In my view, the crisis that is hitting many, if not all, countries, is not just social, economic and financial one. These are the consequences of a crisis of civilization, in the wider sense of the term. Put another way, it is humanity as such that is crisis. But what kind of crisis? Although i answer part this question in some of my past write ups, i feel it is necessary to come back and elaborate on it .Mystical philosophy and ideals lead us to consider that it is a duty that involves all mystic as well as citizens. As such, and contrary to what may have been said about mystics, the importance that we attach to spirituality had never obscured the interest we have for materiality, not the least because the ultimate aim of our quest has always been to acquire life mastery.
First, we think that humanity is in a spiritual crisis. In our view, this irrefutable fact has two principal cause: the major religions established several centuries ago no longer answer the existential questions that today's women and men ask themselves. Their doctrine as well as their morals are not longer adapted, which explains why they are increasingly being abandoned, thus creating a large spiritual vacuum that many people no longer even seek to fill. At the same time,in the so-called developed countries, society has become more and more materialistic in that it incites people to seek happiness through material possessions and excessive consumption. This trend has considerably increased the power of money and has perverted its use.It has gone from being a means, to becoming an end itself, a thing that one likes to posses a such, when it is nothing by itself.
Does this mean that today's religions have no future? Before replying to that question, i wish to reiterate that i respect them all in all the noble things that the have to offer their followers to enable them to practice their faith daily. But, as i have said previously, consciences and mentalities have greatly evolved since they originated, and therefore their credos are outdated in the eyes f many people, especially the young. As they have not been able to , not known how to or not wished to update their teachings, i think they are doomed to disappear in the medium term. As a result, all that will remain of them are the monuments created for them over the centuries, as well as the texts relating to them, including those that are considered to be sacred, such as the Bible, the Koran, the Upanishads, the Tripitaka, etc.
As regarding the subject of money, it is not a question of resorting to caricature or demagogy. As a means of exchange, it is a necessity in order to live a live in society. We need it to obtain what is necessary for our material well-being and to satisfy the legitimate pleasure our existence can offer.But, over time, it has taken n too much importance, to a point where it conditions and governs practically all sectors of human activity. It has today acquired cult status, acting as a religion which probably has the greatest number of followers in the world.Unfortunately, every day at its alter we sacrifice the most elementary of ethical values (honesty,integrity, equity, solidarity etc.) so that it constitutes more than ever a vehicle of debasement.
Do not think from the above that mystics are not in favor of the "vow of poverty",and that they believe that material wealth is incompatible with spirituality. Even since they appeared on Earth, humans have sought to improve their living conditions and be happy. This tendency lies within their deeper nature and it part of the process we call 'evolution". This does not mean that the aim of existence is to become rich, but it is neither natural nor normal to aspire to be poor. Beside, the fact of being materially f financially destitute does not make a person better in human terms and is not a criterion for spiritual elevation, no more, indeed, than being rich.
It is my view that the happiness to which human beings aspire more or less consciously resides in equilibrium between the material and the spiritual, and not in the exclusion on one or the other. This is why any individual who consecrates himself to solely to spirituality, to the point of depriving himself of the legitimate pleasures of life, cannot be happy. The same applies to anyone who makes material possessions the sole basis for his well-being. This explain why many people that we term as being well-off are deeply unhappy. It is because they suffer from an inner emptiness that ' all the gold in the world' would not fill. We are all familiar with the expression: ' money does not buy happiness", even if it can, indeed , be a contribution factor.
If we assume that a human being is not simply a material body kept alive by a set of physico-chemical processes, but that it also possesses a soul, we can easily understand that it also requires a certain form of nourishment: spirituality . But what is spirituality? In accordance with what i have said previously, it transcends religiosity. In other words, it is not limited to believing in God and following a religious credo, no matter how respectable this may be, Instead, it consists of seeking the deeper meaning of existence and gradually awakening the best within ourselves. But this search for meaning and improvement is cruelly lacking today, which explain the chaotic state the world is in and the despondency into which it has sunk over the last decades.
The majority of people, from all countries and nations, feel they are in a dark tunnel that nobody can see they way out from, not even those who lead and govern them. Furthermore, they are not aware that the light they hope to see appearing can only come from themselves, and not from an external source. This brings us back to spirituality and the need to look towards something other than materiality for resolving the problem that humanity is confronted with.But you may be one of those people who do not accept the existence of the soul, and naturally you have every right to do so.If this is the case, allow me to ask you this following questions, and take the time to answer them yourself ; To what do you attribute what is commonly known as the "voice of conscience? How can your explain human aptitude for virtues such as benevolence, generosity, compassion and love? Do you truly think that the most beautiful works of art, whether it is paintings, sculpture, music or in another forms, originate only in the mind of those who created them ? How do you explain tat millions of men and women the world over have experienced clinical death, before coming back to life with the memory of what they "saw' and heard" in what we generally call " the beyond'? Do you really believe that if the existence of the soul was just an illusion the great thinkers and philosphers that humanity has known would have admitted it as being an obvious truth?
" TO BE CONTINUE ........
