We Often Get This Wrong About Civilization

“If we deeply experienced and understood that the self is ever impermanent, then there would be no identification with any particular form of craving, with any particular country, or with any organized system of thought or religion, for with identification comes the horror of war, the ruthlessness of so-called civilization.” — J. Krishnamurti

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote in his journal, “Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”

When the opinions we hold tightly get challenged, we see it as an attack on who we are. And if we can’t fight back for whatever reason, we seethe.

What if, instead of protecting our opinions, we make understanding the point in question our aim? We can open the platform for discussion. We can hear what is being said rather than who is saying it or how it’s being said. We can employ the Socratic way of questioning to enhance our wisdom.

This gives us power over our vritti (stream of thought) and stop it from unbalancing us.

Civilization comes from advancements in wisdom, not from mere materialistic growth.

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