A nation is not its land and buildings, it is its people. If we as a nation have to rise and be empowered, the first and foremost thing we need to do is empower the people. Empowerment does not mean amassing material wealth or technology. It is an entirely inner process, a spiritual process. Without the necessary sensitivity, inner balance and the faculty of discrimination in individuals, widespread negativity and perversions creep in. This is how a human being or an entire culture sinks to its depths.
Never before has mankind been as comfortable as it is today. The kind of comforts and conveniences that even kings did not have a hundred years ago are now available to the common man. Today, our pursuit of these comforts is so vigorous that the very life of the planet is being threatened. Yet, it cannot be said that we are any happier than our forefathers.
This is because people are trying to create an outwardly perfect life. But the quality of our lives is based on our interiority. Modern technology has tremendous capability both for creating well-being as well as for total destruction. Without bringing in the dimension of spirituality that brings an experience of all-inclusiveness in individuals, modern technology will surely bring destruction not just to humanity but the planet itself.
Developing the spiritual core of humanity does not mean propagating any particular religion. Spirituality means to raise the body, mind and spirit to their true potential. Of all the degenerations we have suffered, the most damaging is that the nation has been deprived of its greatest strength, producing exalted beings who are rooted in a different dimension of existence and whose very presence is a blessing to the planet.
One example that the world is familiar with and whose fruits we continue to eat today is Gautama Buddha. As a prince, perhaps he would have had a few more wives and children and ruled over his little kingdom. But as an enlightened Master, in many ways, he has changed the course of life on the planet. We value this culture not because we happened to be born into it, but because this culture had perfected the technology of producing such beings.
There was a time when in a society, a few people were spiritual and the rest just went to them for blessings and sustained their lives. Today, with the tools of science and technology, we have brought ourselves to
a self-threatening situation where everyone in society needs to turn spiritual. Otherwise, there is no survival in this world. Unless some sense of oneness touches the people, especially the leadership on the planet, then self-destruction is a live threat.
Sceptics are quick to ask, “Is such a thing possible?” I want to tell them, do not to think of the future of the world on the basis of existing realities. Existing realities on the planet could be changed in a moment because they do not take into consideration people’s will and commitment, or even what is beating in the human heart. If only we can stir up what is happening in individual hearts, miracles are possible.
It is not far away, we just need to work for it. With the spiritual legacy of this land, with the spiritual processes that are available to us today, it is definitely a possibility.
If we dedicate ourselves to making this happen around us, we will see something tremendous and dramatic happening on the planet in our own lifetime. Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and bestselling author. He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 2017. Isha.sadhguru.org