The Emerging New World
Over the last century, planet Earth and condition of all
life that dwells upon it has entered a completely new phase, vastly different
from any that existed in the past.
The first striking difference is the burgeoning population of
humans on the planet. They have crossed seven billion and are heading towards
ten billion strong in the coming decades. The invention of antibiotics and
vaccines has contributed to this increase. The increasing population of humans
and their needs has displaced not just much animal life on the planet but also
the green side of it so that many species have become extinct or are on the
verge of becoming so.
The second huge difference is emergence of technologies that
were once visualized only in fairy tales. Computers, television, mobile devices
and nuclear devices are all inventions over the last century. They have changed
human lives and behavior in drastic ways.
Thinkers and philosophers wonder where humans and the planet
they occupy are headed. There are both optimistic and pessimistic scenarios.
The optimistic one is that population will stabilize soon and with help of
increased communications and knowledge, humans will soon overcome problems such
as pollution and greedy exploitation of many by the few and enter a new more
evolved era. The pessimistic scenario is that humans will just blow themselves
apart sooner or later since they now have the power to do it with nuclear
devices. Whatever happens may be of huge significance to humans but our planet is just one of many in this infinite universe and to the universe as a whole it is not such an important issue surely.
No doubt whatever happens to humans shall depend not just on
technologies but inner emotional and character development, the spiritual side.
For this development humans need to refer to older spiritual knowledge for that
development among humans preceded technological development by some thousands
of years. No doubt there will be need to reject some of the old that exists
while accepting some of it, interpreting and developing it further. A common
method this author has used for this purpose is to accept readily what has been
common to different spiritual traditions across the world while viewing with
much discretion parts that contradict each other.
In the end the ultimate goal is to improve quality of life
on the planet. Sadly that does not seem to have improved for very many despite
technological advances but rather it has worsened. Improving quality of life also
means that humans would have to improve the quality of the green side of life,
plants and trees because that is a complimentary life form required for
existence of all life.
Within this mix, the condition of each individual on the
planet varies vastly. Some are considered successful. The majority considers
those who have earned much wealth, fame and power as successful. It is an
erroneous view because what use is wealth if a human suffers a continuous pain
in his lower end and turmoil in the upper? Ultimately, a human is successful if
he becomes more evolved in his or her journey through life for mystics say that
soul survives death and continues its journey through the universe in new
bodies, beginning where it left off. This author believes this too. The journey
may pass through difficult times but it reaches pleasant times if a human
is able to get up every morning and choose to do what pleases his or her soul through
the day, and arrive at sunsets in peace if not singing a song, and then
go to bed in peace for yet another new day.
Image with this post is public domain image from/with thanks to pexels.com
Image with this post is public domain image from/with thanks to pexels.com
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