It is clearly in our nature to be war-like, cruel, impulsive and rude.

But it is also clearly in our nature to be kind, compassionate, loving and caring.

Most of us are angel-like as children and then the real world crashes down on us, and many of us become somewhere in the middle between being kind and cruel.

So many people just want to be mean towards each other, step over others for money, power and glory. But for the majority of people who have been like this throughout history, there have been a very strong select few who have risen above humankind’s inherent short comings. Some have, as the saying goes, taken one for the team.

I am not here to teach history lessons. But I am referring to the great spiritual teachers such as Christ, Buddha, and Gandhi, just to name a few. They left us many great teachings, lessons and so on. But hardly anybody even makes an attempt to follow their paths and examples. We have this incredible power and ability to meditate and transcend this small mind and ego of ours and reach staggering heights while here on earth. Even after all of these centuries, most continue to strive for the easy and impulsive way out. Most want to take short cuts. Most don’t want to look at themselves. They’d rather point the finger at another. It’s sad, really pathetic, that this human condition refuses to change. Talk about stubborn pride as a whole.

No, people would rather walk in the footsteps of infamous villains such as Al Capone or worse. I won’t dignify other villainous characters of history by writing their names out here. Whether or not it is a conscious guide to constantly feed our internal animal instincts to kill or be killed, they have taken on ludicrous levels of stupidity. Couple this with society’s ever growing character default of not taking responsibility for our own actions and you have the powder keg that you see before you today.

I understand, on the surface, why most do not follow the spiritual path of selflessness. I understand most of our primal instincts and why they worked for a long time. But life has changed. Times have changed. Yet so many refuse to change with the flow of time and want us to be as separate and divided as possible. Again, another sad aspect of humankind, that is as obvious as the Grand Canyon, but people would rather walk around it than dig in and figure out how to navigate it.

This thuggish mentality starts at the top with our government leaders and leaders of industry. It is unfortunate that it is deemed to be weak when we show each other compassion, kindness and mercy. Yet every vein of religion out there preaches just that. But  we have these wonderful walls built up around our beliefs that if you believe this and I believe that than you are wrong. Pathetic. Yet we will look out for our family and close friends, while we turn our backs on the rest of the world, never realizing that we are all in this together. That in a sense we are all family and friends.

Honestly people, the world is meant to come together one day. We are meant to keep growing, keep evolving mentally and most importantly spiritually. The examples that the great spiritual teachers left us aren’t meant to only be read aloud to sound good to ourselves or others, but they are meant to be lived beyond the words. Words in books are addicting, misleading and can become twisted up into the ego just as vanity and selfishness can.

The only reason that a state of nirvana is out of the picture is because of our small selfish minds. But inside of us all we have a voice; we have guidance that wants us to do the right thing. Unfortunately for the majority of us, the voices inside our heads are louder than the gut feeling, the gut instinct. But this gut instinct, or the voice of the Universe as many like to call it, can be honed and intensified through the practices of yoga and meditation.

Can you imagine a world where people all become closer to being like Christ, Buddha and Gandhi? I can. What a world where Al Capone and cruel people like him are not celebrated like they are now, and people don’t feel as in awe of the great spiritual leaders because we are that much closer to being like them? Wonderful. It takes sacrifice; it takes reflection and developing a wonderful characteristic called non-judging of others and ourselves. It can be done. We just have to start the process. Are you ready? Go!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Matt Rutkowski walks the spiritual path. He loves to make people laugh. He is a writer, a comedian, a philosopher and always does his best to be a gentleman. Email him here.