The virtue of truly great things lies not in their prevailing, but in their mere existence. Such, too, is the new paradigm. And though we often put our trust in dynamic, well-defined and measurable changes, the shift in world view towards subtler values comes about rather through intimations, hints, barely perceptible stirrings, in slow transitions, after long ripening. The fruit of slow, organic development will be that the spiritual fabric of human awareness becomes close-woven, like the wood of the pine that grows little by little in Siberia. The oldest tree is the slowest to develop… In time the outer base will arrange itself around a strong inner spiritual core, at the individual and the community level alike. We can join the great world process of change through inquiry, contemplation and integration, through shared thinking and shared action.
The aim is to create something lasting in a transient world. This seems a rather maximalist goal, but beside the inspiring vistas of the maximum, defining the spiritual minimum is perhaps even more important. The spiritual minimum is the seed of the new world view, and the harvest will follow in its own time.
Manifesto
- › Instead of bigoted religiosity, spiritual enlightenment!
- › Instead of the power of money, the power of truth and love!
- › Instead of consumption and discontent, balance and inner contentment.
- › Instead of comfort, responsibility!
- › Instead of the aimlessness of materialism, the wide, eternal dimension of spiritual horizons!
- › Instead of the spirit of competition and victory, the principle of cooperation and shared victory!
- › Instead of the rule of the ego, the humility of the pure self!
- › Instead of fragmentation and divided interests, the recognition of belonging together and of the common interest!
In the new paradigm the relationship between the individual and the community must also be redefined. The individualised consumer is not necessarily an integral part of the community, in solidarity with it. Any community organised on spiritual foundations works on three levels:
Sacred level – it reflects the cosmic order and is the strongest, highest requirement, which all the other working structures serve. We may call this level the prevailing of the universal will, which runs almost invisibly through the whole order of its functioning. It can be identified with cultural beauty, and culture means just this: being in harmony with the universe.
Moral level – it corresponds to the field of intelligent consciousness, which secures the development of the individual within the universal framework. Its necessary preconditions, and the fruits of its fertile working, are virtue, honesty, truth, goodness, purity. It furthers inner growth and strengthens the clear-sightedness that springs from self-discipline. Its chief hindrance is intrigue, so it is to be avoided at all costs.
Legal level – this embodies the existential strength of each spiritual community and secures its practical functioning. It embraces the rules, regulations and requirements, the conditions of joining, the norms of active participation, the forms of support, and it lays down the practices to be followed and to be avoided.