Forms of Recovery

There are various forms of recovery, and many of us know recovering alcoholics and/or drug addicts and are aware of the battles that they wage. In a more general sense, our spiritual recovery – collectively speaking – involves awakening from some of the damaging myths that Western culture has lived its life by. We have to shed the notion that life and consciousness were accidents, for one thing. None of us have completely escaped the influence of this belief (it is too pervasive), and it encourages us to see all of our struggles – and our very human nature – as essentially meaningless.

Ultimately, we’re never going to find true fulfillment if we accept an idea such as this. A sense of purpose is essential to our psychological and even physical well-being. And our inner being will never accept such narrow definitions of our humanity anyway. If we choose to believe that we lead insignificant lives then we’ll just end up using our thoughts and words to try and deny what we know in our hearts. 

Bad Dream

The myth of a meaningless universe is like a bad dream that we collectively need to awaken from if we are to begin living in a saner manner on this planet. The concept has caused a lot of suffering en masse. It may have represented a well-meant attempt to make sense of the physical world and create “order out of chaos” at one point in time, but the consequences of accepting it as a truism can no longer be denied.

Its impact upon the natural world is obvious. When we view Mother Nature as an accidental by-product devoid of significance then we do not feel inspired to act as caretakers of our planet. In fact, the idea of a sterile universe – especially when coupled with Darwinian concepts of evolution – encourages us to see nature as an adversary to be conquered. We think that we’re separate from nature and so nature becomes an entity to be controlled and manipulated. Only in recent decades have greater numbers of people come to perceive that we’ll inevitably end up destroying ourselves if we persist in taking such a stance.

New Convictions

Sweeping changes in the world require that new convictions take root within us. Many of us don’t feel motivated to change our courses unless we’re in pain or otherwise profoundly dissatisfied with our lives. Sometimes people find the impetus to examine their core beliefs after a dramatic event such as an accident, a bout of severe illness or a near-death experience. The earth crisis provides that motivation across the board in the modern day. Because it is a collective problem, it demands a reexamination of collective beliefs. We must awaken from the idea that our universe is a meaningless accident if we are to move forward.

To win the fight for the natural world and for our own continued survival we need to begin believing in our own inherent worth again. This in itself will open up avenues of healing – and present solutions to global problems – that escape us at the moment.