Guiding Light: World Welfare Or Economic Welfare?

This is Part 2 of the article, continued from last week.

Presently, the disparity between techno-scientific and psycho-spiritual development has grown tremendously. This has resulted in great imbalances and also social, cultural and moral distortions. It has greatly eroded correct perceptions of ourselves and the society we live in. The result is the present identity crisis. The critical situation we face today has been brought about by the deterioration in morals and an over-emphasis on the physical and material. This has led to fixing up wrong priorities, wrong imperatives, wrong attitudes and wrong goals. We find that our knowledge of Nature and its forces has tremendously increased during the past few centuries but our moral and spiritual development has not kept pace with it. As a result, our relations at inter-personal, inter- communal and international level have greatly degenerated. If we cannot solve the problems of nuclear race or poverty today, it is because our relationships today, at all levels, are not based on goodwill, friendship, love and co-operation. And our relationships have worsened, or are not on a proper keel, because there has been a great deterioration in our moral standards and our level of behaviour. The present crisis is, therefore, mainly a moral crisis. All our current problems arise from lack of moral and spiritual strength and absence or lack of cooperation. If, therefore, we wish to reduce sufferings in the world or eliminate them totally, or, in other words, if we wish to build a better world, then we have to create the necessary moral climate and build up goodwill and co-operation on a global scale. We have to take notice of the moral imperative to co-operate for a better world and to build up goodwill and good relations, else there would be great destruction. The belief that there can be a world without sufferings and without the problems as we have today is not a utopian belief. It seems utopian when we use the current assumptions and paradigms. The paradigm shift would make it look quite feasible. Let us, therefore, follow the moral imperative if we wish to have a better world to live in. Let us have world welfare and not mere economic welfare as our aim. It is only then that we will have the cooperation of all.

The writer is a spiritual educator and popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal and the UK. He can be contacted at nikunjji@gmail.com / www.brahmakumaris.com