Ethics for the new millenium

Five or six billion years ago, perhaps more than we can even imagine, a galley set off on its journey round the sun. Numerous and various voyagers travelled on that galley and they were all equally given the chance to sunbathe, to admire the sun and the sea, and to shout a cry of joy to the sun or the sea, so to communicate with one another and love each other. Then to face the sun and the sea, to merge with them and finally to belong to them, to the sun as its brilliance and to the sea as its infiniteness.

Needless to say, every passenger has equal rights to be on the galley, to have his place allotted to him by the ticket he has. He has gotten this very special pass for this voyage and no one’s is worth less or more. That is how the passenger’s mission and purpose of this journey is described: becoming the goal that is sought.

It is easy to sing, well perhaps not, but it is difficult to live singing. It is difficult in the turbulent times of storms and tempests to hold on to this goal, both inside us and around us, when calamity and the elements strike. Commotion and fear arise both on the deck and below it.
The journey is in itself a supreme savoury delicacy. Whether we are on the deck or below it, on the top of the mast or in a privileged cabin, we are all equally given the chance to reach the goal and the goal itself has called us to reach it.

Since the galley began its voyage, it remembers both rough and calm seas. It has now been tossed about by the waves and whirlwinds. Wherefrom do the waves come and wherefrom does the whirlwind come? Hurricanes, el ninia, typhoons and earthquakes, enormous tsunamis, tornados, new viruses, mental derangements, wars and diseases, and hunger and suffering all come from the passengers on the galley, from their thoughts and cries, from their competitive strife to take this place or that one, from their desires, from their hatred, envy, anger, and greed. These thoughts and actions cause the journey to become a nightmare where the survivors envy the deceased.

Until the passengers in great number realize that the galley’s dangerous pitching is caused by their own imbalance and disorders and that the waves and storms have arisen due to the terrible energy of their thoughts, words and deeds, the elements will not be appeased. The world of the present moment is caught by a physical and mental hurricane and does not know, or does not care to know, where hurricanes and earthquakes come from.

Every good thought, word and deed, however modest and solitary it may be, helps the struggle of the galley to stay afloat, the mast not to break, the sails not to get torn, and the clouds to disperse. It is not our job to judge the meaningfulness, the echo and impact of an action. Ours is to act as if the world’s destiny depended on our effort. Because maybe it does. Because it does.