भी एक मूर्ख से ज्यादा कुछ भी नहीं था| इस स्थिति को एक तेज तर्रार युवा, संवेदनशील और प्रबुद्ध प्रोफ़ेसर कैसे बर्दास्त कर सकता था? जर्मन युवाओं को व्यावहारिक रूप से समझाना इनके लिए एक बड़ी चुनौती था|

आदमी एक चेतना युक्त प्राणी है, जिसका उदय तो उदविकासीय सिद्धांत से हुआ, और जैवकीय प्रक्रियायों से उत्पत्ति होती है| यह मानव कोई अचेतन वस्तु नहीं है, जिसका निर्माण किसी की पूर्व संकल्पना एवं पूर्व नियोजन से नहीं हो सकता है| पहले मानव का “अस्तित्व” (Existence) आता है, और फिर मानव अपनी इच्छाओं से, यानि अपनी स्वतंत्रताओं से अपने वर्तमान एवं भविष्य का निर्माण करता है| अर्थात मानव अपना भाग्य निर्धारण के लिए स्वतंत्र है, और किसी भी मानव का अस्तित्व से पहले उसका निर्माण, यानि उसके भविष्य का निर्धारण नहीं होता है| यही अवधारणा अगली शताब्दी में महान जर्मन दार्शनिक ज्या पॉल सार्त्र के “अस्तित्ववाद” (Existentialism) के रूप में आया| उनका मानना था कि धर्म के आडम्बर के विलोपन से जो स्थान रिक्त होगा, उसे विज्ञान, कला, साहित्य, संस्कृति, जीवन मूल्य, नैतिकता आदि द्वारा भरे जाएंगे|

जब ईश्वर लोगों को काहिल, निकम्म, निठल्ला आदि ही बना रहा था, और यदि वह ईश्वर किसी भी स्वरुप में जीवित ही है, तो उसकी हत्या कर देने से मात्र से ही लोग अपने कर्मों पर आश्रित हो जाएंगे| इस हत्या मात्र से ही जर्मनी की सामान्य मानसिकता में जो महत्वपूर्ण बदलाव हुआ, उसी का परिणाम है आज मानव -इतिहास में जर्मनी को उच्चतर स्थान का दर्जा प्राप्त है| आज भी जर्मनी विश्व की चौथी अर्थव्यवस्था है, जबकि इसकी आबादी सम्पूर्ण भारत की आबादी का पांच प्रतिशत भी नहीं है|

नीत्शे दूरदर्शी था, और जर्मनी के इसी बदलाव के लिए ही नीत्शे ने ‘ईश्वर’ की हत्या कर दी थी|        

आचार्य प्रवर निरंजन जी

अध्यक्ष, भारतीय अध्यात्म एवं संस्कृति संवर्धन संस्थान| 

The Mistakes in the Upbringing of Children

Upbringing is the way parents guide and treat their children to help them understand the changing world and eventually lead it. It is the process of shaping a child's emotions, mindset, and body in alignment with the needs of the evolving world.

Feelings are the experience and expression of emotions. Mindset is the pattern of thinking, attitude, and approach toward problems and their solutions. The body is of utmost importance, as the functioning of the mind, spirit, intuition (from the infinite intelligence), actions, and all life processes depend on the body.

Therefore, in proper upbringing, we must understand the physical and mental development and care,  psychological challenges during different growth stages and the connection between the child and the infinite intelligence.

Breastfeeding is not just about milk; it is also emotional nourishment and psychological support. Similarly, hugging and kissing, as forms of physical touch, are ways of transferring spirit and intuition. Touch is a crucial part of parenting—be serious about it. It transmits energy related to the mind and spirit, creating an emotional and spiritual bond between the child and the caregiver.

Children do not understand and follow the verbal instructions easily. They mainly learn from emotional responses, physical actions, and behavior. They only imitate the patterns of their parents and surroundings. If parents are engaged in video games, mobile screens, or book reading, children will do the same. We are their role models, so we must live the values we want them to adopt.

The decline of the great Roman Empire can be traced to the fact that royal children were raised by slaves. As a result, they adopted the emotional and mental patterns—the mindset—of their caretakers. This is important to note.

We must also be mindful of eating habits, cultural manners and values and physical activity and hygiene.

Humans, as mammals (Homo sapiens sapiens), have evolved into Homo socius (social human), Homo faber (creative human), and Homo scientificus (scientific human) through cooperation, coordination, and communication. Thus, we must train our children to communicate, cooperate, and coordinate meaningfully and humanely.

We often complain about our children's behavior, attitude, and mindset toward family, society, humanity, and nature. We blame the children or society, but rarely reflect on our role as parents. This is the real tragedy.

Children go through many biological, hormonal, psychological, and physical changes while growing. We must understand and wisely handle these changes as responsible parents and citizens.

We should not only instruct them but live as role models. Children learn by watching us. True upbringing means teaching through action, not just words.

Achary Pravar Niranjan Ji

Chairman, Indian Institute for the Improvement of Spirituality and Culture

It’s Magic — Just Do It

It’s magic, so do it.

It’s magic, but the results come within a year. It doesn’t need your talent, your money, your resources, your friends or relatives, or even your full-time attention.
All it needs is your consistency—your regular effort toward your idea, vision, goal, or dream.

For any magic to happen, consistent work matters most. Nothing else matters more.
Magic is simply the result of unexpected outcomes—like faster progress, simpler methods, smaller investments, bigger achievements, and deeper satisfaction.

So, what is magic in your life?
You get to choose the field where you want the magic to happen. That’s your decision.
Whether it's a new habit, a new skill, a new language, a startup, a game, a lifestyle, or a culture—you choose the field where you want change.

Are you perfect enough? Good enough? Suitable enough? These questions don’t matter. Your talent might be excellent or may seem lacking—that doesn’t matter either.

Only one thing matters: consistency.
If you work consistently for one year on your idea, goal, dream, or vision, then magic will happen.

Here’s a simple example to prove the power of small efforts over time:

0.99³⁶⁵ ≈ 0.03
1.01³⁶⁵ ≈ 37.78

This means:
If you do 1% less work every day, by the end of the year, your result is almost nothing.
But if you do just 1% more every day, your result becomes nearly 38 times greater.
That’s not just a 38% improvement—it's a 3800% growth.

This is the magic. This is the power of consistency.

There’s no perfect time to start. There’s no perfect idea to work on. Just start. Your idea, your dream, your goal—it is the child of your brain. Protect it. Nurture it. Support it. And just give something—however small—to it every day.
Then, wait for the result after one year.

But be careful about your direction.
Consistency doesn’t care about the direction you’re going in. It only counts the effort.
So if your direction is wrong, your consistent efforts won’t lead to the right outcome.
Always stay positive in your attitude, perspective, and actions.
Avoid negativity. Don’t oppose anyone—focus on building, not breaking.

After one year, you will witness the magic.
So just start—in a positive direction.

Achary Praver Niranjan Ji
Chairman, Indian Institute for Improvement of Spirituality and Culture

How to Improve Our Present and Future?

If the root of any system is flawed, that system cannot function properly or efficiently. Problems in the hardware of a system are easy to see because they are physical and visible. As a result, they can often be diagnosed and fixed quickly. Most intellectuals focus on solving these visible and surface-level problems.

But what about the problems that are not visible—those buried deep within the subconscious and unconscious levels of individuals and society? These are mental and spiritual problems—issues related to thought processes, emotions, and overall mindset.

A mindset is the pattern of thinking and feeling that operates automatically. This can be seen as the software of a person or society. In traditional terms, this software is known as culture, and the visible expression of culture is called civilization. This automatic system of thinking is what psychologist Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner, referred to as System One in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Both System One (natural, intuitive and automatic) and System Two (logical, calculative and deliberate) are important for human development. However, because System One operates unconsciously snd automatically, we often ignore it. Our schools and institutions mostly focus on System Two—logic, reasoning, and scientific thinking—because these are easy to recognize and analyze.

But we often neglect culture—the automatic and unconscious software of society. Culture is shaped by the historical perception that a society holds. That’s why rulers and the ruling class try to control culture by manipulating or distorting history. They maintain these distortions over time, creating what we might call cultural inertia.

People who ignore the role of culture are usually either uninterested in change or lack the critical thinking required to examine history and culture. Much of what we accept as ancient history contains fraud and conspiracy, passed down through time to protect certain powers, class and systems.

So how do we verify the truth of historical events or cultural beliefs? Many ancient ideas are upheld only for their religious or cultural value, not for their truth. Therefore, we must examine them using scientific and rational tools. Key theories that help uncover historical distortion include:

Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution – helps us understand the natural progression I.e. the evolution of the elements of society and culture.

Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis – helps us uncover the hidden motives of historians and historical narratives, i.e. the minds of the historians.

Karl Marx’s Scientific Materialism – insists that historical events must be rooted in material reality i.e. tools and forces (factors) of economic power.

Albert Einstein’s Relativity, Ferdinand de Saussure's Structuralism, and Jacques Derrida's Deconstruction also useful tools, though they are not primary in general to the above in this context.

If any historical explanation relies purely on divine or supernatural causes, it is likely a myth and should be questioned. Every complex system in today’s world evolved from a simpler origin. If we don’t correct these distortions in history, our efforts at development become nothing more than a performance.

To truly improve our present and future, we must correct the distortions of ancient thinking patterns, that's comes out of  history.

Achary Pravar Niranjan Ji
Chairman, Indian Institute of Improvement of Spirituality and Culture

How Does Power Come from Philosophy?

Power comes from the people. And the power of people comes from how they think. The way people think and express themselves grows from how well they understand their surroundings and the stories they believe about their world.

These stories or "narratives" should make sense—they should be logical, based on history, and supported by science. Philosophy helps shape these stories so they feel natural and true. Over time, this way of thinking becomes a complete system—this is what we call philosophy.

Philosophy means seeing and understanding things as they really are. In India, it's called Darshan, which means "to see" in complete sense. In the West, philosophy is about gaining deep knowledge of something in its full form.

When you understand the real reason behind a situation in your life, you begin to want to change or improve it. That desire to change or improve gives you true power. So, philosophy helps people understand power and how it works.

But often, popular philosophy focuses on supernatural or mysterious topics, which makes it hard for ordinary people to understand real problems and how to fix them. This is a serious conspiracy against the common people. Real philosophy should help us see the true causes of problems and give us ways to improve systems and society.

Over time, repeated ways of thinking become automatic. This automatic thinking is called culture. In this way, culture—and the power it holds—comes from philosophy. We must understand the philosophy of culture.

Our thoughts and ideas also affect our bodies. They can change our hormones, which then influence how we act, think, and feel. So, culture, the automated ways of thinking pattern, shapes all parts of our behavior.

No one can stay in power for long without a strong belief system—and that belief system always starts with a philosophy. The certain ideology behind any activities make them an institution. An institution has a much longer life than that of any natural person. It means that longevity of any institution only depends on the acceptance of that philosophy. If you are able to change the basic philosophy behind any institution, that institution must die at that time.

Therefore, Change the way you think, i.e. change the way of philosophy and  you can change the power.

 Now, you have became a barrel of power .

Achary Pravar Niranjan Ji
Chairman, Indian Institute of Improvement of Spirituality and Culture

Why Money?

Why am I writing about money, a material thing? Why money?

Money is not only a medium of exchange for goods, services, and other activities, but it is also necessary for the survival of any personality. All the things that provide essential needs and wants—i.e. resources—are known as money or wealth. 

We know that the personality of any sapiens is made of material, energy, and field force. Our body and brain are made of material things; our mind and spirit are made of energy; and our spirituality—i.e. the Infinite Intelligence—is made of field force (see The Unified Field Theory).

A person’s activities, including emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and actions, depend only upon the person’s body—and the body is made of matter. The expressive form of any personality depends on that person’s physical identity, i.e. the body. And the body of any person is made only of material—and it needs money to fulfill all its requirements.

Only animals and plants don't need money. It means that it is only money that makes a mammal into a present Homo sapiens. Only the combination of three components—communication, cooperation, and coordination—has advanced Homo sapiens society to the present level. Money provides the facilities for communication, cooperation, and coordination.

Then, why don’t we need the education of money or money literacy at early stages of education? Education does not mean only literacy or degrees. Education is a much bigger concept about life. Education is the way of life—to understand things and situations as they are, and to become able to adjust, adapt, and lead in the changing world.

On the initiative of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in 2006, the Indian government started taking interest in financial awareness and financial literacy. This is the importance of the education for money. But the conditions of money education in India are very poor.

Generally, we don’t know how to differentiate between Rich and Wealthy. Being rich is a culture. Being a wealthy person is not a culture—it is just the accumulation of wealth.

We know that one can acquire culture—i.e. the importance of money-related values, norms, patterns, behaviors, and the mindset of their society. Culture is the automated software of values, norms, patterns, behaviors, and mindset in any person or society. So, the culture of being rich is a permanent feature.

After the Second World War, Japan and Germany were able to revive their economies because of their culture of being rich. A person may become wealthy after winning a lottery, but that person cannot become rich. This is why most lottery winners also become poor again in a very short period.

Therefore, we should develop the culture of money—the richness—in every society of the nation.

Achary Pravar Niranjan Ji
Chairman, Indian Institute for Improvement of Spirituality and Culture

Importance of Understanding Culture

Culture is a powerful tool for transforming any individual, society or nation. You may call it an instrument, machine, appliance or apparatus to transform a depressed and backward society or nation into an innovative one. But some people or institutions also use it as a weapon to control and regulate a society or the nation for their self- interest. In fact, culture is the software that guides individuals or society to think, behave, work and express emotions in a general way. The great Cultural Revolution of China transformed one of the most backward country into a strong global leader. This is the power of culture.

The Culture forms the common sense, i.e. the collective consciousness of a society. Without living in a society, one cannot attain culture. Without society and culture, a person would resemble the “Mowgli” of ‘The Jungle Book’ (1894) by Rudyard Kipling. Thus, culture is the software of society. Civilization, on the other hand, is the ‘hardware’ of a society. Culture is a mental and spiritual process, whereas civilization is its physical expression or product. Arts, paintings, songs, music, dance, sculpture, literature etc., are not examples of culture themselves, but are just reflections - i.e. products - of culture.

The span of historical periods creates a specific culture through interactions with geography, economics, other societies and science & technology. But only ‘perception of history’ may modify the present culture. That is the only reason, why history needs regular updating. In fact, under the guise of ‘updating’, some use historians to reshape present culture in the name of science, technology, research or in the name of new evidences. Therefore, ‘rewriting of any history’ is only an attempt to change the present culture, or strengthen any motive of a cultural agenda. The great writer George Orwell wrote –'‘Who controls the history, controls present and future of a society and nation’'.

In his concept of ‘Cultural Hegemony’, Antonio Gramsci explains how dominant (social or otherwise) groups maintain power to rule not just through forces, or through any compulsion, but through their consent, i.e. their culture. Values, norms, believes and ideologies are disseminated to the targeted social groups through education, media and culture. The ruled people, or the oppressed comply and behave as the dominant group desires, all in the name of glorious tradition and culture. In this way, our culture is declared as to be our great and glorious ancient heritage. Many myths are fabricated to support and sustain inhumane cultural practices. Instead of relying on force, dominant groups gain the consent of the depressed and deprived groups through the spread of their historical values, ethics, and beliefs. To regulate the culture, they regulate the world views of masses. Hence, cultural hegemony, as a form of social control, shapes masses attitude, thinking pattern, and behavior in the name of a great culture.

Culture is the “System - One” concept (and other is System - Two) of Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, a renowned psychologist, writer of ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’. ‘System - One’ is fast, simple, automatic, and intuitive thinking process of a man and society. ‘System - One’ takes least time, least energy and involves no conscious calculation.

Culture is not a static concept. It is a dynamic concept in the fast changing world with the interaction of other changing situations and conditions. But culture has a great inertial effect, i.e. a great rigidness to change internally. If mass of followers is larger, then inertia of culture is greater, and therefore that culture takes more energy and efforts to change itself.

Therefore, to change the future, we must first understand and then change the culture.

 Achary Pravar Niranjan Ji

Chairman, Indian Institute for Improvement of Spirituality and Culture.