By Robert Atkinson,
In this age, the right of every one of us to search for truth on our own and investigate reality for ourselves is the most fundamental of all human rights; exercising this right can bring us the greatest of benefits. Our inherent urge to understand reality expands and fulfills our consciousness, which is what enables us to transform ourselves and society.
Ervin Laszlo says we need a good compass to guide us that can set standards and direct our steps. These are found in our existing cultural and spiritual heritage, he says:
The great ideals of the world religions…embody perennial values…and should be reaffirmed… There is, for example, the Christian vision of universal brotherhood governed by man’s love for a God of all men and for his fellow human beings. There is Judaism’s historical vision of an elected people in whom all the families of the earth are to be blessed. Islam has a universal vision of an ultimate community of God, man, nature, and society. The essential goal of the Baha’i Faith is to achieve a vision that is world embracing and could lead to the unity of mankind and the establishment of a world civilization based on peace and justice. Hinduism envisions matter as but the outward manifestation of spirit and urges attunement to cosmic harmony through the varied paths of yoga. Buddhism, too, perceives all reality as interdependent, and teaches man to achieve union with it through rejection of the drives and desires of a separate ego. Confucianism finds supreme harmony in disciplined and ordered human relationships, and Taoism finds such harmony in nature and naturalness. The African tribal religions conceive of a great community of the living and the dead, to which each person belongs unless he willfully creates imbalances between the seen and unseen forces in and around himself.”
Our common spiritual heritage consists of perennial ideals based on universal human values that can guide our steps into a sustainable future. In our search for truth, with our consciousness expanded, we come to a remarkable realization. We find the essence of ourselves that unites us with all creation, all beings, and divinity itself.
Robert Atkinson, Ph.D., developmental psychology, is the author of nine books, including the 2017 Nautilus Book Award winner The Story of Our Time: From Duality to Interconnectedness to Oneness, from which this excerpt is taken; Mystic Journey: Getting to the Heart of Your Soul’s Story (2012); The Gift of Stories (1995); and, Year of Living Deeply: A Memoir of 1969 (2019). He is an internationally recognized authority in the techniques of life story interviewing, personal mythmaking, and soul-making, professor emeritus at the University of Southern Maine, board member of the Abbey of Hope, a member of the Evolutionary Leaders Circle, and director of StoryCommons. www.robertatkinson.net.
