Peter: The last half of the 20th century may well be
re-called in history for the four major events –
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The emergence of Eastern Religions into the Western cultures in the the guise of
Spiritualism.
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The rise of violence, wars, conflicts, freedom fights, fights for rights,
cleansings, ethnic conflicts, protests, etc. to unprecedented levels. In the last 20 years of the century alone some 1 billion
people have been directly affected by warfare. These are indeed the ‘Savage Times’.
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The technological developments that have led to unprecedented global-wide free
flow of information.
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The emergence of a practical, down to earth method of ridding oneself of the the
animal instinctual passions located in the primitive lizard brain such that one becomes free of malice and sorrow.
As this is being written, only a handful of people are interested in
becoming free of the Human Condition while those others sufficiently motivated to be concerned with the Human Condition on the
planet are still stubbornly pursuing the spiritual solutions of Eastern Religion. This spiritual view of the world is so all
pervading that literally everything is deemed to be Spiritual, Sacred, Holy or Divine.
The extent of denial and pious-ness of spiritual people is plainly
evident when they state that the Human Condition of suffering, poverty, despair, war, torture, murders, rape, child abuse,
domestic violence, etc. is either ‘an illusion’ or part of ‘everything is perfect as-it-is – one just needs to go ‘in’
...’ This introverted attitude to life, actively encouraged by Eastern Religions, has led to a remarkable outbreak of
self-absorbing, self-centred, self-interested and ultimately Self-seeking behaviour. The avowed aim of many on the spiritual path
is to achieve Self-realization – a blatant act of disassociation from being a mortal human being in the world as-it-is given
that to be Self-Realized is to believe oneself to be Divine and Immortal.
To be spiritual, indulge in spiritual practice or regard the world as
a spiritual world is to not only put one’s head in the clouds and deny and ignore the reality of the Human Condition on the
planet, but more particularly is to deny and ignore one’s own behaviour and actions.
When I was leaving the spiritual world and began to really investigate
what others had to say about the human condition, I was amazed to discover that everyone – and I do mean everyone – has a
spiritual outlook on life. The spiritual viewpoint permeates philosophy, science, medicine, education, psychology, law, etc.
No one dares to question the sacred ceiling for the atavistic fears
and peer pressure are shockingly real. It is an act of extraordinary gall to even consider that everyone – and I do mean
everyone – has got it 180 degrees wrong.
But it does explain why after millennia of so-called civilization and
spiritual search, there is nothing even remotely resembling peace on earth.
Richard: It is sobering to realise that
the intelligentsia of the West are eagerly following the East down the slippery slope of striving to attain to a self-seeking
divine immortality ... to the detriment of life on earth. At the end of the line there is always a god of some description (‘supreme
intelligence’), lurking in disguise, wreaking its havoc with its ‘Teachings’. Have you ever been to India to see for
yourself the results of what they claim are tens of thousands of years of devotional spiritual living? I have, and it is hideous.
But, if it were not for the appalling suffering engendered it would all be highly amusing.
Of course, it is possible to be actually free of the human
condition ... but it is 180 degrees in the opposite direction to the ‘tried and true’.
