I watch current events with fascination and as is my habit, try to discern patterns and assign causality to them. And it occurred to me, that I am gradually forming a view on how the world and humanity is evolving through these events. So let me share with you some of my thoughts and ideas – it sure would be fun to read this after 20-30-50 years (if any of us is still alive then) and see how I did!
The frequency of economic downturns is increasing and at each instance, it comes to light that it was human greed, self-centeredness and lack of scruples ("I don’t care what happens after 1 or 5 or 15 years, as long as this intrinsically worthless product gets me my bonus this year") that triggered the whole slide. And then, a bunch of these self-same unscrupulous people get together and decide a bail out is required to prevent the whole edifice from crumbling. But where are the funds coming from for the bail out - it is all worthless printed paper! And so, my first prediction – the frequency and intensity of financial crises will increase, until the mandarins, propelled by public outcries, are forced to accept that bail outs are unacceptable. And so there will be a huge economic meltdown
Organizations and whole industries will go out of business, putting people out of work on a large scale. With this meltdown, there will be a rash of suicides for sure, since people have lost inner resilience with the easy living norms to which they have gotten accustomed. But for those who find the inner strength, there will be a tightening of belts and a return to a simpler and more moralistic way of life. Conspicuous consumption will reduce, with the result that the global carbon footprint will reduce due to a demand led reduction in manufacturing, thereby achieving what the efforts of environmentalists could not achieve in all these years of agitations and scare mongering
The meltdown will in turn accelerate a large scale shift towards spirituality (as distinct from religion and especially religious fundamentalism). There is already an increasing trend towards spirituality. I first noticed this way back in 2003, when I observed young 20 year olds participating in a Vipassana retreat. Subsequently, I noticed similar youngsters at spiritual discourses, Art of Living and other similar events, yoga and alternative life style choices etc. The economic meltdown I envision will accelerate this process and as a critical mass of humanity chooses to live in harmony and love, the wounds of greedy self-centeredness will begin to heal
How will this living in harmony and love manifest itself? I predict that there will be a return to small self-sufficient communities sustained by local farmers for food and following a largely barter, or barter-like, system. This thinking is inspired by my recent visit to Auroville, and I believe that may well be the model of the future. Suddenly, Mayawati’s proposal to split UP in 4 takes on a whole new dimension, even though that may not have been how she intended it!!!
In this model, food will be grown on small patches of ground, following the Fukuokan method of farming – minimal interference with nature while food is grown. For those unfamiliar with Fukuoka's principles of farming, this is way beyond organic farming. Locally grown food, following the seasons, will be consumed locally – good for the carbon footprint; good for health, since nature always produces what is suitable for the climate – heat producing foods in the cold (sarson ka saag and oranges were an intrinsic part of my childhood winters) and cooling fresh produce in the summer. Vegetarianism, and probably veganism, will be the norm. Processed foods will be either totally absent or minimal, since the processed food industry, along with all other large scale industries, will become a victim of the downturn and mass rejection of conspicuous consumption and environmentally detrimental industries.
As people turn to spirituality, there will be great interest in natural healing and hence, the focus of learning will shift from the subjects of today (science, finance etc.), to subjects dealing with the flow of energy in the cosmos and through our body. This would link up to yoga including meditation, pranayama, self-healing, as well as energy healing – reiki, aura healing, mudra therapy, crystal healing and the like – I am constrained by my own ignorance in this area and would dearly like to learn more on the subject. So I expect the “schools” of the future to teach children and adults these subjects, or possibly even embark on a voyage of discovery together. I wonder whether classes would comprise kids and adults all mixed up, as long as they’re on similar levels in their learning process – I would not be surprised at all
Houses will be simple structures, probably built collectively by the community, and using locally available materials. Again, since there would be hardly any industrialization, the use of mass produced construction material will be absent. Houses will be built of mud, stones and plants. I have a recurring vision of a house where all the walls are live bamboo plants and a thatch roof keeps out the rain! I hope I get to experiment with this in this lifetime
The purpose of life today, seems to be increasing material possessions. This will shift and the purpose of life will be to accelerate spiritual development. Various teachings, in schools and elsewhere, will be geared towards this. And it will manifest in the form of an increased rate of vibration of every individual .... until eventually, perhaps (as is speculated happened with the Mayans), we will no longer be visible at the frequencies our eyes are accustomed to seeing today
Does it sound like I am moving back to the pre-industrialized period? I wonder if my thinking is overly simplistic, but I truly believe that we have evolved as spiritual beings since the pre-industrialization period and that will make all the difference!
