The 21st century will be the meeting point where the wisdom of ancient traditions can find a synthesis with modern science; as without an inner wisdom and maturity also guiding humanity there will remain an imbalance and many limitations.
With a combination of science and spirituality we can move beyond a purely sense-driven perception of our environment into a more expansive perception of how we are connected to a world, a universe, at a deeper, more fundamental level.
A sense of personal balance, satisfaction and fulfilment may be a necessary endeavour for each individual as the 21st century is likely to see an increased deterioration in the influence and power of institutional religion.
Our modern sense of self-awareness, and our bodily extended mind, have clearly evolved to root us in our social world: a world of extended relations and social networks.
The human psyche is able to adapt and evolve according to social and environmental impacts and influences. How we communicate as a ‘social animal’ wires our neuronal brains and forms our psyche.
Human history is also a form of collective amnesia; we only remember what has been agreed upon as being important to us, and in a manner that we are able to comprehend.
It may only be a matter of time before new generations move into evolving consciousness and its physical expressions. It is thus critical that an understanding of spiritual matters begins to permeate our everyday lives as a counterbalance to our social materialism.
It is essential that we revitalize our collective sense of wellbeing and connectedness – our entanglement and empathy – as part of our shared human journey.
In these years ahead it will be to our benefit if we try to develop a consciousness that is both open to spiritual impulses whilst simultaneously aware and attentive to the latest in scientific research.
‘The wise understand the ignorant, for they were themselves once ignorant. But the ignorant do not understand either themselves or the wise, never having been wise themselves’ - a proverb with sense?
‘Nobody and no thing can stand between you and knowledge if you are fit for it; but anybody and anything can stand between you and knowledge if you are not fit for it’ - a proverb worth considering?
