Spirituality; hope for the virtual century

(Translation from slovak language: Spiritualita, nádej virtuálneho storočia)


This century will not be marked by virtual reality only, but spirituality as well, as the world at the turning point of ages needs to purge. Last year world Forum 2000 in Prague was in its principle a call for humanity. The following public exhibition of His holiness Dalajlama of Tibet in the overcrowded sport hall inspired to transformation of mind and turn to spirituality. The new- year audience at the end of millennium at the St. Peter’s square given by the Holy Father Jan Paul II, pope of the Roman Catholic church to the thousands of palmers encouraged listeners to spiritual renewal of Christianity and world.

Why so much of spirituality at once?
Because the vision of real future of humankind faces the threat of self- destruction of civilization come to the crossroads. After the wraith of the cold war, under the shadow of witch most of us spent our childhood, the new demons are being born. The universal welfare of the inhabitants of the planet has not happened. The differences between rich and the poor ones grow bigger, the security risks (nationalism, racism, xenophobia, refugees) threatens, conflicts of several kinds take place, the devastation of natural environment continues at unbelievable speed, the ozone layer weakens and the threat of consequences of climatic changes draws closer.
There are no neighbors feeling safer, famines of the third world strikes even harder, the satisfaction of the needs of the riches cannot copy with the rising level of the life standards.

It used to be so easy just a little time before: a car or a washing machine was a proof of wealth. Nowadays they are only a little more as the minimal life standard. Nor high account in bank, neither the number of bodyguards can assure wealth. In the epoch of information explosion and the new virtual reality the concept of wealth has somewhat like disappeared and it can be defined by the rate of consumption of estates and height of comfort only (which is always relative). The ownership of material can be measured out only by its position or real influence in the business. A helicopter, a plane or a yacht can easily beat up three cars in garage. Villa can be beaten by guest- house or private hotel, a million in bank is nothing to a billion, a billion to a few billions etc. There are no doubts, that the wealth can be measured by the range of influence and the influence can be defeated by the amount and accessibility of information.

Its exclusivity lowers, as it becomes accessible for increasing number of people. Nowadays, almost anyone connected to Internet can participate at the advantages of the world information package, which is growing, but in the boom of the virtual world it means less and less.

The virtual world, as we know it since the dusk of the last millennium, stultifies and destroys the classic conception of wealth and wellness. The misery of reality is continually being replaced by the longed and adored illusion with strict and meaningful industrial features, attractive for modern man. Those are moments of no time and space, moments with the scent of higher reality, allowing (paradox) to successfully avoiding the needs of the real world of pragmatics. It is a crisis of values, therefore nothing new, but this crisis come form the digitalization, technical development and disillusions. The replacement of the needed and useless things is almost invisible; the border between what is real, what is purposeless and what is needed is being wiped away. Responsibility, honor and dignity leave for past, the real beauty fights the virtual illusion, the nature of harmony cannot copy with docile design. The things and the facts aspiring for the concept of truth were erased by medial truth based on the advertisement. And it is stronger and more vehement as the fact, which is boring and not important for media. What a man really is becomes less interesting as his medial picture. Politics of these days are more sorts of illusionists, voluntary facing the threats of experiment with virtual reality.

Their influence compared to the business world is weak, compared to the medial magnate poor and what touches riches, they can not copy with ordinary managers of medium enterprises. Even so beloved faith in the power of money cannot compete faith in the positive image in media as the most important illusion, unavoidable need. In one word; illusion taunts reality and defeats it wherever finds it. In policy, in business, and even in the interpersonal relations.

The art of this age also obeys the rules of virtual reality. What cannot be put on the web site and compete is art no more. Birth, age, sickness and death, all the natural things common to everyone become inept and unlikely. With the exceptions of violent death and unusual suffering, they are not interesting for media, ad or business. Life, thought still valuable, tails away the understanding of its sense – the freedom which nowadays means something different than it used to mean before: possibility to choose own way for everyone to become whatever one wants. Even though the world demonizes the rule of illusion to prepare different (new, more important?) reality, it is the menace of loosing freedom, which is the main impulse for complete change of life- escape from the trap of consumption and return to humanity.

The way allowing such a turn in this century is called spirituality.
“The material things alone cannot solve the present problems of this world neither politics and economists can“ Lee Teng – hui, former president of Taiwan said at the Forum 2000 in Prague; ”We all have to build on the spiritual power with has higher credit than material values have.” “It is the spiritual challenge, we are facing at this cross-roads. The challenge to develop global morality, that would help the nations of the world to get through the long history of conflicts and would create the space of peace and harmony.” Karan Singh, significant Indian politic, former minister and ambassador said at the same spot.

The human beings in their nature are entities of mind, spirit and higher consciousness. What a wonder; we are creatures oriented to transcendence not to material. This experience appears again and again at every obstacle we need to pass, at every important stage from birth to death. In confrontation with the material world we often loose the first turn, but the second one is a clear victory of spirit uncheated by illusion. The culture of Christianity has been highlighting this fact for a long time, but unfortunately, its argumentation and urgency is weaker than European context of conformity and popular, seeming-to more efficient activities. And it is spirituality, old, ancient experience, giving a hand to a man desperately looking for the way out of the circle. The mystical experience of this genetically encoded and very natural method can give vital energy from the very beginning back to the human population. And it was waste energy coming from the dawn of our gloomy and hopeless history. It was able to carry a man over all the traps of fear and helplessness facing dark and unknown powers to the modern situation of, more or less, well being. Though only for the part of the population, but the more infected one. The northern, richer hemisphere needs spirituality more than the poorer South to get out from the situation it is lost in. It is the situation of latent crisis paralyzing ideal and emotional world of a man, so adherent to his own “self”, that he forgets the sense and meaning of his existence, forgets his spiritual image.
The new turn of spirituality, I expect to happen in the first years of this century, will help to get through the misery of material need, misery of policy and would offer a shift from disillusions and new way at the crossroads of mistaken values and hierarchies, that have lead a man into his present situation. It will be the turn of spirituality tending to be independent from one religion or church only, it would be sooner a kind of, let us say; animistic than rational concept. The vivifying of the slumbering spirit longing for new fulfilling and enlightening will in the coming years bring great and positive changes, that could get through all the obstacles of global, ecological and spiritual crisis. And there’s no other way, for it will be a way back to holiness of phenomena and life, free of dogmas and superiority, deeply spiritual in its accentuation of all the hidden, known and unknown pains or joys of a man.

“Gradually we find out, that pain, sickness and weakness are not absolute, but caused by our unwillingness to comply with the motion of the universe” wrote Indian poet Rabindranath Thakur in the book Sadhana. And he continues; “ why the pain is a virgin vestal obliged to serve the eternal perfection and when she takes her place before the altar of infinity, she will throw away her dark wimple and show us her face as embodying of the highest joy.”

The spirituality is the challenge and the most effective way to know the true reality in this environment, so hostile for simplicity, natural beauty, shy meekness, truth and humanity. Therefore it is a way to universal pleasure. It is the only way to bring back the sense of life. The spirituality, as the hope of the new virtual century, can be the reborn, new power somewhere inside of us. The power we have hoped for, and have been so hard looking for.

(Published In: Kultúrny život, former Slovak cultural Magazine, 18. 7. 2001)