Why do so many good ideas fail? Why don't people respond as they should to very well thought out plans for a better world? What is the missing link? Is it spiritual development?

The persistence of inequalities and injustice, ecological ruin and destructive wars today is less defensible than ever before. Such a situation raises serious questions as to why efforts to bring equality, peace and harmony are not succeeding to the expected extent, and more specifically why more people are not being successfully mobilized by these efforts, despite the undisputed fact that such efforts will bring relief to most people. Such questions are of increasing concern to the Alliance for a responsible and united world.

Quite often the feeling we have at the end of even a very sincere discussion on a major issue is that something vital is missing. The views and recommendations that emerge from the discussion appear to be substantive and significant, yet there is that strange feeling of some inadequacy which we often keep to ourselves.

If our efforts for a genuinely better and secure world have to proceed beyond pious resolutions, then we've to identify this vital missing link. This common link is the absence of a simultaneous movement for genuine spiritual development.

What is genuine spiritual development in the context of an individual? This is the sustained effort of an individual to lead a life which not only gives him (or her) peace and satisfaction but in addition, is in conformity with the welfare of the entire world.

This second aspect of linking one's own happiness to that of the entire world is of crucial importance and without this the concept of spiritual development is meaningless. A close look at the great religious and spiritual leaders of the world will reveal that this has been at the back of many of their teachings. "Do not do to others anything that you do not want others to do to you", "stay away from greed and violence", "do not cheat others", "extend all help to the poor and needy" -- these recurring themes (often hidden in fables and mythology) add up ultimately to the one broad precept of not causing any distress to others and reducing their distress whenever possible. In other words, bringing our welfare in conformity with the welfare of the world.

Spiritual development is our sustained quest for getting rid of value systems which create unnecessary, entirely avoidable stresses and replacing them with values which expand our horizons of happiness and take us to a higher level of happiness that cannot be achieved from materialistic accumulation of riches or relationships of dominance. However as stressed earlier, this spiritual development of the self is complete and meaningful only when it is related to the welfare of other people and other forms of life. Achievement of inner peace or deeper knowledge is not an end in itself, it becomes invaluable only when it is related to the efforts for creating a better, happier world. Therefore, spiritual development also demands that as one gains a better understanding of what a happier society is, so efforts are also made to tie up with the larger groups and forces that are trying to create a better society.

The spiritual development of an individual can be broadly defined to include the following six conditions all of which are linked to each other and support and reinforce each other.

1. It is important to put voluntary restraints on the consumption of material goods. There is so much to consume and acquire in the present day world that it is too easy and tempting to spend our life in a never ending quest of consumption and accumulation. But beyond a point this doesn't give any real happiness, only a craving for something more that feeds on an inner emptiness which in turn arises from the absence of any higher purpose in life.

In addition the acquisitive thinking can easily turn competitive, so that we value any good not for any utility it gives us but for the point we score over an imaginary rival. This leads to discontent which can also turn destructive.

Therefore while it is necessary to know what we want, it is equally necessary to know what we don't want. Having met our basic needs and small comforts one should be in a position to say -- I don't want anything more. Now I would rather devote myself to helping others (human beings and other forms of life). This enables us to reach a higher form of happiness that comes only from giving.

A different way of saying almost the same thing is that we should be in control of sensual pleasures and sensual pleasures should not be in control of our lives.

In a true democratic spirit let each person make his or her own choices in all honesty, without sacrificing the basic precept that we should voluntarily and happily restrain our sensual pleasures so that we can release our energies, resources and capabilities for the higher tasks of life and higher forms of happiness.

2. Just as we need to have clear views about the pleasures of life, similarly we need to have equally clear thinking about sorrow and how to face sorrow. Sorrow is an inevitable aspect of human life. Keeping in view the inevitability of sorrow, we must be prepared to accept it with peace and patience when it comes just like that. But we should also be prepared to fight its causes with courage and tenacity when distress is caused by the unjust acts of others.

Some types of distress simply happen while some are quite clearly caused by injustice. In the later case we should certainly resist this injustice and fight bravely against its perpetrator. But at the same time we should retain our balance and ability to think coherently so that we can oppose the real and deeper causes, instead of becoming obsessed by petty revengefulness. Just as it is important to retain control of sensual pleasures so it is important to retain control over the feeling of anger. The feeling of anger, when fully justified by the unjust acts of others, should be harnessed to oppose injustice (and hence create a better world) instead of being allowed to degenerate into uncontrolled destructive revengefulness.

Accepting the inevitability of distress also motivates us to develop those abilities which are likely to prove most helpful in the time of distress- patience, the ability to think calmly, good health, true companionship based an helping each other, deeply rooted family ties, skills in looking after infirm and injured people and so on.

The inevitability of distress in everyone's life is a strong reason why we should learn to be with each other in times of distress. In some situations this is necessary mainly to provide sympathy and companionship, and in other cases, where injustice is involved this is necessary also to resist the injustice. In real life, of course, the two situations are often mixed.

When faced in this way, the hour of distress can even be an hour of opportunity as it motivates us firstly to mobilize all our inner strengths to face the adversity, and secondly, it strengthens our bonds and friendships. We emerge from adversity, not shattered and destroyed, but with deeper ability to love others and a stronger desire to resist injustice.

3. Anyone who wants to tread the path of spiritual development should certainly try to bring his individual life in harmony with the requirements of social welfare. Such a person should make an effort to understand the requirements of social welfare (in the form of checking ecological ruin, reducing poverty, preventing war etc.) and then try as much as possible to bring his or her own life style in conformity with these requirements.

An obvious conflict can arise when this person realizes that the job held by him/her in not in conformity with these objectives. it is quite likely that many jobs offered by this economy conflict with the objectives of welfare. If this person finds himself or herself in this situation, he or she should calmly plan to find an alternative source of livelihood as soon as any possibilities for this emerge.

4. Most relationships that exist in the present day world are relationships of dominance as persons, groups and nations try to get a better deal for themselves without bothering about the needs of others. There is an almost instinctive urge to beat others by getting more ressources, income and wealth for oneself while inflicting drudgery and deprivation on others. Even when greed is not involved, there is still a strong desire to impose one’s own views. These attitudes also spill over beyond human relations to our relationships with other forms of life and with nature.

Anyone who has got used to dominating relationships also reduces himself or herself (it is more likely to be him) to a level of insensitivity which prevents him from experiencing many small but precious joys of life. This can erode and eventually even destroy invaluable relationships causing a lot of distress. The urge to dominate others also denies an opportunity to calmly consider other points of view, thereby increasing the chances of making costly mistakes.

Both to avoid causing great distress to others and to prevent grave self-harm the person who wants to tread the path of spiritual development should seek to avoid the trait of dominance and competitiveness in all relationships, and instead replace this with cooperation and coexistence.

5. We should enlarge our horizons of happiness in such a way that we experience more and more happiness from the happiness of others. As we expand our horizons of happiness to take pride in the achievements of others we realize that so much is happening around us which gives us such genuine happiness.

6. Last but not the least, the person who walks the path of spiritual development should have the courage to stand up against the perpetrators of injustice and stand with the victims of injustice. Helping others always gives a higher form of happiness compared to the happiness we get from pursuing self-interest. However, the highest form of happiness we get only when we voluntarily prepare ourselves to make sacrifice including the risk of suffering deprivation, disease, injury and even death, for the sake of removing the basic causes of widespread injustice so that we can end the sufferings of a large number of people and bring happiness to them.

This is the path of spiritual development. Anyone who treads this path will find enough support within it. If only the traveller persists, this path in capable of constantly taking him or her to a higher level of happiness. But the basic justification of this path is not individual happiness but the creation of a better world. Actually spiritual development is nothing but the voluntary, happy and enlightened acceptance of a personal life style which is fully in conformity with the welfare of entire world, all its life forms and ecosystems.

Return to Top

Return to Top