August 24, 2023
The third Essay in the Two Worldviews series considers the evidence for the worldview of the wisdom traditions.
Either you believe that the wisdom traditions are grounded in a Source to which we can all turn to establish justice, truth, fairness, and other principles we share concerning how we will interact with each other, or you believe that everything came about through random interactions of material things. The latter perspective is the worldview of Materialism, which denies the existence of any underlying values or meanings.
If you choose the latter, then each individual is finally alone, as the existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre maintained. You might join a group for protection, to fight for group power, or for social interaction, but each person in the group will ultimately be in it for themselves. There will be no shared recognition of justice or truth or the common good. Rather, each person will see the group as a place to get what they personally want, will use it to serve their self-interest.
Skeptico: Why does that happen?
Wisdom Seeker: Those who do not believe we are connected with each other in some fundamental way, or who do not accept that there are values that exist beyond the individual, will see no reason to refrain from continually trying to get what they want for themselves, however they can. For those who choose to live within this framework, the final resolution of the endless conflicts it brings can only be through power, so each person will attempt to secure and hold as much power for themselves as possible.
Dilemma of the Modern World
Until modern times, very few people entertained the Materialist worldview. Most everyone in each locale simply adopted the wisdom tradition with which they had been brought up, and the great majority in every community accepted that there was an order to the universe and a Source outside the individual for shared values and meanings. For centuries, many communities and cultures prospered in this way.
Occasionally, because of invasion, migration, war, or internal corruption, the prevailing wisdom tradition in a particular place was overthrown, but another always took its place. No community ever lasted for very long without a belief system accepted by most of the people within it.
This is still the case today, for most people continue to live in communities organized around meaning and value systems based on one of the great wisdom traditions. Change, however, is occurring rapidly. The explosion of instant communication and ease of travel is bringing about profound shifts all over the world. Population movements and the mingling of cultures have brought about the loss of shared value and meaning systems in many communities, with old beliefs being challenged and old ways overthrown.
As change spreads, more and more people are living in communities in which different belief systems are interacting with each other and intense struggles are breaking out between those who wish to return to older ways versus those who want the particular change they prefer. Fights for power and control are increasing at the community and societal level, and increasing numbers feel alienated, isolated, adrift, unmoored.
One result is that more and more people are following authoritarian leaders or joining groups in the fight for power and resources, or to have a place where they feel protected and supported. But since such groups are often organized around competition with other groups, anger is escalating all around us.
Skeptico: Tell me again how this relates to the choice between the two worldviews?
Wisdom Seeker: Anyone who adopts the Materialist position has no basis for resolving conflicts with other individuals or between groups except through power. As the world becomes increasingly unsettled and greater numbers adopt this worldview, the number of conflicts for control and power increases. Without a shared belief in underlying values, there is no basis for people to live together peacefully. If agreements about fairness, justice, and truth fall away, or are dismissed as fantasy, fights become more frequent, as well as more bitter and unprincipled.
The alternative has always been the way of the wisdom traditions, which taught that there is a larger reality which is the Source for core values and meanings that we all share. They insisted that the only way for an individual to have a fulfilling life was to accept and try to live by a set of values and virtues.
The wisdom figures spoke different languages and called the Source by different names — Great Spirit, the Tao, the Voice of God, the Dharma, a Higher Power, Allah, Brahman, Consciousness, Transcendent Truth, the One, the Cloud of Unknowing, and many more — but they all said that it is the origin of the values and meanings we all share.
They all insisted there is “something” beyond the material world — a presence, a field, a force, a pattern, an energy. We do not understand it, for it cannot be put into words or captured by concepts. But the saints and sages taught that we are part of something larger than our ego selves, that who we are includes other people and the world around us. And they said that to have a successful life, we must learn to live in relationship with this “something more.” How this “something more” should be defined has varied enormously from culture to culture, but all the wisdom traditions assert that it does exist.
The alternative to the Materialist worldview, then, is to accept that the saints and sages of history actually did experience a deep Source of Wisdom, and that it provides the basis for what is right, good, and true, and for how we can best interact with each other and the world around us.
Choosing this path provides values and meanings an individual can use to guide their life, and all of us can jointly use to resolve conflicts. This choice creates the possibility of a more harmonious life for an individual who chooses it, and for communities that organize around it.
If, on the other hand, a significant number of people choose the Materialist worldview, we will find ourselves in a world in which only losers pay attention to values, the truth is whatever you can get another person to believe, and rules and regulations are only followed by the naïve. All interactions will be nothing more than opportunities to gain advantage, and conflicts will be settled by power alone. In such a world, individuals will increasingly find their lives empty of meaning, and full of the despair this ultimately brings.
Evidence for the Wisdom Traditions
Skeptico: Those are impassioned reasons to choose the wisdom traditions, but materialists say that to be swayed by those arguments is to choose fantasy over science and hard facts.
Wisdom Seeker: But hard facts do not support the Materialist worldview. Nor does science.
Skeptico: I am not convinced of that. Let’s consider the choice in a scientific manner.
Wisdom Seeker: Good idea. The first step in proceeding scientifically is to examine the evidence for each point of view. Since I believe the evidence for the wisdom traditions is the strongest, let’s begin there.
First, there are the millions of people who have had a direct experience of a larger reality beyond Materialism. These include mystical experiences; religious visions; opening into an experience of a larger reality while in nature; scientific insights and breakthroughs in dreams and visions; individuals reporting knowledge of people and events that could not have been known in an ordinary way; healings through prayer; energy healing by another person; near-death experiences; prophetic dreams that later prove accurate; knowledge gained in hallucinatory states that prove correct; inner guidance that seems compelling and valuable.
The number of accounts of these extraordinary experiences is without end, and have occurred through all of human history. To proceed scientifically means we do not take any one of these accounts as true — people can be mistaken or can see things because they wish them to be true. At the same time, to be scientific means to be open to all possibilities and to investigate all such accounts for their potential validity. Each one is evidence to be considered and evaluated. The sheer number, however, suggests we are dealing with something that cannot be dismissed if we are to be scientific.
Another step in proceeding scientifically is to look at the credibility of the individuals who have reported these experiences. What you find is that an incredible number of respected and responsible people have reported one or more experiences of a reality beyond the material world. In fact, many of the wisest men and women the world has ever known have had a direct personal experience of a reality beyond the material dimension.
Skeptico: You mean the saints and sages?
Wisdom Seeker: Not only them, but numerous writers, artists, philosophers, political leaders, and well-known individuals in every walk of life have had these experiences. As well as many scientists.
Each one of these reports is a piece of evidence that directly refutes the worldview of Materialism. Among all these reports, some are almost certainly mistaken or exaggerated. But if just one reflects the true nature of the world, Materialism cannot be true.
Skeptico: I need specifics to understand what you are saying.
Wisdom Seeker: Of course. Let’s focus on some of the most respected and revered people in history, for their lives and experiences are among the strongest arguments for the worldview of the wisdom traditions.
The Buddha. Let’s start here, because the Buddha’s life is such a direct challenge to Materialism and the theory that biological drives control us.
Defying these theories, the heir to a throne gave up all worldly claims to wealth and power, left his family behind (intentionally relinquishing the supposed drive to leave as many off-spring as possible), and became a wandering mendicant — eating only when food was offered, often sleeping outside in the elements. In fact, he chose to eat so little he reported that at one point he could touch his backbone through his stomach (so much for the drives of food, safety, and security being in control of our decisions).
In place of the things that are normally considered so important, he spent his time doing intense spiritual practices. Still, after all these efforts, six years passed and he did not feel he had found what he was looking for. In one last, dramatic attempt to reach his goal, he vowed to sit under a bodhi tree until he succeeded in his quest, or died.
He did not die. Instead, he had an extraordinary mystical experience that produced a profound awakening, after which he felt he had direct knowledge of the deepest truths of life. These truths, the dhamma (in Pali,) or dharma (in the Hindu Sanskrit), did not apply only to him, however, but to everyone. It is a universal truth common to all individuals at all times.
It would be easy to dismiss the Buddha as foolish or crazy, except that his teachings display one of the most brilliant and insightful minds the world has ever known. Further, we have reports from those who met him after his awakening that he had a radiant presence, and that he seemed deeply content and at peace. This presence was so powerful and inspiring, in fact, that thousands flocked around him, trying to gain for themselves what he possessed.
Nor has his message faded over time. The Buddha did not try to name the Source of this universal truth, but he did feel he understood the best way for everyone to live, so he spent the next 50 years teaching a set of rules for living, including the Eightfold Path and the Five Precepts. And during the almost 2500 years since he first taught, billions upon billions of people have felt an inner call to try to understand and follow his suggestions for how to live, at least as much as they could.
This is not proof that the wisdom traditions are true, but when one of the wisest and most respected persons who ever lived insists we live in a moral world, with laws of cause and effect as the universal foundation, and so many choose to risk the fulfilment of their lives on its truth, this is powerful evidence.
Jesus. It is equally difficult for Materialists to account for the life and influence of Jesus. How is it possible that a poor carpenter’s son, who wrote nothing, had no worldly position or power, and died an ignominious death on a cross at the age of 33, could become the best-known and most influential person who ever lived?
Many efforts have been made to dismiss him as naïve, simplistic, or even deluded, but it is especially hard to dismiss someone whose talks and stories demonstrate a keen intelligence, philosophical depth, and great psychological insight. Many of the parables and stories he told are especially moving, beautiful, and inspiring, to the point that what he had to say and the story of his life have become the most studied of any individual the world has ever known. Now, 2000 years since he was born, over two billion people around the world use his life and teachings to guide their lives.
The only recourse a Materialist has in dealing with Jesus is to try to discredit much of what he taught and what is said about him, for his life and his message are completely foreign to the self-centered life and understanding of the world. Anyone who wishes to focus on their own pleasure, comfort, or worldly success has a very hard time coming to terms with a teacher who says we should renounce wealth, possessions, and everything else the self-centered perspective insists we all want most.
How can those who believe power is the ultimate arbiter of relations do anything but try to dismiss someone who said we should turn the other cheek when wronged, forgive those who harm us, go the extra mile to help those who need our help, and spend much of our time helping the poor and downtrodden.
Again, this is not proof we live in a moral world, but the fact that — all these centuries later — billions have a sense they should try to live by his message and millions feel a deep call to make significant sacrifices to follow his path is powerful evidence that there is some force beyond the material realm, with its emphasis on wealth, fame, power, and pleasure.
Socrates. Another shining light in the firmament of those who insist this is a moral world is a brilliant debater who stands as one of the cornerstones of Western civilization. Socrates helped initiate the reasoning processes we prize, but at the same time he insisted the Good, the True, and the Beautiful are real forces in the world, and that they actually exist in an objective way in higher dimension. They are, in fact, more real than that of our everyday lives, for our daily world is dependent for its existence on this larger dimension. Further, it is only by bringing our lives into harmony with the moral order that arises from this larger dimension that we will ever be happy or fulfilled.
Socrates is especially hard for Materialists to dismiss, for he instituted a method of teaching, the Socratic method, that has been central to science and our educational systems in the West for more than two thousand years. And by emphasizing that we must come to “Know Ourselves” if we are ever to have fulfilled lives, he is also a central figure in the development of Western psychology.
The question, then, is how can anyone who holds a self-centered worldview understand or explain why such a brilliant man chose to spend so little time focusing on personal wealth, power, and privilege? Instead, Socrates spent much of the time of his life sharing his wisdom — for free. He even chose to sacrifice his life for a moral principal and in support of the wisdom tradition in which he deeply believed. His life and message, therefore, is powerful evidence in favor of the wisdom tradition worldview, and very hard to discount by anyone who values reason.
Confucius. Although we in the West do not focus on Confucius very much, he has had a similar level of impact on world history as the above figures. People of Han Chinese descent number about 1.5 billion today, the largest ethnic group in our world, which they have been for thousands of years. And for more than 2000 years, the ideas of Confucius have been central to what the great majority think and believe.
Confucius is not primarily thought of as a religious figure in the West — because he did not start a specific religion as we think of religions. Like Socrates, however, he was deeply spiritual, and was firmly convinced that we live in a moral world. Everything he taught was grounded in an undefinable Source he called the Tao, from which came the Way of Heaven, the path to a fulfilling life.
In opposition to self-centeredness, he emphasized the importance of harmonious relations with other people and insisted that living from higher principles such as kindness, benevolence, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety are the foundation of a fulfilling life. And billions of people through the centuries have felt drawn to try to live by what he had to say.
Lao Tzu. The other major tradition in China (and much of what we in the West call the Far East) is Taoism. Rather than competing with Confucianism, the two complement each other. Many people through East Asian history have been Confucians in their roles in the everyday world and Taoists in their spiritual lives, for Taoism emphasizes spending quiet time, often in nature, and relaxing into harmony with the unnameable Tao, the Source of all meanings and values.
There is no question where Taoism stands in relation to the choice between worldviews, for perhaps more than any other wisdom tradition, it emphasizes the importance of opening into your own personal experience of the Tao, which can never be known by the thinking mind, but only experienced.
Again, we have a wisdom tradition that has been highly influential for thousands of years (its best-known book, the Tao Te Ching, has been translated more than any other book besides the Bible), and that has exerted a powerful call to the heart of countless individuals. And its message and influence lend further potent support for the worldview of the wisdom traditions.
Muhammed. Most people where I live do not think positively about Muhammed. Those who do think about him usually focus on the negative stories they have heard about Islam, especially since the terrorist attack of 9/11. But that event was in direct opposition to what Muhammed stood for and taught, and almost all Muslims around the world condemned the terrorists who committed that terrible tragedy after it happened.
Muhammed’s life and teachings need to be better understood in non-Muslim circles, for Islam is the second largest religion in the world, with about 1.8 billion adherents. With the increasing flow of people in all directions around the globe, it is imperative that we understand each other better. The peace and prosperity of everyone likely depends on it.
The key point here, though, is that Muhammed’s life is another extraordinary example that is impossible to explain in Materialist terms. Here was a man who was probably unable to read and write, spent over half his life as a lowly shepherd and smalltime merchant, and at the age of 40 had no message to share, no position of power of any kind, and no followers.
At that age, however, he had a profound mystical experience, and from that moment seemed to rapidly develop exceptional skills as a teacher, religious leader, administrator, political organizer, and general. Although powerful enemies tried everything they could to destroy him, he defeated them all. In the short span of about 20 years he created both a political empire and a religious organization with millions of followers. How could he have done this, from being a small merchant with little education, no relevant training, no organization, and no previous connections or followers he could use as a base of support?
Perhaps even more remarkable, during those same years of being extremely active in the world, he wrote the second best-selling book in human history, the Quran. (Or, rather, he spoke it aloud, often while in a mystical state, and it was taken down by others.) Those who can read or listen to the Quran in its native tongue, Arabic, say that it is very beautiful, sounding like and affecting the reader or listener as does poetry.
Needless to say, as with all the previously mentioned figures, Muhammed attributed his wisdom to a Source beyond his individual self.
Vedic Sages. The name we in the West have given to the main religion of India is Hinduism. We do not know the names or specific stories of the wise men and women who founded this tradition, for it developed over many centuries, starting perhaps 3500 years ago, and is based on the mystical experiences of unnamed sages who sang and spoke the stories, prayers, and rituals that became the Vedas and the Upanishads.
Like the other major religions of the world, however, it directly contradicts Materialism, for it emphasizes that there is only Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, and everything is a part of it. In order to recognize one’s identity as that, and to provide a guide for how people should live, there is the dharma, the universal law for everyone, and values and meanings arise there.
Hinduism today has about 1.2 billion adherents, and the fact that countless billions over more than 3000 years have experienced it as true, and many millions have had their own direct experience of the divine realm, is more compelling evidence that there is an underlying basis for the worldview of the wisdom traditions.
Judaic Elders. Judaism has not had as many adherents as the above traditions, but has had an influence beyond its numbers, because of its impact on Christianity and Islam.
The core of what has been said about the previous wisdom traditions is true of Judaism, for its history is filled with the mystical experiences of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Jeremiah, and many others. The stories of these experiences form the basis for the tradition, and people in this tradition continue to report mystical experiences right down to modern times, especially in the Hassidic and Kabbalistic movements.
Like all the others, Judaism is based on the existence of a single Source, Yahweh, for values and meanings beyond the individual, and they provide the framework for the best way for individuals to live and for the community to be organized.
Zoroaster. This tradition does not have many active followers today, but stories of the mystical experiences of Zoroaster are the basis for a tradition that formed the underpinnings of belief and life in the extensive Persian empire. Further, the teachings of Zoroaster were extremely influential in the development of many of the other traditions examined above. And everything Zoroaster taught fits the idea of the existence of a Source, which he called Ahura Mazda, the one universal, transcendent, uncreated supreme from which creation flowed, and with it the values and meanings vital for individuals and communities to live by.
Egyptian Sages. The same is true of the extremely influential Egyptian culture that flourished for a thousand years. Few adherents remain of that tradition today, but it had a powerful influence on later cultures, and everything that has been said about the other wisdom traditions applies to it as well: There is a larger reality, and it is the Source of the values and meanings that make life fulfilling.
The Most Ancient Tradition. The earliest humans we know much about had spiritual traditions, going back to the cave paintings of at least 50,000 years ago.
From at least that time to this day, billions of people have organized their lives around the wisdom tradition I will call Shamanism. Although this name is not used by most of those who have followed one of the thousands of different tribal traditions for tens of thousands of years all over the world (each tradition had its own name), Shamanism is the most common way we refer to them.
There are many differences within the various manifestations of this tradition, but all have in common a belief that there is a sacred Source of life and existence, and living in harmony with this the Great Spirit, as it is called in some American cultures, is crucial for a fulfilling life. And as with all the other spiritual traditions, it is based on the mystical experiences of the teachers, healers, and leaders who guide the tribe.
Transcendental Voices. Although it has a much more recent origin, and therefore has had less long-term influence than the list above, Transcendentalism is a modern example of the possibility of the emergence of new traditions (of which there are many other examples in the last hundred years).
Arising in the 1820s and 30s in America, Transcendentalism has had a significant influence on American life and thought because of its impact on a number of our most important thinkers, scholars, and religious leaders.
It is only necessary to read a few passages by Ralph Waldo Emerson or Henry David Thoreau to become aware of their grounding in mystical experience, as well as their belief in a larger reality, of which we are all a part — and with which it is crucial for each of us to come into harmony if we are to have fulfilling lives.
Emerson does not speak from any of the previous faith traditions, but from his own direct experience. He is therefore able to capture the universal flavor of what all the traditions teach in his own voice:
“We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of its truth and organs of its activity. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams. When the mind opens, and reveals the laws which traverse the universe then shrinks the outer world into a mere illustration and fable.”
Because this experience is universal, there is always overlap between the traditions. Below are words of the Buddha that say something similar:
Regard this phantom world
As a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud
A flickering lamp — a phantom — and a dream.
Emerson felt strongly that each of us must experience the truth for ourselves, but writes often of what this experience of opening the heart to the Source is like:
The dawn of the sentiment of virtue on the heart gives the assurance that Law is sovereign over all natures; and then worlds, time, space, eternity do seem to break out into joy.
Once again, he is echoing something the Buddha said more than 2000 years before. When asked whether one would find bliss in the ultimate state he described (nirvana), the Buddha’s answer was emphatic: “Yes: Bliss, my friends, bliss is nirvana.”
Skeptico: That is quite a list of wisdom traditions!
Wisdom Seeker: And it only involves the most influential ones. Besides these twelve, there have been numerous other systems of thought with the same overarching theme, including Theism, Shintoism, Jainism, Mormonism, Sikhism, Bahai, New Thought, Theosophy, Spiritualism, Freemasonry, and other esoteric schools.
Skeptico: But they are all so different.
Wisdom Seeker: They do have many differences, but they all have in common a conviction that shared meanings and values actually exist, and they come from a Source beyond the material world that transcends the individual self.
Within each tradition, numerous saints and sages have reported their own direct experience of this Tao, this larger reality. But they could not easily convey what they had seen, for mystical experiences cannot be captured in mental concepts or put into ordinary language, so they used parables, analogies, stories, myths, and metaphors — all of which must be interpreted to be understood.
The numerous interpretations have given rise to the world’s many religions, with several thousand branches. Given the human tendency to interpret ideas to fit our own preferences, it is not surprising that all these often-competing branches have emerged.
What is surprising, though, is that so many of the wisest people in history have reported a direct, personal experience of a Source for our values and meanings, and that the core message they all gave is so similar. This is a clear sign that there is “something” there, moving behind the scenes of the everyday world, and provides formidable evidence for the core worldview of the wisdom traditions.
The Basis for Human Communities, Societies, Civilizations
There is more. In addition to the saints and sages, perhaps 99% of all the people who ever lived have accepted the core beliefs of one of these systems for organizing their lives. Most have even made some effort to follow them. We seem to have within us (at least the great majority of us) a conscience, a moral compass that calls us to pay attention to the Good, the True, and the Beautiful — in the various manifestations articulated by the founders of the wisdom traditions. This universal sense of being drawn to a moral life is further evidence that there is a true presence actually there, reaching toward us, sometimes setting our hearts aquiver and our minds ablaze.
This widespread acceptance of core values is the basis for the communities, cultures, and civilizations that have endured all over the world. As the historian of religions Mircea Eliade discovered, every one of the cultures he studied (and there were many) traced the Source of their meanings and values back to various experiences of the sacred dimension.
Herein lies the central value of the wisdom traditions for human civilization. The legal, social, and relational guidelines of every successful community, society, and culture are based on some version of the values and meanings of one or more of the wisdom traditions.
These guidelines include some version of the necessity of being honest, fair, and just, along with the importance of respecting others and being considerate of their needs and rights. Most go on to urge people to be kind and compassionate — even to love and to serve others. And all have taught that life’s fulfillment comes only from living by these values and virtues, not by trying to get more and more power and possessions for yourself. And it is these guidelines, accepted by most people in each well-functioning locale, that are the force that is able to moderate the strong self-centered urges and desires we all have.
But external rules and guidelines by themselves are never enough. The majority of those within a specific system must feel internally drawn to make an effort to live by the meanings and values the community asks them to follow. For any cultural operating system to work well for a significant period, the values, meanings, and virtues it promotes must fit reasonably well with the inner sense of a sufficient number, and with our own inner voice that calls us to fulfill what is right and true and good.
Only a convergence of these two forces has ever been sufficient for communities to function with some level of harmony over an extended period of time. This combined force is sufficient to persuade most to put aside their self-centered urges and desires, at least part of the time. But if this starts to break down, unrest occurs and builds — unless enough people are brought back into a certain level of harmony by changes in the system. If this does not happen, major disruptions become inevitable. Dramatic change can take centuries to unfold, but this process has occurred over and over through humanity’s history.
Among the countless variations of systems that have arisen in this way over thousands of years, some have been effective for a long time, because they have dealt with the basic needs of enough of the population to be acceptable, and especially because they have spoken to the inner sense of what is right and good and true reasonably well.
Various other manifestations have been somewhat effective, muddling along for some period of time. Unfortunately, in too many of these systems, the majority have been reasonably content while some minority — defined by tribal background, ethnic birth, economic class, or country of origin — have been excluded or mistreated. But this should not be taken as an indictment of the underlying wisdom message prevailing there, for all the founders had a message of justice and fairness. As new generations of leaders within previously well-functioning systems took over, however, they misinterpreted and misused the wisdom teachings in self-serving ways.
When a system becomes bad enough, either because imperfect human beings have brought about revolutions without a new stable framework to offer, or overly self-centered leaders have gained control of an existing system, the health of the community begins to stagnate, then rot from within.
Eventually, the system collapses, and an external foe takes control through intrigue or war. Or new, better leaders arise within the old framework, and the old system is renewed. When this has happened, it is often spiritual voices speaking the truths of the prevailing wisdom tradition that calls people back to a recognition of the core values of justice, fairness, goodness, kindness, and inner peace; that urges going beyond purely ego desires to higher values.
As these processes have unfolded countless times through history, only communities or cultures have prospered that have been based on the values and meanings of one of the wisdom traditions, and simultaneously accorded with enough individuals’ inner sense of what is right, true, and good.
Imperfect People in An Imperfect World
Skeptico: But many people do not practice the principles they say they accept.
Wisdom Seeker: That is true; many of us do not follow the values we say we hold a good bit of the time. Still, a community must have a few basic guidelines that most everyone acknowledges. Without this, everyone would revert to their survival instincts, and pure power would become the only option for solving difficult conflicts.
Skeptico: What about just agreeing to negotiate?
Wisdom Seeker: For negotiation to work, everyone has to abide by the outcome, but doing this is a value that people must accept and believe others will follow. No law works unless a majority of people agree to try to abide by it. Yet doing so is not part of our basic instincts, which are “red in tooth and claw.” At the most basic level, we seek personal advantage; we want what we want.
So, for negotiation to work, there has to be a certain buy-in by most people that they will accept the outcome. The majority must be committed to follow what is decided. There also has to be a certain commitment to being honest in defining what the issues are, and the results that would be acceptable to your side. But honesty and accepting unfavorable outcomes is not a natural part of our urge to get what we want when we want it, so some force has to overcome these basic instincts to fulfill our ego desires any way we can.
This means there must be a strong force pulling in the other direction, and this is where the wisdom traditions come in, calling on us to modify our self-centered tendencies and adopt a set of values and principles. They teach that values and principles are central to a fulfilled life and that killing, stealing, raping, terrorism, and sexual abuse (which arise all too quickly if not restrained by some other internal force) will prevent a good life, and that successful lives are based on upholding values that have to do with the right way to treat other people in relationships, business dealings, and in resolving conflicts.
For a community to be successful, the young people must be taught to uphold a set of values and principles, a minimal number of guidelines for successful living that they share with others. This is the process that has succeeded in curbing the self-centered urges in enough people for a community to thrive.
This is again where the outer guidelines must be in harmony with individual consciences, especially in societies where people believe they have a good deal of personal freedom. Communities only work well when the still small voice that whispers what is right and good aligns tolerably well with the values and guidelines being taught there. The individual voices of conscience must encourage the majority to accept the values and meanings accepted by the community.
The acclaimed poet Václav Havel, who defied the Communists in Czechoslovakia and was imprisoned for holding to his conscience, captured this beautifully:
“At the basis of this world are values which are simply there, perennially, before we ever speak of them, before we reflect upon them and inquire about them. It [the world] owes its internal coherence to … something beyond its horizon, something beyond or above it that might escape our understanding and our grasp but, for just that reason, firmly grounds this world, bestows upon it its order and measure, and is the hidden source of all the rules, customs, commandments, prohibitions, and norms that hold within it. The natural world, in virtue of its very being, bears within it the presupposition of the absolute which grounds, delimits, animates, and directs it, without which it would be unthinkable, absurd, and superfluous.”
Although Havel did not belong to any one religion, this quote makes clear that he shared the view that there is a universal Absolute, in which meanings and values are grounded. for (I think you will be pleased to know, if you don’t, that when the Communist regime fell, Havel was elected the first president of the new Czech Republic.)
Because our consciences call us to higher values, asking us to refrain from some primal urges and desires, we sometimes resist the call and do not listen. Some people even harden their hearts completely, closing themselves off to its call and losing themselves in narcissism. Yet it is always there, an inner voice asking the best of us, and most human beings have felt its call within their hearts.
People can be mistaken, indoctrinated, or coerced, of course, but not forever. There is a deep current of wisdom in the average human being, a practical sense of what is true as well as what works. When a wisdom tradition is functioning well, the people who are following its guidance sense that its core teachings are in harmony with the values of their own inner voice, and this is a powerful sign that the message of that tradition is true. It is also strong motivation for an individual to listen to the still small voice within.
When we sense this voice is calling others in the same way it is calling us, we can ask them to abide by the core values it asks — for the message applies to them as well as to us. To have healthy communities, we must each try to discern what is right and true and good, and encourage each other to abide by some minimal standards. At the same time, we must be on-guard against being self-righteous and judgmental. All the wisdom traditions insisted that we must strive to respect others, including their beliefs and views, and that we have the humility to recognize that we ourselves might be in the wrong.
Ultimately, individual lives, as well as communities, only work well when the relevant wisdom traditions and individual consciences lead in the same direction. Both are necessary, for it is only when supporting each other that the effect on enough people is sufficient. Further, when a person feels the resonance of their inner guidance with the messages of a wisdom tradition, they tend to believe there is a Source from which values and meanings arise that are common to all.
So, Skeptico, you are right, many people do not live up to their own inner guidance part of the time. But that does not diminish the power of the call to do so. Most of us sense we have a choice and respond to our moral compass, our inner sense of what is true and right and good a decent amount of the time. Similarly, we often do not live up to the teachings of the wisdom tradition we follow, but the feeling so many have that we share common values with others is further evidence that there is a Source outside ourselves for these values that all have access to.
Because of one or both of these convictions, countless numbers through the centuries have made marvelous and beautiful efforts to lead a moral life. Millions of our fellow human beings have chosen to make sacrifices and accept hardships in order to live up to the high standards the saints and sages set for us.
The brilliant British scholar Evelyn Underhill examined the lives of many who had taken this journey, and discovered a common characteristic among them. Each had “a type of personality that refuses to be satisfied with that which others call a normal life.” Instead, they were inclined to
“deny the world in order to find reality.”
“We meet these persons in the east and the west; in ancient, mediaeval, and modern worlds. Their one passion appears to be finding a ‘way out’ or a ‘way back’ to a state which alone can satisfy their craving for absolute truth. This quest, for them, constitutes the meaning of life.”
Through the efforts of those who have made this journey, hundreds of millions of lives have been changed for the better by the gifts such efforts bestow on others.
Skeptico: In the cultures I know much about today, a lot of people aren’t committed to any wisdom tradition. Some even reject all of them. But some of these people seem to live a moral life.
Wisdom Seeker: I know a number of people who fall into that category as well. In almost every case, the most non-religious people I know believe that some core values exist. Most were taught the values they hold by their families when growing up, without knowing where they originated.
Their origins, however, can almost always be traced back through family histories, which instill in their children the values passed down through the inherited culture. These can change somewhat with each new generation, and can be distorted in negative ways, but the positive core of values and meanings can almost always be traced back to a wisdom tradition. In the cases where they cannot, the individual has usually had a personal experience that persuaded them to adopt core values, through their own experience of the sacred dimension.
These can be moments of deep connection with another person, or a group of others, or humanity in general — leading to feeling the need to treat others with more kindness and consideration. Thomas Merton, the well-known Christian monk, had such an experience:
“In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation into a special world.”
Some friends who do not think of themselves as religious turn for guidance or support to a Higher Power, whatever the name they might use. Others believe there is a dharma, a cosmic law, a universal truth that is the very nature of reality itself and underlies the social order, providing guidance for how we should behave toward others. The Buddha certainly held this view, asserting in the Dhammapada that following the dharma was essential for a fulfilled life:
One who does evil grieves in this life
Grieves in the next,
Grieves in both worlds.
One who makes merit now rejoices in this life
Rejoices in the next,
Rejoices in both worlds.
Other friends have had moments in Nature in which they felt they were a part of something greater than their individual selves. There are thousands of wonderful quotes that capture this experience, but one of my favorites is by Robert Wolff, a psychologist who worked for years in Malaysia:
“Standing over a leaf with a little water in it, somewhere in the jungles of Malaysia, I did not think in words. I did not think. I bathed in that overwhelming sense of oneness. I felt as if a light was lit deep inside me.”
There are other frequent ways many have experienced this larger reality: when someone senses what another person is thinking, or has a clear premonition that proves accurate, or experiences healing energy from another person or from a larger energetic field outside the personal body.
When having any these experiences, we sense that there is a meaningful pattern — of which we are a part — that transcends our primal urges and desires. We feel that we are an intimate part of something greater than our individual selves.
Of utmost importance, we sense that our conscience is calling us to the same values and meanings taught by the wisdom traditions, which suggests there is one Source for both, and that this beating moral heart has always been there, speaking to all who would listen.
The influential sage Sri Aurobindo, who was an important political revolutionary in India before he decided the spiritual life was more important for him — and for what he could offer the world — captures this beautifully. From his deep inner experience he found that there is a “secret psychic entity which is the true original Conscience in us” which
“points always towards Truth and Right and Beauty, towards Love and Harmony and all that is a divine possibility in us, and persists till these things become the major need of our nature. It is the psychic personality in us that flowers as the saint, the sage, the seer; when it reaches its full strength, it turns the being towards the Knowledge of Self and the Divine, towards the supreme Truth, the supreme Good, the supreme Beauty, Love and Bliss, the divine heights and largenesses, and opens us to the touch of spiritual sympathy, universality, oneness.”
This is the voice that spoke in a powerful way to the founders of all the wisdom traditions, becoming the Source for the core values and meanings they all teach and we all share. In Emerson’s words, within everyone
“is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is related; the eternal One.”
And, according to Emerson, “this deep power in which we exist is accessible to us.” It is accessible to each one of us — if we will listen.
Thought Experiment — What will you choose?
Does justice exist? Is there such a thing as truth? Is fairness a fantasy? Is there any difference between right and wrong? Do values have any basis? Is there a Good toward which we are drawn?
These questions are at the heart of the human experience. In spite of their importance, many people give them little thought and never make conscious decisions about what they believe — simply falling into the pattern of the people around them, or being swept along by habits acquired in their youth.
In the end, the answers to all these questions depend on the worldview you choose, and the two primary worldviews give starkly different answers.
Consider, then: Which worldview will you choose?