Humanity at a Crossroads

We’ve always found ways to develop, but always in the same direction.

After millennia of development, we’ve reached a very interesting situation: The egoistic force that motivated us to develop has maxed out, and has now begun to decline. The egoistic force prompted us to raise our standard of living; learn more; understand more; and strive for happiness, wealth, and fame. But because of the decline in the forward thrust of the ego, a sense of fatigue and weariness has taken over, to the point of depression and widespread despair.

We are now stuck in the “now,” and no longer want to develop further or invest in the future. In fact, we are still changing, but backwards; meaning, we are developing in the opposite direction to the process that up until now has driven us.

We are experiencing a comprehensive crisis that affects every aspect of our lives. This crisis is not unique to any one country or culture; it is a global crisis that affects everyone at every level. 

It seems we’ve exhausted our energy and skills, of which we have a great deal. We’ve reached outer space and the depths of the oceans, but at the same time, we’re depleting Earth of its resources. We can destroy life on Earth with the push of a button, yet, we’re still at the mercy of Mother Nature. Worst of all, we’ve lost our direction.

It’s not as if the previous “forward” direction was good, but at least it pushed us to develop. Now, even that doesn’t exist. We are beginning to wonder: What’s going on here; what does it all mean; that is, what is the meaning of life?

This Is Why Humanity Is Facing a Global Crisis

The questions being asked these days concern all of us, not just philosophers and thinkers. We’ve reached a point where we cannot develop further, but we also cannot remain at a standstill, because by doing so, we’ll lose the development we’ve already achieved. Industry that’s developed for centuries is slowing down; science has reached a deadlock; culture and social life have hit rock bottom—as we can see on TV, which both drives and reflects our current values. Technically, we can do almost anything, but the content that fills our lives is growing lower, meaner, and superficial; that is, in complete dissonance with our technological abilities.

Life has rarely been worse than it is now. We feel alone, as though blind and searching our way from wall to wall inside a room. We’re not interested in meeting and knowing other people, and have no ability to connect with others in a proper, pleasant, and desirable manner. We delay marriages, and so too the start of childbearing. We’re uncertain about our future because our nature, the ego (this general evil that controls us) no longer aims us in any particular direction.

Depression is now the most common illness worldwide. It is also the primary cause of many other ailments. We’re in constant uncertainty about the present, and we fear future disaster—whether natural or egoistic, human made—since we are totally out of control.

We can think of this crisis as an illness affecting the whole of humanity. Its symptoms are dysfunction in several areas, like a body that’s only partially functional due to some imbalance in its systems. Likewise, our human society is not functioning properly; it’s in disharmony, and its systems are unbalanced. Yet, the best we can do is to recognize that we’re governed by the traits of human egoism: ill will, envy, hatred, lust, and pursuit of power and respect. We’re like beings that are about to destroy themselves (along with the whole of civilization) and can’t stop, no matter what. It’s as if we know the outcome of our conduct in advance, but nonetheless are bent on suicide.

You Don’t Have to be a Psychologist to Understand the Need to Change Human Nature

All of this brings us to understand the need for social change, the need for a transformation in human behavior that will bring all of humanity into balance with Nature. We must begin to engage the process of constructing a new human being that is suitable for the new era into which we are advancing. If we identify our ego as the only problem in our current situation, then we can assume that as we change, we will rise to a higher degree than that of the ego.

This is how humanity has always evolved. After every crisis, a new situation emerged that seemed better, more just, and more advanced; that is, post-crisis events seemed to offer a new life. Subsequently, once we established ourselves in the new structure, we found once more that not all was as we had hoped.

Also, as we evolved, our development brought us states of suffering and negative situations. When the negative sensations and discernments reached a critical point where we could no longer tolerate them, we revolted or declared war. There is an alternative, though: We can create change through our intellects via new perceptions and awareness. When this happens, new values and philosophies will arise, which will allow us to develop to the next, new stage.

It seems that now we are faced with such a situation. We’ve already exhausted the previous situation; we see and understand that the cause of our plight is the ego; and we cannot continue letting it ruin our lives. Therefore, our development now demands that we change our nature.

This is the uniqueness of our situation. We’ve never before changed human nature; instead, we’ve switched to the next level of our development, like shifting gears in a car. Only now, we’re already at the top gear; we’ve pressed the pedal to the metal, and the engine is losing power.

To regain power, we must change our fuel and adapt the engine by changing our course, our values, and our goals. The old engine won’t work in the new era toward which we are “driving.” It’s clear that we need a new one; that is, we need to change human nature—the egoistic engine that until now has been pushing us to develop, to discover, and to perceive. The bottom line is we now have no other choice; we must change our nature.

Scientists Have Discovered the Solution to Exit Despair

There are two forces in Nature: the force of reception—our ego—and the force of bestowal—giving. These two forces create life. The correct combinations, balance, and harmony between them make our lives better, more peaceful, and forward moving. We’ve come to a point where the force of reception, the ego, has stopped working; hence we feel a sense of despair in every realm of life.

Scientists and researchers, though, are beginning to perceive a solution; namely, changing our fuel and adapting our engine to work with the force of bestowal so that it is in the lead, pushing us forward, with the force of reception being its subsidiary.

The solution to all of humanity’s problems requires shifting to a new modus operandi, where the force of bestowal is the prominent factor, and the force of reception is but a means to an end. That is, we must transition to a new mode of work, new connections, and new relationships. In order words, we must change the force that takes the lead.

We need to build this new engine so that it works according to the force of bestowal. And since the engine is human society, each and every member of society will need to change as well; everyone will need to place the force of bestowal in “first place.”

How Education about Giving Is the Key to Securing a Great Life for Everyone

To bring about this change, we need a new education and a new way to bring it about. This new education will see people both as individuals and as a global group called “humanity,” addressing questions such as: Who are we; what are we; how have we evolved over the millennia to our current state; how should we evolve henceforth; what kind of change should we undergo and by what means; how gradually should this change be implemented—for each of us in individually and for all of us on the social, national, and international levels? This change will be profound in that it will affect all of human civilization.

Besides the learning—for which we will also rely on studies of scientists, biologists, and sociologists—we need to develop explanations for how we change and by what means. In other words, we need to explain how we can arrive at a situation where the force of bestowal controls us and pushes us to advance, instead of the force of reception. We need to understand how to realize these changes in people and society, as well as how, and in which order, those changes should be made with children, grownups, men, and women—according to each society’s mentality, religion, and tradition.

In this way, we will form a new education and a new society. Our media will be filled with this new content. All of our film and music industries, television, literature, and journals will be filled with stories concerning man’s and society’s transformation.

Today, this is our duty. Humanity must change; therefore our immediate goal is to bring all of us closer to the changes we will all have to undergo.