The World Needs A New Spirituality In The New Global Village - Part 2
The World needs a new Spirituality to understand better Who and What we are Consider when President George W Bush declared war on Iraq and followed up by inferring that "God is on our side".
I found myself saying - "Wait a minute! We said this a thousand years ago during the Crusades and have continued to say it with monotonous regularity right into the 21st century.
" And where has it got us over all those centuries? Absolutely nowhere as a civilization I would beg to suggest.
Suppose we were able to "beam down" into the present a Crusading Knight of 1000 years ago - (chain mail and all!) - what might his reaction be to civilization now? I think he would be completely speechless when confronted by such things as a microwave cooker and seeing food cook without fire - to say nothing of cars, light bulbs and space travel - just a few of our many spectacular achievements in a relatively short space of time.
If we were then to say to him "We're going to war with some Muslims over the water, fancy helping out?" I'm sure his reaction would be enthusiastic approval and support.
The point I am making is that in spite of stratospheric advances in our technologies and all that we surround ourselves with, we seem totally incapable of achieving a similar development in the manner in which we interact as a species.
Indeed, with the genocides in Kosovo and Rwanda we seem more barbaric now than when we lived in caves.
I would go further and suggest that the atom bomb is no more than a sophisticated 21st century "club" - and the caveman's club was a lot more environmentally friendly! Based upon bygone values and vested interests, caused by an inability to properly coordinate our decision making functions of logic and intuition, we continue to use outdated "labels" with which we identify each other - Black - White - Man - Woman - Jew - Gentile - Muslim - Pagan - Shaman - Atheist etc.
Interacting within limiting beliefs which accompany these labels and create judgmental opinion, we continuously leap into action and reaction with each other which usually results in violence.
Instead of seeking to understand we seek to control, because each label believes it has exclusive rights.
This exclusivity demands "control" of a water hole, "ownership" of property, (be it a field, country or human being), acknowledgment of the "one and only" True God .
.
.
and so on.
In so doing we build "pyramids of power" which provide anguish and torment for those at the bottom, and supposed increasing levels of personal security and comfort as we move higher up the pyramid.
At the heart of the problem lies a fear based upon our feelings of separateness and detachment from each other, this planet and the Universe as a whole.
We often manipulate this fear to enhance our ability to control each other, resulting in a collective suppression of our ability to interact positively and evolve to higher levels of human achievement.
In his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" Adam Smith refers on many occasions to the social ethic of "natural" liberty provided by the ability for markets to operate freely to assist in raising levels of human achievement.
Reviewers have found it difficult to decipher the real meaning of his use of the word "natural" in this context.
I would argue that in our most "natural" state we are only able to function fully by efficiently using both our intuitive and logical senses.
In this 21st century the present structure of society is dominated by logic, as evidenced with our increasing measurement of life by financial criteria, and the slow erosion of spiritual or intuitive values with which to balance and temper this unnatural state of affairs.
Logic does not deal in grey areas and results in the separation of all aspects of life into "black" and "white".
Separation can quickly become exclusivity, and provide the foundation for intolerance and conflict, or abuse of each other and our surroundings.
This unbalanced situation has been the cornerstone of what traditionally we believe in, and which directs the values we place upon all aspects of our lives.
What we have constructed, be it institutions, finance, religion or science does not have to change in what we ask them to achieve.
However the manner in which we pursue these activities is driven by outdated beliefs which have to change if we are to survive as a civilization into the next century and beyond.
I no longer believe that we are separate from each other or any other facet of this wonderful Universe.
Indeed I am convinced through my own experiences of life that we are an intrinsic part of a Universal Intelligence operating in a "living and working" universe that has purpose.
By bringing together the wisdoms contained in Science, Religion and Psychology, a picture can be painted of a Universe in action - what fuels it, how it communicates and what it is seeking to achieve - through an abundance of clues that are provided to help us understand better what we and life are all about.
The clues are there, it is simply up to us to review our traditional beliefs as to who and what we are and in so doing realize that we are a part of a "living and working" universe.
Copyright John Coombes 2007
I found myself saying - "Wait a minute! We said this a thousand years ago during the Crusades and have continued to say it with monotonous regularity right into the 21st century.
" And where has it got us over all those centuries? Absolutely nowhere as a civilization I would beg to suggest.
Suppose we were able to "beam down" into the present a Crusading Knight of 1000 years ago - (chain mail and all!) - what might his reaction be to civilization now? I think he would be completely speechless when confronted by such things as a microwave cooker and seeing food cook without fire - to say nothing of cars, light bulbs and space travel - just a few of our many spectacular achievements in a relatively short space of time.
If we were then to say to him "We're going to war with some Muslims over the water, fancy helping out?" I'm sure his reaction would be enthusiastic approval and support.
The point I am making is that in spite of stratospheric advances in our technologies and all that we surround ourselves with, we seem totally incapable of achieving a similar development in the manner in which we interact as a species.
Indeed, with the genocides in Kosovo and Rwanda we seem more barbaric now than when we lived in caves.
I would go further and suggest that the atom bomb is no more than a sophisticated 21st century "club" - and the caveman's club was a lot more environmentally friendly! Based upon bygone values and vested interests, caused by an inability to properly coordinate our decision making functions of logic and intuition, we continue to use outdated "labels" with which we identify each other - Black - White - Man - Woman - Jew - Gentile - Muslim - Pagan - Shaman - Atheist etc.
Interacting within limiting beliefs which accompany these labels and create judgmental opinion, we continuously leap into action and reaction with each other which usually results in violence.
Instead of seeking to understand we seek to control, because each label believes it has exclusive rights.
This exclusivity demands "control" of a water hole, "ownership" of property, (be it a field, country or human being), acknowledgment of the "one and only" True God .
.
.
and so on.
In so doing we build "pyramids of power" which provide anguish and torment for those at the bottom, and supposed increasing levels of personal security and comfort as we move higher up the pyramid.
At the heart of the problem lies a fear based upon our feelings of separateness and detachment from each other, this planet and the Universe as a whole.
We often manipulate this fear to enhance our ability to control each other, resulting in a collective suppression of our ability to interact positively and evolve to higher levels of human achievement.
In his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" Adam Smith refers on many occasions to the social ethic of "natural" liberty provided by the ability for markets to operate freely to assist in raising levels of human achievement.
Reviewers have found it difficult to decipher the real meaning of his use of the word "natural" in this context.
I would argue that in our most "natural" state we are only able to function fully by efficiently using both our intuitive and logical senses.
In this 21st century the present structure of society is dominated by logic, as evidenced with our increasing measurement of life by financial criteria, and the slow erosion of spiritual or intuitive values with which to balance and temper this unnatural state of affairs.
Logic does not deal in grey areas and results in the separation of all aspects of life into "black" and "white".
Separation can quickly become exclusivity, and provide the foundation for intolerance and conflict, or abuse of each other and our surroundings.
This unbalanced situation has been the cornerstone of what traditionally we believe in, and which directs the values we place upon all aspects of our lives.
What we have constructed, be it institutions, finance, religion or science does not have to change in what we ask them to achieve.
However the manner in which we pursue these activities is driven by outdated beliefs which have to change if we are to survive as a civilization into the next century and beyond.
I no longer believe that we are separate from each other or any other facet of this wonderful Universe.
Indeed I am convinced through my own experiences of life that we are an intrinsic part of a Universal Intelligence operating in a "living and working" universe that has purpose.
By bringing together the wisdoms contained in Science, Religion and Psychology, a picture can be painted of a Universe in action - what fuels it, how it communicates and what it is seeking to achieve - through an abundance of clues that are provided to help us understand better what we and life are all about.
The clues are there, it is simply up to us to review our traditional beliefs as to who and what we are and in so doing realize that we are a part of a "living and working" universe.
Copyright John Coombes 2007
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