In an age of information overload, where most of us have lost our inner compass, there can be disorientation about what we believe in and what we don’t. This is called the “post-truth” era. In Hindu cosmology, this age is called the Kali-Yuga, the bronze age, also called a dark age: an age of deep ignorance. We are right into it. Post-truth is linked to the western concept of post-modern worldview, where one of the traps is that there is an equalization of values and a lack of discernment (see works of post-modern philosophers such as Jean-François Lyotard, Gilles Deleuze or Jacques Derrida). Morals become diluted, and nihilism (definition) as well as scepticism (the shadow of critical thinking) become prevalent in society. You basically have a society that is bitter, doesn’t know where it’s going nor what it believes in. If you want to know more about post-modernity, Ken Wilber (more on him in this article) describes it well in his books A Brief History of Everything, and his magnum opus Sex, Ecology and Spirituality.
In this article, I thought I would put out there what I truly believe in, and what I don’t. I like to play with my cards on the table.
What I believe in:
- That Technology is a good servant, but I don’t trust it as a good Master. (This could evolve over time.)
- That we can create a loving relationship with Technology. For instance, feeling gratitude for our tools (laptops, dishwashers, …) all these machines that render us great services. How can we care for them without idolizing them (like some idolize their car), but without turning them into worthless slaves either, that we create, overuse, and dump so they end up dismantled by children in Asia sniffing electronic parts they burn with lighters to extract the precious minerals left before most of the circuits get burned releasing their toxic chemicals in the air.
- Same goes with Money. (Not sure this will evolve over time.)
- That Humanity needs to wake up, and evolve through consciousness (Nope, more technological progress will not save us from anything). We are apes playing with guns:
- That Compassion and Wisdom should be taught at school from the earliest age, as well as other “soft skills”. (Nope, more math, languages, history based on the historical materialistic view will not help us. They are a good basis, and necessary, but adding more “knowledge” and information will not help us steer a healthy evolution of our species.)
- That people who haven’t yet engaged in Deep Inner Work need to start (unless they continue to wait to get kicked in the face by Life – like what happens to most adults during the “mid-life crisis”) and that people who have already done a tremendous amount of this Work (which is the real work) need to put themselves out there and help more people out with all their talents, their gifts, knowledge and experience.
- That for “Spiritual people”, the choice is always available: to stay in the world and shine their lights as Bodhisattvas, or to retreat, for a day, a week, a month, a year or a decade. Yes, deep planetary changes also happen thanks to all the beings who retreat in caves, monasteries and who go to depths that most humans can’t even imagine.
- That to “get out” of the prisons we build, we need to go right through them. Just like Michael Scofield, in the great series Prison Break, we do something to get locked up (we might also want to free our brothers and sisters), and we have the intelligence to do what it takes to escape, with the map in our back. Though, things take time and more often than not: more time than we expected (there are 5 seasons of Prison Break!).
- That we can and need to do much more for our planet. Much more. From picking up a tiny piece of plastic when we walk in the park, to looking at how to increase our positive impact through our work (given that you have about 80 000 hours dedicated to work over your lifetime):
During a party, I met someone who worked in the automotive industry. He was disillusioned by his job. He said that he knew how destructive it was for the planet. He was bitter and resentful. There were moments of joy in our conversation. When I asked him what he would do if he had a few millions in his bank account, he didn’t know what he would do. When I told him I’m sure he would do theatre, and enjoy meeting millionaire friends to play roles, he lit up and loved it. I had compassion for him, as there are so many Souls who are lost in this world. If you are one of them, find something you love, and do it, once a week. Even for 15-30 minutes. Increase that over time. Do the Work.
I also believe that we are evolving as a species, towards a new form (what will come after the homo sapiens sapiens?). There are several scenarios I can foresee:
- The Spiritual scenario: We evolve to become Divine beings into a completely new species.
- The Material scenario: We evolve to become cyborgs or technologically aided species, but we don’t recover/loose our Soul in the process. (Actually, I don’t even know if that would count as an evolution. In many sci-fi movies, it is still the same homo sapiens sapiens that is living in a more technologically advanced world. It is simply the same ape with a better gun which to me does not count as evolution).
- The Hybrid scenario: We healthily integrate the Spiritual and the Material, Spirit and Technology so that tech can help us evolve in Consciousness, and Consciousness helps us develop healthier, more loving and compassionate Tech.
- The Alien scenario: We evolve in a completely new species as a consequence of hybridation, DNA activations, and other factors.
Of course, a mix and various combinations of these scenarios are possible too. We get to co-create this, so there are more possibilities !
- That we individually and collectively create our future. Whether we admit it or not.
What I don’t believe in:
- That we can escape our destiny. We can hide. We co-create it. But we can’t avoid it.
To illustrate this point, here is the story of Death in Samarkand:
There was a rich merchant, who after having been out travelling with his caravan for some time, reached the outskirts of a town. The evening was late, but he needed a few things so he sent his best servant to the market. At the market the servant happened to meet Death. It was easy to recognize the sinister face of Death, they were no more than ten meters away from each other. Death saw the servant and raised his hand. The servant instantly became terrified and fled head over heels to his master without having bought anything at all.
Back at the merchant’s tent the terrified servant told his master whom he had met at the market. The merchant immediately gave the servant one of his fastest horses and told him to ride the whole night without stopping and by dawn he would be safe in Samarkand. The servant rode as fast as the horse could carry him. That night it was only him, the horse and the glistening stars.
Early the next morning the merchant went to the market and also he happened to meet Death. The merchant, who was annoyed instead of being afraid, went straight up to Death asking what he meant by threatening his best servant. Death calmly replied “I wasn’t threatening him, I was merely greeting him. But I must say I was very surprised to see him here since I have a meeting with him in Samarkand tonight”.
Retrieved in the blog: My long voyage.
- That adding more of what is not working will get us out of here/where we truly want to be. That sounds silly, but we (and I) tend to forget it easily.
- That Technology will save us. Tech can help us, we can help it, but it won’t save us. We can save ourselves (and are the ones we are waiting for) with the help of others and by helping others.
- I don’t believe in a world without Spirit.
I don’t believe in an inanimate mechanistic world made of objects that interact with each other with scientifically observable laws only. I refuse to believe in it. I know it’s not true. Even if it was true, I would consciously choose to believe in the opposite. Once you know, you can’t unknow.
How about you, what do you truly believe in?
What do you truly NOT believe in (no matter what others think/what is popular/what makes sense) ?
Jean-Sébastien Simon - Conscious Business Coach 