Survival

How do we survive?  This is the ultimate problem facing every creature that has ever lived. Every individual must die - that is the price of life. But each of us lives on in the continuation of our species. Yet even species die. The overwhelming majority of all species that have ever existed on Earth are now extinct. Is it possible to escape the seeming inevitable fate?

Religion emerged as a means to enhance survival, both as individuals and as a species. We survive by aligning our will, submitting our lives, dedicating our purpose and our actions with the way of ultimate reality, aka the Tao, God, Divine Will.  And the best way to know and understand the Tao, God, the Way is to study the Nature, i.e. the Tao, God, the Way.  And we can study  by employing every effective tool available: whether meditation, prayer, ritual, reason or science. With our advanced technology, humans now have the power to destroy and to create. We can either destroy all humans and the life support system which sustains us, or we can bring prosperity to every man, woman and child on Earth. More than ever, we now need to know how to live in harmony with ourselves, each other and with the Earth.

Hope is a necessary ingredient for survival. The integration of science and spirit through evolution can provide a profound hope based on reality, not just on wishful thinking. The reality is, the universe tends toward greater and greater compassion and wisdom, which we in turn experience as greater joy.

Is it possible to escape extinction? I believe so, but only when we continue to unlock the mysteries of Ultimate Reality. The keys to the lock are faith and reason.