After the demise of the Soviet Union, the world seemed to concentrate more on capitalism and consumerism.
Even China claims to be a communist country but it’s all the same. They all want money. They all want power. Nobody cares for the spiritual dimensions of human beings.
I feel that if you want to move forwards, people should care for our spiritual being. One doesn’t need to be religious. But one must realize that we are not only material. Our body depends on spiritualism and in Buddhism the essential thing of spirituality is our own breath. By concentrating on breathing, you can learn to change greed into generosity. You can change hatred into loving kindness, and ultimately you can even turn change ignorance into wisdom.
It’s very simple, you don’t have to believe in anything but I hope you think of spirituality. I was glad at one time when Wolfensohn was president of the World Bank, he called for a global meeting co-chair with the office of Canterbury which really cared for the special dimension of human beings, and in fact I even challenged the world bank that they need too much theory but they never consult the poor When they consult the poor, they were as the poor didn’t want more money. The poor didn’t want more motorcycles
The poor want to be recognized as decent human beings. I think that’s essential.
If we learn that care for how to be a decent human beings that is don’t care only for the material wellbeing care for intellectual well-being as well as spiritual well-being then I think, G20, that we can move in the right direction otherwise they will go wrong as they have done in the past.
