The Loss Of Our Collective Memory
By Sajeeva Samaranayake -October 24, 2012
Sajeeva Samaranayake
[This is a sequel to the essay Is this also a Buddhist response? published last week. Readers are invited to read that as an introduction to this]
It is spiritual energy that brings all kinds of polarities (right and wrong, male and female, earth and sky, humans and animals etc) together. Perhaps, some of us know that this quality is in short supply in our society. Spirituality is the essence of all religions. However both narrow religion and popular religion can operate to subvert spirituality. This is the common experience of all cultures and societies.
Every generation is mandated with the task of re-creating its own spiritual domain as source energy to answer its own unique problems. The mere repetition of ancient verbal formulas – unaccompanied by the requisite personal commitment will simply not do. However spiritual values cannot take root and grow without an enabling and supportive social environment. An open and convivial atmosphere is needed for communication to take place across social and cultural boundaries. This is quite different to the familiar languages of Buddhists preaching to fellow Buddhists, Christians sermonizing to fellow Christians and Muslims praying all by themselves. In particular there is a need for environments that are not polluted by politics of any kind.
Today the social domain is all but extinguished by politics of patronage – a subjective and emotional throwback to our feudal era. Human rights have failed to get even a foothold in this society due to the all pervading legitimacy of patronage. Social values are either dying or dead. There is a need to re-learn our own social values. However a look back at the past provides a broad perspective on our current predicament and helps in the identification of root causes.
