I end nearly every interview with the following question: “It's easy to see what's wrong with the world today. Anyone can list the problems at length, so I'd like you to tell me what you see as three positive trends in the world, in any field.”
Would you believe that nearly everyone I spoke to, people who are extremely knowledgeable about these issues through their work, said they had never even thought about that question? Some said “nothing” or “I can't think of anything positive.” Again, it's all in the eyes. We all create our reality by how we choose to see the world.
And for those with eyes to see, there is a lot of good happening on Earth: the modernization of countries in the Global South, the growing awareness that we live in a totally interdependent world, the awareness of the urgent need to protect the environment, new worldviews emerging from new physics, technologies such as the mobile phone and the Internet that have literally changed the world in just a few years, the revolution in health care with many alternative medicines, etc. Everyone can add to this list as they like.
Why are we not more aware of these positive trends? “Because in the media, good is boring,” one young schoolboy responded. So what happens in a society where bad sells like hot cakes and good is forgotten?
Albert Einstein was once asked the most important question that could be asked about the world and the future of humanity, and he answered simply: “Is the universe friendly?”
Personally, over 55 years of professional life around the world, living in incredibly diverse cultures and interacting with people from all walks of life, from the wealthy to the very poor, have led me to a conviction and above all a feeling that the universe is an infinitely benevolent place. This conviction was greatly strengthened by an out-of-body experience in which I was projected into infinite space where nothing remained except a feeling of infinite love. For an indeterminate period of time (mind and ego had completely disappeared, since I was no longer in human time and space), this feeling was mine. In other words, infinite consciousness (use your preferred term) was mine, it was my very identity.
This conviction that the Universe is infinitely benevolent is strengthened by the deep conviction that all events, from the tiniest subatomic particle to the unimaginable motion of galaxies in our universe, are absolutely governed by a fundamental law of harmony, and nothing can escape this law, no matter how contrary it may seem on a material level.
This “ontological optimism” was not bestowed upon me by some extraterrestrial godmother. For five years in Dakar, I lived between two slums whose children would rummage through my trash cans in search of scraps of food and other salvageable goods. This scene, repeated every day for years, is absolute insurance against the danger of seeing life as rosy. Over the years, my work has brought me to confront some of the planet's greatest challenges: hunger, desertification, absolute poverty, child prostitution. I have visited villages where starving inhabitants eat tree bark and sell their last jewels.
As a German friend of mine says, we can never really justify our “Weltanschaung” – our view of things, reality, the world. My view has been nurtured bit by bit, through years of listening, intense study, painful experiences and intense joy, and I have come to the deep conviction that this planet (I dare not use the word “universe”) is an amazing collective and individual educational laboratory, and that we are here for only one reason – to learn.
“Because when I look back on my life, I realize that events that seemed meaningless and painful at the time contain lessons that took me years to understand. And now I see life like a Persian rug: from below, it is a jumble of scraps of fabric, threads and clashing colors, but from above, it is a perfect harmony of shapes and colors, all managed by a clear plan and a clear vision, and the result is sublime.
The Swiss author Denis de Rougement once wrote, “The decadence of a society begins when people ask not 'what can I do?' but 'what will happen to me?'”
To all of you reading this blog and asking de Rougemont the same question, I would like to suggest: Try giving a little more love today. As this habit becomes a part of your daily routine, your horizons will broaden and you will one day realize with amazement that you can look at your Persian carpet from above.
Pierre Pradervin
May 2024
Here are two related blogs:
https://gentleartofblessing.org/an-infinitely-friends-universe/
https://gentleartofblessing.org/a-truly-friends-universe/
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