social progress & nonduality

I received a really well thought out series of questions from a reader and friend. She has allowed me to share her questions and my response here:

“Can spirituality inform collective social progress? In some ways I think it must and that that is the very nature of spirituality – to impact spiritual and consequently, in this life, material evolution – but on the other hand I also feel that our contemporary sense of spirituality is as atomistically individualistic as our economic system, and that it’s impossible for individual enlightenment, or even just spiritual progression, to affect “this American life”

I wouldn’t try to speak from or represent spirituality. I have never really identified as a spiritual or religious person. I don’t know if spirituality can inform social progress. However it is clear that greed can set up certain situations that seem to cause pain for people on the more vulnerable end of the social ladder. And it is clear that greed is a hunger for wholeness based on a belief that one is incomplete and that material things will eventually satiate this sense of incompleteness. From this nondual perspective there is absolutely no need to have more materials whether at the expense of another’s basic well-being or not. Nothing wrong with money or material things but no need for it or to exploit for it. That’s also not to say that the opposite is true. In other words, there is no belief that we should meet just our basic bodily needs and give the rest of our materials to others. I have no idea what is ultimately right or wrong. I don’t know if it is best for all poverty to end or even if it is best for humans to go on living on this planet or to become extinct. Seems to make sense that it would be “better” for poverty to end but perhaps there is some “bigger picture” with this experience. There even may be a bigger picture with regard to this planet’s survival with or without humans.

From this perspective, it is known that there are no separate people owning the experience of life and the appearance of relating. So it is not possible for a person to become enlightened. However the character, personality, or body-mind (what ever we call it) seems to be influenced when nonduality is directly recognized and all the beliefs and sensations of separation are clearly seen through. There is no longer a belief in separation so there is no longer a “person” searching for completion. There is no longer a need to defend oneself intellectually or to desperately look for new and better ways to identify oneself. There is an ease and appreciation with simply being alive. So it seems that if more folks were able to see the truth, then perhaps “collective social progress” would function better or less harmfully. But there is really no way to know if this is true. Interesting there seems to be more and more minds recognizing nonduality. But there’s no way to know if this is true either because technology has spread communication in a way that was not possible before. Are more people recognizing the truth of nonduality or are we just able to see it more because of youtube? Or are more people realizing it because of advancements in communication? Its impossible to know at this point. But it does seem that social progress may be impacting “spirituality” and perhaps vice versa…