The Seven Principles: Annotated Edition - Hardcover
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In a world plagued with uncertainties, we desperately seek certainties. In a world steeped in ambiguity, we yearn for clarity. In a world filled with corruption and superficiality, we all deeply long for integrity, authenticity, and sacredness.
In the name of advancement and enlightenment, human beings have formed a world in which almost nothing is sacred anymore, a world in which ideologies triumph over humanity. And what is the dominant, most lauded ideology of them all? Relativism. When everything is relative, nothing is really relevant. When everything goes, nothing really matters. It is a world where there are no absolutes, and essentially no clear distinctions between what is good and what is really evil, between what is noble and what is lowly, and what is 'worth fighting for' and what is 'not worth a minute of my time'.
In an effort to be completely non-judgmental, our culture has lost its very sense of all judgment. Although being non-judgmental is positive in essence, making it into a rigid ideology unveils its negative flip side. One begins to condone harmful and traumatizing acts in the name of absolute openness to diverse perspectives.
Human beings seem to have also lost their way and moral compass, despite all our advancements in science, medicine, and technology. Studies and advancements in the areas of human consciousness and life-giving practices seem to be lagging far behind all 'external' advances. As a result, reverence has become irrelevant. This is because in the name of 'freedom', 'success', 'security', or 'pleasure', all norms can be collapsed - nothing is sacred any longer, nothing is worth upholding, and no one is to be emulated. But in a world where everything is 'OK', nothing is actually 'OK'.
When all is said and done, the only thing that most people really value and revere is their own ego, their self-centered 'i'. Despite their belief in relativism, their comforts and ability to attract the admiration of others somehow rise above all other considerations in life. 'Yes, ' one might agree, 'in this world, no one amounts to anything... except for me; i am important, and my friends, my family, my culture, my politics, my public image, my beauty, my career, my property, my feelings, my longevity....
In truth, the celebration of 'me' is not automatically bad; the real negativity arises when it implies the exclusion of 'you'. There is no longer any sense of 'we'; there is no grand vision or dream for humanity, just thinly cloaked greed and conflict
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In a world plagued with uncertainties, we desperately seek certainties. In a world steeped in ambiguity, we yearn for clarity. In a world filled with corruption and superficiality, we all deeply long for integrity, authenticity, and sacredness.
In the name of advancement and enlightenment, human beings have formed a world in which almost nothing is sacred anymore, a world in which ideologies triumph over humanity. And what is the dominant, most lauded ideology of them all? Relativism. When everything is relative, nothing is really relevant. When everything goes, nothing really matters. It is a world where there are no absolutes, and essentially no clear distinctions between what is good and what is really evil, between what is noble and what is lowly, and what is 'worth fighting for' and what is 'not worth a minute of my time'.
In an effort to be completely non-judgmental, our culture has lost its very sense of all judgment. Although being non-judgmental is positive in essence, making it into a rigid ideology unveils its negative flip side. One begins to condone harmful and traumatizing acts in the name of absolute openness to diverse perspectives.
Human beings seem to have also lost their way and moral compass, despite all our advancements in science, medicine, and technology. Studies and advancements in the areas of human consciousness and life-giving practices seem to be lagging far behind all 'external' advances. As a result, reverence has become irrelevant. This is because in the name of 'freedom', 'success', 'security', or 'pleasure', all norms can be collapsed - nothing is sacred any longer, nothing is worth upholding, and no one is to be emulated. But in a world where everything is 'OK', nothing is actually 'OK'.
When all is said and done, the only thing that most people really value and revere is their own ego, their self-centered 'i'. Despite their belief in relativism, their comforts and ability to attract the admiration of others somehow rise above all other considerations in life. 'Yes, ' one might agree, 'in this world, no one amounts to anything... except for me; i am important, and my friends, my family, my culture, my politics, my public image, my beauty, my career, my property, my feelings, my longevity....
In truth, the celebration of 'me' is not automatically bad; the real negativity arises when it implies the exclusion of 'you'. There is no longer any sense of 'we'; there is no grand vision or dream for humanity, just thinly cloaked greed and conflict
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