We must rethink the foundations of our western civilization, and we need to integrate Indian spirituality into this change in thinking, because what the Indian culture, Vedanta philosophy and Yoga, give us is crucial for our very survival – as civilization on a living planet. No less than that.
This text is based on the lecture given by the author on 8 August 2024 during the first "European Vedanta Summit" in Gretz-Armainvilliers organized by the Centre Védantique Ramakrishna. The lecture was entitled: "Advaita Vedanta and the Future of Civilization".
Advaita Vedanta and the Future of Western Civilization
I have one concern and that is about the future of this wonderful planet. It tears my heart apart to see how the last areas of the earth are being stolen from nature. It hurts me to see how the most precious and beautiful things in Western culture are being taken over or flatten out by commerce. We are destroying the planet and our culture to further boost the wealth of a few. And why are we doing this?
We are destroying nature and our culture to increase the wealth of billionaires. Why?
I have thought about this for many years. The first thing I have understood was, that what we believe, what we try to achieve, our desires (in short: our thinking and wanting) guides our actions. And at the level of the society: Our view of the world and how we see ourselves as human beings, the goals we are setting ourselves as individuals and as society, silently, unnoticed guide the development of our civilization.
What is our modern worldview? Here it is: The world consists of matter and everything beyond matter is a misconception. Man is a thinking and desiring body. His goal is a comfortable and entertaining life. Maybe not me and not you, but as a society that is certainly true.
What are the characteristics of Western civilization, that resulted from this worldview? If we want to get an objective answer to this question, we must ask people from outside Western culture. What do they say? Materialism, measurement of all value in money, individualism, selfishness, know-it-all attitude, lack of respect. What many of them also say is that nothing is sacred to us. It is exactly what led to the destruction of nature, to waste and to excessive greed, to economic inequality.
Our worldview determined the path we took as a society and civilization.
The flaws of Western civilization: Materialism
Our values are not something to be taken for granted, they are not a law of nature. Obviously, our modern Western worldview must contain built-in flaws. The best way to determine the quality of something is to look at the results. And if the development of the economy, of western civilization, has produced major flaws, the worldview on which it is based must also contain flaws, right?
So, what are these flaws? Materialism is one of them. Our quick answer to this usually is: Materialism is simply the result of the development of the natural sciences. But did science have to develop in opposition to religion? And was this opposition because of science or because of religion? Wouldn't this development have been different with a religion as defined by Swami Vivekananda?
The Renaissance was a natural and necessary reaction to religion as it had developed in Christian Europe. In India, however, religion was and is not something to be (blindly) believed in, but something that in a very practical way helps people in their human development. It does not demand that people turn off their common sense. On the contrary, it encourages them to sharpen their reason. The ideal of Indian religion is not a special, chosen person that we should worship, but an enlightened human being – every human being. Its goal is not a perfect heaven, but a perfect human being here and now.
With this understanding of religion, the arts and sciences would not have to turn against it. On the contrary: such religion would be their ally. And Advaita Vedanta, the pinnacle of Indian philosophy, conforms to all the findings of contemporary science, even though it embodies spirituality. In Europe, religion went into a dead end from which it will not be able to get out in its current form. In the present, it plays no role in thinking about the future of civilization. However, this results in us only looking at half of the human being, because along with religion we have banished spirituality. We are missing this crucial half now, at the very moment when we are facing the greatest challenge in the history of human civilization.
The flaws of Western civilization: Individualism
The second basic characteristic of our culture is individualism, and in my opinion, it is a flaw. The individual is at the top of our pyramid of importance and values. The doctrine of capitalism is based on this, as is Western culture. Law and social institutions also start from the individual, not from the community. Wouldn't the development of society and the economy have been very different if we had placed the interests of the community at the top of the pyramid of importance and values?
From individualism comes the social approval for using the world and others for personal gain, without this being morally questioned. Would this exploitation be compatible with the worldview of Advaita Vedanta, where everyone and everything is basically one, and this one is divine?
Materialism and individualism have determined the direction of our civilization. If we want to change our world, we have to overcome them.
What impulses does the Vedantic worldview and Indian culture give us about this? The best way to learn what a perfect community looks like is from the indigenous peoples or from a village community in traditional India. It is sustained by people helping each other and making decisions that affect several people or the community itself based on the good of the community and not on self-interest. They also adhere to clear rules that reduce the arbitrariness of individuals and promote peaceful coexistence. These rules are not enforced by an impersonal institution, but by the community, which uses its basic moral sensitivity and common sense. Both are rooted in the underlying attitude of Indian culture. This shows us that very different people can live together in a community, supporting and enriching each other. It also shows us that functioning communities can govern themselves better and more fairly than we can today with our state apparatus.
The prerequisite for this is not to give in to selfishness and greed. This is only possible if people pursue the ideal of renunciation in some form or other: the renunciation of everything superfluous and harmful. In India, this renunciation was the natural basic attitude of people towards their lives because it was an important part of the ideal of living. The attainment of the divine, the development of the individual towards perfection could only be achieved by renouncing greed and selfishness.
If you transfer this to a modern society, many of the structures and decision-making processes of ancient India change, but not the ideal. The easiest way to a better state and a society worth living in is therefore to integrate the Vedanta ideal of life into our culture.
Renunciation is a cornerstone of any community and of culture. In the frenzy of our modern consumption, we have given up renunciation. Community and culture follow.
An interesting question is to what extent individualism and our civilization in general is shaped by the fact that we in the West assume, that human life is a one-off event. From this belief it almost inevitably follows that the goals of life are money and fun, right? Let's ask the question: How would our culture and civilization change if we in the West believed in reincarnation?
Reincarnation, as it was understood in India, was much more than the doctrine of the rebirth of the spirit in a new body. It was a result of a more fundamental doctrine of karma. Man has free will but at the same time takes upon himself all the consequences of his decisions, thoughts, desires and deeds. These must be lived or suffered through, and the cycle of reincarnation can only come to a halt when the individual no longer has any "open" karma. This automatically implies the postulate and the effort of every human being, firstly, not to accumulate bad karma through bad or selfish deeds and, secondly, not to harbor any superfluous desires or arbitrary thoughts.
In a world where people have to live through the results of their decisions and actions, self-responsibility and morality grow naturally.
The conviction of rebirth understood in this way, or even the mere admission of its possibility within Western culture, would therefore in itself bring about a fundamental change in our society and, as a result, in our civilization. For this reason alone, a serious examination of Indian culture and especially of Vedanta and Yoga is worthwhile. The chances of this happening are not bad at all, because the true understanding of Yoga as Yoga Sadhana will probably spread anyway, and with it the understanding of what human perfection and enlightenment is. For the enlightened yogis, karma is not a theory, but an object of experience. This fact will help the skeptical Western mind to accept the doctrine of karma.
Materialism, individualism and the understanding of the goal of human life as comfort and convenience led to using everyone and everything for one's own benefit, what we call economy.
The core of our civilization is the economy, and the goal of the economy is to produce and to sell more, whatever the cost, one year after the other. Everything is subordinated to this growth imperative. This is the first policy of our governments. This understanding of the purpose of the economy, reinforced by the unquestioned overweighting of financial capital and the economy in the decisions of the state, led to the destruction of nature, the commercialization of life and the flattening of culture. The logical conclusion is that we can only reverse these destructive developments if we change our economic system. And my thesis is, once again, that this requires a fundamental rethink, a correction of our worldview and our convictions.
Why does our civilization no longer serve us well?
Why nature is being destroyed, why the earth is warming, why tensions in society are increasing, why children are becoming increasingly violent and grow up with the attitude of "wanting to have"? Why all these problems?
In my opinion, all these problems are the result of the development of the economy and technology over the last 250 years. The other thinkers would probably agree. At this point, however, most of them stop, because they take the modern development of the economy (accompanied by the development of technology) as a kind of nature’s law. Nor do they ask whether this development serves man or not. But I think we must go further with our reflection.
How has our economy developed? First of all, it regarded the resources of the earth and nature as freely available because in our understanding they don't belong to anyone and can therefore simply be taken. Living beings became equal to things. People also became commodities: not only slaves, but also workers. Morality was excluded from the economy. What's more, manipulation was promoted – as marketing. Everything was subjected to a single goal: increasing profits.
The result today is a system in which people work all their lives to increase the financial capital of others. In return, the system makes their lives increasingly effortless and entertaining. It is thus an exchange of system conformity for convenience and a pleasant pastime. The ideal citizen of this system helps to produce economic goods that are largely unnecessary and that harm him in the long run: his body, his mind. The ideal citizen of this system also obediently buys these values. What he should buy is told to him by advertising and today increasingly also by the virtual environment based on images and software. Following his desire for comfort and entertainment, he moves his life more and more into this virtual environment, where his desires and needs can be more easily controlled by the system. The output of this system is the wealth of investors, destruction of the earth's ecosystem, shallowness of culture and roughness of social interaction – a fateful downward spiral of contemporary civilization.
We slide into a virtual world where our conformity with the system is finally cemented. This reinforces its output: the wealth of investors, the destruction of the ecosystem, the shallowness of culture and the coarseness of social interaction.
Now, I ask you: Would this development be possible with a worldview of indigenous peoples? Would it be compatible with the image of a human being of Jesus of Nazareth? Would it gain ground if people had pursued the life goals of Vedic culture?
Modern slaves and their wage
The goal of the economy is constant growth, because this growth is necessary in order to increase the wealth of those who invest. But why do we all voluntarily place ourselves at the disposal of this system? Why do we subordinate our lives to increasing the capital of others?
I have also been thinking about this for a long time. Do you know what the ultimate reason is? The reason is, that nobody wants to give up anything, nobody wants to miss anything, even if they don't actually need it, and everyone wants to have more tomorrow than they have today, even though they already have too much. So, you can say that the reason is greed. In other words, it's not just that investors are greedy; we are all greedy – in the sense that we want more and more of material things. The other reason is the desire for convenience and effortlessness. And this, again, is the result of how we see ourselves as human beings, the result of the goals we set ourselves in life. The conclusion? Only if we rethink our self-image and our desires will the economy stop destroying the planet.
The driving force behind our civilization is greed.
Is a fundamental change really necessary?
The first and foremost question is: Do we as civilization really have a problem? We have already talked about the errors in our thinking. But do we really have a problem in the sense that the astronauts in Apollo 13 had, when they said, "Houston, we have a problem". Is this really a problem that is bigger than anything else? Would it be justified to say: "Thakur, we have a problem!"
Most people say: No. And why? Well, politicians tell us: We do everything necessary. The industry tells us: We develop new products. Science develops new technologies. Asset managers are making trillions of dollars available. If so much is being done, we can sit back and wait, can't we?
We can't. The reason for this is that all these problems are simply the output of the current system of civilization. The output of any complex social system can only be changed if the system is restructured, and its rules are changed. This cannot be achieved through individual corrections, whether political, organizational or technological. And fundamental change is only possible if the system begins to pursue other goals. The goals for the economy and, more generally, for civilization come from the convictions and goals of people and society. This is the reason why a fundamental change in the economy is not possible with our current worldview.
A fundamental change in the economic system is only possible if it starts to pursue other goals. That is why it will not be possible with our current worldview.
Neither the economy nor politicians want to fundamentally change the existing system. And investors and asset managers even less so. That's why they spread the feeling that we, the consumers, should carry on like this. Which is why nature will not be preserved, no matter what they say or do. Fairness and peace in society cannot be achieved within the existing system either. We would have to redesign the system for that. And that can only be achieved if people change their way of thinking. Modifying our view of the world and of man, rethinking our understanding of what a fulfilled human life is, are the prerequisites for a sustainable and harmonious civilization.
Can we influence the development of our civilization?
To do so, we have to change the way many people think and want things to be. Politicians do not change anything. They only say what their voters believe and do what the investors expect. So, you can also formulate the question like this: Can we influence people's beliefs, their worldview and desires?
Well, this has already happened several times in the history of western civilization. New ideas, new role models, new possibilities have emerged, and people have changed their goals. So why shouldn't we be able to propagate new ideas, new role models and campaign for new opportunities?
What should the future civilization be like?
We as a civilization have set ourselves the wrong goals. We want to have more and more, we want to live more and more comfortably, we want to be entertained in ever more extravagant ways. We are trying to get rid of everything that means effort. To achieve this, we have eliminated everything sacred, that could distract us from this goal. And we have sold our lives to those, who promise us this comfort and fun.
We will need other goals and new ideals to rebuild our civilization.
If we as a society continue to pursue these goals, we will destroy nature altogether, further flatten culture and lose democracy. So, we urgently need new goals, a new understanding of ourselves as human beings, new values and ideals. These new goals and ideals must be the exact opposite of consumerism, greed and superficiality.
Of course, you can say that we in the West do have values on which a better civilization could be built. That is true, and please don’t misunderstand me: I am proud of our culture, our arts, our science... But reality is telling us another story: something else determines the world we live in, the economy and society, our political decisions, the upbringing and education of our children, and so on. Our values have obviously not stood the test of time and the pressure of capitalism.
Of course, there are also enough Western values that would make a civilizational turnaround possible. However, they have not proven to be convincing and powerful enough to stop people's greed and sloth.
And what ideal should the future civilization have? In our current civilization, it is the individual and his freedom to do whatever he likes and have whatever he wants. I think we could even leave the individualism as it is, only the goal would have to change. Yoga and Vedanta give us the life goal of human growth, the growth of the individual in his morals, in his understanding, in his heart. Instead of the freedom of possession, the freedom of human development. Could we not integrate this ideal into our Western culture?
The role models and ideals for a better civilization do not have to be reinvented. They have been perfected over thousands of years under the influence of Vedanta.
So, our message to the world is: There are already values and a worldview that would lead to a peaceful, sustainable and harmonious civilization. They have been perfected over five thousand years. It is Vedanta and Yoga. And as Advaita Vedanta philosophy, they are even easily compatible with the findings of modern science. They put before us the noblest goals of life that a human being can have: growing in humanity. Expressed in its own terms: sādhanā, dharma, ahiṃsā, sevā, abhyāsa, vairāgya, dhyāna, svādhyāya, and so on.
Vedanta: five-thousand-year-old foundation of the future
Let us talk about the Vedic Culture and Vedanta in more detail: Which values result from them? Which ones do we need most today, and why? When I think of what I myself first learned, humility and frugality come to mind.
Humility is something we lost in the West a very long time ago. It was not compatible with individualism. In the meantime, we find it difficult even to comprehend this ideal. We associate humility with submission and see it as a restriction of our humanity. What is understood by humility in the land of Yoga has something to do with the willingness to learn, with openness to other people, with the recognition of the greatness of creation and with the realization of one's own shortcomings.
A Sanskrit proverb says: “A tree laden with fruit bows, but a dry stick never bows.” Humility understood in this way is the prerequisite for the inner development of the individual and peace between people. Humility and overcoming the ego denote the same state of mind and heart: it makes you strong. In our current culture, we have some values that allow us access to humility understood in this way: curiosity and openness to new ideas or a sense of responsibility. We would only have to learn to appreciate humility and include it in our canon of basic values.
And why should we do this? Because without it we will destroy nature and deplete its resources. Because without humility we cannot achieve the goal of our existence, which is to grow in our humanity.
A tree laden with fruit bends, whereas a dry stick never bends.
Let us now turn to frugality, thriftiness in the use of resources or the basic attitude of contentment with what one currently possesses or has at one's disposal. Only a small part of what people think they need is due to the objective needs of their body and mind. The rest comes from their desires and greed, which have no natural limit. If we do not consciously and critically question them, they continue to grow with every gratification.
Frugality and contentment are the result of this questioning. They can arise from a purely rational consideration or be the result of a person's inner satisfaction. In the first case, they lead naturally to a feeling of inner peace. In the second case, they are the result of the harmony already felt within. We urgently need this frugality and contentment. Why?
It automatically results in less consumption of nature's resources and reduces waste. It decouples our thinking and our life goals from consumption. It gives us time and creates more space for our human growth. It weakens competition, greed and selfishness in society and strengthens the community through more solidarity, helpfulness and openness.
Frugality is natural. All of nature, apart from humans, is frugal. We have banished it from our canon of values because it stood in the way of capitalism. In doing so, we have destroyed the natural order of the world. The only solution is to return to the natural order of life – through frugality. Objectively speaking and from the point of view of society, it has only positive consequences. The only losers of this social concept are people who are now capitalizing on our rampant consumption.
A teacher of frugality was Gandhi, who used a pencil until he could still hold the rest between his fingers. Frugality is not a set of prohibitions, but an attitude to the world. However you translate frugality into concrete action for yourself, this attitude is something that will make the difference between a destructive and a sustainable civilization.
A sustainable civilization can only succeed if we ban greed from the design of our civilization.
Other values that have flourished on the soil of Vedanta are non-violence, peace, respect for every human being and for all life, self-responsibility, the call to work on oneself, self-discipline, the ideal of service, a sense of duty towards one's family, social environment, society, or the needy, respect for elders and teachers, responsibility for the wealth one has been given, balance and modesty. These are all values that we are increasingly lacking. However, we urgently need them if we want to build a peaceful, sustainable and fulfilling future.
Vedanta, Yoga and social engagement
There is something we should be clear about. Vedanta and Yoga are meant for the individual. The goal is the liberation of the individual. Even if we spread the goal to as many individuals as possible, it is always an individual path that each of us takes.
Vedanta and Yoga have not yet dealt with social problems. Of course, the dharma and sadhana of individuals has a very positive impact on society. But the need of modern civilization for fundamental systemic changes (for a new relationship between society, economy and nature, for example) is so great today that this focus on the individual alone is not enough. Vedanta should start to deal with social issues.
My request to the Swamis, to Vedanta and Yoga, is to support the socially committed lay people in their work.
I know it's a minefield. The sannyasins will probably not feel comfortable there, and I understand that very well. I also know that there were and are very good reasons to avoid these topics. But the world needs Vedanta to solve its fundamental, urgent problems – that is my thesis. So, we, the lay people, have to take more responsibility. And Swami Vivekananda has built a bridge between Vedanta and social improvement that makes this task easier.
Do we need spirituality for a sustainable and harmonious civilization?
The next question is: Do we really need spirituality in the West – not only as individuals, but also as an integral part of our culture? Couldn't we solve all our problems with money, technology and organizational measures?
I think the best answer to this question is the world around us. As a civilization, we have clearly hit a dead end and there is no indication that we will turn back. All the solutions proposed by the political and social mainstream are simply a continuation of the existing system. And it doesn't change anything when so many people talk about how we are destroying the planet and harming ourselves with this civilization. Obviously, the forces and mechanisms that our civilizational system has established are stronger than what we are capable of achieving within this system.
This means that a completely different system is required, one that gives nature back the space it needs and one that does not degrade people to the status of consumers. This system will not emerge on the playing field of economics, finance and politics. It will be born outside the prevailing system, its rules and its values.
Now the new can only emerge within this very society – we have no other. There are indeed small seeds of an alternative way of life and a different economy. They are necessary and important. But they cannot dismount the prevailing system at the speed necessary to save the biosphere and human civilization. This requires a stronger push, and there is no stronger force for change than the desire, the dream, the will of the people. This is the field in which the future will be decided.
Today, this field is being played out by political cynics and by big and small money. My appeal to the intellectual elites of the West is to show people new ideals, goals and life plans. People are hungry for hope, and it can only come from a new dream of a better, harmonious and fulfilling world.
What the world needs now is a different ideal for a fulfilled life and a good society. I appeal to the intellectual elites to propagate this ideal and to refrain from arguing about which ideal is best. Let's talk about what we have in common – there's plenty of it!
Can this dream emerge within the framework of the material needs and desires of people in the West? No. Can it become strong enough within the framework of people's intellectual needs and desires? Well, this attempt was made at the beginning of the industrial revolution that gave birth to today's civilizational system. And unfortunately, we need some kind of enlightenment again today, because the human mind has now been degraded to a slave of the system of capital multiplication. However, no new dream big enough to change the world can emerge within the framework of people's intellectual needs.
This power can only be born in the human soul. Humanity must find its spiritual home again. It must end its mutilation, the amputation of its spirituality by the materialistic, benefit-oriented culture. There, in the soul, lies the only source of renewal that has enough power to change the world. Without spirituality, we remain at the mercy of the current destructive civilizational system.
Should we integrate Indian spirituality into Western culture?
But does it have to be spirituality of Indian origin? There are alternatives. There is a mystical tradition in each of the world's religions, including Christianity. You are welcome to turn to any of these spiritual sources. They all need our attention today. There is also the worldview of indigenous peoples who have never lost their spiritual roots. Every path that gives people back their spiritual home is welcome.
The worldview that indigenous peoples present to us is appealing to many because these peoples have been proven to live the way they talk. That is convincing. Applied to India, this is not the case: What we observe in India today often contradicts the ideals we talk about at this Vedanta Summit. That is why we must make it clear that these ideals and values have never determined the entire social, political and economic life of India. And certainly not during the last thousand years of foreign rule, which resulted in a Western influence imposed by the British. By the way, if we do that, we are only repeating what Swami Vivekananda said.
India is too large and too complex an entity to maintain this consistency between the best values of its culture and social reality. But what has always endured in India, what has always been followed by many people there, are the spiritual and humane ideals of Yoga and Vedanta. Therefore, when we look for role models and ideals today, we look to Vedanta and Yoga, not to the political and social events in India.
And again and to make it clear, we welcome any path that leads to more spiritual maturity and more human responsibility for others and for nature. However, we suggest choosing the path of Indian spirituality (in the case of Buddhism, spirituality that was born and raised in India). Indian spirituality is a strong, healthy tree (the metaphor of a whole forest would actually be more appropriate) that has been growing uninterruptedly for more than five thousand years and that bears magnificent fruits.
I made my choice many years ago and can tell you that the Yoga Sadhana is an inexhaustible source of strength and happiness. Moreover, Advaita Vedanta gives me an intellectual home in which not only my soul but also my mind can grow. And because Indian spirituality offers a scientifically based practical path to a good life and a worldview that corresponds to our modern thinking, I believe it is best suited to show searching humanity the way out of the impasse of contemporary civilization.
How can we initiate all these changes?
Now comes the question: What can we do? What you and I and everybody can do?
There are some people I really love with all my heart. Swami Vivekananda is one of them. He was a perfect yogi, philosopher and spiritual teacher, but he was so different from the other yogis. A yogi is reserved, seems indifferent, today we would say "cool". Swamiji, however, is “hot”: spontaneous, full of temperament, an idealist, a fighter. And he has a vision for the world that would lead us out of the dead end of consumerism and shallowness. A great vision. I personally take inspiration from him in what little I can do...
Most people say: "I can't change the world". But we have to change the world! Swamiji repeatedly says: give me a few hundred brave and determined men and women (in every country) and I will change the world. He shouts: "Stand up, men and women, dare to believe in the Truth!" Whom do he mean when telling this? He doesn't mean an old man like me. He means young, determined women and men who are ready to fight.
Questions follow from Swamiji’s statements. The first is: How do we reach these courageous women and men? The second is: Can they really be successful and how?
Vedanta, Yoga and the transformation of civilization
It is God's creation, so I personally assume that it will continue and that the so obvious mistakes of mankind must be good for something. To put it simply (and thinking of a personal God): God knows what He/She/It is doing. But God needs us. God neither destroys the forests, nor will God restore them. God does not spread hate, and we ourselves need to replace the hate in our hearts with love. It's not just that we need God. God also needs us to make goodness and understanding grow in the world. So, everything depends on us. By us, I mean me and you and each and every one of us.
The only real change in the world is the change that each of us chooses to make. Everything else is just self-promotion in the media. It stirs up the dust and fades away. If we want to change the world, we have to change ourselves. If we have love in our hearts, love will spread in the world. That is my firm conviction. And this is how I personally understand the vision of Swami Vivekananda.
His vision is: Change yourself, expand your heart and understanding – that will change the world. Yes, that is his vision. That is also the vision of my Gurudev and all the other great Yoga masters who have brought the great message of Vedanta to the West. And the best thing is: Each one of us can do it.
But acting together, we can reinforce this growth of goodness and love. Together we can strengthen the spreading of understanding und truth: through joint action, through structures. I am also convinced of this.
The vision of a better world must be grand and inspiring for many. Swami Vivekananda has left us such a vision.
Now, we are here in Europe, and it is a European Vedanta Summit. So, let's look at this message from our perspective. Swami Vivekananda told ones about nations that as long as they have an ideal, a mission, nothing can suppress them. But when they give up their ideal, their time will be short.
It is a great truth. It can very much help us to understand our present world. What is the mission of western societies today? What our culture aims at? Again, I’m not talking about preambles of constitutions, or about what professors in the universities may tell their students. I’m talking about the actual forces that determine our economy and the decisions of governments. We have already talked about this: basically, more money and more games.
This is the real reason why our culture is dying, why we are about to destroy nature, why we are putting democracy and peace at risk. We desperately need a real ideal again, a mission, a purpose. Swami Vivekananda presents us such a mission. He shows us a vision, a vision of a civilization based on the equality of all people, but not an equality based on the lowest common denominator. His vision is that of the growth of human beings until they have unfolded the divinity within themselves. This is an equality in divinity. What a vision! What a goal for human life! This vision – not only for the individual (which is more than five thousand years old) but also for societies – is a great contribution of Swami Vivekananda to human civilization. This is the inspiration he left us. Are we ready to follow? Let us try. Let us try to spread this great vision.
Only then will a civilization be possible that builds rather than destroys. A better society on a healthy planet will only be possible with consciousness that includes everybody and everything.
The next phase of evolution - consciousness
My ultimate conclusion is that humanity, that is, all of us, have a task ahead of us: we must build a society based on cooperation and support, one that supports the humane growth of all.
Humanity has a duty: we must build a civilization that contributes to the community of life on our planet.
The next phase of the evolution of life will take place primarily in the consciousness of the human species. Biological evolution has perfected living beings and coexistence of life. Just as coexistence of life has created a perfectly harmonious ecosystem, the next stage of evolution will have to produce a perfect human community. This is a new terrain of evolution that is now taking place in human understanding, morality and empathy. The power for this evolutionary leap can only grow in the understanding and heart of humans. This growth has a name – spirituality. There is a Sanskrit word that precisely defines this growth in humanity: sadhana. If we want a harmonious human community that also lives in harmony with the community of life, we should make use of the enormous treasury of Vedanta and Yoga, the invaluable, five thousand years old experience of Indian spirituality.
The next task of human civilization is to build a society that creates harmony, support and beauty.
Love in the society will only come about when we expand our love. Righteousness in the society will only be possible if enough of us decide to expand our personal righteousness. Just society can only be a sum total of our unselfishness.
But it is not just a matter of summing up. We are walking this path together and can support each other. The human community, culture and civilization must begin to purposefully promote this growth. This is what following Shri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Shri Sarada Devi really mean. Let us try.
It is not the arguments, not the facts and data that change history. It is a vision, a dream, a longing that changes the world. Let's choose the right vision, the right dream.
You might also be interested in this article: Advaita Vedanta and the Future of Civilization.
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