This served as a background document to the Spiritual Human Rights 2008 International Conference, that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 8th-9th of December 2008.

COPENHAGEN DECLARATION – BACKGROUND DOCUMENT

It is clear to all that humanity is now at the threshold of a new age. The scientific advancements of the last few decades, including quantum mechanics and the principle of holography, have broadened our horizons of reality into new dimensions. Science today proves with clear logic that which before was considered to be the domain of mysticism or philosophical speculation. These discoveries raise our understanding of human existence to a higher level, the universe and the laws that animate it. The proven effect of thought over matter, of the influence of the observer over the observed, of the complex interconnections between all phenomena and other such discoveries have brought with them bold new developments in the fields of science, sociology, psychology, medicine, philosophy and even spirituality. We may say that our perception of ourselves and the universe around us, which before was limited only to physical aspects, has now also expanded to the vast domain of the “invisible”, following a change in the scientific approach of what can be measured and verified and more importantly, what should be studied and how to do that, since now it is clear that the “invisible” aspects have a paramount role in influencing all phenomena, including that phenomena which is strictly material. We should not underestimate the capital importance of this broadened perspective, because this new and deeper vision makes us begin to be aware of new elements, which before were totally ignored, and which are necessary for achieving health and happiness in the individual life as well as maintaining a harmonious and balanced society.

We begin now to understand the existence of deeper needs of the human being that are in accordance with this expanded existence that comes now into our awareness. We begin to realize the existence of other forces which are influencing the social processes and this implies that the old paradigm which was supporting the foundation of the social construction until now is running out of date. It is correct to affirm that alongside the formerly established laws of nature, such as solid mechanics, fluid dynamics etc., which in fact represent the laws of the visible material world, science has now begun to bring to our awareness a whole new set of laws of nature which represent deeper, and seemingly invisible processes. These new laws of nature have already generated a new growth of knowledge and understanding which manifest as new systems and views in all the fields of science, psychology, sociology etc.

The new, deeper understanding and awareness of human existence and of the forces which influence it and society brings us to the point where we must reexamine the systems which have been used until now, and which are still being used, for guiding the human life. In their current state, are these systems still capable of providing an answer to the human being’s needs in light of the new vision about reality?

Upon examining the current Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 from this new perspective, one cannot help but notice that it barely addresses many issues and rights which are these days becoming very clear in the public awareness. Indeed, the Declaration of Human Rights was and remains a brave and positive attempt to define and protect the basic and inherent rights of humanity. We should remember that this declaration was forged as a response to the terrible monstrosities which shocked humanity during both of the devastating world wars. Yet, that declaration was created in a different era. Since then, as we have shown above, the field of our awareness about our existence has expanded very much and together with it we have a new and more profound understanding of our needs and even of the very basic rights inherent in every human being. This new understanding of our basic rights is not reflected or covered by the current Declaration of Human Rights, and this is not surprising since at the time it was written, 60 years ago, we were not yet aware of these perspectives. Clearly, that Declaration of Human Rights is now outdated. Therefore, there is a need to redefine human rights, from the new and enlarged perspective that we have today. Further on, within this document, we shall explain and elaborate upon this new perspective of human rights.

The necessity of redefining human rights becomes even clearer when we observe the current state of affairs. Even within western civilization, generally considered by most people to be a society which thoroughly respects human rights – according to their old definition - we can see very visible signs and indications of the existence of a deep problem. In this society of the western countries we recognize the following phenomena: an ongoing ecological crisis which is being left largely unchecked, having a direct effect on the lives of everyone, including of all generations to come; a growing inner social conflict and tension between different groups from within the respective society; an intensifying intrusion of the state into the privacy of the individual, using means of surveillance with growing efficiency and strictness, on the pretext of ‘the war against terror’; a growing feeling of fear and personal insecurity; a general identity crisis generated by the breaking down of many of the existing identity structures such as states, nations and religious institutions; the widespread breaking down of the family unit, manifested by an all time high divorce rate, bringing with it a cause for much unhappiness; a growing level of ignorance manifested by the drop, in many countries, of the level of literacy and of general education - many people know less about the true heritage of humanity and its works and more about the icons of the Hollywood-MTV culture; an escalation of violent crime; a deepening in the general feeling of lack of fulfillment and emptiness, reflected by a growing rate of alcoholism, drug abuse, psychotherapy etc.

All the phenomena mentioned above - and this is only a partial list - show that even when human rights, as they have been defined in the past, are respected, something very necessary is still missing. Surely, this points out that the old definition and understanding of the subject of human rights does not properly cover all human needs and rights, otherwise these abovementioned manifestations will not be possible. A new vision upon human rights, from our wider and deeper perspective, will allow us to clearly define human rights in such a way as to truly respond to those unanswered needs of humankind, so visible today, thus making possible a harmonious and just human existence. Knowing that “the way you see the problem is a part of the problem if not all of it” we can understand that the problems humanity is facing today, regarding its essential rights, are to a certain extent arising from the current definition of this subject of human rights. Therefore, by analyzing our situation today, we can clearly comprehend the urgent need to redefine the subject of human rights, in order to give an adequate answer to the problems of humanity and to allow it to fulfill its true potential.

It is important to note that most human rights violations of the last 100 years have been authored by the state itself. This has been the case both when the state abuses the rights of citizens of another state, as in the case of war, conflict or occupation – a good example is the situation of Iraq under coalition military control, or when the state abuses the rights of its own citizens, for example: the patriot act in the USA and similar acts and regulations in the EU. Therefore, it is quite ridiculous to entrust the state with the duty of safeguarding human rights. In fact, the very idea that human rights can be somehow protected by any means of control, by any body or organization, is a mistake. Control can always be misused and the protector can always become the violator, as is often the situation today, in the case of the state. This situation is true as long as there is a deep lack of understanding and lack of awareness of the subject of human rights, as seen from the deeper perspective. In fact, the problem is not of lack of control of the factors that can influence human life and thus generate violations of human rights, the problem is one of ignorance. The solution is not any kind of control mechanism, but an increased awareness, and awareness starts with education.

Indeed, the real problem is ignorance. A deep lack of knowledge and awareness about true human rights among the general population produces leaders with the same lack of understanding. Therefore, we are facing a situation in which leaders violate human rights without realizing it, since they lack awareness of this subject, and the citizens, whose rights are violated, do nothing to affirm their rights since they themselves do not realize that their rights are being violated, due to this lack of awareness. This situation arises from ignorance about the laws of nature as they are being progressively discovered and understood by today’s science community. Here we do not mean only the previously known laws of nature of the material world, but also and especially those newly discovered laws of the “invisible” nature, including the laws of human nature. Nowadays, people are still mostly ignorant about the existence of these laws of inner nature and their meaning, and therefore, they are unaware of the consequences of their actions upon their life. When people engage in actions which are harmful for themselves or others, they almost never do so with bad intentions. It is this lack of awareness of the consequences of their actions which determines leaders to act in a harmful way towards others, without realizing the negative results which will appear, or to sometimes be able to ignore the harmful results by ignoring the laws that are generating them. It is the same lack of awareness which leads people to accept such actions of their leaders without protest and to even cheer them on, not realizing the negative influence that these actions will have upon them.

A proper understanding of the laws of nature will make everybody more aware of the consequences of their actions determined by these laws and will thus allow everybody the possibility to choose their actions wisely so as to respect the rights of others and themselves. A population which has this understanding will spontaneously promote respect for the rights of the other and self affirmation of the rights of the individual, and will also cultivate leaders who act out of awareness and respect for the human rights of all.

The respect and protection of human rights cannot be fully determined by law, nor completely enforced from above; it can only come as a result of proper understanding and awareness of the laws of nature (including the inner nature) which govern our lives and all the phenomena in the universe. This awareness and understanding can only be achieved through proper education. We want to make it very clear that here we do not refer to the creation of dogmas or behavioral conditionings in any way since that would be a further cause for the violation of human rights. Among other things, proper education means that every human being should learn and understand the fundamental laws of nature and their effects upon his/her life. Knowing and understanding these laws, he/she then has the total freedom to act as they wish; understanding what will be the result of their freely assumed actions. Only now can we say that a person can truly act freely since they know and can assume the outcome of their free choice, whereas before understanding these laws of nature that person was not free since they were not choosing consciously, rather they were simply ignorant and irresponsible. Learning and understanding the laws of nature as a part of a formal education is as natural and of common sense as it is that every child learns that 1+1=2 and that fire burns – so if you put your hand in the fire you will burn your hand - these are also laws of nature, of a material nature. What we are affirming here is the necessity to include in the educational curriculum also those newly discovered and highly important laws of nature, in order to reach a better understanding and awareness of the consequences of our actions.

Proper education, which will bring about a true awareness of human rights from the new perspective, includes both educating to understand the laws of the universe, as well as an education that is based on “human development” and not on “goal achievement”. The importance of an education that is based on “human development” is that it aims to facilitate the growth of “whole” human beings, with healthy personalities and who are endowed with all the tools and lessons they need in order to succeed in life - rather than the “goal achievement” education which prepares them to succeed in a profession irrespective of the quality of their life. “Human development” oriented education will include humanitarian and spiritual values, will aim to put the person in contact with the different heritages of humankind, will aim to help the person develop their personality in a healthy and balanced way, will aim to prepare him through personal experience to face all the challenges of life, which are not only limited to professional challenges. This education, based on “human development” will not only provide information, but also the necessary practical training of the personality, through personal experience, so that the students become really developed, mature and ready for life. On the other hand, the “goal achievement” oriented education focuses on the realization of personal expertise, in which each person knows more and more about an increasingly narrowed subject. This makes for a good professional, but not for a complete human being. Such a person may be successful in his job and yet be a total failure in his marriage, might abuse his kids, be socially secluded and nurture hatred for those who are different from him. Such an education can also produce scientists who will be technical geniuses but because they have not learnt about humanistic and spiritual values they are not in touch with their common sense and therefore they might use new technology to create terrible destructive weapons, such as the atom bomb. Therefore, we affirm again, that in order to reach the true respect of human rights, a reformation of our accepted paradigm upon reality is needed. It needs to be updated with the new conquests of science and at the same time to update the educational system to include education of the updated version of the laws of the universe and doing so with a strategy of “human development” education.

A society based on this new paradigm which has at its base such a proper and common-sense educational system will be a society in which true freedom and true security will exist side by side and the fundamental human rights will be spontaneously respected by all. That society will be a truly harmonious society because it will be based - by the means of the understanding and the awareness of the people - upon the same basic laws that govern the whole universe, and thus the harmony that exists always everywhere in the universe will be reflected also at the level of the human society.

We shall now expound upon different basic human rights, as understood in the new and wider perspective which we have discussed above:

Freedom of speech:

This human right refers to a subject which has these days come under scientific investigation, and this is the subject of the power of words. It has been proved by the studies of Masaru Emoto that words exercise a powerful energetic influence, with clear and visible effects. The nature of these effects depends on the nature of the word used: positive words have beneficial effects, negative words have destructive effects. Understanding this power, we must understand that along with it comes also a big responsibility. When we use negative words, words which are charged with a negative intention, we determine the appearance of certain harmful processes within our own being and in the being of the person to whom those words are directed – if he is receptive to these words – and in our surrounding environment. Therefore we must understand that the right to speech does not only imply the right to say whatever you want even if it is true; it is also the right to right speech, that is, the protection from “wrong” negative speech. There is no use in making a law forbidding the use of certain words – that would be nonsense – what is needed is proper education which will promote awareness of the power of words and understanding of the responsibility that goes with it. In this way, people will be more responsible and conscious about their use of words, just as the absolute majority of people are conscious about the responsible use of fire arms, and everybody will thus enjoy an improved protection from the harmful use of “wrong speech”. We can easily become aware of the necessity of this, especially these days when the vulgarization of public speech, due to the unprecedented use of foul language in movies, television and music, has lead to increased violence and higher levels of stress than ever before.

On this subject, we should also understand that some people hold a much bigger responsibility than others. The words of a journalist reach millions of people and therefore have a much more powerful effect than the words of a common man. But as we already know, greater power comes with greater responsibility. The words of a journalist can destroy a person’s reputation and career, they can bring a politician down or get a person fired, they can create a negative public opinion against a group of people or attack an individual. All this can take place even if the criticism expounded by the journalist is completely untrue and was not even properly verified by him/her. Such a powerful verbal attack against an individual or a group, with the use of negative words, creates a very powerful negative effect which charges the target of the attack with intense negative energy when it is amplified a million times by those who read and accept the words of the journalist. This negative energy can create in a person who is the unfortunate target of such an attack effects such as very high tension – we know today that tension can cause death – or disease, and eventually even death. In the case in which the affirmations of the journalist were false, even if he revokes them afterwards, will usually have almost no effect at all, not cancelling the various negative effects which have already begun to appear on different levels.

We are not suggesting laws to limit journalists – they have an essential role in the freedom of speech. Yet, it is interesting that any person can be a journalist, no prior education is needed. In order to be a doctor, an engineer, and even to drive a car, some formal education is needed in preparation for the responsibility involved in that profession. Journalism should be no different, since it entails an even greater responsibility. A university teacher goes through long preparation, and he only addresses several hundred people, while journalists who address millions have no formal preparation. Because of their low level of education, some journalists are easily manipulated under pressure by political or economical elements. Journalists should go through a specific preparation before assuming their role. In this preparation, aspiring journalists will deeply study the different aspects related to the power of speech, will understand its possible effects and the personal and public consequences of them. In this way, when they become journalists, they will be able to consciously put themselves “in the shoes” of those about whom they write, appreciating all the consequences of their words and as a result they will be able to consciously choose the course of their actions.

An example of the manner in which a certain style of reporting, which uses certain words and images, can create clear effects at the level of the general population – effects which are related to the style of the report and not to its contents – can be found in the following situation: a comparison which has been made between reports in an Israeli newspaper about 2 separate, yet similar events – a bus bombing which killed about 30 persons in the late 90’s, and another event of similar magnitude in which an entire unit died in battle in 1948. The event in 1948 was reported by an article in the bottom of the first page, covering less than a quarter of the page. The print was small and informative about the details of the event. The bus bombing from the late 90’s was reported in the first few pages of the paper. The front page was filled with pictures of the victims, above which was a very big headline with words such as ‘terror’ and ‘death’ printed in red. It was noticed that the reactions to those 2 events were very different. The reactions in 1948 were temperate and characterized by self-control and endurance. The reactions in the late 90’s were much more emotional, increasing the level of stress and feelings of insecurity, fear and anger, in some cases even to the threshold of hysteria.

Another perspective related to the subject of the right to freedom of speech is that, while every person has the right to freedom of speech in theory, today this freedom is highly regulated by the media. Today’s media acts as an all powerful amplifier of messages of different kinds. However, it does so in a selective manner – some messages are given publicity and are thus amplified and transmitted to the public, while some are ignored. In this way, the media becomes an almost necessary interface with the public. If there are 2 different opinions on a subject, and only one is expounded through the media, the supporters of the other opinion may use their right to free speech to support their view wherever they want, but it would be almost obsolete in front of the dominating effect of the publicity through the media. In this way, the right to speech becomes in reality today something that depends almost completely on the arbitrary decisions of the media. It will not be a problem in absence of the personal interest of the media, but since the media is a private business that totally depends on money, we are facing a serious problem regarding this uncontrolled power of the media that can, and many times does, violate human rights.

This situation also shows the terrible responsibility of those working in the media, and the underlying importance of proper education (including spiritual education) and preparation so that they can assume that responsibility in a conscious way. A lucid analysis of the conduct of today’s media shows that indeed, most of those who are active in that domain are barely conscious of their great responsibility and do not deeply understand the processes involved, most of the time the only responsibility that is mentioned regards the correctness of the information and even that is still a foggy subject.

Freedom of thought:

With regards to this subject, we must first become aware of the scientifically proven fact that thoughts have a clearly definable physical effect. Negative thoughts or emotions, which are continuously maintained, have a very harmful effect upon the person who is experiencing them as well as on that person’s environment. For example, it is a medical fact that stress can lead to certain intestinal problems. When sustained for long periods of time, negative emotions and thoughts become destructive to the mental, and even physical, health, even deteriorating in extreme cases to death. Good thoughts and emotions, however, have a profoundly harmonizing and healing effect. Beyond this, it has already been proven that thoughts also influence external events and can determine the course of events. When a person focuses his/her thoughts on a certain idea, they attract that event to them, regardless of whether they want it or want to avoid it. When we think beautiful thoughts about positive events, these events will be attracted into our lives. When we think negative thoughts about undesirable events, we attract those events into our lives. Even if we think of something that we are against, that we reject, or are scared that might happen, we will attract exactly that into our lives. This is the power of the mind, which is always in close connection with matter, since mind and matter are always linked to one other.

Understanding these laws of the mind, we can realize the terrible effects of negative thinking, both for the person in question as well as for their entire environment. It is practically impossible to reach a real state of happiness or of harmony when one maintains a preponderantly negative way of thinking. Since every human being has the inherent right to happiness, it is obvious that all human beings also have the inherent right to “right thinking” or the right to positive thinking, since without it, real happiness is not possible. Therefore, we can say that from this point of view, freedom of thought also means the freedom to consciously think positively. This important right can only be achieved through proper education regarding the laws of the mind and the proper training of the mind, because if people will only know and understand the laws of the mind and the effects that our thoughts have upon reality, then they can become aware that they have a choice, that this choice is important for them, and only then can they choose freely, since ignorance is slavery. The aspect that is often ignored nowadays, even in circles of people who are more aware of the power of the mind, is the reality that the mind has to be trained if we are to consciously use it in the way that is better for us. This aspect is related to the “formative” aspect of education, an aspect that is fundamentally different to the informative aspect of our present educational system. It is not enough to say that we have to become positive thinkers, we have to be able to control the thinking process, which is an issue that requires specific training that is almost non-existent today.

This subject also has another aspect, and that is the effects that the thoughts of others have upon us. Since a person’s thoughts influence his entire environment, it is clear that if we are in the presence of a very negative person who maintains powerful feelings such as hate or fear, we will be negatively influenced by that person’s thoughts. For example, a person who spends time with another person who is very stressed can afterwards experience abdominal pains as a result of the influence of the negative thoughts of the other person upon him. If that person keeps spending a lot of time with the stressed person, over time he will become as stressed as the other person and will suffer all the same consequences as the other person. In the same way that we know today that “passive smoking” – inhaling the smoke from the cigarettes of others – is just as harmful as smoking itself, and there are strict legal measures which are taken in order to protect the rights and health of those who choose not to smoke by forbidding smoking in public places, in the same way the rights of innocent bystanders faced with the harmful effects of the negative thoughts of others should be protected. The only way to achieve this is through the proper education and training of the mind. When everybody will be aware of the effects of their thoughts upon themselves and upon others, while at the same time being able to exercise better control of the processes of the mind then they will aim always to be aware of their thoughts and to guide them to be as positive as possible.

Another factor which should be taken into consideration is the role of the media in influencing the freedom of thought. When the media propagates negative thoughts or awakens negative emotions among millions of people, it amplifies these harmful energies very much and can create very powerful and destructive effects. The repetitive attention given by the media to the subject of ‘the war on terror’ serves only to increase the feelings of insecurity and fear in the public – and that is the very definition and purpose of terror, so we can see that this repetitive attention only brings about what it fights against. This kind of massive attention given by the media to a negative line of thought has a very powerful effect upon the ‘thought environment’ of an entire country, having a negative influence upon all those who live there, easily creating in the population collective feelings such as confusion, fear, stress or despair. These mass emotional manifestations can also be accompanied by increased levels of disease. This kind of repetitive attention by the media will also have the tendency to influence the reality in a negative way, attracting exactly those events which are the object of media attention – what is being feared, what is being attacked etc. here we are not saying that the media should not report bad news, but this news should be reported in an objective, calm and moderate way, without uselessly and repeatedly inundating the public.

It is important also to recognize the paramount influence that the media has upon the public opinion. By repeating only a certain point of view, the media can easily determine the majority of the population to form a similar opinion. In this way, the media very much limits the actual freedom of thought, since as it is very easy to see, it is difficult to maintain a personal opinion in opposition to the one which is expressed by the media. A good example for this was the overwhelming public support for the second war in Iraq, which was only possible because of a total alignment of the American media behind the statement that Iraq is producing weapons of mass destruction and that it threatens the USA. After the war, when it was proved that this claim was entirely false, the public opinion turned completely in the other direction.

Understanding the huge effect of the media and of other opinion makers upon the public opinion, and therefore upon the freedom to thought, and also their powerful effect upon the ‘mental atmosphere’ of an entire country, we must expect that this great power also comes with a great responsibility. This responsibility is too great for most of those who are involved in the media today. Without having the control over their own mind and not understanding the mechanisms that are animating the mind, one cannot talk about the freedom of thought. A person that has a mind that is uncontrolled will not be free and sooner or later will fall under the influence of different frames that are created by public opinion and by others. In this case, the solution is also a proper education, so that everybody will understand the great power of thoughts. Only then can we expect that those who will choose to be involved in the field of media will consciously assume their great responsibility and will act with awareness upon the consequences of the messages that they are transmitting, aiming to do so in a wise, beneficial and harmonious manner. Only then will the others be able to freely choose to assimilate one idea or not in a free manner and will the human right for free and correct thought, and the human right for a healthy mental environment be respected.

Right to a nationality:

The right of every person to a nationality is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. This human right – the right to a national identity, is as important for every individual as it is for all of humanity. The beneficial effects of having a national identity are complex and are derived from the human structure. We shall mention and explain these effects later on in this segment.

Even though this right is protected under the current declaration, the events currently taking place around the world are quickly making that affirmation irrelevant. The ongoing process of globalization is making the national identity almost disappear, turning the idea of nationality into an obsolete notion. In this situation, the human being is indirectly deprived of his/her right to a nationality since his/her nation has in fact disappeared. This state of affairs raises the need to deal with this subject from a broader perspective.

In order to better understand the importance of this human right and the necessity to protect it, we shall now explain the advantages of having a national identity. Various studies related to the specifics of nations have shown the existence of “national souls” – the soul of a nation. This national soul is in a complex and profound interaction with the individuals that are forming that nation. The effects of the national soul upon the individuals include: helping to create in the individual a certain aspect of a sense of identity; fulfilling in the individual the need to have a relation to others and to be a part of something bigger than oneself; helping the individual assimilate some general beneficial values specific to that nation; facilitating the forming of a more “complete and whole” human being who is more in touch with the heritage of previous generations; helping the individual to surpass the boundaries of the limited ego by helping him/her to identify with the national soul which includes in it many more people and which expands into the distant past beyond the limited years of his/her life, in this way going beyond the specific limits of the ego – seeing ourselves limited only to this one body, to this limited time of one life. People who lack a national identity can suffer from a weaker sense of identity – which is the source of many psychological problems, being somehow without relation to the past and history; they lack general values and general culture and experience an amplified self perception of being separated from all the other human beings - this is a sign of increased ego which brings about alienation between people and is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon, especially in the western countries.

The importance of the existence of national souls can also be understood in connection with another point of view: there are theories with solid scientific argumentation which consider Earth as a living system that self regulates its own life, and living creatures are a part of it. In this context, the nations will somehow play the role of living tissues of this living planet. The dissolution of the tissues in a living organism is usually considered a disease that can bring about the collapsing of the organism and its death. In the same way, the disappearance of the national identities might have destructive effects upon the planetary system, of which we all depend and are a part.

Taking all this into consideration, we urge an awakened awareness to these ideas and to the possible negative consequences of globalization. We have only one planet as our home and therefore we should be attentive to take care of it properly. Everybody will agree to the affirmation that globalization is a very complex process and that we don’t know for sure what all of its consequences will be, since we never experimented with it before. Therefore, this process should unfold only gradually and with great care, while studying attentively its complex consequences, so as to be able to avoid any negative outcomes. This course of action is much more responsible and full of common sense than the current situation in which entire countries and continents are rushing into an accelerated process of globalization solely for economic and politic reasons, while largely ignoring any other consideration and any warning signs.

It is important to mention that other alternatives to the specific way in which the current process of globalization is proceeding also exist. The process of globalization as it is unfolding these days is leading to the dissolution of national entities and identities, and at the end of this process humanity might find itself in a state of spiritual and cultural bankruptcy, being void of any real value or sense. Yet, another global vision also exists. Humanity can unite, not on the basis of cancelling the national entities, but rather on the basis of deep respect, friendship and cooperation between the nations. Instead of cancelling the differences between the specificities of the various nations, humanity can celebrate these wonderful differences, each nation learning from the others and completing the others in a spirit of brotherhood. Only when a nation respects its own heritage and specific positive qualities, and strives to develop them, do they have something to contribute to the other nations, offering them that which they lack. When a nation nurtures its own heritage and positive characteristics, it should include the admiration of the wonderful characteristics of other nations. A nation which has this attitude will strive to learn and assimilate beneficial qualities that it needs from other nations, while still maintaining its own specific predominant positive character. This is like a great feast attended by guests from many different nations. Each guest brings with him the specific dishes of his own nation, putting them on the table to be enjoyed by all. In this way, each guest contributes to the feast, and everyone gets to enjoy the variety and abundance. Imagine the shame of a guest who comes to that feast empty-handed because his nation has already lost all its specific qualities to “the global McDonald’s culture” and therefore he has nothing to offer or share with the others. With this approach of respect for the national identities, both of one’s own nation as well as of the others, humanity can become a true family of nations, where each nation realizes and assumes its responsibility for the welfare of all the other nations and for this world we all share. Perhaps then, this kind of globalization will lead to the expansion of our human civilization to its universal destiny.

The freedom to marry and to found a family:

Considering this right, which is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from a broader perspective, we can redefine it as the right to a happy marriage. The necessity of redefining this right becomes obvious when we examine the situation in the west: even though the legal freedom to marry is respected fully, we notice that the divorce rate is continuously rising, approaching 50% in some cases, and happy marriages are rare. There is little good in legal freedom if a person doesn’t know what to do with it. Obviously, the right to marry and found a family derives from the inherent human right to be happy and fulfill oneself through marriage and the foundation of a family. Therefore, it is clear that steps should be taken to assure not only the legal right to marry, but also the right to a happy marriage.

Analyzing the issue further, we can see that the problem is rooted in ignorance, and ignorance is always an obstacle for freedom. While people today have the freedom to enter a marriage and to choose their spouse, most of them are unprepared for it. Almost no education is given to prepare the human being for the requirements of marriage. No attention is given in school to the understanding of the mechanisms of the couple relationship, to the understanding of love, intimacy, patience and communication, nor are there any tools given for passing the various difficulties that appear in a relationship. No education is given as to how to choose a spouse and how to discern love from mere sexual attraction. Considering this, it is of no wonder that many marriages end in divorce since the relationship was based on lust mistaken for love, and the couple entered the marriage unprepared. In this way the people are enslaved by their ignorance and are denied the happiness of a harmonious couple relationship which is based on love – their human right.

The solution in this case is proper education in the school. Since love relationships make up a very important part of our adult life they must also be a subject of study and preparation during the school years. Proper education would aim at understanding the processes that take place within couple relationships and will encourage the development of those human skills required for integrating into a healthy and harmonious relationship. Attention must also be given to the subject of love since it is unanimously considered to be a fundamental value of humankind and a condition for success in couple relationships.

The right to raise a family is another right that needs redefining. When we examine the state of affairs regarding the family unit in the western countries, we notice a high rate of dysfunctional families and even many cases of child abuse, according to the statistics of sociological studies. Many studies also show that in the west, where the right to found a family is respected, the family unit is quickly losing its strength as the pillar of society and is in a process of breakdown. Also in this case, as in the subject of the right to marry, the question is not only of legal freedom but also of knowing what to do with it, as we have shown above. The problem again comes from ignorance. People usually form a family without thinking or knowing what it implies, the responsibilities involved, and more importantly, without understanding why they want to found a family. The vast labyrinth of feelings and emotions is for most people a virgin land from where they try to escape as soon as possible after accidentally falling there. Without any emotional education, most people remain limited to simple experiences and for this reason cannot face the challenges that life poses and moreover they become an easy prey for emotional blackmail and manipulation, which are two of the most widespread practices in modern politics.

This problem will be resolved by proper education that will make people aware of their own feelings and their significance, so that they can then freely and consciously choose what they want, assuming the responsibilities involved. A proper emotional education will also encourage the development of traits, characteristics and skills which will help the person to later form a healthy and happy family. From this perspective, we can define this right as the right to found a healthy and harmonious family.

We must acknowledge the enormous responsibility involved in founding a family and raising children – the responsibility for the life and forming of another human being. It is interesting that such a big responsibility, involving a very challenging and complex task, comes without any preparation at all!!! No preparation takes place during the school years or during adulthood. With no preparation to raise and educate children so that they would become healthy human beings, and no training to be able to deal with all the complex and difficult duties involved in bringing up children, it is no wonder that many parents fail in their duties, resulting in dysfunctional families, the disharmonious upbringing of many youngsters and even cases of child abuse. Here is the place to consider the rights of the child, including the right of the unborn child to have a healthy functional family. Recognizing this right of those children who will be born in the future, we must provide proper education for the children of today, so that when they will be adults and have families of their own, they will be able to respect this right of the children of the future, and offer them a place within a healthy and harmonious family. The problem again is rooted in the ignorance that most the people have regarding their own being, its laws and mechanisms. Ignoring these fundamental aspects one cannot understand the delicate mechanisms that are involved in the education of a child. The proper spiritual education should include, alongside other elements mentioned above, the tools needed in order to take care of ourselves and to maintain a status of health and happiness in our life. Such a proper education will also aim to develop the ability of a person to assume responsibility and to fulfill it.

The rights of the future generations:

This issue relates to one of the most dramatic infringements of human rights imaginable: due to our lack of awareness regarding the consequences of our actions (as explained in the beginning of this document) we have a total disregard towards the outcomes of our choices today, which will have a major influence, perhaps not upon us but upon the future generations, our descendents. The fact that we are here now and we are using this planet as we like is also because the previous generations had given it to us in good shape. Yet completely irresponsible environmental behavior, due to profit oriented and materialistic thinking, is leading to the deterioration of the living conditions of the future generations of human beings. In this way we are violating the human rights of those generations which will follow our own generation. Those future human beings have exactly the same rights as we do. In the same way that we strive to respect and protect our own rights, we must also protect the rights of future generations, especially since they cannot protect themselves and are therefore completely reliant upon us.

A similar situation to the ecological one is the situation of genetic manipulation. The genetic manipulation of vegetables, fruits and farm animals, used as a source of human nourishment, as well as the genetic manipulation of human beings, may very well carry with it a danger of negative mutations which will manifest only in years to come, in following generations. In this case we are endangering the right to health of the future human beings, for the purpose of having bigger eggs or cheaper potatoes.

The root of the problem is a lack of awareness about the consequences of our actions today. A proper education, which will include also the study of the newly discovered laws of the universe and the notion of cause and effect, will help everybody to become more aware of the serious consequences that some of our daily actions can have upon future generations.

The right to receive a fair trial by an objective human being according to objective laws:

The current Declaration of Human Rights affirms the human right to receive a public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. Such a court should pass judgment without being influenced by any outside elements, such as public opinion. However, understanding the great power of thought, as was explained under the subject of freedom of thought, we can realize that this independence of the court is hardly possible. The collective power of the thoughts and beliefs shared by the great majority of the population, being intensified by an effect of unison, influences everyone and everything in that area, country or even continent. Public opinion creates a powerful field propagating a certain common idea or belief and this idea will be subconsciously transmitted to all the people who also live in that country. It has been scientifically proven that our minds are always telepathically influencing each other, and when many people believe something in unison that belief will have a much stronger effect upon the others. Considering this reality, we realize that no court can be independent of this telepathic influence of common beliefs and public opinion. Nowadays there are many examples in which public opinion, created and manipulated by the mass media, clearly influenced the outcome of trials. Moreover, the judges are not living on another planet and are consequently exposed, like the rest of the population, to the direct effects of media coverage upon a certain subject and are therefore also under its influence, forming beliefs and opinions that could interfere with their impartiality in a later trial.

It is difficult to speak about the judges’ independence in a holographic universe in which everything is connected and contained in everything. Also the idea of objectivity or impartiality is almost obsolete under the ideas of quantum mechanics which affirm that our very point of view changes the reality that we are observing. Therefore, a pure objective reality is not possible, since it is always influenced by our point of view. A judge’s perception of reality is influenced and defined by his/her perspective. The only true “objective” aspect of the universe is the consciousness that is witnessing all that exists and contains everything within, but cannot be witnessed.

It is known that the higher the spiritual level of consciousness of a person, the less he/she is influenced by common beliefs and ideas. Therefore, only persons with a high level of consciousness, having a higher point of view which includes in it the other points of view and yet transcends them, can truly pass a relatively objective judgment. This implies that the preparation and training of judges should not be limited only to the academic study of the law, but should also include practical spiritual training directed at achieving a lucid and detached point of view.

Alongside the question of ‘who is judging’, there is also the issue of ‘according to what is done by the judgment’. The aspiration to assure objective justice to all is not possible when the laws themselves are not objective. Laws which are created by human beings, as a result of a clash of opinions or interests, subject to formulation and interpretation, and which are open to discussion and occasional modification, cannot be considered to be objective laws. All would agree that these laws are not perfect and in certain situations can even be inappropriate. Only the universal laws, the principles which govern all the phenomena of the universe can be considered to be objective. These laws do not forbid or command anything, they simply define a set of cause-effects connections which are natural, and these connections are equally valid to all beings and in all situations and no one can escape them. These laws of nature are objective and just, being the laws that govern the universal harmony. It would be of great benefit if the human laws would aspire to be modeled in the likeness of the universal laws of nature, aiming to apply those principles of harmony within our legal system. This will make our legal system more objective and fair. The restructuring of the human society on the basis of these fundamental natural principles will bring to humanity the same harmony that is evident everywhere in the universe.

The right to be presumed innocent:

This right – of those charged with a penal offence, to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, according to law in a public trial at which they had all the guarantees necessary for their defense – has to be transferred to the media as well. This is a matter of extreme importance, since in many cases the media, which is unbound by this law, makes judgments through its reports, even before a trial has finished. As we have shown above, the media has the power of influencing the judges both directly, as well as through the creation of a powerful public opinion. The media can also set the terms and the perspective of the entire public debate, reflected also in the trial, and these determine the very basis of the attitude towards a certain issue, group or person, thus influencing from the very beginning the eventual outcome of a trial. There are numerous cases worldwide where a case becomes a public trial, taking place through the media, and the court trial follows the public trial without any objectivity. This is even more problematic when we consider the fact that the public debate is not based on the laws of the state and the concept of objective and impartial judgment, as are the courts, and therefore is much more prone to manipulation using emotional manipulation and demagogic reasoning. The journalists, politicians and public figures that are usually the key actors in these public trials have no education and preparation for playing the role of judges. Moreover, unlike the judges, who are supposed to be impartial and independent, with nothing to gain from a trial, the main figures of a public trial usually have a clear personal interest or a public agenda.

In this situation, this basic right of the human being, accepted by all, is a mere joke in this context! This situation has to be addressed in the public debate about human rights. Some of the deeper reasons for this problem are the lack of faith people have in the courts to pass fair judgment, and their belief that they themselves know the truth and can pass judgment, almost completely unaware of the fact that usually they have a very limited and partial, even distorted, point of view. To remedy this situation, a process of becoming more aware of the outcomes of our actions is needed, as well as the manner in which our individual perspective creates our perception and experience of reality, influencing at the same time the surrounding reality. This will be made possible through proper education regarding this influence and its laws. Here the considerations mentioned under the subjects of “freedom of thought” and “the right to receive a fair trial” are also valid.

The right to life:

These days we are becoming more aware that life is not limited to the physical body. A human being lives on many levels – emotional, mental and spiritual. It is not enough to be alive only in the physical body. In order to reach fulfillment, a human being must also be alive in his emotions, in his mind and in his spiritual nature. This is our inherent human right. A person’s physical life can be spared, while his emotional heart is killed and his mind suffocated; such a person is like a zombie. Many spiritual traditions of our planet affirm that a life that is not aiming towards spiritual awakening is not a life at all. Therefore, not only the right to life in the physical body should be acknowledged and respected, but also the right to life on all the levels of the human being. This right to a true and full life can be respected through proper education which will bring with it the awareness and development of the different levels of the being, helping the human beings to open their hearts and minds, as well as making them more aware of their spiritual nature and giving them practical instruments and methods to develop and perfect themselves spiritually, if they choose to.

Another aspect of the right to life is the right to proper living conditions. Even when we observe the strictly physical life, we notice that this physical life requires certain life sustaining conditions if it is to develop in a healthy manner. It is absurd to respect the right of a human being to live, and yet not allow him the necessary conditions for a healthy life. All human beings have the right for these necessary conditions that make a healthy existence possible. Analyzing the situation today, we can see that this human right is violated on a massive scale: the pollution of the atmosphere which makes the air almost unfit to breathe in certain areas of the planet, thus generating many diseases; the pollution of water and the subsequent use of toxic methods to purify water for drinking; the widespread use of chemical additives by the food industry, some of which having negative effects upon human health (according to certain studies); the use of genetic manipulation in farming, which raises many questions and debates about the possible negative outcome upon consumers of those genetically manipulated products.

It is necessary to raise awareness of this fundamental human right, so that humanity will cease to carelessly poison itself for financial reasons.

The right to liberty and freedom from slavery:

This is a core issue of the subject of human rights. Most people in the west believe that they are free and that slavery is a thing of the past. Yet this affirmation depends on the way we define freedom. What is a free man? Can a person addicted to drugs be considered free? According to the current legal definition, as well as the usual interpretation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such a person is free. Yet this person does not manifest the qualities of a free person, on the contrary, his life is completely dependent upon the drug supply, all his decisions and actions are limited and conditioned by the need for the drug, acting at times as though he has little free choice. In fact, these are manifestations of being held in servitude, and such a person is a slave of the drug - we can say that the drug owns him. Today there are all kinds of addictions of which we are not aware, but they are actually very similar in their effects to the example of drug addiction. These include being dependent on a person; dependent on a certain situation, like having a job or having financial security; dependent on a status, like having a certain role; dependent on a certain image of self, like maintaining a certain public image, or fitting into a false self image – looking a certain way, having a certain body weight, projecting an image of success or of confidence; or dependent on a certain object, such as money, material property etc. All these are dependencies on things which are outside our selves and which are therefore limiting very much our free choice in our lives. Because of this, all these dependencies are in fact things which take away our freedom and make us their slaves.

The tendency of many human beings these days to become addicted to external aspects is often used by other human beings in order to subjugate those persons under their control, making them their slaves, in fact. This process happens due to unawareness and lack of understanding of its implications both of those who are being used and those who are taking advantage of them.

Today there are only few forms of physical slavery left in the world, where someone owns the body of another person. But there are other modern forms of slavery: economical, political and media slavery. These new forms of slavery are not based on owning the physical bodies of other persons, but are based on owning their desires, fears, hopes, and beliefs. These new forms of slavery can control and subjugate people by owning elements which those persons consider to be necessary for themselves, like owning a politician’s public image - since they created it through the media and they can destroy it - or owning someone’s basic resources for existence - like controlling the supply of food and water to a certain area, or controlling the job market. These forms of slavery exert the same power and limitations over those subjugated by them as the “traditional” forms of slavery, yet they are not at all covered by the current definitions of human rights or laws.

An example for enslaving a person through owning his fears is the way in which Hitler convinced the Germans to give up their personal freedom to him. Hitler manipulated the German people’s fears of a subversive Jewish-communist terrorist threat, using those fears, with the help of the media, to make them give up their liberties and give him total power for the sake of the security of the state and society. Through their fears, which he controlled and manipulated, Hitler subjugated the Germans to his will. It is important to note that the Germans believed vehemently that they were doing this out of their own free will; they did not realize that they were being manipulated. Their slavery was such that they themselves did not realize it. This shocking and well-known example shows mechanisms of manipulation and enslavement which are common to many of the modern forms of slavery. Through a similar use of fears, people can be manipulated politically, in one way or another. Through acting upon their desires persons can be manipulated into becoming consumers of products, through the manipulation of their attachment to a certain self image they can be brainwashed to adopt new ideas, trends, lifestyles and values. These forms of slavery take advantage of the weaknesses of people, using the things that they are dependent upon in order to take away their free will, imprisoning them with an invisible chain without them realizing it.

These forms of slavery go unchecked, without any law being issued against them, and without any intervention of human rights organizations because there is very little attention and awareness dedicated to this issue. It is necessary to deal with these forms of slavery, which are so widespread today. Indeed, this subject is difficult to handle, but that should not deter us from lucidly approaching it, for it is essential to the basic human rights of so many people today.

The problem arises due to ignorance regarding the inner human nature and the mechanisms that are animating our being. Ignorance is the source of all forms of slavery. No real freedom is possible as long as ignorance exists. It is ignorance which makes people unaware of their true nature, which is self sustaining, and makes them believe that they are dependent upon external aspects, believing that they need these aspects in order to be happy, when in fact happiness can only come from within. It is ignorance about their true nature which makes people identify with their desires and fears, with their physical bodies and with the objects of their attachment, to which they then become addicted. It is the ignorance about their true spiritual identity that makes people believe that they are what they own – and this is the root of materialism and one of the foundations of the illusion of the ego. It is this wrong identification with these external elements which makes people become completely controlled by them, since they do not realize that they are in reality something different – a spiritual, conscious being. They cease to be human beings who have a desire, and become a desire which has a human being. The property they own ends up owning them, and they transform from owners to slaves.

Ignorance is dispelled through understanding and awareness, and these can be cultivated through education. The only way to protect people is to educate them so that they cannot be dependent on anything from the outside, not be addicted to certain exterior aspects, and not easily fall into all kinds of blinding temptations. In this respect we can say that spiritual training and education can truly prepare people for this realization, since it helps one become aware of his true nature and identity, not by telling him, but through his own direct and personal experience.

The right to privacy:

These days this human right is being violated on a massive scale. In the west, the privacy of almost everybody is violated on a day-to-day basis. The violation of privacy is mostly done by different means of surveillance which are nowadays mainly being used for security reasons. The most widespread of these means of surveillance is the use of surveillance cameras, and the monitoring and recording of phone conversations. In the western countries, surveillance cameras cover almost every meter of public places. Also in the west, all telephone conversations are monitored, searched for key-words, and are all recorded and stored for long periods. Alongside these measures, there are also other measures such as monitoring of activities on the internet, of financial activities in bank accounts and other measures. These measures, which are all clear violations of the right to privacy, are usually explained as necessary measures for preventing crime, and most of all – as being part of “the war on terror”.

People in the west have accepted with hardly any opposition these violations of their right to privacy as being necessary measures which are vital for assuring their security. This voluntary giving up of our own human rights happens because of two elements: not realizing the importance and the logic of this right, and mistakenly believing that these measures achieve their stated goal – in contradiction to the facts.

People who do not understand the importance of their right to privacy tend to accept the intrusion of the systems of surveillance into their lives, saying that they have nothing to hide. In reality, the problem does not have anything to do with having something to hide. It is a problem of interference. To understand this issue better, we need to consider the scientific discoveries of the last few decades. Nowadays it is known in physics that perception alters and interferes with the object that is being perceived. This has far-reaching ramifications upon our understanding of human interaction. A direct and physical or verbal interaction is not the only possible form of interaction between human beings. When a person observes another person, a complex process of mutual influence appears between the two persons, even if one of them is not aware that he is being observed. The one that is observing an event is already influencing that event, in ways that are directly related to the attitude that that person has upon the observed. By including in our awareness these ways of interacting with the reality, the issue with surveillance turns into a problem of interference. The multitude of surveillance measures pointing towards us all exert a certain influence upon us, but which is completely unsuspected by us. Since these means of observation are there to search for terrorists and criminals, we can say, in other words, that they are observing with suspicion. Considering this attitude of suspicion and mistrust, we can assume that the influence that these means have upon us is quite negative. Keep in mind that this influence, which considers us to be a possible terrorist threat, manifests even in certain very intimate moments, such as when we speak on the phone with a person whom we love, charging that moment with a negative influence, and breaking up the harmony. The interference of surveillance in the life of the surveilled has to become a subject of our awareness and debate in the new paradigm that is available nowadays.

These days resolutions have even been passed to conduct surveillance in all places of worship, considered to be necessary for security reasons. This is a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of religion, and spirituality as a part of it. This interference makes spiritual and religious practices almost impossible, for various reasons. People come to places of worship to pray or conduct other religious and spiritual practices in unison with other human beings who have the same aspirations. The fact that many people manifest the same attitude of love, aspiration, faith, compassion or serenity all at the same time and place, through the effect of unison, amplifies these beneficial attitudes very much. This is the reason why people gather together to conduct religious and spiritual practices. It is enough that one person there has a negative attitude for this process to be hindered. The presence of surveillance cameras in that place will charge it with their influence of suspicion and fear, and will make the process of beneficial unison collapse, making the gathering almost pointless. Furthermore, in all religions and spiritual traditions the necessity for secrecy regarding certain esoteric elements and practices is emphasized. Certain elements which are considered to be sacred should not be discussed with those who are skeptical because they will not appreciate them and that will make those elements somehow lose their charm and power. This effect is similar to what happens when a poet, for instance, upon writing a piece which is very special and emotionally charged for him, shows the poem to another person who, because of his own limitations, doesn’t appreciate the poem; this can make the poet feel empty and as though that piece of his art had been drained of all the magic that was in it. It is this notion, of keeping the spiritual secret, which Jesus referred to when he said: “do not throw pearls to the pigs.”

Another reason for keeping some spiritual elements secret is to protect those who are not initiated. Sometimes, information which is revealed at the wrong time, or when someone is not ready for it, can be harmful for the one who receivesit. For these reasons, the spiritual “privacy” is a part of the spiritual path itself, and it is a necessity, not an option. The use of the means of surveillance in places of religious and spiritual worship is clearly a violation of the need for spiritual secrecy. Therefore, it is clear that interfering with surveillance cameras within places of spiritual worship and practice, is a violation of the right to privacy and the right to religious – and spiritual – freedom.

It is also an error to think that all these means of surveillance are necessary or even useful for the purpose of stopping terrorism and crime. Even though electronic surveillance is used at a large scale in the west, it has still not been able to stop terrorism, and terror attacks still occasionally take place. If the surveillance net is already so tight, how is it that terrorism is still possible in the west? It appears that the means of observation are not efficient in stopping those who are intent on carrying out such attacks.

The security measures even seem to have an effect which is opposite to the one that they are meant to have. All the measures used to fight terrorism have only increased people’s fear, making them feel continuously threatened – this fear is precisely the definition and the aim of terrorism. So these measures, which have increased the feelings of insecurity, have played into the hands of the terrorists.

There is also another interesting process going on. There exists a universal law of nature called “the law of resonance”. This law has far-reaching applications in our lives today, but we shall, in this moment, only explain its relevance to this situation. One effect of this principle is that what you think, say or do, you also attract back to you. Once you are on a certain frequency, you attract into your life events and phenomena which have as their characteristic that same frequency. Therefore, if we are constantly talking about terror, thinking about it, fearing it, fighting it – it doesn’t matter if you do it or try to avoid it, both will attract that thing towards you – then we are only attracting more and more terror into our reality. The popular wisdom says: “what you fear is what will happen to you.”

Considering the effect that the attitude of the observer has upon the observed, and taking into account the law of resonance, we can expect that massive surveillance upon the population, aimed at fighting crime, will only attract the correspondent behavior from the one who is surveilled and, in most cases, will attract more crimes. The increase of crime and terror will then provoke even more severe measures of security, which in time will attract even more crime and terror – it is a vicious cycle spiraling out of control – the law of resonance at work. Indeed, we can observe that this is what has happened in the case of the USA. After the Oklahoma City bombing, security measures were drastically tightened across America, so as to assure that such an attack could not be repeated. Still, only a few years later came the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York. All the intensified security and surveillance measures, forming a tight net, proved to be completely useless in preventing this attack. No warning was given to this event, even though it involved a large number of culprits who prepared for a long time on American soil. If the security measures used could not even give a slight warning about this attack, it is hard to comprehend why anyone will believe that they could stop other terrorists. In fact, this attack in New York was on a much bigger scale than the one in Oklahoma City. This intensification of the scale of terrorist activity fits perfectly with the above explained effect of the law of resonance – increased measures of security, motivated by and propagating fear of terrorism, only attracting, through specific resonance, increased terrorism.

Considering these perspectives, we affirm that the general population has renounced its human rights to privacy, believing that it is necessary for achieving security, but in fact creating only more fear, terror and insecurity. In reality, the so-called security measures, involving the massive electronic surveillance of the civilian population, do not create security because those who really want to commit crimes find ways to surpass these measures, and even if they were caught, others would take their place, attracted by our fear. Long before we would able to prevent these crimes, we would have created a prison for all the others.

Let us also not forget that the way Hitler convinced the Germans to give him all the power and to go to war was the ghost of terrorism. Also all the other tyrants of the 20^th century acted in exactly the same manner and with the same arguments. Of course, every time they said that they are aware of the abuses done in the past in the name of combating terror but now it is different, now it is necessary to act like that! History proved them wrong every time and not only because they were the wrong persons but also because the principle to respond to terror with war is completely wrong. The principle of “attraction” (or the law of resonance) will attract only more terror and war. As the popular wisdom says: “he who sows wind will reap storm!” This principle of resonance works for actions on the social level as well as in our individual lives.

Must we repeat our mistakes again and again? A proper understanding of the law of resonance offers us the possibility to recognize the mistake of our usual way of reasoning, and to change the course of events from confrontation to peace, from forced control to freedom, and from fear to love. Observing the state of affairs, we can affirm that this is not a possibility, this is a necessity! Based on the new laws provided by modern physics, all the previous statements are not philosophy but the pillars of a new paradigm for our future society that will have to face bigger challenges than this.

The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections. Everybody has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives:

This basic human right, which is at the very core of the democratic structure of western society, deserves to be the subject of closer examination. The phrase “freely chosen representatives” implies that the people are electing them using their free choice. It is impossible to talk about free choice without freedom of thought, and as we have demonstrated when we discussed that subject, freedom of thought is often violated on a massive scale these days. In order to choose freely, a person needs to know how to choose without being influenced by external aspects. There is also no preparation within the educational system for using our free choice and to know on what to consciously and lucidly base our decisions. It is a well known fact that most people do not base their choices on the character, abilities and opinions of a candidate, but are more influenced by other conditions, often subconsciously: the candidates external appearance, his public image, his popularity, the opinions of the friends of the person who has to choose, loyalty to a certain group or party, and different kinds of imaginary ideas and representations which are being projected on the candidate. A person who chooses in this way is not choosing freely. Free choice is a right with which we are all born, but if we do not use it, we lose it. In order to be able to use the capacity of free choice that we have, one must know how to choose – this is the role of the education system.

Human beings are naturally endowed with capacities far beyond the ones we use these days. To take only one of them: we can intuitively perceive when someone is lying to us and from the perspective of free choice in electing governmental representatives we can indeed choose freely if we can tell when a candidate is honest and when he is lying. Cultivating these abilities in the majority of people will thus bring the real freedom of choosing in an election. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that these human abilities were not encouraged and developed by present day society. A proper system of education will aim to develop in the human beings their potential ability to exercise free choice, will help them learn how to choose, will train them through practical experience in the use of free choice by giving them the opportunities to choose in real situations and to later become aware of the consequences of the choices they made – trial and error, and will encourage the development of latent human capacities, like intuitively knowing when someone is lying, which will give the person the tools for forming a lucid perception upon the reality. This transformation of the educational system is necessary for the realization of this human right.

Another important obstacle for free thought, and consequently for the ability to choose freely, is the fact that to freely choose means that one first has the possibility to know, and for that people depend on the information channels which are the media. As we have demonstrated when we talked about freedom of thought, the image of reality which reaches us is filtered by the media. Since those who work in the media and are reporting the events are people like everyone else, they also have a personal and limited perspective of the reality. How you see the reality is the reality – for the one who sees, therefore, what is actually being reported is not the actual reality, but someone else’s personal perception of the reality. Since most journalists, just like most people today, are ignorantly mistaking their limited and partial view of reality to be reality itself, and because they too are easily manipulated in many ways, as we have explained when we discussed the topic of freedom from servitude and slavery, they are propagating only their version of reality as the whole and single reality, drowning out any other vision upon the events and subjects. In this way, the information we receive, and therefore the view we shape upon reality and the issues at hand, are not objective and are conditioned and modeled by the unreliable media. We do not base our choices upon reality itself, but rather upon what is said by the media, and therefore our choices are conditioned by the media. Understanding this evident reality, it is clear that we cannot talk about true free choice!

The solution to this issue, as was explained when we discussed the freedom of speech and of thought, has to involve special preparations for those who work in the media, so as to prepare them for the serious moral responsibilities that they have, making them aware of the consequences of their actions and helping them to form a more lucid perspective of reality. A proper general education system will also have the effect that the persons who will be attracted to work in the media would be of a higher level of consciousness and morality, and will therefore be better equipped for dealing with their responsibilities for society.

When we are talking, in connection with this human right, about “the will of the people” and “freely chosen representatives” we are talking, in fact, about free choice and free will. Free will is a fundamental human right, and free choice is an outcome of that. Free will is a phrase often used but rarely understood. All human beings are inherently endowed with free will, as a potentiality, but very few human beings are able to truly experience it and apply it. In order to understand this fundamental human right – the right for free will, we shall now offer an in-depth explanation of the notions of will, free will and the means necessary to exercise our right to a free will.

It is a well known fact that the will of a person is just a sum of all the exterior influences that are compiled by the individual ego, as long as that person has not realized the truth within, the Supreme True Identity that is our inner reality, the witness of the whole existence. This ultimate identity of the human being is not identical with the body nor with the other energetic and psychic structures; it is invariant to the passing of time. The same “I” we experienced when we were little, we experience when we are grown up. The body meanwhile suffered dramatic transformations, but there is something in us that was always the same.

This “zero level” of our personality, as it is called in transpersonal psychology, our Supreme Self, as it is called in spirituality, is the foundation of our free will. When we forget who we are, in reality we start to rely on the exterior world and we try to find out who we are there, defining ourselves with the possessions we have, the actions we do, the titles we achieve and so on. Proceeding in such a manner, we become dependent upon exterior aspects and this way we lose our free will. Then, indeed, the “will” we are left with is just the sum of all the exterior influences – a mechanical will, lacking free choice. To have a free will one has to realize, at least partially, this inner reality, the true “I”. In absence of that we are always subjected to another manipulation that we will consider as our own choice. This achievement implies spiritual training and generally represents spiritual transformation and growth.

On the basis of this understanding of the notion of free will, which is our birthright, we affirm that for this human right to be respected and fulfilled, and for the realization of the promise and ideal which is at the foundation of our governing system, there is a need for a system of education which also includes spiritual education. Only on the basis of spiritual education and spiritual practice can we talk about free will!

In conclusion:

All human rights and the perspectives regarding them, which have been discussed in this document, point to one fundamental right of the human being: the right to know the truth. This is not to be understood as the right to be told the truth by someone else, but as the right to know the truth through one’s own direct and personal experience. This right includes also the right of every person to actively strive and search for a better understanding and knowledge of the truth in any way that they see fit, as long as they do not violate the same right of other human beings as they have been explained in this document. We do not talk here only about worldly truths, which are relative, but mostly about the Truth about the true nature and identity of Man, the universe, Man’s place in the universe and his relationship with everything in it.

Only through the realization of the truth can a person be truly free, since truth is the end of ignorance, which is the source of all our bondage. Through the realization in one’s one being of the truth, all the other human rights become easily fulfilled. In their turn, all the other human rights facilitate and make possible the inner quest for the Truth, in a person’s own being or at the level of the entire society.

Deeply understanding the point of view presented in this document, we can realize that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 is now less accurate, since it no longer corresponds to the growing field of our awareness about human existence, humanity’s challenges, needs and rights. The wider and more profound awareness we have today about human existence requires a new vision upon the fundamental human rights, which should be anchored and manifested through the means of a new declaration regarding human rights.