Although we human beings have a sense of morality, historically we have, to some degree, behaved a little like animals, who, lacking a sense of morality, are lead by their base instinct and act in that way, each according to its character – the lion and the hawk will kill, the lamb and the dove won’t – the cuckoo will steal a nest, while the swallow will build its own. The strength, agility and aggression of the lion make him the king of the jungle, and the law of the jungle is that the physically strong dominate over the weak. Likewise the strength and aggression of a specific “lion type” of man has dominated the affairs of mankind throughout recorded history, they have dominated over everything and everyone, over men and woman, over institutions and nations. They institutionalised and legalised slavery and many other deplorable economic and political injustices. Using their own laws and institutions they have always dominated over the majority, and they still do.
At an animalistic or lower nature level, we ignore our sense of morality, and live and act according to the dictates of our own self and passion. However, unlike animals, we humans have an imagination and go on to build cars, telescopes and gas chambers. There is no limit to what we can imagine or build, first in our minds, and then outwardly, but like gas chambers, not all that we build is good.
If we wish to move away from what has caused us to build gas chambers, and towards what will cause us to build a world of justice, unity and peace, we need a new kind of information, a new kind of knowledge, not simply restricted to science, which cannot measure nor understand the non material world, the metaphysical or spiritual reality underlying all reality. Science, or at least humanity, would gain enormously, if we, like philosophers, define ourselves as human beings who desire “to comprehend the reality of all things”.
In spite of the enormous wealth of mankind’s vast scientific or material knowledge, the world, especially the political world, remains trapped in a quagmire of dishonesty, sleaze, corruption and secrecy, and is unable to control the poverty, war and degradation that surrounds us. So if we seek to move towards honesty, decency and truthfulness, towards justice, unity and peace, we don’t need just more of the same kind of scientific knowledge of the material world, as wonderful as it is, we need a different kind of knowledge or understanding, we need non-material, metaphysical or spiritual knowledge – for honesty, decency and truthfulness are not attributes of man’s material reality, but rather of his spiritual reality.
Scientists, such as Newton, Galileo and Einstein have all attributed well-known discoveries of the material world, to the use of insight, if fact, the theory of relativity, according to Einstein was conceived by him in a dream. Insight or intuition, although not part of science, has an extremely important part to play in our understanding of the reality of all things. Without this understanding, we are inclined to pride and prejudice, for example, failing to see the spiritual reality of the equal status of all men, makes us prejudiced, and tends to make us feel proud or superior. The root cause of all our problems is our failure to understand the reality of all things – the reality underlying everything.
The absence of this understanding leaves us trapped in our lower nature – in our animalistic state, which is devoid of a sense of morality, and causes us to act like the beasts of the field. In that state we seek our own self preservation and many will use anything to attain that goal, including dishonesty, sleaze and secrecy, and almost anything no matter how cruel. And these animalistic instincts cause fear and stress, and other negative emotions that play havoc in our lives, in the lives of our family, and in the lives of society in general.
On the other hand, the more we understand the reality of all things, the more we distance ourselves from our animalistic or base instincts, and substitute these negative instincts for positive attributes such as tolerance, honesty, decency, truthfulness and so on. These attributes help us to discover both our material and spiritual realities. Like time and space, the underlying reality of all things is infinite, and in essence, impossible to understand but it has attributes or energies that are very real and affect and connect everything in existence. The reality of man is that we too have the capacity to acquire these attributes, indeed, it is only by acquiring them that we become truly human – mature – and free ourselves from the diseases of greed, dishonesty, selfishness and so on, enabling us to mature – to be happy – to be peaceful – to be content – to be beautiful – to be prosperous.
The more we get to know the attributes of the underlying reality, the more we recognise its beauty, and our own beauty, and the beauty in others, and appreciate our relationship with people, the environment, and with the whole universe. Some people call it God – some don’t – but one way or the other, the knowledge and love which are but two of the attributes that we acquire, have the power to create within us a confidence and enthusiasm for life, for love, for real relationships, for inner peace and for world peace, and for all that is good and wonderful.
Surrounded as we are by a growing global consciousness, which is causing us to develop a very real abhorrence for dishonesty, sleaze, corruption and secrecy, and for all that is false, and creating within us, deep down at the core of our being, a desire for humanity to move towards honesty, integrity and openness, and towards all that is good. This is the most important sign that we are on the verge of maturity. To enable us to move in this direction, an understanding of our spirituality or higher nature is essential. Basing society on our lower nature hasn’t worked; basing it on our higher nature will set us free to build a global society, the way we really want it to be. Let’s do it together.
