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Indira nodded slightly, but then shook her head. "The problem of the Dalits cannot be so easily solved," she said and sighed as we were getting near the mosque. "The Dalits' problem isn't a religious problem, or an ethnic problem, nor is it a problem of ineffective laws. Our laws forbid discrimination. They are clear on that, Peter. I think the Dalits' problem is a problem of shallow perception on the universal front that society as whole has become caught up in."
"This means that the Dalits' problem can't be solved in isolation from all the other problems of humanity, not even as the national problem of India," I interjected. "The shallow perception that is at the root of it prevails all over the world. It merely manifests itself in different ways in different places. What we see here in India, concerning the Dalits, is really an aspect of a global problem. This problem can only be solved by uplifting society as a whole. Hasn't India got a history that trends in that direction? Isn't yoga a discipline for freedom, even though it is just for individual freedom?"
"Yoga is one of four disciplines," said Indira. "But you are right. It is all self-centered."
"Maybe it isn't, Indira. Maybe it just seems that way. Maybe if you take the core idea and raise it up onto a platform of science, profound freedoms pop into view built on universal principles."
"Maybe Mary could liberate India and its ancient culture," said Indira and laughed.
"This is also something that we must face up to in America, in order to free America from its ongoing infection with the deadly virus, called fascism. Fascism ahs destroyed our history, our beautiful face, our human soul. But for this step too, as with everything else, the process needs to be started by someone, somewhere. Maybe, that is why I am here. I am here to help you with the Dalits, to learn how to help America and the world. Both problems are rooted in the same sewer. Maybe there isn't such a thing as a specific Indian problem, or American problem, and do on, so that all problems are nothing more than a universal human problem, a failure of perception that manifests itself in numerous ways. The key, then, is helping one-another and uplifting one-another.""
Indira shook her head. "The discrimination against the Dalits is a dark custom generated over many ages. It can't be this easily dealt with."
"I think it can," I replied. "The tragedy of the Dalits was designed to protect the rich and their ability to steal, with which the rich impoverish the poor. This can all be changed, Indira, because it is a human problem. Society created it; society can fix it. While the rich people that have claimed the power to steal, presently steal from those who don't have developed that power or the power to protect themselves, the process can be turned upside down tomorrow when a higher principle comes to light that is to the advantage of everybody. That's how the people of Europe shut down 80 years of war in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia. They discovered that making war isn't to anyone's advantage, so they got together and agreed among each other to turn the ship around. The stopped the war and forgave each other's atrocities for the sake of peace. They even canceled each other's war debts. What seemed impossible was done on the basis of a universal principle, the Principle of the Advantage of The Other. Nothing prevents society from doing this again, except its small-minded thinking, which a profound idea can overturn. Of course, the tragedies that mankind suffers today will continue until someone introduces that higher operating principle in a big way. This means that someone has to speak the truth before things can change. So why shouldn't this someone, be us? Why shouldn't we be able to learn from each other as children of a common humanity and put its reality on the table once more?"
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