Civilisation's sell-by date

A learned professor who is glorified by the title of Professor of Complementary Medicine seems to have a mission to destroy the practice of homoeopathy. His zeal is fuelled by a belief that his chosen understanding of medicine is truer than that of homoeopaths. Meanwhile an old man carrying a fisherman's crook, strange hat and lomg, flowing purple robes and shoes, white simar with fringed fascia, pectoral cross and white     zucchetto gestures to a huge crowd in Rome. And nearer to home, I find fascination for a small group of once-hippies known as the Twelve Tribes, previosuly known as Messianic Communities who bake the most wonderful bread.
Where is the common thread in all this? It lies in the various myths that all these individuals respect, even in the face of much ridicule from the wider populace. The learned professor clearly feels his myth, that of "progress" and reductionist science trumps that of the homoeopath; the Pope is respected by those who follow his understanding of what God is and the Twelve Tribes have their own myth which bonds their communities together. 
So what about our myth- the prevalent myth of 21st century civilisation, the Myth of Progress? Why should this be any different from any of these other myths? And what role do these myths play in our lives?. 
The first thing to understand is that they ARE myths. And modern "man" unfortunately falls at this first hurdle, because we don't see the Myth of Progress as being a myth at all. We cloak it in robes of "science", "modernity" and "reality" and we feed our young children on this myth at institutions we call schools. 
And of course, all myths share the same fate. They all get destroyed by other people who don't share the same myth. The British have done their bit at destroying myths. When we "discovered" America, we realised we had to destroy the indigenouis peoples' belief structure and culture in order to pacify and "civilise" them. We stuffed them into schools and uniforms.
And today globalisation has taken over the role of chief myth debunker. Whether you are in Africa or China the Western model of "progress" is the only dish on the menu, and the eating place is called McDonalds or Burger King. The victims of course are all the local dishes that never get served. But we justify this vandalism in the name of efficiency, modernisation and a multitude of other constructs.
Wade Davis, in the film "Schooling the World" explains how myths shape the way we behave in our societies and that what is important is how we behave in response to these myths. Native Americans survived with their belief structures without damaging their environment. Does it matter what their myths are if they enable them to live in harmony with their environment and each other? And is our myth of "progress" any truer than theirs was? Does the reality of life in downtown Chicago or East London provide evidence to support this?
The role therefore of those of us seeking a post-civilsation model is surely to craft a new myth which can better enable us to live happily within our means and within our resource base.

On physicality

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten.” 

– Neil Gaiman

There is a continuum between material and spiritual. It has been said that the East reflects more spiritual aspects and the West the material in life. That contrast is increasingly blurred but there's still some truth in it. Enlightenment, by definition, aims to focus on the spiritual and minimise the material. Current society is rushing full pelt in the opposite direction. Everything about globalisation and consumerism aims to extinguish as much spiritual content from materiality as possible. The material can be quantified, valued in solid currency and profited from. McDonald's is a case in point. Can you detect a thread of the spiritual in those establishments? All elements of the place are designed in order to maximise financial return. Have you visited Milton Keynes or Swindon? Most of our city centres are now almost devoid of beauty and "spiritual" content. There is no space left for the imagination, for personal creativity to express itself. What personal creativity, art or drama is allowed has to override the cold and forbidding concrete and glass surroundings. These spaces are for spectators to view the enticing merchandise, there is no "need" for involvement or participation- you are there to buy. 
The non-material is increasingly at a premium and we all sense, to varying degrees that emptiness within us. Understandably, it is often difficult to define. And if we do try and define it we run the risk of being labelled as "Luddites" or of wallowing in nostalgia. The absence of "material" render these sensations nebulous and hard to describe. What is it for instance that makes a place "human" and comfortable to be in? Christopher Alexander in "A Pattern Language" aims to do just this. He dares to put a value on the non-material. But Alexander is swimming against the materialist current.   
David Fleming considered another vital dimension of our non-material lives- the role in society of ritual. He recognised 7 specific elements within it- emotional daring, membership, continuity, consciousness of time and events, practice, meaning and locality.  Fleming understood that ritual attaches us to place, to community and gives us a feeling of belonging and sharing a place in history. Where ritual dies, so does community.  


The church has, until relatively recently in the West, fulfilled an important role in providing a focus for ritual. With its decline, we struggle to replace that function. The local pub has faced a similar decline and the community is the poorer for it. 
Ritual is increasingly under threat in a society where material values dominate. People are predominantly focused on substantive reasons for any activity- and ritual has no such inherent basis. Ritual also usually requires a space which may not have any other material uses- such spaces are increasingly at a premium. Ritual needs that shared but unspoken sense of common humanity, a feeling that can be forgotten when the striving for material  things dominate our lives.


They say that nature abhors a vacuum; well so does modern society. In fact, the more material we become the more wary we are of non-materiality. Silence has been devalued and we extinguish it wherever possible. Radio and TV cannot tolerate spaces between words, between action. Those appearing on TV or radio now talk faster, with more "sound-bites" than was the case even 20 years ago. Jerry Mander, in his book " Four Arguments for the Elimination of TV" explained how children's TV programmes such as Sesame Street  had progressively increased the speed of flow of images to match the shorter attention span of our young generations and retain the mesmerising effect of the medium. 


When other humans aren't around we fill the space with TV, with radio, any noise in fact. The jogger with her i-pod, the driver with his CD player, the commuter with his i-phone all represent the same tendency. In contrast, the growing practice of meditation aims to help us reconnect with that inner quiet- that infinite place where true enlightenment lies.
It helps us to re-establish a balance wherein the mind does not overwhelm the "id" or "soul".