“An awareness of mortality has the potential to rob us of happiness and contentment, but fortunately, we are equipped or blessed with hope and optimism from before birth. Life is worth living because of hope and optimism.”
Hope and optimism sound appealing, but like our ego, they have their sides. They both share the characteristic of being double-edged swords. For instance, hoping that God will bring positive things to you is great. However, if you cease putting effort into your life, neglect responsibilities, or worse, gamble with every action, trouble can ensue, and God may be unfairly blamed for not intervening. While blind faith is comforting for some, blindly trusting is rare. For most of us, aligning our actions is essential.
In this day and age, we must take ownership of our actions. Regardless of what you’ve been taught, relying solely on religious faith is insufficient. We must take physical charge and assume the role of CEO in our mortal lives. Striking a balance between faith and personal responsibility is vital. When consulting a mullah or priest, they may advise you to have faith in God, suggesting that God can handle everything. However, ask them how God operates without human beings. Every good deed requires physical action, and God relies on humans in that regard. Caring for the weak and vulnerable requires the involvement of strong, capable, living, breathing human beings. If you claim that God alone or spirituality accomplishes this, consider that without human hands, backs, or shoulders, all grand religious structures—mosques, churches, temples—would crumble and be reduced to rubble.
To live a successful mortal life, we must learn not to obstruct our own potential. Our potential won’t just manifest on its own; we must exert effort to realize it. You can’t attend a mosque or church and pray for bigger muscles or better health. You must proactively hit the gym and take steps to improve your physicality. Similarly, if you seek spiritual growth, attending places of worship isn’t enough; you must delve into the depths of humanity, even amidst its challenges and complexities, where broken people reside—because that is where God resides. If you believe God resides in buildings, reconsider; remove people from those buildings, and they would likely be sold for a dollar (Read: God’s house for sale, one dollar).
Our continuously evolving potential awaits personal action to evolve so that each one of us can individually contribute to humanity. However, we often adhere to the politics of group affiliation, even to the point of taking lives, without questioning why. To me, this is purely political, whether it is masked behind religious beliefs or nationalism. It’s akin to putting lipstick on a pig. The reality is bitter; we must eventually acknowledge this and change for the better, as our past and present methods have not served humanity well. We, as humanity, have a responsibility to collaborate and seek solutions before we bring about the demise of our planet.
Nationalism, religious beliefs aside, our lives and years of life are meant for human spirituality and God. If you’ve been taught otherwise or believe so, snap out of it and smell the roses. Global warming-related problems loom, and security walls won’t suffice. Our weapons of mass destruction are similarly situated; no wall can contain the resulting radiation. Therefore, humanity must collaborate rather than employ antiquated political tactics that seek to empower one group to dominate the world. Such politics could have deadly consequences because we no longer engage in combat with swords and shields.
A consistent and undeniable facet of human knowledge is our continuous evolution. Given our diverse fields of knowledge and individual responsibilities to evolve in each area, it is clear that we are each created as the CEO of our lives. We cannot evolve in one area and neglect others; an imbalanced individual is prone to becoming an extremist, prejudiced, discriminatory, and politically ignorant. Religious leaders often avoid exploring the realm of God and spirituality according to the contemporary needs of individual and collective evolution in other spheres of life because if they lose control, they lose power. In contrast, spirituality is unconcerned with power and control; its sole purpose is to assist the needy. So, if you still believe your religion embodies spirituality, examine whether it preaches power and control, then decide. This is especially pertinent for CEOs who can question religious authorities.
Our various life domains include physical health, psychological, mental, emotional, and spiritual health on one side, and science, technology, and everything in between on the other. When a scientist makes a discovery, it can easily undermine other forms of knowledge, which is limiting. Adopting a singular approach to living a mortal life is inadequate for a fulfilling human experience. Focusing exclusively on intellectual pursuits while neglecting emotional fulfillment and contentment is plausible. Likewise, endorsing solely scientific life is akin to advocating for exclusively religious life; both can lead to extremism. Both have the potential to cause us to overlook the deep-seated happiness in our mortal lives associated with spirituality, which is a significant loss depending on how we perceive our mortality.
Whether you are an atheist scientist, engineer, or doctor, you may not excel in aiding physically ill people. Conversely, if you are a mullah, priest, or rabbi, you may not possess expertise in social work or politics. Preaching religion does not necessarily equate to spirituality; if you exhibit prejudice or discrimination towards others while promoting your particular religion, you may be far removed from true spirituality. Spirituality revolves around viewing all of humanity as a single organism, offering equal justice to every constituent; it does not favor specific groups or cells, just as a body considers every part—whether an arm or a leg.
Every human society has required, requires, and will continue to require a justice system. However, as always, it is subject to the politics of group affiliation. Justice systems may be intricate, but removing political influence can eliminate many complexities. Today’s widespread pursuit of equal human rights is no mere coincidence; it has been fermenting for a considerable period. Every other experiment in human sociology has been conducted under the auspices of group affiliation politics, characterized by injustice, prejudice, and discrimination. These endeavors have failed humanity. Humanity requires a system grounded in equal justice. Individuals are prepared to discard prejudice and discrimination if the regulations apply equally to everyone. However, we then confront the issue of discrimination by the mass against individuals. To resolve this, we must consider the mass as a single individual, much like how we treat corporations.
Since mass has always been more powerful compared to the individual, it tends to flex its muscles and commit injustice against individuals. For instance, when we go to war as a mass, it is individuals who kill and are killed. When many people follow this kind of politics, they interfere with the spiritual justice system, which cannot be blind due to political influences. Therefore, most societies, nations, and religions should be viewed as corporations so that individuals can take them to court if necessary.
Most religions have a lot of followers, as do communism and socialism, making them larger corporations and political entities. We all follow them because of our individual insecurities; we seek to fit in, impress, and be admired by our belonging groups, stoking that political fire regardless of our level of intellect. Without spirituality and justices systems in our societies, we have been and continue to commit spiritual crimes against each other, often in the name of God or powerful people. Look around and see how many spiritual crimes are committed daily against innocent individuals in the name of nationalism, religion, and even God.
Recently, I watched a movie called “An Interview with God.” One line stuck in my head: God telling the individual, “Your life is not an audition for the afterlife. If you can stop worrying about that, you might have time for other things like loving one another and living your life.”
When religions mix politics or play with power and control in their disguised spiritual path, they become political systems. A political religion will always be about power and control. For God, it is not about power and control; it is about spirituality and justice for all equally. Critically examine every religion, and you will find that most openly preach that their way is the only way to God and that everyone else is going to hell. Hell no.
The biggest spiritual wrong is that political religions connect their group prejudice, discrimination, and injustice to God, as if God is unable to do justice. They do it themselves but cannot keep their politics of belonging out. These political religions or their extremist followers commit wrongs against innocent people in the name of God. The kicker is that God takes the blame from the victim’s side as well, with people asking why God let that happen to them. These problems are cunningly created by our political religions, placing God in such a position that we individually expect perfection from God. If God does not show up to help, all the blame goes to God, not to the human individuals involved in the bad actions. This is as political as it gets, a cunning ploy from humans who do not take responsibility for their actions and instead place the blame on God or the Devil.
When bad things happen to good people, the Devil gets the blame. My problem with that is, why don’t human beings take their responsibilities and stop placing everything on God and the Devil? (This reasoning is why I titled my writing “Who Flipped My Triangle”). If God were to respond, “I gave you a functioning body, brain, oxygen, and free will. What more do you want? Should I hold your hand all the time so you can’t follow your nature and evolve? I did my job; now you do yours. Use your abilities, take charge, own your actions, and evolve.”
Now look around and see how our political religions have stood in the way of our evolution. They have progressed from throwing virgins off cliffs to please God to wanting us to run around fearfully, adhering to politically preached so-called security. Today, we have figured out and are continuing to figure out many things that religious fanatics never expected to be debunked.
From medical advances, including reproduction and genetic interventions, to space exploration and scientific discoveries, we see the spectrum of human capability. On the other hand, we also have weapons of mass destruction. Should we blame the Devil or give all the credit to God for everything human beings do? Remember, today we have satellites in space, yet we still argue about the moon to adjust our Eid holiday.
One might say God or the Devil don’t exist, an easy assumption. But if you look within the core of human beings, you will discover two sides: good and bad, chosen by us through free will. You can choose to nurture one or the other, but at the end of the day, it is you who gives physicality to the good or dirty deeds of God and the Devil.
If you, with your evolving yet limited knowledge, choose to believe only in yourself and deny the existence of God and the Devil, you could be right because this is your free will, which feeds your good and bad. In other words, you give physicality to your actions through the choices you make with your God-given free will. It’s your responsibility to choose your actions wisely because you are the one making the choices.
We, as individuals, have far more responsibilities than we are taught to believe. First of all, ask why most religions promote living this life for the afterlife. According to them, this life is less important—ask them why. Before you go any further, remember we are only useful to God with our physicality, meaning only in our living years. If we are spirits or dead, we cannot help anyone physically. Our physical deeds are God’s help to the seekers. Why have we been preached that the afterlife is superior to our living years? Since no one comes back with physical evidence, religious leaders might be taking advantage of that, telling you to follow or else God will punish you with Hell. That pops another question: why do we have to believe blindly in everything a political religion says?
The problem is that following passed-down knowledge unquestionably goes against our human nature. If we are threatened with being shunned, physically punished, or even killed, that may temporarily delay the questioning, but the doubts will not be resolved. If you live in Western nations, these threats may not mean anything to you. But in the real world, these spiritual crimes are committed in broad daylight by extremists everywhere, and not in any one particular religion. It is a political phenomenon that crosses over different religions and other ways of governing, often in the name of religion or nationalism. Just like mob killings have no particular religion, they have the same passionate foundation based on the politics of belonging.
Regardless of free will, if you are not happy with all the blessings, how can you be happy without the physical blessings of the body? If you start to dig into your lack of fulfillment and question the motives behind all the rules or traditions of your governing systems, you will eventually recognize the politics of power and control for some people, not God and the Devil. Does that mean I don’t believe in any one particular religion or God and the Devil? It’s not a simple question for me. It is so broad that if I try to simplify, I would end up in an assumption world where everything becomes murky, and our ego kicks in, making us claim we know everything there is to know. I am a student of practical life with logic; if something doesn’t make sense, I will question it regardless of how many people believe in it. No ego, just a questioning nature. I believe in individual freedom, equal human rights, and the responsibility to reciprocate for God’s blessings like free will, a functioning body, a thinking brain, and free oxygen. If I can’t function even for a few minutes on my own, that is enough to humble me about my knowledge in the grand scheme of life. Anyway, that’s me thinking out loud. Let’s get back to the blog post.
With the politics of belonging to our groups in mind, the mass over the individual may seem like a good idea, but to me, it must be equal justice for all, regardless of who they are. No one is above the law—not an individual, a group of people, a nation, or a religion. Whether it is between groups or between an individual and a group, it must be equal justice. If it is not based on equal justice, it is not based on spirituality. We need to purge our religious beliefs of political influences because we are overly passionate about our belief systems. Our past history shows that religious wars are the bloodiest because of our passion. Even today, a religious fanatic might not hesitate to use a weapon of mass destruction because they believe the afterlife is more important than the present life. If it is not based on justice and spirituality, it must be political. So politically, how do we make our governing systems follow blind and equal justice?
Let’s start by recognizing and removing group politics, then help individuals find their footing to become CEOs of their lives, and make sense of it all by using the common sense of mortality, God, spirituality, and politics.
Ask yourself if God is a figure, then ask yourself what we really are. What does it mean to have our own individual free will? Does this free will make us tiny gods? Heaven forbid I should use this term; it may get me thrown out of God’s so-called political world. We can’t be God if politics takes over our religious or spiritual beliefs. Political logic can easily say that no mass of people would like individuals running around disputing or debunking every theory presented to them. So there is no doubt about politically tainted rituals, traditions, and rules. How can an individual stand up against mass-related injustices? One might say that is just the way it is, but I disagree. For humanity, maintaining the status quo is not the way it is because we are always evolving.
Individually, if it is a matter of life and death, the individual should use personal politics to survive in hostile situations. Interestingly, in this modern age, our religious beliefs have been questioned and labeled as discriminatory and prejudicial systems of governing. It is a clear sign that spirituality based on equal human rights is in vogue. If you, as an individual, start to live with principles of equality and refrain from doing to others what you wouldn’t like done to you or your loved ones, you will automatically have spirituality in your actions, regardless of your religion or belief system.
If you have arrived here, you have become the CEO of your life—a tiny god who cares and does not emphasize the fear of hell, has no greed for heaven, and makes living years more important than life after death. You follow God’s true orders of reciprocation and enjoy all the happy moments along the way instead of hoping to be forgiven or praying out of fear of God while committing spiritual crimes in the name of religion.
Now, let us set politics aside and look at things a little deeper with a different kind of knowledge.
My question is: Why are some people, even as kids, much more optimistic than others, while some of us are never happy to be alive, let alone happy for the little moments that make a mortal life worth living? If life is worth living, what are the things that make that happen? The things that make people happy are not even things. For instance, happy people love to be with others, enjoy friendships, and are positive about life regardless of circumstances. Why are some of us miserable regardless of having a materially successful life? If material success is not enough, what would make them happier? Is it control? Is it security, or both? Is it genetics or education? What makes everyone different? It can’t be learned knowledge because if that were true, most of us would be happy because we have been learning from our gurus and experts of all sorts for a long, long time, and by now, we should be wise enough to be happy.
We have people who know a lot about our brain physiology and psychology or even drugs, and on the other side, we have several religions, their sects, and a whole lot of other manifestos of life. We have been around for a long time, so our knowledge should be at a high level to live a happy life, especially if we know about our mortality. Regardless of our temporary visit, why aren’t we happy, or at least why don’t we value happiness as the ultimate prize of being mortal, who is not in any way, shape, or form in control or secure with personal will?
There are some factual realities for each and every one of us, like age, sickness, and mortality, so fearing, stressing, or trying to control them can actually work against the very goal of achieving happiness and contentment. It’s okay to be sick, weak, or vulnerable sometimes because these events, circumstances, or situations are part of what makes a life visit a life.
If you get all bent out of shape every time you lose control, remember you are lacking hope and optimism because all circumstances, situations, or events, whether physical, emotional, or financial, change all the time. If you go through some difficult times, just look back at how many times you have gotten out of these physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual problems. Logically, it should give you hope and help you get out of a difficult time, but it is not so easy for a certain type of person. You can say whatever you want, regardless of how much it makes sense to them; they just can’t or will not be able to put it into practice because they simply want life to be without any problems, meaning total control over everything. For a mortal being, there is no control and security, so wasting time, energy, and good health over it is not wise. You need to find a way to go deep into the pit where these two reside, come to terms with them, and surrender them. If no one out there lives a life of an immortal, even the strongest can’t live life in total control, then what is driving you to want that control? Ask yourself this question honestly in the dead of night; if you want answers, they are within your pit or gut.
Our hope and optimism could be related to our education from parents or the society we belong to, or simply something we brought along from before birth. For instance, we have our social knowledge written in the books and actions of our belonging groups, but there is a lot more to it, and to learn more, you will have to read between those lines as well.
From the get-go, you have been told, “Don’t do this, do that; this is the right thing to do, and that is wrong,” and that right and wrong have a lot more written in between as well, which you learn as you grow up. Learning to be good or bad is one thing, but what we learn from in between the lines is just as important as what is written in the lines. In a nutshell, when we are taught dos or don’ts, we are actually taught to control everything in life. Indirectly but unfortunately, that is the game of life we need to play to be civilized human beings. Our inhibitions are what make us different, better, or superior to other creatures and whatever is established in the world. We have pulled ourselves off the food list of other creatures, and we have assumed our CEO status. We self-regulate ourselves; it may not be perfect, but we don’t need a police officer for every individual.
In reality, if you are taught control by everything and everybody around you while you are growing up, it’s going to be very hard to undo and work against that knowledge when you are grown up. As the saying goes, if the trunk of the tree is green, you can bend it; after that, forget about it, it will break but not bend. It is important and crucial for society to talk to their young school-age population about control and related problems as they start to understand life.
We are teaching them everything is in their control; you can be whatever you want to be. Sure, you can inspire them to push themselves to become whatever they want to be, but their happiness and contentment matter to them more than your desire to live through them.
In today’s Western societies, stress and anxiety are topping the charts, especially in growing kids, because every negative event makes them rob their own happiness. They can’t even think about their life without control, so control-related stress can be in the foundation of their mental health and related issues. Regardless of our help-related inventions or interventions, our problems are still growing. Personally, I feel that if you lack hope and optimism, you would hate to be in a difficult situation, so every negative situation would make you feel stuck in it forever, regardless of how many times you have gone through tough experiences and come out. If looking back is not reassuring, it is related to the desire to have a perfectly controlled life, and unfortunately, as human beings, we are mortal, so the dream of a perfectly controlled life is a wrong education provided to our young ones.
These days, if you look around in Western nations, you will see a lot of people going to yoga classes as grown-ups. Ever wonder why they feel better or why they need to follow these thousands-of-years-old practices? Why, even in this day and age, can’t we come up with new things or scientific interventions for our stress management? Religion or not, resorting to age-old strategies must have some kind of benefit; otherwise, today’s societies are always looking for quick fixes like drugs. A scientist would like to know all the numbers of math to live a life of control, but as a mortal, our numbers don’t add up as we age. If two plus two is four, as we age, it is not four anymore; personally, I would take three point nine any day, but our perfectly controlled life knowledge wants you to keep looking for that penny until you find it. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.
Happiness and contentment should be our top priority, or at least we should seek out these real treasures because we are aware of our mortal nature. We all seek happiness and contentment, but by seeking security and control in all areas of our mortal lives. It just does not make any sense because our desire for security and control is the main thing that actually helps us literally rob ourselves of happiness and contentment. Kind of twisted logic because we want to accumulate happiness and contentment, yet security-related control causes us extreme stress and related health problems.
We think that when we secure ourselves, we will be happy and content. Unfortunately, there is no security and control for a mortal being because, first of all, we don’t have control over the supply of oxygen; second, even after we breathe in that oxygen, we still don’t have control over what goes on inside the body. With ten trillion cells and a hundred trillion good and bad bacteria, it is a miracle for us to be alive. Since we all fall into that category, that makes mortality a fact-based reality that we personally can’t change, so it is better to accept, adopt, and add or accumulate as many happy moments as possible.
If you still think, “It’s not going to happen to me,” you are simply closing your eyes and burying your head in the sand. Our actions speak for themselves because we try our best to secure ourselves financially so we can be happy. We run after and seek love and health simply because we want to be happy and content in our living years.
Our hatred of being sick, weak, and vulnerable makes us control our finances, health, and love. Losing them can and will leave us spiritually, physically, emotionally, and psychologically destroyed unless we have hope and optimism. Since these two belong to your spiritual health, it is a good idea to learn about spirituality before religion, psychology, and science. If you start to dissect and seek solutions for individuals’ problems, especially when they are related to happiness and contentment, you will end up with what I call pit problems, a desire to control related to personal insecurities.
Insecurity and control are related to our in-between-the-lines knowledge. Awareness of mortality makes us secure ourselves, and this security gives birth to our control and control-related health issues.
I believe that in order to seek hope and optimism, we have to dig deep in our gut or pit, undo and work against our education in between the lines of the knowledge of control provided to us by our parents, societies, or our own selves.
We are teaching children that everything is within their control and that they can be whatever they want to be. Sure, you can inspire them to push themselves to become whatever they desire, but their happiness and contentment matter more than your desire to live through them.
In today’s Western societies, stress and anxiety are topping the charts, especially among growing children, because every negative event robs them of their own happiness. They can’t even imagine their lives without control, so control-related stress can form the foundation of their mental health issues. Despite our numerous inventions and interventions aimed at helping, our problems are still growing. Personally, I feel that if you lack hope and optimism, you will hate being in difficult situations, so every negative situation will make you feel stuck forever, regardless of how many tough experiences you have overcome. If looking back is not reassuring, it is related to the desire for a perfectly controlled life. Unfortunately, as human beings, we are mortal, so the dream of a perfectly controlled life is a misguided education provided to our young ones.
These days, if you look around in Western nations, you will see many people attending yoga classes as adults. Ever wonder why they feel better or why they need to follow these thousands-of-years-old practices? Why, even in this day and age, can’t we come up with new methods or scientific interventions for stress management? Religion or not, resorting to age-old strategies must have some benefits; otherwise, today’s societies would always be looking for quick fixes like drugs. A scientist would like to know all the numbers of math to live a life of control, but as mortals, our numbers don’t add up as we age. If two plus two equals four, as we age, it is not four anymore. Personally, I would take three-point-nine any day, but our perfectly controlled life knowledge wants you to keep looking for that penny until you find it. Good luck with that.
Happiness and contentment should be our top priority, or at least we should seek out these real treasures because we are aware of our mortal nature. We all seek happiness and contentment, but by seeking security and control in all areas of our mortal lives. This desire for security and control is actually what helps us rob ourselves of happiness and contentment. It’s kind of twisted logic because we want to accumulate happiness and contentment, yet security-related control causes us extreme stress and related health problems.
We think that when we secure ourselves, we will be happy and content. Unfortunately, there is no security and control for a mortal being because, first of all, we don’t have control over the supply of oxygen. Second, even after we breathe in that oxygen, we still don’t have control over what goes on inside the body. With ten trillion cells and a hundred trillion good and bad bacteria, it is a miracle for us to be alive. Since we all fall into that category, mortality is a fact-based reality that we personally can’t change, so it is better to accept, adopt, and accumulate as many happy moments as possible.
If you still think, “It’s not going to happen to me,” you are simply closing your eyes and burying your head in the sand. Our actions speak for themselves because we try our best to secure ourselves financially so we can be happy. We run after and seek love and health simply because we want to be happy and content in our living years.
It is our hatred of being sick, weak, and vulnerable that makes us control our finances, health, and love. Losing them can and will leave us spiritually, physically, emotionally, and psychologically destroyed unless we have hope and optimism. Since these two belong to your spiritual health, it is a good idea to learn about spirituality before religion, psychology, and science. If you start to dissect and seek solutions for an individual’s problems, especially when they are related to happiness and contentment, you will end up with what I call pit problems—a desire to control related to personal insecurities.
Insecurity and control are both related to our in-between-the-lines knowledge. Awareness of mortality makes us secure ourselves, and this security gives birth to our control and control-related health issues.
I believe that in order to seek hope and optimism, we have to dig deep into our gut. Digging into yourself beyond being a physical being is not simple. First of all, you have to believe and separate yourself from the brain and physical body, then take a look at your knowledge as your installed data. This installed data is where your insecurities come from. From day one, we have been bombarded with the knowledge to secure ourselves physically. What goes on spiritually is not measured or given importance, so your inner self takes a hit. If you are not even aware of your true self, how are you going to find solutions for what hurts you? (Read: your body and brain)
Start communicating with your true self because that inner you is the one who suffers first before you start to become unhappy and discontent or before you start to become physically sick. If you want to look at it a little closer, just consider the placebo effect. It can tell you that even our thoughts have powerful effects on us.
Your inner self has power, and it matters. If you keep neglecting your inner self, you literally can’t find happiness and contentment, nor will you find your way to hope and optimism because they are all related to your inner self. If you keep seeking the physical aspects of life, spirituality will always be an illusion for you. Yes, it does not make any sense for someone exclusively sold on scientific and intellectual living, but remember, we are not just a physical body, nor are we just a brain full of data. We are the ones who run all the physical and intellectual affairs of our being. Just like a brand-new computer, we have to install data for it to be useful. We come into life with all the capabilities of a computer, but when that inner self is not there, we can’t run our bodies regardless of the data and capacities of the brain. Understanding this and knowing the importance of each is crucial for us to evolve and create balance in all three. For instance, the inner self can’t become physical without the functioning body and brain. Similarly, if the inner self takes a hike, everything stops functioning. If you don’t even acknowledge your inner self as separate, you will only seek to comfort yourself as a physical being. A nice meal, house, or car would be the ultimate goal for you, so your inner self would suffer, and you would not be able to enjoy everything related to it. Ocean-deep happiness, contentment, hope, optimism, and love would be hard to find to enjoy a mortal life. Just notice and see that none of them is material, yet we still want them all. Our ability to enjoy them comes from non-material things as well. Growing up, I heard in a religious sermon that it is in giving, not in receiving, that we find happiness. Why would we be happy to give or feed if it is a loss for us? Ask yourself this question over and over so you can reach deep inside yourself and meet your true self.
If you keep seeking a nice, comfortable living place with security bars to keep your stresses down, or want a body that never gets sick or old, or eat a nice meal to be healthy and satisfied, you are exclusively trying to preserve the physicality of being a human being. Remember, it is only half of our reality because just being alive is not enough for a mortal being. Whether you like it or not, happiness and contentment are crucial parts of living a mortal life. Have a belief system or not, this reality has not changed for us since the beginning. If you embrace your realities, find that inner self, and communicate to come up with a strategy for your own life, especially if you are miserable regardless of your taught data, you will be better off.
Religions have tried to sell hope and optimism but with a political price tag, which robs the individual for the mass. Technically, this is an injustice to the individual, so if someone is an alpha individual, they will lose their happiness and contentment because of the injustice. If it is not founded on justice for all, it is not equal human rights. Anything not founded on equal justice will meet its end days because it’s based on politics, not on spirituality. If religions or any other kind of governing system have survived in human societies, it is not because of politics but because of their spiritual content. Justice and spirituality prevail and sustain in human societies regardless of time and era.
If a social system is founded on equal justice and spirituality, most people will feel free and spend their mortal lives with happiness and contentment. In the past, even kings were popular because of their justice. In today’s world, most Western democracies promote equal human rights-based justice systems. If you look at the stream of migrants, not all of them are coming for financial security or are escaping poverty and wars from their homelands. Their attraction is equal human rights-based justice systems.
A while back in Quebec, there was a case where a woman wearing a niqab was charged by authorities for wearing it, and she challenged the charge in court. She won her case, asserting her right to wear the niqab. Ironically, a gay man was protesting against her religious freedom. On closer inspection, he was protesting against the very rule that also protects his own rights. The law that ensures equal human rights for all genders is fundamentally based on justice for all. Our problem lies in our tendency to become attached and comfortable where we live, which we then call home. Newcomers are often viewed as strangers who threaten our comfortable lifestyles. Recent news brings to mind an example: the town of Luokana in Italy is offering thousands of dollars and housing to attract young people to move there, as their population is declining. A population decline from seven thousand to fifteen hundred can drastically alter a community’s dynamics and should raise concerns among governing authorities. Community survival hinges on individuals, necessitating a set aside of prejudices and discriminatory attitudes to address serious survival issues. Prejudice and discrimination, if left unchecked, can prove fatal to communities, necessitating a more thoughtful approach in crafting our laws as societies.
Consider this scenario: if you live in a large city with a high cost of living and decide to move to a suburb, commuting to work daily, how would you feel if city dwellers complained that suburbanites are taking jobs without contributing city taxes, branding them as outsiders? This isn’t about different nations, religions, races, or countries; it’s about people within the same jurisdiction. Should city authorities consider barring outsiders from working within city limits? Such situations can escalate into legal battles over political correctness, forcing governing authorities to make difficult decisions. Our foundational issues of prejudice and discrimination stem from our political allegiance to smaller groups. Pursuing political agendas can spiritually harm us and undermine our human values.
During my study of Myers-Briggs personality typing, our teacher imparted a memorable insight: “One thinker can save a ship full of feelers from sinking.” Migrants are often viewed as burdens, yet in reality, most societies benefit from their contributions. Otherwise, centuries of societal progress would lose its value.
Every human life carries responsibilities; blindly following popular or group-taught beliefs can be destructive for communities in the long run. For example, in India, the long-standing preference for male children has led to population imbalances. Similarly, China’s one-child policy revealed societal fallacies, proving that collective decisions aren’t always right. Just because the majority holds sway doesn’t necessarily mean individuals are wrong.
At times, society preaches the supremacy of the collective over the individual. Yet, I advocate for equal justice for all, even in the face of mass opinion. To me, spirituality should underpin all governing systems, alongside justice. When we prioritize factors like race, gender, nationality, or religion over justice and spirituality, we perpetuate issues of prejudice and discrimination.
If we exclusively view our political landscape through the lens of division, we will remain divided. Divisiveness breeds prejudice and discrimination, perpetuating cycles of conflict that humanity has struggled with for millennia. Should we continue down this path, or is it time for a paradigm shift—starting from the grassroots, empowering individuals to question authority, rather than top-down mandates? Whether it’s the individual versus the mass or mass versus mass, we cannot achieve happiness, contentment, or look toward the future with hope and optimism. It’s time for change—a new paradigm that fosters unity and justice for all.