If we care to look closely at the people around us, study their attitudes and the tones of their statements, we are apt to sense something unsettling. Smiles seem to have faded from their faces. They sound forever high strung. Patience in short supply, their minds seem toeing on anger and intemperance. Kindness as a human emotion seems to have become obsolete. People appear more reactive, more hostile, and more fragile. In some sense, it looks as if we have become colder, harsher, and more unpredictable than ever before.

It feels as though humanity itself is suffering a tectonic shift in its foundations. What we see on the surface are only ripples, while the deeper undercurrents escape the headlines. There may be many reasons for this change, but at the heart of it lies a stark reality: we are losing our humaneness faster than we realize, and, as some might say, due to the blurring of our spiritual grounding.

In such a climate, the pressing question is: how are you and I - who still value what it takes to be human - to live through all this? The answer cannot be fear or panic. It must be clarity and peace. We are called to walk through these turbulent times not with alarm, but with presence of mind, and a larger awareness and faith in the essential goodness of life and of humanity.

Terrible Times?

We feel overwhelmed not only because the forces in the world out there have become more irrational, chaotic and hostile to the human predicament, but also because we are becoming weaker within us. In times of stress, all that individuals can do is to dig deeper into themselves and draw there from the energy and strength to endure. But that is precisely where modern culture has wrought its devastation: it has alienated us from ourselves. It has hollowed us out. The function of spirituality is to enable us to be inwardly deep and strong, which is the only way to equip us to endure.

Under these circumstances, when we experience such signs across society, do we not come face to face with what the Bible forewarned us prophetically a long time ago? “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

The essence of this text is that the equilibrium between the self and the rest of humanity (symbolised by ‘neighbour’) will be lost. This disequilibrium manifests itself in terms of ethical, social, and psychological aberrations. In the specific context, what does hating or demeaning someone imply, except the corruption and disruption of the self-other [or, I-Thou] relationship. It is because maintaining this relational equilibrium is so basic to the health and wholeness of our humanity that Jesus insisted that we should go to the extent of loving our enemies, which is the most difficult moral duty to practise. 

Higher Perspective

This brings us to a vital question: is there a way out? The answer is yes. We are not helpless wanderers in a darkened world. The truth is simple yet profound—our presence, our kindness, our compassion can rekindle faith where despair prevails. Let us awaken the humaneness we are all born with, yet too often allow us to lie dormant and unused, and in doing so remind one another that the light of hope still shines.

This is the core problem in spiritual ethics. How do we change for the better as human beings? The truth is that mere good intentions are not enough. Our intentions keep poorly as the fate of our New Year resolutions prove! There is no dearth of good intentions. What is lacking is the WILL to act on them and to endure in doing so. How are we to strengthen our will in this respect? (The will to do evil is today at its peak!) 

The truth is that we need to undergo a shift in foundation. So long as we look at the world around us through the eyes of the SELF, we shall remain as we are today. We need to be trained to look at ourselves and our world from a higher perspective. Nishkama Karma, selfless or desireless action as the Bhagwad Gita prescribes. So long as the SELF remains in the driver’s seat, Kama (selfish desire) will be the ruling passion. The Quran reminds us, “People are ever inclined towards selfishness.” Allah has fashioned the human soul with a predisposition to selfishness as a test. Unless guided by the moral values of the Quran and disciplined in curbing earthly desires, selfishness can overshadow the soul and shape one’s entire moral outlook.

Ultimately, it comes down to standing firm for what is pure and ethical, and standing against what is impure and unethical in our society today. Such conflicts can be resolved only at the level of higher understanding — the very foundation of what may be called Higher Morality. Anything short of this inevitably slides, sooner or later, into immorality. The challenges of our post-truth society — in a nation whose very motto proclaims Satyameva Jayate (Truth Alone Triumphs) — stand as a telling case in point.

(Dr. Valson Thampu, Author & Former Principal, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. Debasish Bhattacharyya, Author, Whispers of an Ordinary Journey, former DGM, India International Centre, New Delhi, former GM, International Centre Goa. Views expressed are personal. They can be contacted at db.bhattacharyya@gmail.com)