We know more. We know how to have more. We know more about the dangers and disadvantages of having more. We realize there are limits to our lives, our time alive, our ability to appreciate, to be affectionate.
I can't prove these things are happening but I see signs and experience anecdotes. Young people are picking up a wide variety of ideas. Not just ideas but practices, too. I participated in several hours of group snowshoeing along snowy trails in 25 degree temperatures in some noticeable wind yesterday. Our guide was a young naturalist who had us stop at every trail junction and read a poem she had brought along. I was too cold to be in the mood for poetry but she quickly and efficiently advocated not only for nature around us but for "the moment we are living."
That seems to be a good sized piece of the wisdom and philosophy of the Eastern world that we can all adopt and use to our benefit. Here a young woman on her way to being a first-time mom has the nerve and the impulse to try to put the minds of some senior citizens into useful appreciation not only for observable nature and its scents but for the intangible moment. We knew what she meant and we were indeed respectful of the call to mindful aware of invisible time and our now.
Maybe because of effort, communication, attention to each other and interest in ideas everywhere, we are getting to be more like lottery winners. We are coming into possession of billions, often in the form of increased finances and funds, but also in truly noble goals for ourselves and others. We are new at handling more thinking done deeper and faster, Like lottery winners, we are in possession of more possibilities, more considerations and so many directions can be confusing, tiring even. But multi-dimensional thinking using many disciplines and tools, with wise sifting of philosophies and religions to extract the long-range best, we are headed toward a truly amazing future.
