Spiritual Renaissance:
Sharing the international trend of spiritual development
At 2 p.m. on November 12, former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Defense and an international strategic expert, Prof. Lin Zhongbing, was invited to the Xinguang (“spiritual light”) Lecture Hall at the City Branch of Zhaiming Monastery, Taoyuan, to share his views in regards the development of international affairs, based on years of observations. He talked about the revival of spirituality, currently a rising trend in the world, which corresponds to the idea of the Protecting the Spiritual Environment campaign that Dharma Drum Mountain has long since been promoting.
The trend can be observed in scientists, corporate management styles, and in terms of rapidly changing international geopolitics. His talk offered some 100 participants a broad perspective about the global movement on spiritual renaissance.
Revolving on the theme “Spiritual Renaissance – a New Era with Renewed Values,” Prof. Lin first shared a prediction made in 1969 by the former National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, of a “renewed concern with the more elusive, spiritual aspects of existence.” Given that material improvements can never bring true satisfaction to mankind, for decades scientists have instead been researching on the power of the mind; superpowers, besides the arms race, have wasted no time to explore supernatural abilities such as remote sensory, ESP (extra-sensory perception) ; and political leaders are also beginning to engage in dialogues with religious leaders.
He approached the phenomenon of spiritual renaissance from different levels of analysis, by giving an example of a successful entrepreneur and Buddhist priest, Kazuo Inamori, who always emphasized philanthropy and altruism while starting his own business, and stressed that the attitude of constantly feeling grateful was the secret of his success. The power of spirituality has also helped change the international community for the better: in a series of secret talks in 2015 the Pope successfully bridged the gap between the United States and Cuba, helping the Cold War rival nations to restore diplomatic relations.
Professor Lin also pointed out that the hopes for a better future depend on achieving a balance between the spiritual and material aspects. He believed that in the future corporations seeking a sustainable development are required to incorporate the spiritual elements, science of the mind will gain more dominance, Western scientists will turn to Eastern wisdom for insight and inspiration, and democracy will have to be built on a spiritual foundation to realize true equality, in order to better care for the disadvantaged groups.
The City Branch of Zhaiming Monastery said that it is a common endeavor of many religious figures and scientists to explore the unity of mind and matter. In a dialogue on the science of mind, former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell sought advice from Master Sheng Yen regarding his spiritual experience on his space mission. The Protecting the Spiritual Environment campaign initiated by DDM expects to promote exactly this shared aspiration of mankind to abandon the opposition between the self and others, and, furthermore, to transcend the unified self, thereby experiencing the true meaning of life.
Texts: Jiang, Yi-Xin (江欣怡)
Photos: Huang, Zhang-Shou (黃張壽)
Translation: Chang, Cheng-Yu (張振郁)
Editor: Chang,Chia-Cheng (張家誠); DDM Editorial Team