Seven Stages of Revolution

September 11, 1994

Q: Please elaborate on the seven stages of physical revolution.

There are three types of revolution. Those in the physical stratum that alter the physical operations of the society, those in the psychic stratum, and those in the spiritual stratum. Of the various forms of revolution, it is physical revolution which alters the actual operation of the society. Through physical revolution, governing policies and operations are changed. Through psychic revolution, the thinking of people is modified so that the people will be drawn to establish for themselves a more enlightened society. But there is one difficulty with psychic revolution. That is, you cannot change a highly static force that is governed by inertia and tamaguna with psychic revolution. For this, physical revolution is required.

Now, if one is planning to undertake revolutionary action to alter the course of the society towards a more Dharmic path in which the physical, psychic and spiritual needs of the people may be expressed and the innate longings of the human heart uncovered and fulfilled, then you must be willing to adapt not only psychic techniques altering the ideas which people hold, but actual physical programs which will assist people in their development and dislodge the static and oppressive forces within the society. If the society is only amiss in its thinking, having reached the first stage of degenerative process or loss of balance, then psychic revolution alone will be sufficient. But if the second or third stage has been reached, only physical revolution will change the direction and course of degeneration as the imbalance has gone from the psychic to the physical and is prevalent within the actions taken by the collective body. In this situation, physical revolution will be required.

Now, if one is to undertake such a revolution, what must be done? The all around society must be enhanced in a systematic fashion. There cannot be random and haphazard approaches. If one leader is replaced with another, but the fundamental approach taken by the leadership is not changed, then the revolution is useless. It is a waste of time and effort, and often of lives, to no purpose whatsoever. This type of revolution, which is often violently fought, frequently yields little success.

Now, if a society is to be reconstructed, brought back to health, there are several steps which must be taken. First of all, the minds of people must be educated. There must be effort to reach the educators and students so that the coming generations have a more balanced mental view and will implement, in their time, a more Dharmic society. Now, in order to do this, there must be intellectual freedom. If there is not, there is no opportunity to influence the thinking of those young people and bring them to a new and better view of life. So intellectual freedom must be achieved and effort must be placed on fighting those forces which repress and inhibit the mental expansion of people in the society.

Let us say there is one country in which there is a degenerative society and no one can fathom the pathway to Dharma. Now if one wishes to change the situation, one must educate the people, and in particular the students - the young people who will form their ideas and then lead society in their own time. Also, one must lead others to new and more advanced patterns of thought through use of writing, art, literature, poetry, and debate. If there are suppressive forces, one must organize and rally against these suppressive factors in whatever fashion is effective, be it rally and march or letters to those in authority. Once this is done, there is a third approach which must be taken: that is, to initiate all who are willing to spiritual practice, to spiritual discipline. Let the path to God be open to all. All forces which inhibit this must be fought in whatever manner is most effective, be it debate or protest or revolution, so that the society is given physical, mental and spiritual avenues to rebuild itself. Wherever those pathways are blocked, there must be concrete action to move away the vestiges of dogma and inertia and to build a healthy and whole society.

So now, what are the stages in this fight to rebuild the society? In the first stage, the students, the young people are educated, are given opportunity for expansion in their ideas. In the second stage, the forces which inhibit intellectual freedom are fought. In the third stage those forces inhibiting spiritual freedom are fought and in the fourth stage, the general attitude or prevalent ideas dominating the society are challenged so that those that are true in their path speak out openly, not only against direct suppression but against faulty concepts and faulty practices which have maintained the corruption or degeneration. And in the fifth stage, the same is done for all the practices which have suppressed the spiritual, mental and physical upliftment of ordinary people. The true Dharma of human beings is fought for in all spheres in the fifth stage. In the sixth stage, the leadership of the society is altered and by the very momentum which has already been built, there becomes a readiness within the society for new leadership. The people cry out for it, the intellectual stage is set, the all-around society has evolved and can no longer tolerate old practices, old ideas which are degenerative, and thus new leadership is forced to come to power which reflects the new ideas, the new thinking, the feelings and attitudes of the people which have been restored through intellectual freedom, education and spiritual discipline to a healthy state. At this point, the corruption in leadership will no longer be tolerated, and new leaders will rise reflecting the thoughts of the people. Then when this occurs, this new order must be established and an ever vigilant fight maintained to preserve Dharma and dislodge corruption, delusion, and policies reflecting the greed and avarice of leaders. In the seventh stage, through this vigilance, a healthy society may be maintained for many years without loss of balance between all of the factors in the society and the true nature of human life. In this way, through a systematic approach, a society may be changed and an unhealthy degenerating culture brought back to health and life.

You see, it is a systematic approach. Violent revolution is normally unsystematic and leads only to the replacement of one corrupt government with another just as corrupt. It can never stop the degeneration of a society. For this, there must be all-around revolution which changes the spiritual awareness, the intellectual understanding and the operation of the society. If this is done, then a true revolution will have occurred. Does it explain the concept?