Are things getting Worse?
2006-12-04 05:44 PM | Posted by Tejvan Pettinger | Permanent Link | Sri Chinmoy, Spirituality
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Often people have a nostalgic view of the past. Just talk to an old person and they will say how much better things were in "my day". It is true some problems are more pronounced, but it is also the case that perhaps things are not getting as bad as we may imagine. In some regards things are getting better.
Nevertheless I'll know I'm old when I starting talking like this:
"Well when I were a lad, of course things were much better..." - or maybe I will become like one of the 4 yorkshire men.
Anyway this is a question and answer from Sri Chinmoy Library
Question: Why are people getting worse instead of better?
Sri Chinmoy: I hear this question often from elderly people, but I have to be very frank. Has there been any time on earth when there was no conflict, no fighting, no war? From the very beginning of civilisation there has been fighting. At the start of the Mahabharata period they were fighting and later, in the time of the Greek and Roman civilisations, there was also constant fighting. Conflict has always existed on earth.
...
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On the surface big waves are surging, but when you go deep inside the water, you see that it is all calm, quiet and tranquil, absolutely tranquil. The world is like the ocean. People think that if they enter into the world, then the world will devour them. They see the world from the outside, with their human eyes, and they are horror-struck. From a distance the world looks very bad, ugly and dirty. But the moment we go deep within, we see only one person and that is God. If the reality in everyone is God, then the outer things that we see can never be disturbing.
Nothing is actually getting worse. The outer situation may be bad, the world-consciousness may be low, but the consciousness of some individuals is going up. If we see God in His multiple creation, then we have to feel that the world is progressing. The real progress is inside, and this progress gradually comes to the fore. So if we see the totality of the entire world, we will not say that it is getting worse. No, the world is aspiring. One corner, perhaps, may want to fight, quarrel, damage and destroy, but the inner consciousness of the entire world cannot go downward. It cannot go downward because God Himself is pushing the earth-consciousness upward. If God is pushing us toward the light, then eventually we have to see the light. Right now we are like unruly elephants running to this side and that side. But a day will dawn when we shall become like very faithful and devoted dogs. We shall follow the lead of God.
Excerpt from Politics And Spirituality: by Sri Chinmoy
- Sri Chinmoy
