Why is the world the way it is?

 

Why is the world the way it is?

Though we all claim to be intellectuals our world is not shaped by critical thinking. Such thinking requires space and time. Confronted with the writings of eras when thinking was a part of life we are amazed by the richness of thought and culture, the depth of intellect. Much of it eludes us because we have lost the physical ability to contemplate issues with a sane and healthy mind.

Ambition is the first instrument that destroyed us. The world was a conglomerate of various pockets where people adopted their own way of life and thinking. People lived and thought as a community. Sharing and caring, learning from circumstances, and communicating the wisdom to the next generation was the core of life. That was till the ambitious set out on their ships to conquer the world.

We observe how the intellectuals reflected on every aspect of life. Mental cogitation was the answer to the darkness that engulfs man in a world that is frightening, sometimes tolerable, sometimes enchanting. The darkness reflected the inability to pierce the veil and understand the reality.

Therefore heroes appeared at times to take it upon themselves and after a perilous search they received the truth and shared it. The people, with innate wisdom, recognized the value of the gift and treasured it. It formed the template for the search. Generations used the template to rise above the material world and seek the spiritual domain that lay beyond it.

Our present world instead sought comfort and luxury in the physical domain. The physical domain is the seat of pain. People love their bodies and their material possessions without considering the fact that it is exactly this that is the medium of pain.

The seeking of comfort went beyond established boundaries. The sharing and caring disappeared. The respect for nature and her gifts was replaced by the mentality to kill the geese and get the golden eggs. Thus we have pockets of immense wealth surrounded by poverty. If we search for the definition of hell we will find that it is exactly the present situation that we live in.

We discarded the wisdom handed over to us by those who struggled hard to gain it. We did not stop to think of the consequences. Not everyone is to be blamed. The invaders and their destructive ways destroyed the fabric of life and ensured poverty. Poverty is the best of tools that ultimately destroys humanity. When the basic needs are not fulfilled, men automatically seek all means possible to get out of the mess. Morality and ethics get pushed away.

We know how the olive branch was offered to this frustrated population. Technology offered the way out. The new way of thought replaced wisdom with money and material possessions. Pharmaceuticals damaged the intellect and induced animal qualities. Economists inferred that morality and ethics were impediments on the path to growth. Media moguls existed to lay down the path to perdition. Profit seekers utilized the opportunity to feed the animals with whatever they wanted.

The whole world thus became Sodom and Gomorrah. There remained very few who have the ability to recall and remember the days when good was the norm and evil feared. Pharma injected the same poison into every one. Seeing the poison within oneself the wise feared for themselves and it prevented them from warning others.

The intellect that earlier sought the truth was divided into numerous fragments as the light died within and the physical world became the only thing to seek. These fragments have created their own ideas and their sole duty has become to establish that idea at the expense of others. No one is looking at the source anymore: The source that has the power to rectify imbalances and establish order.

This is what prompted Sages like Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, and Aurobindo to exhort people to rectify themselves instead of frantically trying to rectify others. A single person who can reflect the truth within can light the world as the source gets a conduit to influence it. Today we stare at the blackest of nights because we have rejected the light.

While darkness delights in its attempts to darken the world, the light never loses its ability to illuminate it. The darker the world, the more powerful is the effect of light.

We have no other go but to call on the light and believe in its ability to appear. The destruction that is upon us, and that we fear, is the way the darkness will be dealt with. The haughty intellect has to be conquered for simplicity and humility to appear. The intellect and its selfish ways is the barrier between darkness and life.

We have a tough test ahead: A test for which we are not ready as we have spent our time in inane things. We have ignored the core calling of life and embraced ignorance. Therefore the test will be difficult to bear.

But the wisdom has not left us. It is always within us. We will suffer pain because the comfort of ignorance will be ripped away. Once the painful period passes and realization dawns we will recover our senses and be amazed that we acted and thought the way we are doing now.

Every age justifies itself. The current age replaces good with evil and is therefore the most feared. But it is a transition the world must go through. The transition will clean us. It is not the fault of the benevolent power that we have covered ourselves with filth. The choice was always there with us. We are now facing the consequences of our own choice.

Thus the only way is to grin and bear it.