Gautama Buddha taught, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” Two millennia later the seventeenth century philosopher Rene Descartes famously said, “I think therefore I am.” Today, humans are connected through extremely powerful digital networks, and their imaginations are influenced by machines. Imagination is the result of a chemical process, say molecular biologists, which happens in the human brain but correlates to the physical world through the transmission and processing of digital signals. We are heading towards a world which may be completely controlled by thinking machines, perhaps more efficiently than humans. It is time to understand our own power before we give it away completely.

In earlier sessions of Parliament, we have delved into concepts of the difference between man and machines, and the biophysics of thought and emotion. The founder of the Global Energy Parliament, His Holiness Jagadguru Swami Isa, said that thought is an electromagnetic wave, which has two ends: electrical and magnetic. The electrical field is the digital end, while magnetic field is the emotional or chemical end.

In last year’s session of parliament, Members passed resolutions that tied this concept of thought and emotion to the inseparability of science and faith. We called for people, institutions and governments around the world to embrace the interconnectivity of science and faith. In the context of warfare erupting all over the world, we need to consider the genesis of violence and cruelty, which is rooted in human thought.

The prevailing culture of the modern world suffers by the loss of our humanity. We are renewing our commitment to understanding thought as the primary catalyst for inner and outer change. A return to humane action will only come about through a new way of understanding ourselves. We need to explore the intersection between the physics of thought and the traditional teachings of ancient cultures to better understand how the power of thought can be harnessed to create a more peaceful, balanced, and sustainable world for all living beings and nature. We require a return to the idea of the ‘humane’ being and to put it in action, which includes a reorientation in local governance, local development as well as national & international relationships.