The Planetary Problems
Today a topic on the minds of many people is the situation in the world at this time and what people are facing in the coming years. There are so many rumors of disasters such as pole shifts, diseases such as bird flu, shortages of natural resources ‑ peak oil – the resources of power and energy that people have relied on for so long. There is extinction of so many species. Many things are going on the world and there are many concerns regarding all of these eventualities in the future.
People are seeking solutions to these fundamental problems in the world today. Those solutions are very often the realization that the support of local community development will bring about the greatest opportunity for building infrastructures that last through difficult times. This philosophy, this approach is, in fact, very appropriate in these times. It is fundamental to the progressive utilization theory (Prout) in its view that people are able to sustain themselves as much as possible through the local economy with locally-produced products. The Prout philosophy is that local economic development is sustainable. However, there still needs to be a local order, an overseeing body, a confederation of countries that form a global government. This global government is necessary to set humanitarian standards, standards for the environment, for economy and to abide by them. This confederation can regulate and guard against war. In this type of system, war can be a thing of the past. I believe that human beings are moving in this direction.
The crisis of today is not simply one of oil, natural disasters, pollution, and over-population. Yes, these are occurring, but the real crisis today is of the human spirit. For many people today are so materialistic that they wander bereft of spiritual belief and experience. They do not know how to cope with birth and death. They fear death and so put it out of their minds and live in a world of material desires and pragmatic existence, always attempting to acquire more and more. This lifestyle will not help one develop capacity for the coming years. However, if one has ability to develop new ways of thinking, to come together with others in the community, to recognize that this is not only an economic problem but that one needs to sustain and develop the capacity of people to support each other in their local communities. Beneath all is a greater need, a spiritual need, a need for people to be able to use their maximum potential, to explore the natural urge for mysticism suppressed for many people in today's society. Furthermore, there is a need to recognize that one’s relationship to others is more significant than one’s material status or one’s personal acquisitions. Relationship is about love between human beings, love for human beings and all creatures of this world, honor and respect for all beings.
When this type of value begins to replace personal acquisition as a primary modality, then the evolution of living beings, the evolution of human society goes forward. When the human beings evolve in this way, many problems that face the world today will automatically be resolved. Much of the problem today comes from the ego-centered approach of "I" and "mine" rather than the adoption of spiritual values, of knowledge that there is a supreme consciousness, a divine flow of existence in all life that can reveal itself and meet with respect. In respect for life, in honoring life, putting first the welfare of living beings rather than acquisition and accomplishment, in this type of paradigm shift many things will fall in place. The sooner and to the greater extent this paradigm shift occurs, the less destruction there will be.
This human race is moving from establishment in smallness and narrow-mindedness to expansion of spirit, to universalism. This is the evolution of human beings. The evolution of Gaia herself, moving through the evolutionary flow to a new stratum of development, is ultimately a spiritual evolution. It is an evolution from the emphasis upon the isolated ego development to universalism and the universal life force in all beings.
I think that human beings are making this transition even today and will go on making it for some time. When the critical mass reaches a point that the majority of the human beings are moving into this approach, many things will change in the world. Naturally, any shift brings acquisition of the new and need to let go of the old. One cannot divide one’s spiritual life from one’s approach to one’s life in general. One’s relationship to the supreme consciousness, Parama Purusha, and one’s relationship to all life and all beings is one harmonious existence. Universalism is expression of one’s spiritual understanding in one’s day-to-day life. The more people that adopt this approach, opening their hearts and spirit to development and expansion, the more this material world will come back into harmony. Are there any questions?
Q. To what degree can positive actions of people mitigate the potential turmoils, disasters, or similar?
A. Already positive actions of people have mitigated so much. Already positive actions have prevented so much harm. You will see this is not a psychic prediction. This is a very practical matter. If you have a beautiful garden but never water the garden, don’t care what happens, just sit and drink and eat and look at it and watch it die and you don’t feed it, you don’t weed it, then it becomes very weedy, dead, and brown and destroyed. If you start making even a little effort to water some parts, to do a little weeding, and take a little care, naturally the garden will do better. If you make a big effort and people come and give water, give care, the garden will do even better. It is a natural thing. So this planet is moving.
It is already a global society but it is a disorganized global society without any type of real government force or purpose to this society. Society having lost its balance does not foster the meeting of human needs. What is happening? People are meeting more and more on their own making an effort to establish a society in balance. These trends will go on increasing to the degree that people will shift. How soon they shift is the degree of destruction. Destruction is unavoidable but people’s good works, good approaches, and serious practice can help it very much. All should make effort in the world today for it is a critical time.
Q. How do you communicate this message to people that have no awareness?
A. For some it is impossible but, naturally, necessity brings awareness. As it becomes more and more obvious that there is a problem, more and more the human minds will turn to solutions. Necessity will bring it, but naturally, it is best to not reach a point of critical necessity where the garden is dead and must be replanted. So more talking to people, having events, making efforts, working with positive local government, with the types of movements you are engaged in are very good efforts. You must share the understandings with wider groups of people. You can do this through more and more organized grassroots efforts that reach greater and greater numbers of people. Right now, they reach a certain small stratum of people who are very conscious of the environment.
A much larger stratum of people is very aware there is a problem. They want to do something but don’t know what to do. You must reach out to them. It is a matter of momentum to establish organizations, to establish communications so that more and more people know what is going on, how they can participate, and how they can help. So many people today would like to do something but they don’t know what to do. When they learn clear ways to do it and there is an organized approach, it can be done.
Of course, for this there needs to be the people to do the work. Many can do some volunteer work at first but then there must be funds directed in that direction. I think funds for these types of programs will come soon. It is a matter of bringing public awareness, awareness to corporations, awareness that to fund such programs will be very beneficial and necessary. Even now, this is going on with the recycling programs and awareness programs of different types. I think it will increase. It takes effort on everyone’s part to raise awareness and give viable solutions to tell people what they can do. It is not enough to hold the doomsday message. There must be viable solutions, concrete steps that people can take. Right? Remember this is not simply a social problem, not simply an economic problem, not simply an environmental problem, but it is a spiritual problem.
The solution lies not only in the environment and not only in the economics. The solution lies in the realm of spirit, to uplift the human spirit and open the human heart to its own true nature, to inspire the human heart in hopefulness, joy, and understanding of the balance, interconnectedness, wholeness of all life and the reverence for all living beings.
