GLOBAL MAN AS THE VISION FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM: THE ROLE OF PEACE EDUCATION Surya Nath Prasad, Ph. D. Founder & Editor-in-Chief Peace Education: An International Journal Executive Vice President International Association of Educators for World Peace
Former Visiting Professor The Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee University Republic of Korea 216, Laxminagar, NAGPUR-440 022, Maharashtra, INDIA Phone & Fax; +91-712-2232523, Cell Phone: 0-9823134698 E-mail: peaceeducationsnp@yahoo.com Website:
http://www.worldpeaceeducation.com In my view, only global man can help in building global common society for peace to all mankind. It does not mean that global man will have to go to the different parts of the world to make the global community feasible.
But it is a matter of thinking and understanding that we are the world, and this will mold our behavior leading to the benefit for all humanity. According to Chhandogya Upanishad, a great ancient intellectual book, man is able to declare, “I, indeed, am this
whole world”. And Socrates of ancient Athens declared, “I am not a citizen of Athens, or Greece, but a citizen of the world”. In the opinion of Korean peace thinker Young Seek Choue , “The mankind and the universe , man and man are a part of the whole and
at the same time the whole of parts. Human beings are a part of the universe. However, a human being is a universe itself… Therefore, it is very natural to believe that we co-exist with the universe”. Then there would be no conflict between different races,
religions, nations, and there would be no discrimination of any type. This very idea about man and universe leads us to the definition of man. A great author of a very popular epic Ramayana in India Saint Tulsidas said about “What is man? According to him,
man is made of five elements, viz. earth, air, water, fire and ether. These elements are in scattered form in the universe, but these are in consolidated form in man. This is why man is called miniature universe. These five elements take the form of body,
vitality, mind, intellect and spirit respectively in man. Thus man is made of five sheaths viz. physical, vital, mental, intellectual and spiritual. Therefore, man (male and female both) is everywhere the same. He has the similar basic human needs of food,
cloth, shelter, education and health. He has a common feeling of happiness and sorrow. His basic physical structure, mental make-up, his moral needs and his spiritual aspirations are the same the world over. The cycle of birth, growth, childhood and youth,
of sickness, old age and death, of love and friendship are same for all men. We all share a common origin and a common destiny: the human race is one. Homo Sapiens is everywhere the same. Hence, the world would be based on communication of minds and hearts:
Homo-noia, of one mind. It is man’s urge to overcome the maladies of peace, ignorance and alienation of man from man and to rediscover himself in unity and harmony with his fellow-men that impel his philosophical quest for a universality of human being and
encourage him to be universal or global by practice of altruistic behavior. The aspiration of the individual self to become one with the global self is the reflection of man’s desire to bridge the gulf between what he is and what he can be. His true being
is identical with the global or universal being. Man is nothing but global. He can realize his own self i.e. global, by a process of becoming. All altruists are naturally global. The global men are altruistic towards whole of mankind and all living creatures.
Buddha, Jesus and Saint Francis of Assisi were highly global personalities. They loved even their enemies, their sphere of love was unlimited and their altruism was most creative, wisest and purest type. Several political leaders and social reformers like
Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and great educators like Socrates, Comenius were global men for their movements to the cause of better life of all mankind. Real scientists, poets, dramatists and composers, eminent philosophers, moralists, educators and
inventors and also the great ascetics and hermits, true religious leaders and mystics are also global because of their performance for the benefit of others. It is true that in man lies the whole world but it is also a fact that each one of us must be perpetually
aware about this reality to be global then there would be no chance to be exploited and to be oppressed by any one nor to exploit or oppress anybody. Because nobody except ourselves on the earth can give us freedom, justice and peace. Our own awareness about
self and others including our social, political and economic surroundings can make us free, provide us justice and lead us to peace. For this perpetual conscientization about real self of man i.e. global we need the learning of a new discipline that is Peace
Education. Conscientization, which begins among the oppressed and exploited, is the main goal of peace education. In the beginning, conscientization meant awareness and awakening of the people toward their oppressive and exploitative conditions and situations
to fight their own unjust situations to make them just for all. And above all, it means also the awakening of exploited and exploiters both towards their selves i.e. global. Thus peace education views the world as one whole, a single community, a fellowship
of human beings who have the same instincts of hunger and sex, the same aspirations of generosity and fellow-feeling. So, the basis of peace education is cosmopolitan. Peace education helps people to become human and global. It develops a sense of belonging
to humanity, and strengthens it by connecting man with man. It helps people to feel more for other people, enable them to change the exploitative and oppressive society, and to create a non-violent and just society. Peace education prepares global man and
these global men and women will assure people’s peace. Thus peace education develops in the minds of men and women the large inclusive vision of humanity through understanding and respect for differences and increases global awareness and cooperation in the
ways of peace. It helps in developing a global community which will have in common science and technology, economic arrangements and political forms but it will also help the varied people of the world to develop their local customs, art and literature to
save the new civilization from monotony and destruction. And this global community will be radically different, which will be based on justice, non-oppression, non-exploitation, and non-violence. Therefore, Global Man should be the only Vision for the Third
Millennium for Peace to all mankind everywhere. The ideas expressed in this essay are based on the Special Speech delivered by Prof. Prasad at the Commemoration Ceremony and International Peace Conference for the 17th Anniversary of the UN International Day
of Peace organized by Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.