Modern times are a puzzle. Most people in Western countries are richer and healthier than they have ever been. Their lives are made easier by gadgets which cook their food, chill their drinks, wash their clothes, warm their homes in winter, allow them to remain connected to family and friends. Their lives are made pleasant by gadgets that entertain them on bright viewable screens, or in storage devices that fit in the pocket. There are transport devices that take people where they want to go in warmth and padded comfort.
Yet, according to many observers, people are less happy and fulfilled than their forebears. They feel discontented, not satisfied, and anxious. There is a vacuum in the centre of their lives and into this hole they throw many things to fill it: relationships, family, friends, DVD's, electronic gadgets, self-help books, religion, pets, holidays and the so called 'career'. But the frustration; though it may abate somewhat as a result of these remedies, still persists and the people cannot identify its source. All they know is that the more gadgets and more money they have, the more they feel the need to supply their lives with meaning or at least solace.
Some turn to recreational drugs such as alcohol or skunk weed and some to medicines like Prozac to relieve the tedium of existence. Others turn to religion. Both drugs and religion erect a safety barrier against the discontent, although by different means - drugs work by obliterating the conscious awareness of the vacuum itself, and religion by providing a ready made filling. Others hope to find the solution in love and family life, but find matters made worse by the failure of their expectations. Some turn to the occult, others seek relief in psychoanalysis, behavioural therapy, astrology, feng-shui, crystals, aromatherapy, the teachings of 'the east' and tarot readings.
All these efforts have something in common. They are all based on the assumption (rather apt in our capitalist society) that the problem's of life can be made to go away and can be solved by handing over money to some sort of 'expert'. Another thing all these efforts have in common is how often they fail. They might seem to work for a time, but eventually, they become frayed and worn and the emptiness begins to show through again.
You see, there is a universal defect in the human being that has created a widespread delusion: that only 'I' am discontented with life, and that everybody else I see around me, is not. Not true! Take a look around. Take a look at one of the richest nations in the world: Dubai. Do you honestly think that Dubai really would; if it did indeed gain spiritual solace from Islam or had ample self-esteem, go to the trouble of building the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world)? - The economics are well known. Buildings grow upwards when floor-space costs are uneconomical. The only reason they built the worlds tallest building in the middle of a desert (where floor space is plentiful) was as a show of ostentatious wealth. "Look at me! Love me! I want to be loved and liked and talked about by the whole world". But how long will this feeling last? The novelty will wear off and somebody else in their folly will build something higher. The only reason why people build or own such garish things is because they have a hole the size of a little moon in their hearts.
Yet the best resource for dealing with the inexplicable void in the heart of rich, well-fed, healthy, well entertained Westerners lies very close to hand. Oh yes! We Westerners are like thirsty people drinking from a muddy puddle that lies not far from the banks of a great crystal-clear perspicacious river. The river has a name. It is called...
[to be continued]
