The Globalization of Spirituality

New-age spiritualism has made fantastic inroads into our mind-spaces in the last few years. What with the Deepak Chopras, the Wayne Dyers and even Steven Covey, each and everyone has told us that the selfish, consumerist material life isn’t fun unless we believe in something bigger than ourselves. When Soros became socialist and Bill Gates generous, we all knew something big was happening. We theorized, we fantasized and we said,’aaha, perhaps intense consumerism leads to something good—philanthropy!’

So, what is spiritualism doing in the midst of the most intense materialism human history has ever witnessed?

Maslow’s hierarchy told us that we have to have food, clothing, sex, security, love and belonging before we strive to achieve (lower order needs). And if we achieve as much as we need to be proud of ourselves (self-esteem), we can then have the courage to find happiness (higher order needs). Before that, happiness lies in things outside of ourselves, and after which inside of ourselves. People guess that for many, extreme material success has propelled them to seek happiness. And very often happiness is found in helping others.

On, the other hand, the hierarchy doesn't have to be so linear. Maslow was astonished at people who move to fulfilling what was termed as ‘higher order’ i.e., spiritual needs despite deprivation of lower order needs. Something as fantastic as an artist painting in a raging tornado, or a poor man becoming a philanthropist is an anomaly in the hierarchy of needs. However, the level to which people need to fulfill their hierarchy before they move to self-actualization varies. For instance, George Soros had to become a millionaire to find himself and Bill Gates had to conquer every computer’s OS to want to give to others. Others like Donald Trump never have enough to give, while still others like Abdus Sattar Edhi always have enough regardless. It turns out that the theory is good but not perfect, because each of us has some kind of inner needs graph. Most stay stuck at a comfortable point all their lives, never experiencing feelings of uselessness, content to live a predictable life. Still others move quickly to the middle of the continuum after which it is hard to reach further. For some it is a game of snakes and ladders. Others feel frustrated every 2-3 years and must explore themselves and find a different challenge.

The new age spiritualists tell us why we aren’t happy, and what we need to do to be fulfilled:

1. A balance of our needs, 2. Fulfillment of our emotional desires 3. Acceptance of our circumstances 4. Embark on a personal journey 5. A life of integrity 6. (Add your own theory).

Here are the favorite arguments of spiritual gurus and self-help literature:

A.Much of what people aspire for is to do with others in their lives. Their self-perceptions guide their desire for the trappings of wealth. Wealth is empowering, it makes us feel less vulnerable in front of others. So, if the pursuit of wealth is for power and the pursuit of power is for love, it is quite simple to skip the interim stage and go straight to the heart of the matter, give love. Your own to yourself to start with.

B. Mankind was so happy when they lived a natural life with a central place for God. The rituals and ideas of those ancient times are in synch with our emotional needs. Go back to those and problems will be solved.

C. Hopelessness characterizes the modern life as much as the ancient life. Belief in God brings faith, faith brings hope. Hope brings courage. Courage brings decision. Decision brings perseverance.

Eureka. But didn’t we know this all along? Open any ancient religious book (e.g., Quran, Bible etc), Lesson 1. Believe in goodness. Lesson 2, You are known and loved by God. Lesson 3. You have power, pray. Lesson 4: Have Faith

Apparently, the old books need to be rewritten and we have to reinvent the message for the new generation (and get phenomenally rich in the process).

The key difference between yesterday’s spiritualists and today’s spiritualists is that they were very poor, whereas modern spiritualists are unregulated multinational corporations. The Buddha renounced his life as a prince to find meaning for himself. But the Chopras of this world use a Rolex to put together a group of lost people tell them that they are actually found.

What is more tragic? Our Fear? Or, Their Exploitation of Our Fear?

A friend says, at least they raise money for good causes. Like Psychics, Astrologers, Tarot card readers they give us a sense of importance but more so they empower us, they make us feel we matter, that somebody out there actually cares about us enough to talk to us about how it feels to be human rather than workers. In return we become good, the beast in our hearts tamed and with renewed energy we suffer that which we cannot change and/or struggle for something better.

But, alas true spirituality is not found in a book, an identity, a religion, a speech or a tarot card reading. It is a personal, private and lonely journey of personal truth, where the mind’s eye is the only conscience and the only avatar. Others can only serve as reminders in our journey, but the task of suffering for the greater good is ours alone.

An atheist thinks that the desire for faith in the era of science is schizophrenic. It is a multiple personality disorder. But even a scientist has to have some kind of faith. Faith is a very difficult word to use in practice, e.g., M.A Jinnah’s idea of Faith Unity Discipline in practice became Faith in Quran to the exclusion of all others, Unity among Pakistani Muslims (rather than the broader goal of solidarity), and Disciplined Nationalism as an ideal. The true spiritualist only has silence as his/her last word on his/her faith.

Religious faith is often thought to be the reason for war. Ironically the worst wars with the greatest number of dead have been fought in the age of science, rationality and skepticism. Ironic indeed that in age where skepticism was overtaking dogma as a popular idea, more people decided to purge the world of others than ever before in history.

Perhaps it wasn’t the excess of faith but the lack of faith behind the murders of the last century. Our different faiths did not empower us to strive for greater understanding and peace, instead spiritualism was often found outside our narrow definitions of faith. Often religious intolerance stems from the idea that we have different faiths, whereas any spiritualist knows the truth is that we all have the same message of faith. There are more similarities in belief systems than differences. Even the myths are similar —in Monotheism God has Attributes, in Pantheism, God has Avatars. In the Buddhist tradition, Godliness is patience, In Islam Godliness is Sabr. All religious books are in that respect friends and guides in the personal journey to find peace and happiness.

If God is a working definition of all that is unknown, naming the unknown is necessary for the unknown to be eventually understood. If we view it this way, we can see a definite pattern. Yesterday’s faithful becomes today’s atheist. Today’s atheist becomes tomorrow’s spiritualist. Today’s spiritualist is a rather brave individual, who has the courage to say, I don’t have proof, but it feels intuitively right. Today’s atheist is also very brave, because he says, I don’t see it, how can it be there?

Perhaps there is only one true requirement for spiritualism--the courage to seek and face the truth, whatever it may be. In that way Einstein was a deeply religious man and Maududi a terrible coward.

Knowledge, therefore, is a path to God, not a revocation of God. Yet, far too often, the fear of the unknown has been the working definition of God and its reduction has meant the death of God.

People can often become fixated at certain stages of adjustment with the world. For instance a child who is repeatedly told he is stupid will spend the better part of his life proving to others that he is not, or may so completely believe it that he gives up the pursuit of learning. In that way, people test out the world-view that we are fed as children for the rest of our lives.

The fixation on a narrow working definition of faith is a matter of identity. For example, either Islam is good, or bad, or they have distorted it’, are attempts to assert identity. Needless debate on which version of Islam is ‘real’ or which is ‘fake’ is a diversion from the real problem of the weak identities of Muslim people, who have often confused solidarity with purity of faith.

This fixation must have a name, much like Rumplestiltskin had to be named, ‘Muslimness’ must be deemed and named. Muslimness is a fixation about being ‘Muslim’. Muslimness is dangerous and has weakened Islamic spirituality. Its vanity, its discontent, its complaint against the world is like a disease wherein the diseased eats his own toes to fill his stomach.

From where has this Muslimness come? Why is it so compelling?

1. Perceived failure. For whatever reasons, a sense of victimization permeades discussions of the Muslim identity. It is quite likely a response to colonization.
2. Muslim thinkers (perhaps more so in the last 50 years) have often defined themselves in relation to others who are less pure. Philosophers like Maududi, Syed Qutb and others have made Muslimness part of Islamic spirituality, from where it grows likes a tumor eating away at the heart of its spiritual message.

Globalization of Spirituality

Given that a larger population of the world is being rapidly displaced from its place of origin, religio-spiritual practices in which identity was part and parcel of spirituality are out-dated and insufficient. People still need spirituality, yet spiritual traditions have to allow for diverse and complex layers of identities.

Strategically, the most successful spirituality has become cosmopolitan with a larger and more inclusive vision than before. It canvasses for followers among critical thinkers, who continue to ask questions. What holds true for all spiritual traditions also holds true for Muslims. The gobalization of Muslim populations, i.e., the mobility of Muslims in the world is forcing a reconsideration of 1 and 2 above. Muslim activists today are able to separate spirituality from identity and identity from internalized colonial values. For example, Progressive Muslim Union (http://www.pmuna.org/) identifies a Muslim as, ‘anyone who identifies herself or himself as "Muslim" including those whose identification is based on social commitments and cultural heritage.’

People in a globalized world would expect to have the choice to seek and follow many spiritual traditions. They can pick and choose from so many types of spiritual disciplines. Quite interestingly, for those who wondered otherwise, the age of information has not meant a death knell for spirituality, instead spirituality itself is adapting to the needs of a geographically mobile and muli-identity populace.

Even though we imagine that the fanatics don’t have to try, they do have to try. For instance, in the response to the devastation from Pakistan’s earthquake last year, the lashkars had to canvass for votes just like everyone else.

Globalization is at heart about the lowest common denominator. Whatever sells to the most is true and the rest fiction. Even spirituality has to abide by the rules of globalization.

New-age spiritualism is also a product of the angst of immigrants. Those who come to foreign lands and confront anonymity, racism, exploitation and fear claim spirituality to compensate for a loss of geographical place and identity. Spiritual traditions are so linked to geographical identity that people often turn to their spiritual traditions just to feel at home. But underlying it is also the desire to provide core values to their children. However, inclusiveness is not an ideal but a necessity in global society and successful spiritualism has to embrace that value. Future religions and spiritual practices will continue to be adjusted so that their groupism is on the basis of shared values rather than on the basis of geographic identity.