‘The real tragedy of our time lies not so much in the unprecedented external events themselves as in the unprecedented ethical destitution and spiritual infirmity which they glaringly reveal.’

Paul Brunton

Several years ago, I used the same opening quote when I was writing about what I called a ‘metaphysical malaise.’ As I observed the general outer events, I felt it was evident that they revealed an inner lack. I also added a second quote from Paul Brunton: ‘when political relations become an elaborate façade for hiding the spiritually empty rooms behind them, menacing problems are sure to appear on every side.’ Both this quote, and the opening citation, were published in 1952 and yet they also describe our current situation today. Another way to state this is to say that many people have become ‘internally numbed’ by what they see occurring in the world, and feel that only a similar harsh, physical response can be effective. That is, the inner lack is being compensated for by an extreme swing to external actions and acceptance of authoritarian measures from governing systems. The crisis of our times is that our societies do not consider human purpose and the deeper meaning of human existence. Dark pathways will always emerge and grow in the places where the light is flickering without focus or intent.

The world today is increasingly fragmented. The current global situation is triggering a collapse of the body – individual, social, and psychological. The collective social mind too is in trauma, and the body is showing this illness or dis-ease. Our modern economic-driven societies were already collapsing when the ‘bio-agent’ came along to accelerate the process. We are now being impacted not only by the forces around the bio-agent but also an info-virus and a psycho-virus. Our social mind and body are collapsing morally and spiritually. We are walking unguided through a new landscape of anxiety. We are being blindsided by what I see as the “bullfighter effect” – this is where the bullfighter keeps the bull blinded and fixated by the cape. The bull twists, turns, and runs, yet always their vision is narrowed onto the cape that is always placed right in front of their nose. Similarly, people live their lives blinded by a cape they never comprehend. We are being cajoled and coerced into chasing the cape, and because of this our vision is narrowed and we are unable to see the bigger picture. People are fighting between themselves for scraps of the cape. Yet we are not seeing those who are the holding the capes – those disguised as the bullfighters. Our societies, our cultures, and our very humanity is being recoded. We are being recoded biologically, socially, and psychologically. The biological and psychological dimension has coalesced to the detriment of our inner life – the life of the spirit.

If this continues, then we shall have allowed ourselves to be drawn into a collective, and individual, state of impotence – physically and psychologically. It is the IMPOTENCE OF WILL. The writer-philosopher Colin Wilson recognized the beginnings of this decades ago: he referred to this predicament as the insignificance fallacy. It is now an attitude that is permeating more and more of our modern societies – a general sense of insignificance. The insignificance fallacy is promoted by increased materialism and strengthened by strategies of fear that beholden people to seek external security. There is a lack of inner direction as there is simultaneously a rise in ‘other-directed’ societies. And yet, other-directed societies finally lead to a ‘tyranny of the majority.’ This can be said to be the actual fate of so-called ‘democracies.’ The repression against inner-direction (human sovereignty) can unwittingly create societies where a loss of meaning produces a moral and ethical void. And in such a void, society imposes a pressure to become a ‘good member of society’ and join the consensus – the ‘tyranny of the majority.’ Even social movements that emerge in such societies (whether ecological or based on social identities) usually show a lack of inner-direction and people unknowingly act more as converts rather than sovereign individuals. Such people tend to often depend on external authority as guidance even when they believe the contrary.

What is required now, I would propose, is a deepening of internal experience. The inner-directed person can empty their hands and still hold everything. Inner-direction is not an end purpose but an ongoing means. Inner-direction is not an influence through mass-mindedness, or a blindsided obedience without questioning. Turning inward is the first step toward genuine freedom. It forms a detachment from the distractions of an external reality in order to more clearly perceive the nuances of reality. It is a deepening of subjectivity in order to have more clarity and objectivity.

Humanity is now engaged in a profound moment along its future path. Whether it is recognized or not, we are each living and participating in a reality that exists upon profound metaphysical principles. That’s the bottom line. We can choose to participate in this metaphysical reality, consciously and willingly, or be coerced through our lives unbeknown and under influence to external forces that impel us.

“It is slavery or freedom…Without integrity, there’s no civilization. So, if you want to be part of something that has integrity, you can’t stay [in the old system]. I say it again, there’s no middle of the road…But you have to choose integrity and civilization or choose being a slave of organized crime. You have to make that choice.’

Catherine Austin Fitts