Love
and kindness are the foundation of human society. When we
lose touch with these emotions society finds itself faced
with problems of enormous proportion.
Advances
made possible by scientific developments have come at a very
high price and often lead to disenchantment in the world around
us. We are currently at a point in the history of humankind
where national, cultural and religious values are crumbling.
The morality and norms associated with them are seen as old
-fashioned and out of date and have been replaced by an egocentric,
almost lazy form of morality.
Humanities existence has always seen far-reaching changes but the majority of
them happened gradually and took centuries. Nowadays, with our technical advancements
change happens much quicker and it is difficult to keep up. Societal problems
are reflected in the inherent meaninglessness found in the contemporary worldview.
These great changes that we experience today touch practically every part of
our lives.
Economic
globalisation, the threat of climate change, the financial
crisis and threat of global recession are problems that we
can no longer solve with tried and true measures. Political
decisions that are currently being made are only dealing with
the symptoms, but are not enough to actually treat the deepseated
causes of these crises.
The majority of today’s problems can be traced to our actions and behaviours,
based on the thoughts, feelings and value-systems of humans. These, in turn,
are characterised by the belief that we experience happiness and fulfilment through
the things that we have and do. The reasons for this can be found in the human
intellect, limited by our own consciousness.
Today’s disillusionment with materialism begs the question of what exactly
it is for which we are striving. Technological advances may have simplified our
ability to control our lives, however by the same token they have also strengthened
the shortcomings of what in some ways is not yet a fully developed consciousness.
Misled by the belief that our inner wellbeing rests upon external conditions,
we have ill-used these new possibilities and poisoned and despoiled our planet.
At the same time, our human society has developed into one driven by ego and
a narcissistic search for sensory satisfaction. Loneliness, greed, fear and apathy
are increasing at alarming rates.
Are we capable of transcending the status of our limited consciousness?
The pressure for spiritual change has never been so great.
With it, the possibilities for a leap in consciousness have
also never been greater.
