Prout
The political situation and the economic situation are indivisible. The overall balance of power has shifted to the economic entities from the political entities and there is a subtle takeover.
Q. I see this at one level but then you see the political administration of America seeming to create situations that increase the anarchy in the world in ways that would be, it seems to me, detrimental to the solidifying of control by these multinational corporations.
A. Yes. Yes. Their handle is not tight. There is, of course, resistance and there are multiple desires. The United States has come to the front due to its encouragement by these dominant economic entities and it is generally serving their purposes. To see their purpose clearly, one must take a long-term goal approach but there are certain resistance factors. There is not unity in this but an attempt to take over. It is in very many ways quite successful. Not just with the United States. Your perspective is to look only here. But look at the global situation.
At the same time, like the Wild West, there is a certain amount of chaos because there is no governing entity. You have the dominant entities trying to take control but you also have a certain amount of chaos due to lack of good directive. For this, the only solution is for the world to recognize that it has outgrown its national borders and is one whole sociopolitical economic entity. Though there may be cultural entities within the totality of the socioeconomic political entity of the global society, those cultural entities cannot constitute autonomous existences any longer. The days of nationalism are finished. It is a world society. As with the worldwide web, the world is in an information and communication and travel atmosphere that brings it into one global community and this will only increase.
National political entities have failed to address globalization collectively and instead cling to national pride and autonomy. This has created the present situation. The realism of the situation of globalization must be recognized and addressed. But since no one knows how to address it and no country can take the lead because they will be regarded as bringing world domination, political domination (this certainly isn’t wanted) so economic entities have tried to take the lead. However, the situation must be one of collective realization and collective coming together to address the problem by the national entities. Until this happens, there will be chaos and takeover scenarios by economic entities.
Q. How can this happen when the nation states themselves are largely dominated by economic powers?
A. They are dominated by economic powers plus a sense of protectionism of their individuality, their national identities. Both are present creating barriers to the formation of the political collective, a worldwide governing body but you know the old saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention?" Necessity will cause this shift in approach and it is not so far in the future. The question is, "How long will they bury their heads?" and not realistically, frankly, and collectively face globalization? How successful will be the power coups of economic entities? This will determine how difficult the course may be but there are also other factors as we have said that create roadblocks to the best laid plans of men.
The mother earth is evolving and this is an evolutionary transition for the planet. Human beings are the most evolutionarily developed species and the most prolific. Human beings are about to over-assert their prolific birth rates upon the planet to such an extent that it extinguishes other life and they themselves will not be able to survive. The days of impossibility are soon approaching. When such a situation occurs, it is an evolutionary crisis. The planet earth is evolving. Children just care about themselves, but when they mature, they begin to notice others and begin to work collectively with others, not simply considering only themselves. This is a matter of maturation. The life force of the planet is evolving and maturing and there is only one road to survival. That is the road of collective welfare above individual survival.
As long as nations see themselves as individuals, one to survive above the other, each scrambling to the top of the heap, as long as this is the psychology of the world, there will be difficulty. An old way is dying. A new way is coming. It causes upheaval. There is an evolutionary shift occurring. One evolutionary adaptation will give way to another. In that process there is death, birth and struggle. One may look at the nuts and bolts of economic and political situations and try to work on the little problem but it is important to keep this perspective as well.
There is an evolutionary process on the planet and in that process the sense of individuality is giving way to the sense of collectivity, the wholeness of the life force of the planet, the wholeness of humanity, the wholeness of all species interconnected, the wholeness of the evolutionary flow of this planetary entity. This force of the collective consciousness is growing in dominance and the maturation of planetary evolution is moving in that direction.
In that process, globalization is inherent, integral, and inevitable. It is not merely globalization in the political and economic spheres but it is the development of a collective intelligence, a collective mind, an interdependent coordinated totality of wholeness. The life force of this planet is moving in that direction. It is the only avenue of survival. Naturally, when there is evolutionary change and there are critical situations that develop, there will be some upheaval. It may come in many forms including earth changes and natural disasters.
For you cannot separate out the evolution of humanity, the overpopulation of the planet, the extinction of species, the toxic pollution of the natural environment, the alterations of the ozone, and so forth, you cannot separate all these things out, or work on this problem and not worry about that one for they are all part of the same problem. They are all part of the same evolution. They are all part of the same change. I am confident that humanity will rise above its present position and be able to make this evolutionary shift, but it is a time of change.
In this, the first response in feeling the unsteadiness and the uncertainty is fear. That is why in today’s world, fundamentalism is growing in magnitude and the reactionary mind is trying to clamp down because the first response is to feel fear. The change, the uncertainty of the environment is in everyone. The people’s response is to react, to return to some belief that will make them secure, but this will soon change. When it does change, when it gives way, there will be more realism in looking at the situation and more desperation to find solutions.
There are two things needed to aid this process that can help ease the burden and the amount of damage or disaster that will occur. We are not talking in the far distant future. It is already speeding up as you can tell. Two things are essential to viable solutions because the world today is one on the verge of desperately needing solutions. Solutions will spontaneously take root in the human society. It is almost to that point but not yet. It is a critical time to get out solution-based information. Second, the problems of today are not economic and not political. They are spiritual problems, having to do with the relationship of people to their own inherent nature, to the Mother Earth, to each other, to the humanity of all beings. It has to do with their to perceive their interconnectedness and wholeness with all of life and to find themselves in harmony with the way of nature. They fight Prakrti. They want to live eternally, do not accept death, run from it, run from so many things. They are not living in harmony with the ways of Lady Prakrti and the Mother Nature is not in harmony with them. They are out of tune, have lost their prama, their balance in society. In losing harmony and balance, it becomes a matter of spiritual significance.
Two solutions exist to help humanity. One is to provide solution-based paradigms. The time will soon come when the thirst will be very great and the ideas must be there. Second is to provide spiritual guidance and upliftment for the living beings because today’s problems are rooted in spirituality. They have their manifestations in economic and political spheres. They have their manifestations in the imbalance in the society but the root lies in the spiritual, in the relationship of human beings to dharma, to their own innate nature.
Then too many species are suffering. Human beings are suffering under the heavy hand of materialism. Materialism is a dogma that cannot feed the human heart and the human soul. It only brings a spiritual wasteland for human beings. As long as they suffer under materialism without spiritual light and hope in their lives, there will be so much suffering, feeling isolated and alone, in psychic pain, and the mistreatment of other humans and other species. The spiritual problem is due to over-emphasis of materialism. Even philosophy today is materialistic, teaching that if you have a good feeling in your mind or a bad feeling in your mind, it is due to your brain chemistry, not your heart. This philosophy does not think that your spirit controls your brain chemistry or that your heart will be according to your spirit. Such materialistic psychology is taken for granted in so many ways.
Spirituality helps people connect to their own spirit, their dharma, their heart. Spirituality means upliftment of the human spirit, awareness of the interconnectedness and wholeness of life. When one sees oneself in all beings and all beings in oneself, then one gains a deep reverence for all life that one finds the path of spirit toward wholeness and healing, individually and collectively. Do you have another question?
Q. I have been thinking that as we deepen into this process of transformation on the planet there is just going to be a real need to bring people together so they can work together.
A. Yes. Yes.
Q. Are there any other factors that may have some significance in creating community spirit among people?
Q. I think spirituality doesn’t mean just people have to meditate. People will come together because of the need to share in order to survive and that will generate a spirit of collectivity. From that spirit people will probably come to some type of internal process and be open to deeper spiritual teaching. I think it will occur from different angles.
A. The people must learn to walk with harmony with their inner nature, to walk in harmony with the Mother Earth and the weavings of Prakrti and to be a little humble. It will happen. It will happen. People in need will come together and will learn to help each other and to appreciate all life. Now the human population grows in magnitude, does it not? It does not take any psychic to figure out this cannot go on, isn’t it? The ramifications are very great.
Q. Not only do their numbers increase but their consumption of the resources increases.
A. Yes. Already so many species are going extinct due to domination of human life, isn’t it? Changes will happen by the coming together of people. There is great need for community, for interconnectedness, wholeness, for mutual support. All these are essential. More and more collective psyche will be developing, less and less individualism. Rugged individualism in the West has meant to create personal success and grow a successful country, a successful situation. In the past, this intention was always garnished with certain collective values. The collective values of integrity, honesty and self-discipline have broken down a little. Also, anyone who was very successful was expected to help philanthropically take care of the less fortunate. This also has broken down has it not? So today’s world is much more chaotic, much more self-indulgent. In the acquisition of wealth, one does not feel the need to take care of others. The approach of individual acquisition has served its purpose and the times are changing. No longer will people find their way by rugged individualism that does not support community.
Q. Baba, giving training seminars in this new approach would be helpful to bring forward positive solutions. Are there suggestions you would make as to the teaching methods?
A. There are two things. You must remember this is already a global society, regardless of whether it is recognized or not. That is why it is in a critical situation because forces come in a global way. Use the global information venues to spread ideas.
Q. You mean like the Internet?
A. Yes. There are so many ways, many bulletin boards spread ideas. My second point is when the time is right an idea is more powerful than an army. When teaching, you should go through the philosophy and then you should have exercises. You need workshops where people do exercises to do practical approach. Then they come back together. Let them work on it. Let them receive the information then work on it and come up with applications themselves.
Always engage the people. That is the basic technique of proper teaching. The big problem is not your teaching methodology. Be progressive in your thinking of how to do things. Look at the world today, not the world you grew up in. Change your thinking. It is a different world. Stay with the approach today. There are multi-information networks, multimedia. Use these information networks in spreading knowledge and information. Realize that you need to use bulletin boards, directories, networking and interfacing. It is very networked.
In today’s world there is a grassroots revolution going on. It has no political entity, no economic entity. It is in the people. It is very healthy, strong and global. You are in one small section of the globe. You must make your message global. You can do this by using web resources and bulletin boards, information directories, and so forth. You can establish communications in multiple places, bringing the book and the ideas and then starting from the book, then study groups, and then people who will themselves get on the web and directories and go forward, similar to multi-level marketing for ideas, solution-based ideas. You don’t want to keep your message local. You want it global. It is a global revolution occurring.
You will find some of the biggest movers in this are in out-of-the way places around the planet but once you bring the book to them, establish their study groups, get them going on the Web and do your multi-level marketing. For an idea whose time has come, move it out and it will be absorbed like water by a parched desert.
Q. Presumably, opportunities will come in other situations to meet with administrative leaders and political leaders. What is the best approach?
A. Engage them. You can do a collective seminar together, here. Do not simply present an idea as if you are a distant entity. Become engaged with those people who show the greatest potentiality. Invite them to speak at your seminar. They will help to promote your seminar and then you speak with them, engage them, you form a dynamic team. You share your ideas and you listen to theirs. It is all stimulating this network because there is a revolution occurring, a proper revolution that comes from the base upward and you are feeding this revolution. You are feeding it ideas. All right? That is your work. You are supporting, encouraging, feeding. It is an interwoven web. You must think in today’s world, not in the world you grew up in. You have to think differently.
It is a different world, a world that is moving into globalization, a global information network. In this, a global mind is forming. Humanity is uniting. The ideas poured into the formation of this mind are very important. You know, if you have a town and the town meeting and everyone comes to the town meeting, a certain town identity forms. Now it is a global identity. It is planet Earth. It is a singular entity until it meets other such entities but you see, it is a maturation, an evolution. It is a different world and you must think like the young people today. You must think and act in the world that exists now.
You will not simply sit behind a computer. That is only part. As you grow in your mission you may not sit behind a computer at all but you will see that those resources are being tapped and people are there doing it but your networking will be global. It will be local in your community. It will be in this community but it will be at the same time formation of groups in India, and Pakistan, and China and many places.
This is an interconnected world, you cannot separate and this is not to be, it is not frightening. In so many ways, people are already doing this. Even in the formation of yoga therapy trainings all over the world people are getting same idea, coming together for the training from all parts of the world. When you advertise your training; just like the trainings here, it must be global. You see? Then the people come from all parts, they go back into their parts and they develop. It is not an organization but a conceptual flow. It goes out.
In the past, the people formed organization. This is not the world today. The world today is a global whole, a global community, an information web, a network in which the collective mind of humanity is forming. In it all are searching, looking for the solutions, and they are looking, "Where can I go to find the right thing that will tell me what I need?," and they find it. Then they may go all the way across the world to go there. Then they take the knowledge back. Then they start and they begin. They have joined no organization but they have joined an ideology. You need this networking approach.
Q. It is actually kind of exciting.
A. Yes. It is exciting. And there are so many open and hungry minds and they are of so many places in the world, all right? It is a time of change, a time of great dynamism, great opportunities and great new horizons. It is a bright new dawn. It is also a time for certain difficulties. Put your emphasis on the bright new horizons. Do not emphasize the difficulties. Everyone knows the difficulties and in the coming years they will only know them more. They need solutions.
