Books that tell the story of humanity are popular. We want to know, not just the facts, but the story of ourselves over the long term. We want to see ourselves as part of that ‘we’ – and belong to that ‘we’, all of us. And we want the story to say something about us too – we are clever, determined, brave, noble, or whatever it is.
It is more difficult today, when the world is faced with mounting problems, when the determination to consume continues unabated, and when the wealth of a few continues to mount obscenely compared to the misery of many. It is difficult when we don’t seem to be able, collectively, to change our ways and live within the capacity of the planet to provide.
The story of humans is different depending on the point of view you take. Some writers are excited by the adventure of it – explorations, civilisations, wars, empires, inventions, and the modern age. But what would an inquisitive spiritual perspective find? If we are ‘of spirit’ instead of being merely matter, what does our past look like now?
Our history has featured violence, cruelty, greed, unequal societies, oppression, and today, unregulated economics and unbridled technology. In the face of these failings, do we even have cause to hope for the future? Will there be a future at all, or will our poor relationship with ecology lead to global catastrophe?
On the other side, there is a notion that humanity is a tide, and the tide is unstoppable. When we are faced with problems, there is reassurance in this. We will triumph, as we have always done. Or, there is the other notion, that what we are seeing now is a rush to oblivion. There are plenty of examples of our capacity to keep doing the same thing, even when we know the result will be doom.
Then, there is no shortage of people and books that set out a pathway to redemption. We can change our ecological impact on the planet, we can cool down the heat we have generated over the last two to three hundred years. We can change our political systems, we can quench the causes of conflict. We can redistribute wealth more equitably.
The problem with all the solutions is that they have to be imposed on the planet. Everyone has to agree, or someone has to take charge, and the solution has to be accepted by all. Not only is this unlikely, is it what we want? Soviet Communism promised that all would be well if the Party decided how to run society. To be ironic, there were, inevitably, flaws. The symbol of that endeavour was the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
There is no alternative, is there? We just have to try again, or we have to try harder to persuade everyone. Or hope that the next group of leaders has all the appropriate qualities of intelligence, determination, humility and morality, and that they remain that way once they have acquired power.
I think we need to follow another path – to start with the self. We need to look at ourselves differently: we are ‘of spirit’, and it is ourselves that we must recentre and rebalance. Is this defeatist? Is it giving up on the exterior world? I think not, because if we do not harmonise ourselves, we will be of little use to the world. We have to remember that we have been encouraged in our society to do the opposite, to run on empty in the desperation to achieve external goals. We neglect to see how our achievements are flawed because of this.
To say that again – we do not recognise that our external achievements are flawed because our interior environment is disharmonious. This is a hard lesson. We have to learn to stop our headlong rush in a sufficiently deep way to experience peace.
How does this affect our view of history? This is a new perspective. It is a spiritual story. It is a story of how people experience life – whether they act from fear or joy. All of our history looks different now. And with this perspective we can go all the way back to the deep past and ask ourselves about it again. What happened in that time?
What did people of those times know? Certainly they knew things we don’t understand, such as how to build huge structures like the pyramids of Egypt, and why. Was there a time when things came unstuck? For our future, this is an issue of great significance.
At the least it will change our view if we open up the past to these questions of wonder. But back in the present, it may only be our awareness individually, our attention to recentring, and our perseverance in right living that will save us all. Start with the self.
View and purchase Glenn Martin’s books at www.glennmartin.com.au