Spirituality: The Glue that Binds Us

As one gets older it is not surprising that one’s thoughts turns to how life was so much better in one’s youth. It just seems that the world is a much more different place today than it ever was. Some of it is really exciting in terms of the progress made in technology but there is still room for improvement, with poverty still rampant in some parts of the world, wars still raging and an inequality that separates those that have from those that do not have.

We live in an era of globalisation and technological change, cutthroat politics, and culture conflict. Many will argue that in this current globalising world such rivalry, competition, conflicts, and violence are a necessary tool to preserve the ‘values of freedom’.

However such violence is only perpetuated from deeply delusive and divisive assumptions of single exclusive identities by sectarian activists who want people to ignore all affiliation and loyalties in support of one specific identity. Such exclusive identities are often negative, stressing difference rather than belonging, ‘opposition to’ rather than ‘support for’ something.

Whatever the source of conflict, we know that conflict starts in the minds and hearts of people and when people shut themselves from reasoning, prejudice overtakes and communication breaks down. Conflicts reinforce rumour, hearsay and generalization which are the first steps that lead to the stereotyping of people (their faith, their culture and identity) and the denial of a diverse, lived reality, the opposite of respect, understanding and acceptance.

It is as a result of this that the world is experiencing turmoil and as such needs a new solution, new vision and new understanding which takes into account ways of relating with each other especially in an increasingly interdependent community. This new solution should involve the recognition of our plurality and the searching for commonalities within this pluralism that will lead to greater respect and ultimately greater understanding.

However we somehow don’t seem to possess a shared language with which to discuss this recognition, much less the tools to arrive at a consensus as to how we as a community and society and nation might work together, to bring this about.

This shared language can be the language of spirituality which will allow us to recognise the common space and substance amongst all doctrines that will provide the fuel for social change and trigger action for the unity of humanity.

This shared language will enable us to develop a set of ideals that continue to stir our collective conscience; a common set of values that bind us together despite our differences; a running thread of hope that makes this improbable experiment of reconciling and rehabilitation of communities at disagreement. These are living values and ideals which cannot find expression on paper or monuments or in the annals of history books. They remain alive in the hearts and minds of people and they should inspire us to pride, duty and sacrifice. We need these living values to build on shared understandings. Much of what ails us involves a breakdown in culture, respect, understanding and acceptance. This will not be cured by money. Values and spiritual life matter as much as GDP. These values are the glue that binds every healthy society.

Spirituality thus is an awareness of the interconnection of all things to provide the fuel for social change. It is the ability to recognise that diverse doctrines have a common space and substance as we all belong to this world and we need to live in peace with everything and everyone and protect it for those who come after us. Spirituality is about a sense of duty and sacrifice on behalf of those who are voiceless. Spirituality is a faith in something bigger than ourselves whether it is formal religion or way of life or ethical precepts. It is this faith that allows us to value behaviour that express mutual regard for one another, honesty, fairness, humility, kindness courtesy and compassion.

Spirituality is not religiosity or preaching your religious values, although these form components of a lived spirituality. It is about something greater. We are not here to preach to anyone or convert anyone. We are not here to denigrate someone and their ideals.

The Famous Victorian Explorer Sir Richard Burton once wrote that

‘All Faith is false, all Faith is true: Truth is the shattered mirror strewn In myriad bits; while each believes his little bit the whole to own’ where he meant that you will find parts of the truth everywhere and the whole truth nowhere.

What he meant to say was that we all seem to think that we have the ultimate truth, yet, it is a truth that is part of a greater truth. So if we think in the grander scheme of things (beyond theology and ideology) to unite humanity with peace, respect and understanding, then each of us (with our faith and spiritual teachings) have a bit of that shard of broken glass. This can be pieced together on issues of commonality, as opposed to focusing on our points of difference. Then we would have made the first step towards spiritual reconciliation between communities.

Thus our task as change makers is to try and see how we can piece these broken bits of the mirror. What is the glue we will use? What are the tools? What does the final mosaic look like?

In such a climate as we have today, any assertion of shared ideals or common values might seem unrealistic or hopelessly naive- an attempt to gloss over serious differences or worse or a means of muffling the complaints of those who feel ill served by current institutional arrangements. The point is that we have no choice. We need a new alternative to what has been done so far. We have got to a position where something new needs to happen. Narrow interests have vied for advantage with ideological minorities seeking to impose their own versions of absolute truth that we are left cynical and unsure. It is time we reassembled the pieces of the broken mirror.

Tan Sen, the master musician at the court of the Moghul Emperor, Akhbar, had some fifteen musical instruments in the Emperor’s chamber, which he had tuned to one frequency. Upon playing just one instrument’s musical note, the other fourteen started to resonate, to the astonishment and delight of the audience

Ideally this story can serve well as a metaphor for how communities can work in harmony to achieve an enlightened result and serves as a lesson for how we can move forward.