Chapter XX of Rio Plus 20 Document by Cho Tab Khen Zambling (Alfredo Sfeir Younis)
XX. Redeploying Our Inner Technologies
Will outer-created technology resolve the issues we face with global warming? Is technology the saving hand that will come to our rescue? Shall we wait and not act until technology finds the solution for global warming?
We depend so much on the speed and quality of technological change. But, technology and technological change are embodied within us. In essence technology is our own individual and collective consciousness and coherence translated into different forms of matter. It is our level of consciousness that defines the pace and quality of change. Intelligence, wisdom, and inventiveness are representations of collective consciousness. However, these representations will be able to bring solutions to world problems only if the level of consciousness is really commensurate with the desired form of change. For the moment, present trends show an asymmetry between the rather low level of consciousness (particularly collective consciousness) we experience and the complex challenges facing humanity today.
It looks like only a few people are the source of most technological change. We, the rest of the world, wait for the next solution to our problems to come about, from somewhere. But, as a matter of fact, we are all equipped to resolve all problems and it is in this sense that we have to “unleash” our inner technologies. The future of the world depends on our ability to tap into our inner technologies. In Hinduism and other traditions a distinction is made between inner and outer technologies, although science and spiritual transformation are always part of one inseparable whole. In the Western world science and the self are separate, as if this state of reality were never possible. The subject is separated from the object. This is only one form of science in our view. This is outer science.
Outer science brings forms of knowledge that are essentially derivatives of the external world. Another form, of science is that which results from the direct interaction and interface between the subject and the object and within the subject itself. This is inner science. Inner science brings us forms of knowledge that unfold from our inner existence. In my view, these two forms of science and knowledge are inter-related and complementary in nature. Not everything is about understanding the object of knowledge. In many ways, and given the state of humanity today, the challenge is also to focus on the understanding of the subject of knowledge.
The outer knowledge brings instruments and tools to know as well as to resolve these outer challenges we have. Not always these outer technologies have the ability and quality to address our inner challenges. We know today that the negative external effects of those technologies far outweigh their apparent benefits. Inner knowledge brings instruments and tools to know as well as to resolve our inner and outer challenges. If the inner is like the outer and the outer is like the inner, then it is via this inner science we will master our real future. The time has come to develop and unfold our inner technologies.
There are many ways of knowing. Reading books is one way. This is very passive and also extremely incomplete way to acquire knowledge. Another form of learning is via our direct experience of reality. In this sense, our sensory capacities and inner powers are essential to acquire true knowledge and to reach what we see as parameters defining our own existence. Silence and the expansion of the mind are also core to frame our own future. Via silence we perceive the true nature of all objects as well as the subject of our existence. It will be through silence that we will be able to get the whole nature of global warming and how it impacts our lives. It is in the fullness of silence where learning actually takes place.
In addition, and as stated earlier, if we believe in the intelligence and consciousness of our external world, then to chose also inner forms of knowledge may be a very effective way to influence the external environment. And, it is here where the interplay between inner and outer warming are to be understood. Outer science may assist us to use the ‘powers’ available in the material/outer world. However, in the world of our mind and souls that type of knowledge may be less useful. This is why it is important to address forms and methods to accelerate inner knowledge. In the end, true knowledge is knowledge that comes from self-realization of the Self, the self-realization of who we are. This is why it is so important to see inner warming as the mirror image of outer warming. This is to say, to see global warming as an inner and outer phenomenon at the same time.
To read the full Rio Plus 20 Statement click HERE.
