WHAT WILL THE NEW SPIRITUALITY BE LIKE IN THIS NEW MILLENNIUM?

(This article was written by Alsibar, who has studied spiritual guides extensively, and the original text in Portuguese can be read at this link.)

What will spirituality be like in the new millennium? How will postmodern man address the age-old questions about his connection to God and the Sacred? How will he cope with the tsunami of information that assails us daily?

You may not agree with this manifesto, but if it invites you to reflect on your old paradigms, concepts, and prejudices, it will have been worth it!

The "now" gang

I know many may disagree with me. I am nothing. I simply write what suddenly arises from within me. I share what I consider valid and healthy. I don't write for a select few. I write for everyone. For all who are willing to listen, to read, to search, to discover, to investigate.

I regret that the "NOW" crowd will surely despise this manifesto, even for its title. The "NOW" crowd—for those who don't know—are those who ALREADY know, who ALREADY arrived, who ALREADY feel safe, who ALREADY are saved, who ALREADY are happy, who ALREADY have become enlightened, who ALREADY found.

These people, unfortunately, won't listen to me. Why would they? They already have everything. They've already achieved everything.

They are, in reality, dead in their search, because they believe they have nothing left to discover, nowhere to go. They are full of themselves, of their certainties, their prefabricated truths, their refined intellect. Of words, of the past, of sacred texts, of their own experiences. But deep down, very deep down, fear and insecurity hide beneath layers and layers of certainty.

The new man

I want to speak to the new man. To the man of the new millennium who has thousands of new challenges to face and overcome.

I want to speak to the man of the search, not to the search for "Truth," for it is not something to be sought, since it "IS." But to the man who seeks to learn daily. Who learns at every moment, minute by minute, from everything and everyone. Who has no pre-fabricated truths or answers, because pre-fabricated answers are not true answers. They are dead, for they are rooted in the past, in the old, in the ashes of what is already dead.

I want to speak to the person open to discovery, to investigation: Eternal, Unpredictable, Unknown, just as LIFE is. This new person will not create new gods; we already have too many. Nor will they create new masters, for we are now mature enough to take responsibility for our own destiny. We must be our own masters.

Of course, there will be resistance. It always has been, and a good part of humanity, despite the technological leap of thousands of years, continues to behave like an immature adolescent.

A new dawn, a new spirituality

But I sense the whispers of a new dawn. Behold, humanity is beginning to awaken and understand this new way of life. Why separate spirituality from life?

The truly spiritual person is one who knows how to live with fullness, wisdom, and happiness. They are the person who has freed themselves from illusions, who saw the danger of that cursed and poisonous entity dwelling within them, and put an end to it.

But let no one be mistaken. This is not an easy mission. Although it is, depending on each person's capacity for understanding. And it is along this path that the New Man is gradually being forged: through understanding. Not through foolish and childish idealizations about what he "thinks he is" or what he "should be." But through the correct perception of what he TRULY IS.

Many are very close to this understanding. They are just a little short. But that little bit still separates them from the true vision of Truth. It remains an obstacle. It still keeps them prisoners of the illusion of that entity everyone knows: the ego.

Access to knowledge and happiness

The internet has brought with it a wealth of information, an unprecedented access to knowledge. It was, without a doubt, a great revolution, a true repository of the most important and valuable knowledge that humanity has ever produced.

Never before has so much been shared so quickly: from baking recipes to the sacred and precious words of once-rare books like the 'Bardo Thodol' and 'The Secret of the Golden Flower'. Never before has information traveled so fast, whether it was world news, soap opera gossip, or the everyday events of people's lives.

The internet is a revolution unimaginable until recently. But this revolution has also brought its share of problems. We don't know what to do, how to process so much information. And what's worse: now, more than ever, humanity needs to understand that wisdom has nothing to do with knowledge. Otherwise, this could ruin it forever, because the time has come for humanity to mature.

Scholarship is not wisdom

How can humanity mature? How can it evolve if it continues to make the same mistakes as our ancestors, namely, confusing erudition with wisdom?

Scholarship plays a vital role in this new stage of history. Science cannot evolve without knowledge. We live in the Information Age, and those who possess more information, are more connected, and have a more comprehensive vision will have a greater chance of achieving an advantageous position, both professionally and socially. What everyone should know is that "knowledge" alone cannot provide human beings with the wisdom, inner peace, or happiness they so deeply desire.

 Happiness isn't found in books or on the internet. What you'll find there is simply knowledge, texts, records about everything and everyone. Even if someone reads about happiness and wisdom, they don't become happier or wiser just by reading.

It would be wonderful if that were the case, but it isn't. Reading can provide entertainment, stimulation, satisfaction, and a kind of mental pleasure. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about the happiness that characterizes a person free from conflict and psychological suffering. Books are necessary. Through them, people are informed, entertained, travel through time and space, distracted, relaxed, reflected, learned, and discovered.

But when the subject is self-knowledge and spirituality, we have to "take off our shoes." We have to strip off our clothes. We have to die to the familiar. To perceive Truth directly, the mind must be free to see. And this doesn't happen if it's overloaded with information, data, and general knowledge. 

Wisdom is born only when man, stripped of his past, of knowledge and understanding, looks at himself, at life, and at "what it is" in a fresh, renewed, and direct way. Free from old filters, idealized images, the weight of thoughts, and the distortion of words.

Abundant life

The new spirituality does not separate, fragment, or oppress. It completely liberates human beings from all illusion and misconception. It is a hymn of praise to life, to the true life taught to us by the great masters of the past.

Abundant life is not simply a life of luxury, fame, health, and happiness at work and in marriage, as self-help books preach. Abundant life is one in which a person has completely freed themselves from the deadly clutches of their illusory ego.

This entity (the ego) is stealing your vital energy, preventing you from seeing the Truth. The ego is the source of all evil. It disguises itself as kindness, respectability, and sociability. It waves the flag of ethics and morality, but its actions are pure hypocrisy and falsehood.

Anyone who has not freed themselves from the ego—from the high priest or statesman to the vilest of men—is subject to the ups and downs, the unstable waves of desire, the twists and turns of the unpredictable, the illusions of life, pain, and suffering.

The new spirituality is liberating

The new spirituality is liberating. It doesn't alienate people from their homes or their work. It doesn't separate them from their families, their dreams, plans, and projects. It doesn't trap them in the clutches of repression and conflict. It doesn't transform them into a kind of cultured, educated, and religious zombie.

The new spirituality is made up of free men, but never reckless or irresponsible. Free because they know themselves. They know their minds. They know the traps of conditioned thinking, desire, and the plague of "more."

The "more" is a dangerous illusion in this sense. It is the silent poison that the ego has injected into the hearts of men. The "more" is a great illusion that few perceive, and for that very reason they are easy prey for this true curse.

Every time we embark on the path of "more" —more money, more pleasure, more comfort, more success, more virtues, more spirituality, more love, more of this and more of that— we stop living, seeing, and understanding that eternity, happiness, and liberation are not found in "more."

This is desire, this is greed, this is envy, this is ego. The pursuit of "more" distances us from the timelessness inherent in that which is eternally present: that eternal moment which is complete and whole in itself. It is the search for "more" that blinds us, that distracts us, that distances us from the TRUTH, WHICH IS.

I know many will find this difficult to understand and accept. But if they would pause for a moment, if their minds would allow themselves even a minute's respite, they would understand that what creates "more" is a restless and perpetually dissatisfied mind.

The ego is the petrification of being

Life never stops for a single instant. Everything moves at a speed our eyes and minds cannot perceive. Everything is constantly renewed, though we often forget these facts. Only the ego is frozen in time.

Nothing is harder, more rigid, or more concrete than the ego. Even stones move. The ego doesn't yield, doesn't surrender, doesn't flow, doesn't change its position, doesn't open up, doesn't transform, doesn't evolve, doesn't grow, and doesn't mature. There are no words to describe the hardness, the stratification of the ego. Even when it pretends to yield, it remains firm and strong at its core, like a malignant and incurable disease.

Like a deadly virus that, no matter how hard we try to destroy it, remains alive thanks to its special characteristics that grant it a powerful capacity for survival. The ego is us. The world is the ego, and the ego is the world. It has a thousand and one disguises, faces, and phases.

When people seek to regenerate themselves through superficial and external means, the ego continues its reign of domination. That is why, even by joining religions, practicing techniques, reading self-help books, or listening to spiritual teachers, many people do not change or transform. The ego merely changes its appearance.

By leading a socially acceptable life through a good job, a stable social position, and healthy habits, the ego protects itself, believing that everything is fine. Those who think this way are deceiving themselves.

The ego seeks security, pleasure, and continuity.

The ego is the illusion of security, permanence, peace, and comfort that we all crave. But do such things truly exist? Or is everything in constant instability, insecurity, fluidity, and movement?

The ego is always changing superficially. It only modifies one or two details of our lifestyle, for example, when we abandon certain harmful habits: gross, despicable, and socially unacceptable vices. However, the ego continues on another level. But, by not perceiving the danger of other, more subtle vices, we don't get very far.

For example, we perceive the dangers of drug addiction, alcohol, tobacco, rampant consumption, and so on. But we don't perceive the dangers of uncontrolled, automatic, and reactive thoughts. Nor do we perceive the harm caused by psychological desire. We accept these two serpents as if they were pets, and in doing so, we seal our own fate.

The limits of thought and freedom

The new spirituality is made up of men who think, but who perceive the limits of thought. They know their place. They use thought when it is necessary and useful. They do not identify with it, nor do they allow it to dominate their minds and hearts.

They are free, not because they have conquered the "desires of the flesh," nor because they are good or virtuous. They are free because they have discovered a FREEDOM that is not "of this world," for it was not forged by thought. It is the freedom of those who have conquered their ego not through force, effort, discipline, or conflict, but through the understanding and perception of TRUTH. And truth belongs to no one.

No one can give it or transmit it because truth is not an object, much less a handful of knowledge, or even an extrasensory experience. It is the truth of who we are. Of our daily lives. Of our selfishness. Of our secret motives and driving forces that influence and shape our lives. It is the truth about our fears, desires, and expectations. It is the truth about the illusion and the danger of living under the dominion of the ego.

The motto of the new spirituality: Come and see!

The new spirituality does not preach new creeds, new "isms", new myths, new gods, or even new metaphysical theories or explanations about what is transcendental to our senses.

The new spirituality is based on the encounter of man with himself, with his own life, with his own truth. Beyond all concepts, opinions, dogmas, stances, thoughts, and beliefs. The new spirituality does require a new attitude. It is no longer about believing to see, nor about seeing to believe. But about "COME AND SEE!"

This new man will find within himself an unexplored dimension that has always existed, but which he has forgotten, thus remaining untouched. To enter this dimension, he must shed all his concepts, prejudices, and everything the world represents. Otherwise, the door will not open. Only those who have the courage to plunge into the abyss of the UNKNOWN will be able to fully experience this new moment.

This doesn't mean that a person should abandon their capacity for reasoning and thought. Rather, it means allowing their energies to balance so that order can naturally take hold within. There is a higher universal order, both outside and within us.

It is present in the macrocosm and the microcosm of human beings, as well as in atoms and molecules. Thus, just as it orders, coordinates, organizes, and maintains the cycles of nature, the seas, the planets, the galaxies, the cosmos, atoms, and the human body itself, so too will it do in the minds of those who have freed themselves from the illusion of controlling everything.

The ego is chaos, disorder, fragmentation, and as long as it remains in the illusion of command, the Inner Order of the Unknown will not be established.

Eradicate fear to be free

The new spirituality is based on the search for and encounter of the human being with that force, order, or dimension that resides within. There will be fear. That's true. Because we are accustomed to controlling everything, even though this control is simply a comfortable illusion.

Fear is one of the greatest evils afflicting humanity. The new spirituality prioritizes the eradication of fear. This is a difficult, almost impossible, mission because we fear everything. We fear taking risks, we fear learning, we fear losing our ego, we fear being nothing. But we are nothing, however much we may not want to be.

Death, illness, old age, misery, deterioration, crises, and losses are there to remind us daily that we are nothing, that we can do nothing, that we control nothing.

The cosmic order exists independently of man

The universe, with its wondrously perfect and eternal laws—incomprehensible to our human minds—is there to give us a message: it doesn't need human beings to be what it is. Therefore, reason tells us that there must be a force that maintains, sustains, and creates everything within it.

Whatever it is, whatever name we give it: energy, power, nothingness, light, spirit, Tao, God, Jehovah, Allah, Brahman, Krishna. The lesson is clear: just as there is a control and order that creates, organizes, harmonizes, maintains, and destroys everything in the universe, there must also be a force that dwells within the human being and that also brings order, harmony, and balance to their inner being.

Stillness and silence: attributes of this new dimension

In the new humanity, people will increasingly journey toward encountering this inner dimension. Not through the mind, nor through thought, nor through desire, for these paths have already proven to be misguided. They cannot lead us to the abode of this Supreme, Eternal, and Unknown Force.

Only in the natural silence of their own minds. Only through meditation and direct, real, objective, and true self-knowledge. Only when a person finds their inner stillness and remains in it, will that Creative Force begin to move and act naturally and spontaneously.

Dying to the ego, to the known, to the past is the same message that the Nazarene master taught us more than two thousand years ago: Man surrenders himself into the hands of the Father, he surrenders himself to Jesus, to Krishna, to his Inner Light; what do the name and the symbol matter?

To die in order to be reborn from water and spirit—symbols of renewal and purification—to become a whole, free, and truly HAPPY being. Behold, the hour has come when the dead will rise from their graves. We were dead when we did not know true life.

The life of the ego is death, misery, and pain. In tombs we deposit all that is dead. There, in our unconscious, lies all the decay, all the residue of our past, all our psychological remains. The time has come to rise, to awaken to life, to true Life!

The perception of "what is" in the timelessness of the here and now

Whoever wants to come, let them come and see. Not in the future, but in the here and now. Liberation lies in the clear, direct, and objective perception of "WHAT IS." You don't need to do anything, practice anything, participate in anything, or pay anything. We cannot alter or change "WHAT IS." Only "IT" can alter itself.

Perceiving "WHAT IS" is to be freed from the illusion of the ego, the "false self," from illusion itself, from maya. But what is this "WHAT IS"? The Jews call it JEHOVAH: THE ONE WHO IS, THE ONE WHO WAS, AND THE ONE WHO WILL BE! Taoists call it TAO, Buddhists call it Buddha, Hindus call it Brahman. But it is also known as THE SUPREME FORCE, THE SUPREME POWER, THE ETERNAL, THE TIMELESS, THE UNKNOWN.

Don't put it off. Forget the past and the future. Focus on the eternal present and free yourself from all illusion! This is the manifesto of the NEW SPIRITUALITY, the NEW MAN, and the NEW TOMORROW that begins NOW.