We’re in the midst of an unprecedented environmental crisis. At its root is the unchecked growth of our own individualistic ego and its ceaseless drive for domination. Slowing down the crisis will take a spiritual transformation.
It is obvious to anyone who cares to look that we are facing an unprecedented environmental and social crisis. The world grows hotter, the seas keep rising, we are poisoning the air, the land, and the water, and driving tens of thousands of species to extinction every year. While the economy pours forth undreamed-of wealth, we grow ever more frustrated and angry as the bonds of family and community dissolve and the wreckage piles up around us. Yet despite the magnitude of our crisis, we seem frozen in confusion and denial.
Tracing The Evolution Of Human Spirituality
If we are to find our way forward, we must look within. We must see our progressive alienation from nature and the way we have changed to accommodate the ever-growing demands of the ego, which has alienated us from our deepest spiritual needs, from the natural world of which we are a part, and from the others around us. And we must put our psychological and spiritual evolution at the center of the human story, not its periphery.
Primal Spirituality
We did not start alienated, we became so. The primal spirituality of our most distant ancestors was deeply rooted in the natural world and the energies of the body, a realm often symbolized by the figure of the Great Goddess. Our ancestors lived in what some have called an “enchanted garden.” In it, the trees, the plants, the animals, and even the rocks and streams were alive and sentient. Their magical world abounded with spirits, both seen and unseen.
The boundaries of self then were far more porous. Our ancestors’ natural surroundings and the groups to which they belonged were as much as part of them as their physical bodies. Powerful spiritual beings could enter into humans, and on some occasions, such as ecstatic tribal dances, humans could even become those spiritual beings and access their extraordinary powers.
The Conquering Ego
As our societies became ever more complex and hierarchical, the emergence of the more rational, self-centered ego led a sweeping transformation of consciousness symbolized in the myths of the Great Hero. This new personification of ego embodies all the hyper-masculinity of the warrior and his need for glory and power. Again and again he challenges the Goddess and struggles to subject her instinctive power, and the natural world itself, to his demands.
Though even the greatest Hero can never really vanquish the Goddess, there is no doubt that the heroic ego with its rationality and self-control has transformed the world. We can fly through the air, banish dread diseases, create life from chains of genetic code, pour out all manner of riches, and wreak fiery destruction like vengeful gods. In the process, the struggles of the heroic ego have come to dominate our psyche and our lives, and threaten our very survival.
A New Synthesis
We’re now at a critical turning point, and the glimmering of a new synthesis is starting to emerge. It incorporates the wisdom of the Goddess and the strength of the Hero, holding them both in a new kind of transpersonal awareness. The classic image of a male Buddha sitting in the cross-legged lotus posture gives us a feeling for what this synthesis might be. He seems to rest in complete peace and equanimity, embodying a deep wisdom far beyond psychic conflict. Yet he also appears withdrawn and aloof from the chaos of the world, and it is hard to see how he could represent a path forward for the struggling masses of humanity.
If, however, we look at the images of Tara, we get a very different feeling. She shows the same transcendental peace, but she is also intimately connected to the life of the world. In many images, she has a radiant, loving smile and a glowing warmth, while her right leg is extended forward so she can leap to the aid of anyone who is suffering. Tara embodies the primal feminine energy of life, yet she wields the power of the rational mind with sublime skill, and holds them both in the boundless love of enlightened awareness.
The Way Forward
In Tara, we find the way forward. She symbolizes the alluring prospect of path beyond the existential crises of our times. Just as the ego-dominated psyche spread from a relatively small elite to the masses of post-industrial society,we could be on the brink of another transition to a higher level of consciousness.
Of course, no one can be certain what the future holds. The worldwide disaster that seems to loom on the horizon may be inevitable. What is clear is that technological solutions alone will not be enough. Any path to a better future must be rooted in a profound spiritual and psychological transformation.
Author Bio
James William Coleman, PhD is a Professor of Sociology Emeritus at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a specialty in the sociology of religion, and a founding member of the White Heron Sangha, a peer-led community that welcomes practices from all Buddhist traditions. He studied Buddhism intensively under Roshi Reb Anderson of the San Francisco Zen Center, and with Lama Palden Drolma in the Kagyu Shanpa lineage of Kalu Rinpoche. He is the author of numerous books and articles, the latest of which is Searching for Tara: The Goddess Who Became a Buddha from Bloomsbury Publications. Learn more at jameswilliamcoleman.com.