Spirituality and social action

"The world is mad" – we’ve all heard or even said that more times than we can remember, but if that’s the case, how did this sorry state of affairs come about and why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? Everybody seems to find it very easy to complain about the state of the world and everything that’s wrong in society, but isn’t the world our own creation? After all, the world is nothing more than the people inhabiting it and their relationships with one another. It’s also all too easy to become depressed about the state of the world and the horror and insanity of it all, but what is that insanity and horror other than a reflection of the current state of human consciousness?

It’s no exaggeration to say that we live in a world that is predominantly run by fear and greed – it’s run by the ego in other words. It’s easy enough to point one’s finger at politicians and people in power, and designate them as culprits of our planet's miseries, and while many of them are obviously guilty of very serious crimes against the people they are supposed to be serving, blaming them doesn’t solve the problem. It has been said that we get the political leaders we deserve, and there is some truth in that. The presidents, prime ministers and whoever else we think it is that decide things aren’t that much different from all the rest of us. They might have a position in society that’s very different from anything most of us will ever know, but their quality of consciousness is more or less the same as that of most everybody else.

The vast majority of people still live in the grip of ego, of seeing themselves as separate entities engaged in a life and death struggle for survival. Living in this way, we all want to grab as much as we can for ourselves, without much consideration for the whole. Why would our leaders and other influential people be any different?

A lot of people are still buying into the illusion that new political leadership will bring about “change”, but history has shown us time and again that this hardly ever happens. All politicians the world over throughout history have promised “change” once they get into power, but the fact is that nothing much ever changes in this way. If we want more enlightened and compassionate politicians and leaders we ourselves are going to have to be more enlightened and compassionate. Somebody once said that we have to be the change that we want to see in the world, and this is absolutely true. A world without fear, conflict, oppression and war can only come about through each individual manifesting the qualities of love, harmony, freedom and peace in his or her own life.

It is therefore obvious that it will take a shift in consciousness for anything “out there” to change at all. At the present time, it is all too obvious that there are only a handful people living a life free of fear and greed, and the world reflects this perfectly. However, if and when a radical revolution in consciousness does take place, the world will be transformed accordingly. This is what it takes. It is not going to make much difference trying to instigate change on the outer level as long as nothing changes within.

Does this mean that there is no place for social and political action in the world? No, it doesn’t mean that. An individual who has reached spiritual maturity may well be moved to instigate and carry out social and political action, but without an inner foundation of peace, love and freedom any social and political action will only perpetuate the current state of affairs and bring about more misery. This is not the same as to say that we might as well not bother trying to correct what’s wrong in the world. Whenever we feel moved to help others in need, disseminate information or campaign for causes we feel strongly about, we can honour that impulse and still do a lot of good in the world as long as the motivation arises from a space of compassion and wisdom, and not from one of vanity and selfishness.

What’s more important than anything else, though, is to realise the urgent need for a fundamental transformation of human consciousness. In the long run, this is the only solution to humanity’s problems, and the only thing that can bring about real change in the world. Spiritual transformation is not an abstract idea or a fancy notion dreamt up by some philosopher or guru somewhere. It is quite simply the transmutation of fear into love, greed into generosity and war into peace. This needs to happen on an individual level, and therefore we are all directly and personally responsible for the creation of a new world built on the foundation of peace, love, harmony and freedom.