Candles in the Dark: A New Spirit for a Plural World

Epilogue

t'llOGUt THE NEW SPIRIT AND THE "GOOD PLACE" Candles in the Dark challenges contemporary societies with ideas to awaken thought to brighter horizons and a sense of a better, realizable state of the world. In critically exploring and offering inspiration for desirable and practical modifications in the prevalent conception of development and progress, this book is eutopian as it seeks the "Good Place." The ethos of the "Good Place," like a candle in the dark, sheds light on a new spirit for this plural world. WHEREBY IS THE ''GOOD PLACE" TO BE FOUND? Getting to this place requires a radical but straightforward change in thinking about the nature of the world. It means looking up and beyond the material surface of life to the realization that the world is, in essence, a rich, intricate fabric of unbounded thought forces. Thoughts and ideas are the atoms and the molecules of soci~ ety. Concomitantly, the world and the spirit of the time are the sum totals of human expressions, feelings, aspirations, and ideas. These are, in tum, informed by reason and its interpretations of sense impressions, intuitions, and revelations. It is these forces that determine cultures, build institutions, fuel actions and reactions, and, in the end, write history. A prerequisite for getting.to the "Good Place" is ensuring the quality and richness of these elements. The "noosphere" is an attempt to conceptualize the thinking realm composing the universe-the sphere of reflection, of conscious invention, of the union of souls. If this orb exists and consciousness is the foundation of it all, then it is certainly in assuring the highest quality of those intangibles of human existence that one 369 THE NEW SPIRIT AND THE "GOOD PLACE" can move towards that "Place." To keep this noosphere alive and expanding is humankind's present challenge. It requires, among many things, protecting the multiplicity of human languages, gestural systems, and other modes and symbols of communication expressed, for example, through music, philosophy, poetry, art, and myth. The most powerful thought force is the sentiment that humankind is subordinate to a greater Consciousness. That Superior Mind or Power, which is somewhere beyond the human consciousness or within the human spirit, enjoins the individual to act in accord with nature and love and to link with past and future generations. It stimulates philosophers, drives scientists with the high ambition to serve humankind, and inspires its listeners to pursue meaningful relationships. It is found in great philosophical and religious teaching. It has enlightened the wise scholars and holy people of the East, the great sages and healers of Africa, and prophets and thinkers in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions, to note but a few. It is in the ro~ts of classic ideas of goodness, perfection , and beauty-the meaning of pure truth in an Eastern tradition . It breathes love into human relations shared through hospitality , charity, and compassion. This acceptance of some transcendent power, even if it cannot be known or identified, except to consider it "good," defines, with mystery and awe, that humility indispensable to reaching the "Good Place." With such humility, philosophers and religious teachers illumine paths to the "Good Place." Their meditations reflect centuries of study of what makes humanity peaceful, harmonious, and wise. Wherever and whenever this realization has emerged from the heart and spirit of humanity there is to be found love for the other and for nature, human dignity in self-sacrifice and service, the need for contemplation , and the flourishing of each individual according to his or her particular gift of the spirit. With such humility, art, literature, and poetry may lead to the "Good Place." Art, by imitation of the master and immersion in the spirit of the work, brings both practioner and observer closer to the realization of his or her relationship to Nature and Love-the Value 370 EPILOGUE transcending death. Poetry conveys the cry of the soul that seeks meaning, understanding, and harmony with the self and the universe . Sometimes those cries are answered and the answer is in the poem. WHEN WILL SOCIETY GET TO THE "GOOD PLACE"? Individuals must take the lead. If they are enlightened and inspired by grace within, transported by great works of art, music and nature, and governed by inner dignity, individuals will build institutions that protect and nourish inclusively, all lives in a plural world. These institutions, whether local, national, international, or universal will then...