Spirituality offers us a methodology to deepen our awareness of the inner being

All of us dream of a world without poverty, that is equitable, that respects the dignity of all living beings, and the sacredness of the natural world. There is no doubt that it is an achievable dream, but we all must collectively pave a new way to make it into reality. Over the past two millennia, man has made great strides in almost every field of development as a result of which, today we have achieved a standard of living and scientific development unimaginable even half a century ago. But, if development concerns the betterment of the human being and his relationship with other humans and beings, then one would find that we have come down the wrong path in our quest for material fulfilment. Right? When we discuss development, we usually talk of economic development to meet material needs, measured perhaps through growth in the GNP or GDP. So, is this all that there is to development?

Does economics measure everything? The answer to this is NO, because if we are aiming at all-round development, then it must include not only material progress but social and cultural dimensions as well. It’s a fact that cannot be denied that the ideal of development as a continuing process of growth, creation, improvement and positive change has yielded to a reality more frequently marked by destruction, degradation and negativity. In his quest for improving his lot, man first turned to religion, which not only provided an anchor for his life but also answered some of the questions about his existence in this world and his place vis a vis the universal scheme of things. However, with time, religion itself got corrupted by ritualism and the greed for power, thereby making men disillusioned, who then turned to politics, to make their lives better. They sought succour and salvation from political ideologies but to no avail, resulting in their pinning hopes on science. With the aid of science, much development happened in several fields.

Today as we stand on the threshold of both hope and fear of losing everything, we realise that materialistic progress is a transient solution and hence the effort to establish lasting peace and prosperity for all has to come from an imperishable source. The seed of lasting peace and happiness lies in human values and wisdom, which are both eternal and universal. The need of the hour is that we have to look at our development from a broader perspective than the one we have been adopting so far. Our narrow concept of development can find its roots in a narrow concept of the self that neglects the larger reality of the soul and overlooks the essential unity of the human family. Hence we need to move from an overly materialistic approach to one that includes the broader and deeper realities of human life and experience i.e. the inner world of our thoughts and values and the innate spirituality on which our worth and dignity are based.

Spirituality offers us a methodology to deepen our awareness of our inner being. From this awareness may follow steps to develop or change the self in ways that are conducive to the kind of world we want. Values and spirituality are at the heart of not just who we are but also of the political, social, economic and environmental issues we are facing. Remember! A development that sustains all people depends at least as much on spiritual empowerment as on material progress and prosperity. So let us inject values into our society by effective education in self-awareness, and spiritual principles and realize our dream of a world that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.

(The writer is a spiritual educator and a popular columnist; views are personal)