Greetings
Moving Beyond Tradition
by Dada Jyotirupananda
Moving beyond tradition may not be so easy, even for those of us who profess a progressive, modern approach to life.
Why so difficult? Partly because we may not understand or sense the role tradition has in our lives. We may also not sense what our moment in history is right now. So, we may not know what is best to hold onto from our present, and what is best to let go of; nor may we know what is the best that the near future has to offer.
Part of the problem concerns our concept—or conceit—of how important and how knowledgeable we are about where we are, where we might be going and what our best options are for this trip.
‘Modern’ humans have always thought that they know more, are capable of more, are somehow ‘better’ than those before them. And while some of this may be true, still we can see numerous examples of a theory—scientific, social, theological, etc—that was heartily embraced by one generation, only to be discarded as irrational or very limited, by the next generation.
We may replace some of these irrational ideas with the newer, the better, the more modern, but are we not also in danger of having OUR ideas of what’s best, most modern, also discarded? Are there not some ‘essentials’ some knowledge of our forebears, which we need to hold onto, in this journey?
The dangers of our modern conceit are different than those of our parents in one special way. Our vast technological advances, so-called ‘progress’, may spell our demise, if we rush too quickly into the future.
The question then: Is there not, perhaps, something valuable, some dusty old jewel, that we’ve perhaps forgotten in a corner somewhere, as we rush toward more and more ‘progress’? This jewel—tradition—may help ground us, so that in our speedy entrance into the ever present modern times, we can remember our ideal relations with the life all around us.
Thus, Zia Sardar reflects on how tradition stays alive by refashioning and reinterpreting itself. Through this (sometimes conscious) process, people and communities can maintain their sense of identity and move towards a sane future.
Van Wishard is awed by our technological possibilities, which are radically and rapidly changing who we are; but he’s wary that what we call evolution may actually be self-destruction. Our future, then, partly depends on whether our deepest values are forgotten or remembered in this next 30 years. We may have no more time than that to keep some control of who we are. Indeed, he observes that in the near future, all life may be transformed beyond anything we can even begin to imagine today, with or without our consent.
Meanwhile, an impoverished Argentina attempts to de-mystify capitalism and Sparrow perhaps mystifies the American fascination with incarceration, as only he can do it.
Several articles take up specific questions, which, depending on how we deal with them, may ‘make or break’ our collective welfare and harmony.
Some may seem mundane: Roar Bjonnes suggests several practical steps towards a sustainable community.
Rupert Sheldrake—from quite a different angle—looks at the psychic potentials of animals, and muses, thus, about our own potentials.
Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi and others here may not seem to be dealing with social movement at all. But by looking at our basic human nature, they suggest, directly or indirectly, that there is far more to us than meets the eye. And if we can hold onto our core values, but explore the deeper, oft-untouched layers of human consciousness, we may soar into realms of ‘humanity’ that are beyond our present concept of our self. This is true progress.
This article was printed in New Renaissance, Vol. 11, No. 4, issue 39, Spring,
2003 Copyright © 2003 by Renaissance Universal, all rights reserved.
Posted on the web on March 22, 2003.
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