Betrayal of trust is not uncommon. As everything has to be proved in the court, the whole world became a pathetic playing field for unscrupulous lawyers. Currently lawyers, from whose rank come judges and most politicians in the world, became the power-brokers of humanity. A world where lawyers dominate, truth and values - the bedrock of spirituality - become casualties. Peaceful, satisfactory, and inexpensive settling of disputes through humane mediation has become less. One human behaves toward another like a wolf preys on another wolf as the ancient saying homo homini lupus goes. Selfishness becomes a breeding ground for a culture of skepticism and paranoia. In spite of all these odds, I dare say that the 21st century has the great potential to be a century of spirituality and mysticism. It is not so much the asceticism of the past that is required, but conscious self-control that comes from internal locus of control of a truly free person, and a studied ability to say "no" to affluence, abundance, and unlimited opportunities, once a person's needs and some wants are reasonably satisfied. Persons are soon going to be weary of unprincipled material progress at the expense of spiritual growth and ecological balance.
Religions that are supposed to connect humans to a higher, supernatural being, whom we call God, by promoting spiritual and moral values and wholesome living, began to decline primarily through vicious and murderous fights among themselves. A few representatives of religions have not stood the test of times. Many members of religions formed and molded in the less enlightened past got disillusioned as they were not prepared to face the rigorous challenges of unstructured modern living ridden with anxiety and insecurity. Religions and their representatives engaged in behaviors that are contra-indicative of spirituality. No religion can keep its moral and spiritual high ground without credible practice of what it preaches. With the decline of moral, ethical, and spiritual values, ordinary humans began to lose confidence in the future of humanity. They were in reality infantilized by religions. They got distracted from spiritual pursuits, and started looking for models elsewhere.
They currently get some temporary thrills and excitements from film stars and sports personalities, beauty queens, and scandalous display of wealth by the rich who are the modern royalty. The dictator of one country (Gabon), for instance, possesses about one fourth of that country's wealth. What does this say about humanity? The models of ordinary persons have become those who can wield power and control, and manipulate and use humans for their own pleasure. They get easily titillated by scantily clad models, mostly females, being unaware they have in nature or in their fertile fantasies what they are eagerly looking for. More and more weird and expensive dresses are developed to satiate spurious and unhealthy interests. How else one can explain the production and use of a brassiere studded with precious stones that cost about 12 million dollars (about 66 crores of rupees) in a world of poverty and want? How can any woman be comfortable in that kind of a bra? Why would a woman want to expose herself in a bra to begin with? Is our sexuality about our body parts? Only spirituality and a purpose-directed life can deal with such questions.
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