Our World's "Situation" - #1

{ image credit }

I've put out a call for folks' opinions about the current "Situation of Our World". From time to time, as people send me their responses, I'll post them here.

The first response quotes the man pictured here, Jiddu Krishnamurti. I went to Wikipedia and found: "For nearly sixty years he travelled all over the world, pointing out to people the need to transform themselves through self knowledge..." which made me aware of the constant synchronicity in the universe, since the second response stresses education. And, even though education from the news isn't necessarily real close to self-knowledge, my second respondent links to CommonDreams.org which is a news site that respects and encourages self-knowledge...
This universe can be very friendly!

1st Response:

The following has been excerpted:

==========
1. SPR

Nothing can change a thing dynamically regarding the situation of The World if that thing must enter human beings through the mind and not exclusively the Heart. Nothing. The World (specifically, its “situation”) is the collective product of what is wrong with our individual hearts.

— from _Even More Graffiti_

© 26 February 2007, Sugarpie Rabbit

SPR | In the Face of Love

2. J. Krishnamurti

Questioner: What is the work of man?

Krishnamurti: What do you think it is? Is it to study, pass examinations, get a job, and do it for the rest of your life? Is it to go to the temple, join groups, launch various reforms? Is it man's work to kill animals for his own food? Is it man's work to build a bridge for the train to cross, dig wells in a dry land, to find oil, to climb mountains, to conquer the earth and the air, to write poems, to paint, to love, to hate? Is all this the work of man? Building civilisations [sic/British] that come toppling down in a few centuries, bringing about wars, creating God in one's own image, killing people in the name of religion or the State, talking of peace and brotherhood while usurping power and being ruthless to others — this is what man is doing all around you, is it not? And is this the true work of man?

You can see that all this work leads to destruction and misery, to chaos and despair. Great luxuries exist side by side with extreme poverty; disease and starvation, with refrigerators and jet planes. All this is the work of man; and when you see it don't you ask yourself, 'Is that all? Is there not something else which is the true work of man?' If we can find out what is the true work of man, then jet planes, washing machines, bridges, houses will all have an entirely different meaning; but without finding out what is the true work of man, merely to indulge in reforms, in reshaping what man has already done, will lead nowhere.

So, what is the true work of man? Surely the true work of man is to discover truth, God; it is to love and not to be caught in his own self-enclosing activities. In the very discovery of what is true there is love, and that love in man's relationship with man will create a different civilisation [sic], a new world.

— from _This Matter of Culture_, Chapter 17 Reproduced in _On Right Livelihood_, pp.39-40

© 1992, Krishnamurti Foundation Trust

2nd Response:

To begin with, I think political education is important for people who wish to more fully grasp the situation of the world. In the age of the Internet, self-education is easier, but still requires a lot of work. I read about an hour or more of news each day from different resources. I've found the most educational resource to be www.commondreams.org. I also check up on CNN, and I've started reading Le Monde so that I can get news from an alternative perspective.

I've read about the advent of the citizen blogger as a new source for news items, but as of yet I haven't integrated checking blog sites out into my news gathering routine.

Cheers,

Kathy
[ Kathy's Space on the Web...]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So...

Two responses to "What's the Current World Situation?"

Would You like to weigh in with Your opinion?