Throughout centuries of fear, exploitation and warfare, human beings have endured terrible injuries and continual disillusionment. More than any other, however, the 20th century wrought wounds and suffering of staggering enormity. By the time the convulsions ceased, the aptly named judicial category “crimes against humanity” had left an indelible mark on the collective psyche of our species as a dark and toxic force swept across the world, wrecking and ruining indiscriminately.
Then came the great turning of November 9, 1989 – the collapse of the notorious Berlin Wall, followed by the dissolution of the world’s most entrenched totalitarian system. We stood at the brink of something remarkable – a new beginning promising a transformed way of life.
Although the process was rudely interrupted on September 11, 2001, a people impregnated with the power of a new idea cannot for long be prevented from birthing it. This is why the cry for freedom and dignity, equality and justice continues to be heard around the globe. A time for growth and progress yearns to manifest.
There must be a better way, a saner way, a more just and compassionate way for the human race to walk on Earth. In fact, we are reminded daily that our very existence depends on finding that path, for the way of life we espouse is no longer sustainable; the world we have created is in desperate need of repair and renewal.
It is for that reason, I believe, that a new vision of who we are as humans has been knocking with increasing stridency at the gates of our consciousness. Life itself is urging us in multifarious ways to waken from our trance and begin intentionally, pro-actively, to change our ways and world.
As we consider the perplexing problems of our day – unprecedented political polarization, financial and economic turmoil, environmental degradation, glaring injustices and perpetual war – the question arises: why not use those predicaments to convert formidable challenges into teachable moments that can prepare humankind for change and growth?
Envisioning a New World is the response to this question. Utilizing a holistic perspective and operating from a historical context, it examines both the acute and chronic conditions afflicting our species, and beyond focusing on symptoms, explores causes. As will become apparent, many of them can be located in the constricted state of the human heart. The end result of this narrowing of the center of generosity and compassion has been a human narrative of debilitating disempowerment and brutal injustices.
Accordingly, a variety of agents responsible for the inflamed state of the human condition are identified and recommendations made for reducing tensions caused by misunderstanding and fear. We examine, for instance, why dictatorial regimes were heroically overthrown throughout history only to be replaced by ever more brutal ones until the worst form of tyranny, totalitarianism, ensnared multitudes in the 20th century.
Despite these calamities, the painful truth is that humankind can today still be driven to the edge of the abyss by sloganeers and warmongers. Drawing upon years of experiences and tireless observations, I attempt to shed light on the causes of this troubling irony, and suggest ways of evolving beyond it.
Offered also are a navigational chart and inner anchor as humanity travels the unreliable seas of materialism, while subject to the storms of military threats. For sadly, governments are even now stockpiling weapons that mass-destroy, fear still dominates, and humans continue to think in terms of us versus them. The danger to our existence has, in effect, escalated in recent years. We might even say that humanity has arrived at a crossroads and is now confronted by a stark choice: shall the next phase of our destiny be a common, planetary grave or an awakening to life’s oneness?
The former, nearly unthinkable possibility makes politics in particular a critical subject for evaluation. Not surprising, the diagnosis in view of the present milieu is alarming: polluted by narrow self-interests, arrogance of power, deceit and hypocrisy, the body politic today is dangerously diseased. I strongly believe there is only one effective agent, both for cleansing and healing, and that is a large dose of genuine spirituality. This in contrast to the existing entanglement of politics and organized religion, which has only served to worsen the situation.
Applied spirituality, with its moral clarity, could begin to restore responsibility, commitment and a sense of service. This in turn would constrain the forces of division and dominance, thus opening the path to a less polarized and noxious way of governing. A new and transformed political attitude, dedicated to the Common Good, could then emerge.
Although it is one indivisible whole, life always comes in pairs, in interrelated twos. We separate and compartmentalize them at our peril. Yet, such a tendency has been the modus operandi throughout much of history: placing necessary opposites in opposition. This is how the indispensable duality of life becomes life-derailing dualism, as elements designed to be partners and fulfillment to each other, are instead made into competitors and foes.
It is becoming ever more clear that humanity cannot reach a more enlightened state unless we cease our hostility toward that which is different, thereby ensuring that the oneness of life is not diluted into debilitating sameness, or condemned to sterility.
Tragically, dualism has fractured the very heart of humanity, to the point that healing has become critical; a healing not so much of a physical but a spiritual nature. Spiritual healing diminishes fear, which in turn will allow love and compassion to flow more freely. Less fear also means greater clarity in perceiving the oneness of life underlying all diversity. Awakening to that oneness opens infinite possibilities for creating a new way of life, a new world.
However, to advance that new creation, neither political change nor spiritual transformation alone is sufficient. Instead, both branches need to be open to each other in an effort to find an alternative to politics divorced from spirituality on one hand, and spirituality disassociated from worldly concerns on the other.