Beyond Spirituality, Beyond Awareness

How important is culture? Take any baby. Give that baby to a Saudi family. When the baby has grown he or she will most likely be a Muslim and say this is who I am and it is special. If we had given that same baby to a Thai family the child would most likely grow up to be Buddhist, an Indian family, Hindu, a Western family, Christian or non-Christian, Capitalist or Socialist. It is the same baby being conditioned by the local culture and that baby grown up will call it special. Is it not important to give this conditioning process some perspective? A small perspective is identifying with my particular conditioning, a large perspective is noticing that I am conditioned. It appears that over time cultures evolve and improve. A democratic culture that has a bill of rights and a rule of law is relatively better than being ruled by a dynasty of arrogant kings or queens. But cultures are just a macro reflection of what is going on within each of us. And do we truly learn from history's madness or only when it feels comfortable and doesn't challenge our separateness. In 1930s Germany an extreme nationalist party came into power. By 1945 everyone came face to face with the shocking reality and insanity of that, and I'm sure many at that time would have said, 'Well, that will never happen again'. And yet it does happen again over and over - different countries, different cultures, different words with exactly the same tendencies. The underlying factors that led to such madness were patriotism and nationalism. Has the world learned its lesson and become weary of these inner traits? To the contrary. Nationalism is still the overriding characteristic of countries, flags are proudly flying. As long as a country holds a strong seed of nationalism and patriotism they are holding the seeds of war. A country can have a conversation about tolerating other cultures. We've tried that and it is not enough. A deeper understanding of what is nationalism which is born out of the human tendency to be conditioned and to identify is necessary. Only then can we respond adequately to remove the seeds of division and conflict. The difficulty with an evolving society is that we're technologically racing ahead but socially moving at a turtle's pace. Humanity is at a place where it has the ability to totally annihilate itself. If we do not begin having this conversation, and there is an urgency, it does not look promising.

• | Author: Mark Matsis
• | Publisher: Mark Matsis
• | Publication Date: Apr 27, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 148 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 0473436124
• | ISBN-13: 9780473436124