Bhagawati writes about the implications of the race to Moon and Mars undertaken by the USA, Russia and China, and shows Osho’s incredible insight into the status quo.
Planet Earth is a marvel to behold – from satellite footage humans are now familiar with its lovely blue hues, covered by a thin, delicate appearing film of atmosphere that sustains life. Zooming in closer, natural formations, mountains, lakes, rivers, and forests are revealed. It is magical – it is ONE.
On ground level, this stunning humongous vastness has been carved up by 195 countries to date – each of them claiming ownership to a territory that was willfully staked out – sometimes centuries ago, at times, more recently. The ownership of lands was more often than not caused by wars and paid for with the death of millions of soldiers and local populations.
At the time of writing, several wars – it is politically more correct to call them ‘armed conflicts’ – are being waged in the Middle East, Ukraine, and in Africa; violent demonstrations continue to take place elsewhere, in South America, the Far East, even in Europe. Can man ever live without conflicts, without wanting to attack other territories, without desiring the oil, the precious metals, the rare earths, the rich forests other countries claim as theirs? People love to speak of peace but such a miracle age has yet to happen.
Moreover, man continues to reach to the stars, planning to build colonies on Mars, so when Earth has been destroyed by greed, a few chosen ones will be able to live on that planet and start all over again with the same attitude as before because the conquering old mindset remains the same.
In his illuminating Hindi discourses on Krishna and the Mahabharata, Osho speaks about the phenomenon of war, and states that war and peace are two sides of the same coin and man cannot do without either:
In regard to our future we need to have a very clear and decisive mind. Do we want a pacifist world in the future? If so, it will be a lifeless and lackluster world, which is neither desirable nor possible. And no one will accept it either. In fact, life goes its own way. While the doves fly in the sky, the hawks continue to prepare for war, and in the way of fashions, the pacifists will be popular for a while and then the warmongers will take their turn, becoming popular with the people. Really, the two work like partners in a common enterprise.
[…] When men don’t have to fight among themselves, they gather together and begin to fight with nature. It is remarkable that the communities that developed science and technology are the same that are given to fighting wars. It is so because they possess the fighting potential. So when they don’t fight among themselves, they turn their energies towards fighting with nature.
[…] We can develop science only if we fight nature. And if man continues to fight, he will first discover the secrets of this earth by fighting its nature. And then he will discover the secrets of space and other planets by fighting their nature. His adventure, his campaign will never stop.
Furthermore, in a chilling narrative, Osho explains the importance of the Moon for all those living on Earth:
The Moon is going to exert tremendous significance on war in the future. Those who own the Moon will own this Earth, because in the coming war they will set up their missiles on the Moon and conquer this Earth for themselves. This Earth will cease to be the locale for war. The so-called wars that are currently being fought between Vietnam and Cambodia, between India and Pakistan, are nothing more than play-fights to keep the fools busy here. Real war has begun on another plane.
The present race for the Moon has a deeper significance. Its objective is other than what it seems to be. The power that will control the Moon tomorrow will become invulnerable on this Earth; there will be no way to challenge it. They will no longer need to send their planes to different countries to bomb them; this job will be done more easily and quickly from the Moon. They will set up their missiles on the Moon, warheads directed toward the earth – rotating a full circle in its orbit each twenty-four hours. And that is how each country on this Earth will be available, every day, to be bombed from the Moon.
This is the secret of the great competition between the world powers to reach the Moon first. And that is why the world powers are spending enormous amounts of money on the exploration of space.
In comes the latest breaking news this week with Beijing blasting a report by the USA that China and Russia are ‘weaponizing space’. This in light of the fact that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (most likely hardly anybody knows of its existence) signed by the USA, China, Russia and dozens of other countries, bars “weapons of mass destruction from being placed in space and installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body.”
Beijing further insists that “space is not Washington’s ‘private property’.” Hua Chunying, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman is quoted to have aptly said, “I want to make it clear that outer space belongs to all mankind. It is not exclusively owned by any one country and especially not the private property of the US.”
I appreciate the point she made but all of mankind also does not own outer space. It simply exists and by any means, cannot be owned. However, we also know that a Chinese spaceship landed a probe on the previously unexplored far side of the Moon a month ago, allegedly for research. Suddenly a thought of the construction of another Chinese Wall comes to mind…
“For many years,” the spokeswoman further stated, “China, Russia and other countries have been working hard and trying to reach an international legal instrument to fundamentally prevent the weaponization of or an arms race in outer space.”
According to media reports, the DIA report (Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency) – fans fears of US dominance being challenged everywhere, including space. Russia and China “view space as important to modern warfare and view counter-space capabilities as a means to reduce US and allied military effectiveness,” it claims, noting that both countries have done much to boost their capabilities, and “provide their militaries… with enhanced situational awareness, enabling them to monitor, track, and target US and allied forces.”
As an article in RT pointed out, the report does not mention that senior US military leaders have openly discussed the prospect of offensive weapons being delivered into Earth’s orbit. In October 2018, James Mattis, at the time US Secretary of Defense, detailed in a speech that dominance in space is vital for the American way of life and the Pentagon must be prepared for deployment and usage of offensive weapons there, in order to protect US interests… In addition to making US assets in orbit more difficult to destroy and easier to replace, offensive capabilities are under consideration: “We are going to have to be prepared to use offensive weapons in space should someone decide to militarize it and go on the offensive.”
Osho, continuing in the same discourse mentioned above, states:
This contest for space is similar to another historical contest that happened about three hundred years ago when the countries of Europe were rushing towards Asia. Merchant ships of Portugal, Spain, Holland, France and Britain were all sailing towards the countries of Asia – because occupation of Asia had become immensely important for the expansionist powers of Europe. But now it has no importance whatsoever, and so, soon after the Second World War, they left Asia. The people of Asia believe they won their freedom through their nationalist struggles, but it is only a half-truth. The other half of the truth is quite different.
In the context of the modern technology of warfare, the occupation of Asia in the old way has become meaningless; that chapter is closed forever. Now a new struggle for the conquest of lands altogether different and distant from this Earth has begun. Man has raised his sights to the distant stars, to the Moon and Mars and even beyond. Now war will be fought in the vastness of space.
Life is an adventure, an adventure of energy. And people who lag behind in this adventure, for lack of energy and courage, eventually have to die and disappear from the scene. Perhaps we are such a dead people.
In this context also, Krishna’s message has assumed special significance. And it is significant not only for us, but for the whole world. In my view, the West has reached a point where it will, once again, have to wage a decisive war, which of course will not take place on the planet Earth. Even if the contestants belong to this earth, the actual operation of the war will take place elsewhere, either on the Moon or on Mars. Now there is no sense fighting a war on the earth. If it takes place here it will result in the total destruction of both the aggressor and the aggressed. So a great war in the future will be fought and decided somewhere far away from here. And what would be the result?
In a way, the world is facing nearly the same situation India faced during the Mahabharat war.
Indeed, it seems history is about to repeat itself.
Quotes by Osho from Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy, Ch 1, Q 2 (translated from Krishna: Meri Drishti Mein (कृष्ण: मेरी दृष्टि में)
Read the full excerpt War will be fought in the vastness of space
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