I had a conversation with a friend this weekend about the nature of man. Are we capable of change? Are there behaviors innate to us that we are incapable of extinguishing? If we understand the nature of all things we know that the only thing that is innate to all humans is impermanence. The reality of life is that it is constantly changing and that all things are interconnected. One thing cannot stay the same if all others are evolving. The same is true for man. The only thing that inhibits us from evolving is our own attachment to false ideas about who we have to be and how we have to act. We have been long programmed to believe things like; war is just a fact of life, we have to consume to support the system, others have to be weaker for us to be strong, and we have to fight to survive. These are programmed perspectives that no longer serve in our best interest. We can see that these ideas are driving our species toward extinction. So let's change. The Dalai-Lama calls this next phase of life "the age of women." He states "it is time for feminine values to replace the masculine values that have dominated our society for centuries." The feminine values that he is talking about are compassion, love and peace. In favoring these qualities we can start developing a more unified and less violent future. Globalization is evidence that we are all a part of one family and that we can no longer have an individualistic approach. Our well being depends on the well being of others and on the well being of our planet. The "every man for himself" mentality is now outdated and irrelevant to the challenges we face today. It is time to let our old ideology float away in the wind and start rebuilding new ones. It is up to us to teach the next generation how to live wiser and in order to do so we have to believe that change is possible.
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