We as a society/culture are very future-oriented. Why? Because we feel the future holds the promise of having better lives, often through advances in science and technology.
This perspective was boldly stated 50-60 years ago by companies such as DuPont, "Better living through chemistry," and General Electric, "Progress is our most important product." The common thought was that everyone's lives would be made easier, not just housewives', by advances in science and technology. As a result we would spend less time working – it was expected that the work-week would shrink to 35 hours – and more time relaxing and playing.
As we know, however, although women do spend less time, certainly less arduous time, in keeping house and clothes clean and cooking than they did pre-WWII, it is safe to say that no one's life has gotten easier, that our work time has reduced and play time increased. In fact just the opposite.
We live now in a world where everyone is constantly connected through technology and is therefore expected to be available at all times, whether for work or otherwise. We live in a world where the demands of work have become more oppressive. And where mothers, while they spend less time on certain tasks, have been given a whole new set of tasks which take up a huge amount of time and energy, e.g. soccer moms.
Everything has become more complicated, not easier, and with it, the frustrations of completing tasks, of knowing how to move forward has increased. This is not how it was supposed to be. This is not what the prophets of progress, of the future, had promised us.
But it gets worse. It's not only that the promise hasn't panned out, the whole premise is an example of wrong thinking.
What would make our lives truly better than they are now? Let me list a few things for starters. Feeling secure. Feeling good about yourself. Feeling you are loved. Feeling you can trust others. Feeling you will be ok regardless what life throws your way.
It is safe to say that for most people, the feelings I just listed would not be descriptive. Yet what is life if one does not have these feelings/knowledge. You can have all the material wealth in the world, and still not be happy, still not feel secure. We see evidence of that all around us, both among the rich and powerful and those at the other end of the affluence/power scale.
The problem is how our culture – and it's not just America's, it's now the world's – defines happiness. Happiness in this scenario, as portrayed in countless movies, ads, and media, consists of having the financial ability to acquire the things that make for the "good" life. To get what you want, to be successful, on any level. If you do, you will be happy; if you don't, you will be frustrated and upset.
From practical experience we all know this is not true. Even when people get what they want, they still want more, they aren't satisfied, they worry about losing what they have. Our masked insecurity gives us no peace.
What is needed to allow the vast majority of people to lead a meaningfully better life, to experience peace, happiness, and security, not necessarily materially, is a major shift in how our culture defines happiness.
Luckily we don't have to look very far. The teachings of Buddhism and that of the mystical traditions of all three major Abrahamic faiths (not the organized religions) all teach that happiness means to be at peace with oneself, to have good self-esteem, to know that you will be ok regardless what life throws your way. That happiness comes from within and is not dependent on anything outside you.
But how do we get to there from here? The answer is back to the future. Advances of science and technology are all well and good. But they are meaningless, if not destructive, if people are not grounded in the past – not in the sense of their past, but the past of mankind. And first and foremost, that involves a connection to and faith in a cosmic force larger than ourselves, and derivatively faith in ourselves.
Whether it's the cosmic force of the Buddhist universe (Buddha is not a God, a deity, so the faith is not in him) or the Divine essence that the mystical traditions of the Abrahamic faiths teach is in each of us, or whether it's a more new-age concept of God, or the Universe or your higher power – humans must know that they are not put on this earth to fulfill some banal material or sexual desire.
They are instead put on earth to be good human beings. Human beings are born with the divine essence inside them. And what is that divine essence? It is light, love, faith, trust, compassion, humility, gratefulness, joy, contentment, strength, courage, and wisdom. A human being treats other people with kindness, which is why inhumanity is defined as cruelty. A human being has lived his life well if he has offered joy to himself and others and made a positive difference in the lives of others.
If we were grounded in this faith in ourselves and the universe, we would have no fear of the future, of death, or of anything else. We would do, commit our lives to, whatever we felt inside us that we were meant to do, not what our culture or our parents want us to do. And we would be happy doing what we felt we were meant to do, regardless whether we were "successful. " True happiness is derived from the doing, not by the outcome.
And if we lived in a world where everyone was grounded in this faith, we would not be faced with the competitive forces we experience today. Society would be more communal in nature with people helping others. Everyone would have their acknowledged place at the table (not as in 'know your place"). And if people could not provide for themselves, government would provide the resources so all people could live a life of dignity and respect.
There would still be the rich and the poor, but the difference would be far less and the poor would want for none of the essentials of life or of the equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.
Does this sound like a utopia? I guess the answer would have to be, yes. But the sad thing is that man has it in his ability to create such a world. He has been given a highly developed brain but has not used that brain to make human life better, on a higher plane, than animal life. Instead, man's brain, his mind, has in many ways made his life worse; there is no such thing as a neurotic animal, unless he has come under the control of man; whereas neurosis in man, psychic suffering, is universal. Animals are wise in ways which men have ceased to be.
I don't know what the answer to these observations is. But the observation, the truth, needs to be spoken. If there is any hope for man, it is with people becoming aware of this truth, understanding its impact, and vowing to change their approach to life accordingly. The change will come one person at a time. Perhaps over the course of a generation, this movement will create a sufficient mass to have an impact on the rest of society.
