| The majority of
people find an easier access to the spiritual life if they first are exposed to a
spiritual culture : for example, a spiritualized philosophy, poetry, art, music, medicine
or astrology. We need a broad field (Prakriti) of cultural growth in order to allow the
widest and most diverse set of approaches to the spirit (Purusha). Individuals are so different that the example of any one teacher or
spiritual path is not enough. Hence the linking of the spiritual life to all aspects of
life and culture is essential. While a rare individual can go directly to Truth (pure
consciousness), cultures need to explore the domains of the mind : art, philosophy,
medicine, and science.
While the evolution of the individual can follow a vertical
ascent, culture moves more slowly, expanding horizontally before being able to rise to a
new level vertically. The forms of Hindu culture are among the most spiritually
oriented in the world. They can serve as a basis for the forms of a new spiritual world
culture. Such domains of culture directed toward the spiritual quest as poetry, philosophy
and mythology have had their greatest development in India. |
