CIVILIZATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Isn't Western Civilization More Humane?

Western civilization through technology has succeeded better in giving material benefits to a larger number of people, though it remains to be seen whether this is an enduring phenomenon or will lead to some collapse owing to the exhaustion of the planet's resources. Western civilization has been better at recognizing the political rights of people, which are generally personal and materialistic rights to happiness in the outer world.

Yet at the same time Western civilization has not provided any real spiritual benefit to people. It has fed the body better, perhaps, but it has starved the soul. This is like giving a person a better car to drive but starving their body. It is improving the vehicle but not the person who uses it.

True humaneness consists not of merely providing better food, clothing, shelter, medicine or human company to people, or giving them greater freedom to get these things - however necessary they may be - but of making us aware of our greater humanity, which is universal intelligence. To be humane means to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated.

This means not only to treat other people like we would treat ourselves but also treat animals and all of nature as we would treat ourselves. Otherwise our humanity itself is a curse upon Nature and will eventually undermine the natural basis of our own life, such as is happening today with the destruction of our natural environment, which is generally done in the name of progress and human advancement.

We should strive to be humane but unless we recognize the Divine Self as the true reality our humanity is a partial view that must exploit some other part of the world as less than ourselves, as well as failing to discover our true human potential, which is in universal awareness, not in material, social or intellectual gains.

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