A Viable Solution to our Current Crisis

Most of us are by now aware that the future of our planet lies precariously balanced. The decisions we all make now about how to live our lives will determine whether we are able to bequeath the same opportunities that we inherited to the generations that are to come. Our greed and selfish fear lie at the heart of the world problems. We have some how come to a point of such spiritual barrenness that our idea of the pursuit of happiness has merely become a gratification of our desires. This is what has lead to the insatiable consumption of the planets bountiful resources that is the cause of the countless problems our whole planet now faces. Because we have failed to find meaning in life itself we have sought to intoxicate ourselves with sensual gratification as a substitute for the contentment and peace we are lacking.

We are going to have to give up most of what we have come to take for granted if our planet is to have any chance of survival. If we fail to fundamentally change the values by which we live this will be an insurmountable challenge that most people will not be able to bear. With only the onset of recession we have already begun to see a spate of suicides, and mental depression is fast becoming an epidemic. If our needs were fewer and we could only come to delight in simplicity, the opportunity to let go all the meaningless elaborations in our lives would come as a welcome opportunity. We have a choice. We can either embrace the changes we are going to have to face as an extraordinary opportunity to put human life on this planet back on track or we can see it as an overwhelming cause of stress and fear.

The Buddha taught that one who wants success on the spiritual path to awakening needs to be easy to serve and of few wants. In many ways once we have got to this point we are most of the way there to achieving the goal of peace and happiness in the here and now and the cessation of suffering in the future. The reason the world is in such disarray is that we are of so many wants and so hard to please. It is the endless pursuit of our wants and perceived needs that is the reason that life on our planet is close to becoming unviable. We have to massively reduce the consumption of resource it takes to keep us here. We can either choose to do that, or be forced to. One who has found peace within themselves needs little by way of elaboration or gratification. One who has not found such peace will hanker after it everywhere, hiding from the barren place in their soul through seeking material comforts and distractions. The very process of meditation is one of learning to rest effortlessly at peace with who we are, coming to an acceptance of life as it is and therein finding happiness and joy. It leads naturally to a letting go of the unnecessary so that we can enter more completely into the immediacy of each moment as it is. If all of us on this planet were already yogis of few needs and easily satisfied, it is unlikely that we would be facing the dilemmas we do now. So why not make the effort and put forth effort now to practice meditation and seek solace and comfort in the serenity of your own awakened heart. Then you might effortlessly let go what you cling to and embrace the challenges we all now face. The practice of Meditation and cost nothing and consumes nothing. It is a pastime that will never fail to challenge and inspire you, and while you do it you might find your mind naturally inclining to that precious state of being of few needs and satisfied with less.