“Gravitas was one of the Roman virtues, along with pietas, dignitas, and virtus. It may be translated variously as weight, seriousness and dignity, also importance, and connotes a certain substance or depth of personality.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitas
The demise of ancient Rome came with, and many would argue, resulted from, the decay of these virtues… the decay of the earlier meaning/understanding of these virtues. Some say modern society is following in the footsteps of that demise.
We are social creatures. Just as the vegetation and animals of a land were born of, and evolved in, harmony with that land, the virtues of a society are born of nature… born of the laws of nature inherent to the very soil upon which that society emerged. The health of a culture is in direct proportion with the degree to which the people live in harmony with nature, with natural law, with our own true nature. Every bit as much as food, water, and air, harmony with nature is our life’s blood.
Cultural values may appear to be arbitrary, but they are not. As people lose connection with the depth of their soul… the fiber of their being… their inner wisdom, cultural values appear more and more to be arbitrary. Instead of inner wisdom, the way the wind blows determines the culture’s worldview. Values then gradually become more arbitrary… without substance, without valid basis. Most anything can be, and is, justified by the intellect… rational-ized. The winds of karma are then free to determine the mindset of the people. Law-makers and spiritual leaders are then selected based upon, not substance, but gusts of delusion. Society decays.
As the drug culture of the 1960’s swept the Western world, the integration of humanity with natural law (inner wisdom… the deeper meaning of Gravitas, Pietas, Dignitas, and Virtus) broke down. It set society’s sail in the direction of that wave of karma that has carried Western mentally off course.
It appears we are witnessing a global reaction. When the pendulum swings too far in one direction, it naturally, in time, will swing too far in the other. It birthed radical extremism. The values, twisted as they are, offer a social code. Remarkably, in a society of degraded social code, even that extremism becomes appealing to some. People turn their back on what a great society was, because of what it was becoming. They then set out to find a society they can identify with… one that at least has a solid direction.
We are cultural/social creatures. Values are not found through intellectual fantasies, ivory towers, or crystalline castles. They are found in the depth of your being… in a place that lies far deeper than the social pressures of a culture that has lost its way.
It is not my place to tell you what to think, what laws to obey. But I will do my very best to assist you in finding that place inside that is one with nature, one with natural law… one with your true nature, one with the source of individual and cultural integrity… one with the true meaning of Veda.
Veda is not just a set of books. Veda means nature. In a healthy society, our true nature permeates all aspects of life.
Very nice blog!
Has the whole world lost its culture? Why i ask because everybody follows the west these days?
Brings tears to my eyes.
This speaks to the level of feelings that is so much of our experience, but no one seems to talk about.
Eri,
It is true that the western cultural mentality is the dominant mentality all over the world. Cultural integrity is not generally understood. Cultural integrity is the moral fiber of life. Racism is cultural integrity gone insane. Cultural diversity is a beautiful thing. Yet like people, any culture can be healthy or not. World peace will not be attained by creating one huge homogenous culture. It will be attained by making every culture healthy. People sadly seem to often feel that the world would be fine if only everyone thought the same way they did. The same is true of unhealthy cultures.
Yes i think its beautiful all the different cultures you can learn something from each other.
And what do you think of like west europe here they are afraid they will become a minority and loose their whole culture.
I dont think it will happen.
What do you think off that.
It is tough for me to gather thoughts on this one. I have many contradicting feelings such as fascination and then sadness..motivation yet a bit fearful. So I will take a breath..meditate..and keep moving forward until I figure something else out.
Thank you for this Brahmarshi..heavy yet just the way it is.
eri,
A nation can only be as invincible as its alignment/harmony with nature. As the alignment decays even the most powerful nation falls. It is up to europe to see if the roots of the culture are strengthened or not. True strength comes from the depth, not the surface. The process takes time.
To me that cultural decay is not just limited to Europe, but palpable on a global scale these days. Very concerning…
Hi Marion,
What you say is of course true. Europe, USA, Japan, India, etc. You see it in most every country. Then there are the reactionary groups referred to in the blog. When people lose touch with the transcendent, their value system ceases to be based upon the depth. That is what I mean by their value system becoming ‘arbitrary’, i.e. cast to the winds of karma. Of course, as I say most karma is not outside of people, it is inside their minds and hearts. It colors how they think and feel. So they do not consider their value system to be ‘arbitrary’. They consider it to be their ‘truth’. So of course, they often find it offensive to have that questioned.