Daily Meditation: Sunday, July 30, 2000

Technological progress has given humankind great …

07/30/2000

Technological progress has given humankind great possibilities. This is a good thing, but all these new facilities and opportunities lead them to expect everything from outside and to become heedless, thoughtless, and fickle. We can neglect our health: there are doctors, surgeons, dentists, chemists, etc. We can waste paper, ruin appliances, break objects, soil and tear our clothes, throw away food: there is plenty more of everything in the shops. This is how care and attention, vigilance, and discernment gradually wane. Why develop these qualities when there are so many people and products available to repair the damage we have done? Scientists, researchers, technicians are all there to help people with their inventions. In reality, however, they help the manufacturers get richer, and make the people increasingly weak and dependent. I am not saying we should put a halt to technological progress, but we must also continue to work in the inner domain in order to cultivate care and attention, prudence, and self-control.