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Last Updated on June 21, 2024 by The Unbounded Thinker
The realization that something is wrong with society today
If you commit yourself to spiritual growth, you’ll wonder what is wrong with our society today because you’ll start seeing things clearly. You’ll notice that many people are self-centred narcissists who only care about accumulating material possessions, and you’ll realize that their self-centred or narcissistic nature makes them vulnerable to greed, jealousy, anger, and negative mental states such as depression and anxiety.
What is wrong with today’s society?
If you think deeply, you’ll realize that the primary cause of extreme narcissism, self-centeredness, and attachment to material possessions today is the lack of spiritual commitment among the masses.
Before the Dark Ages, which marked the beginning of modern society, many societies lived in peace and harmony. Of course, conflicts existed between different cultures, but the ancient world was not in a constant state of conflict like the modern world.
Society members loved and helped each other and some societies, particularly African societies, were so kind that they gave away gold to strangers. This occurred because ancient societies valued spirituality. They dedicated much of their time to prayer and worship as spirituality was the most important aspect of their life. This made them less narcissistic and materialistic by fostering the importance of righteousness and the perception that earthly life is temporary and less important than the afterlife.
On the other hand, modern society prioritizes materialism over spirituality. Many people today believe the most important thing in life is the accumulation of wealth and possessions, and they perceive spiritual commitment as an unnecessary and superstitious endeavour. This belief has prevented them from pursuing spiritual development and understanding that being virtuous is the only way to be in tune with the flow of life. It has led to an intense desire to be more important than others, resulting in extreme levels of narcissism and self-centeredness.
This materialistic mindset has caused weak social bonds by encouraging a lack of empathy. People are more focused on their success rather than other people’s well-being. Relationships have become transactional as individuals focus on what they can gain rather than the desire to establish genuine connections.
The pursuit of wealth has also caused mental health complications as individuals are constantly trying to meet unrealistic societal standards of success, outdo each other and show off their success to gain admiration and validation. This competition among society members has eroded the sense of community and cooperation, replacing it with a pervasive “me first” attitude that makes people, particularly those with an intense desire to win the social competition, vulnerable to chronic anxiety and depression.
Nothing could be wrong with our society today if we prioritized spirituality over materialism. Spiritual commitment could have led to the realization that earthly life is a temporary existence and a reflection of an underlying spiritual reality. Furthermore, it could have enlightened people that what we all want is inner peace, which arises from living a virtuous life. These realizations could have prevented the high levels of self-centeredness and narcissism and the over-attachment to material possessions.
Is this the Age of Egoism?
Sometimes I am tempted to think that people today have avoided spiritual commitment because we are living in the Age of Egoism. I am starting to believe in the unconventional historical theory that divides historical periods into ages. These ages include the Golden Age of peace, prosperity, and happiness, the Iron Age of toil and misery, the Dark Ages of cultural decline, and so on.
Based on the theory of ages, it appears that we are in the Egoism Age where people persistently pursue status, power, and material wealth. In other words, we might be in an age where the ego dominates the spirit.
Or maybe, it’s true, as the Vedanta and Yoga philosophies claim, life is God’s dream, and we are at a point in this dream where God is dreaming about the ego and there is nothing we can do about it.
The good thing is that, like all dreams, this horrific dream will also come to an end and maybe God will dream about peace, prosperity and happiness again, allowing us to experience a Golden Age.
What shall we do?
Another good thing is that we as individuals, have the power to create change by living a balanced life characterized by the desire to cater for both our earthly and spiritual needs. Therefore, rather than focusing on the question, ‘What is wrong with our society today?’ we can decide to create a personal Golden Age where we create a life of peace and harmony for us and those around us.
We should let people be the way they are because there is nothing we can do to change them, but we should not allow ourselves to be like most people. Instead, we should be the change we want to see in the world.
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