Jul 24, 2013
Why bother with spirituality at all? It seems that many, even most people do not bother with it. Why work so hard at such things as humility, compassion and self-control when these do not seem to be valued by society? I offer a couple of reasons why we should pursue spirituality.
First, imagine what our world would look like if more people practiced true humility? Would there not be less malice, envy and jealousy? Are these not the very things- envy, malice and jealousy- that create so many problems in politics today? What would the world look like if more people practiced self-control, caring and generosity?
Second, we consider the story of Mhatma Ghandi, who lead widespread demonstrations to create the independent state of India in the early twentieth century. Many of Ghandi's followers said that political freedom was the most important kind of freedom- no more British rule, but elections by and for Indians to choose their own destiny. Ghandi argued there is a freedom that is even more basic than political freedom- freedom from fear in our own minds. Politicans and governments use peoples' fears to manipulate and control them. What might the world look like if people were free of fear in their minds, and politicans and governments could no longer manipulate them because of their fears?
Next time we will look at the question, to whom and what are we ultimately loyal in our spiritual journey?
This series is based on my new
book Why Are We Here? which can be viewed at
www.craigowen.net