The Emergence of Spiritual Civilization in the 21st Century

Abstract

This is an attempt to paint a picture of a Spiritual Civilization in the 21st century. The term is not yet mainstream but after the Digital Civilization, a Global Civilization and Ecological Civilization, the idea it appears that a Spiritual Civilization is an emerging phenomenon in the 21st century. To build my case, I primarily used Erwin Laszlo’s Chaos Point to explore this concept, Christine Page’s great period of change (1987- 2023), Teilhard de Chardin and Wayne Dyer’s assertion that we are spiritual beings, Dispenza’s quantum view that an atom is 99.999 percent energy and only .001 percent matter, James Ray’ assertion that we are an energy field operating in a larger energy field and O’Murchu’s quantum theology defining God as pure energy. I thought Spiritual Civilization is a pioneering concept to be promoted but my review of related literature revealed that there exists a Social Spiritual Civilization written by Qi Zhenhai and Jingshen Wenming. My tentative conclusion is: If Christianity peaks in our true humanity, the Chinese view of being fully human makes them anonymous Christians. If we are spiritual beings with human activities, without the dominance of organized religion, an individual is de facto a participant in a Spiritual Civilization.

Keywords spiritual civilization, digital civilization, global civilization, spiritual being, energy field, and social spiritual civilization.

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The Great Period of Change

Marinoof (2007). In his book, The Middle Way, cited four ideograph that triggered four great civilizations. These are: Hellenic, Abrahamic, Sinic, and Vedic great ideas that flourished around the world. The onset of Cartesian philosophy triggered a rational approach to human thinking paradigm that was anchored on logic and reason. Rene Descartes was a leading figure in a Rational Civilization. Newtonian physics that explained the laws of Nature triggered a Scientific Civilization. The colonial period was the age of exploration of natural resources. With abundant resource it propelled an Industrial Civilization. This was followed by a Global Civilization in the age of multinational corporations operating worldwide. By this time overproduction and overconsumption have created an ecological crisis. Laszlo (2006) averred humanty has reached Chaos Point, forcing us to break down or make a break through. Visionaries are optimistic we will survive the Great Period of Change (1987-2023) leading humanity to a New Enlightenment. This I call a Spiritual Civilization, after the pitfalls of Global Civilization and the new world after the Great Period of Change.

End of the Period of Change

The big picture on what is happening today is that we live in a Great Period of Change which began in 1987 and ends in 2023 (Page, 2012; Jenkins, 2012, Braden, 2009; Laszlo, 2006). What then do we expect at the end of this Great Period of Change? Christian Page says, “The Mayan calendar saw the beginning of an extraordinary journey of 36,000 years for the earth and its inhabitants, which reaches its conclusion just before 2020. For the first time in 26,000 years, the sun is most closely aligned with Great Cleft, Dark Rift or the Black Road of the Milky Way. (Page, 2008).

The year 2023 appears to be the end of the dark tunnel. We will make a breakthrough (Laszlo,2006) As we come close to 2023, the end of the Great Period of Change, our present state I consider Global Civilization is moving towards a new era of New Enlightenment (Page, 2012). Ambassador Manalo (personal communication, July 31, 2921) during an interview with Sass Sassot SMNI Network, said that from the Cold War we moved to Globalization. However, she did not cite our new state of affairs that would follow Global Civilization we are experience today.

With a cosmological lens and from my review of related literature, I foresee that a Spiritual Civilization is emerging. A number of 21st century gurus, like Chardin and Dyer (spiritual beings), James Ray (energy field), Dispensa (atom is 99.999 percent energy .001 percent matter) and O’Murchu (God is energy) show us the way to a spiritual civilization. Neale Donald Walsch (2021) says, The heart is the bridge between the mind and the soul. First get out of your mind and into your heart space. From there it is a quick jump into your soul. On July 21, 2021, a Facebook post of M.P. Hudtohan tells us a Spiritual Civilization is emerging at Youtube.com: The Apocalypse of Belief – Healing.

New Civilization

A number of definitions help us understand what civilization is. It is an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been reached. Historically, civilization has been understood as a larger and a more advanced culture, in implied contrast to smaller, supposedly primitive cultures. This is the type of culture and society developed by a particular nation or region or in a particular epoch. Lastly, civilization refers to a society or group of people or the process of achieving a higher state of social development. In this discourse, my context of civilization is more of a cultural refinement; refinement of thought and cultural appreciation on ecological civilization, digital civilization, global civilization and ecological civilization, leading to a spiritual civilization.

This narrative was inspired by the Ecological Civilization of President Xi Jinping. For the first time in our history, a civilization is connected to a supposedly non-human entity, planet earth. But this is not surprising because current literature has considered planet earth as someone who is alive. Digital civilization rules in the 21st century; no doubt it has created a new world of technology connecting people, resulting to a new way of life. Today, technology has overtaken economics as driver in solving problems. It has seeped in deep into all aspects of human activities, such that human is transformed into homo deus and In the 21st century he who owns data owns the future. (Harari, 2018). Global civilization has for long been practiced with physical conquest of territoriality that peaked during the colonial period. The four ideographs of Marinoff (2007) namely, the Hellenic civilization, Abrahamic, Vedic civilization and Sinic civilization are considered major influencers of global culture.

Politics has been observed by Acemoglu and Robinson (2013) that nations are poor not because of ignorance and culture but because of their leaders that exercise power of choice to advantage (p.68). They say that economics has been hailed as the Queen of Social Sciences “by choosing solved political problems as its domain” (Lerner, 1972). Business driven by pure desire for profit has been debunked by Dyck and Neubert’s (2012) multistream management, which directs the attention of management to focus on wellbeing of stakeholders. Wellbeing has nine elements and profit (materiality, and money) is only one of the elements. The 2018 sustainable development of China crafted by President Xi Jinping shows that politics is key to creating a new culture in ecological civilization. Government manages business [economics], citizens [society] and behavior [culture] in order to protect and promote an ecological civilization (2019),

Spirituality as an existential experience has seeped into business and for that matter human economic endeavors. But more recently a spiritual civilization is rising with our experience of non-material values that indicate that we are spiritual beings (Dyck & Neubert, 2012; Chardin, n.s.; Dyer, n.d.).

End of the Period of Change

New Civilization

Foundation of Spiritual Civilization

Quantum Theology.

We are Spiritual Beings. Our being spiritual can be established from various perspective: theological, metaphysical, cosmological and psychological.

The bible says that we are made to the image and likeness of God. This puts our nature at the level of the spirit because God is not a material being. O’Murchu (2004) in quantum theology says, “Principle 1. Life is sustained by a creative energy, fundamentally benign in nature, with a tendency to manifest and express itself in movement, rhythm, and patter. Creation is sustained by a superhuman, pulsating restlessness, a type of resonance vibrating throughout time and eternity. a. God and the divine are described as creative energy, which is perceived to include, but also supersede, everything traditional theology attributes to God. b. The divine energy is not stable or unchanging, but works through movement, rhythm, pattern, and restlessness – within the evolving nature of life itself. In Principle 9, he continues to say that Humans are innately spiritual – so are all life forms – and if appropriate human and spiritual maturation takes place, humans feel a need to celebrate, in ritual and sacrament, their relationship with the ultimate mystery.”

Metaphysical View. James Ray (2006) says, “Most people define themselves by this finite, but you’re not a finite body…you are an energy field. What we know about energy is this. Quantum physicist says: it can never be created or destroyed, it always was, always has been, everything that ever exists always exists, its’ moving into form, through form and out of form, theologian says God created the universe. God is always was and always has been, never can be created or destroyed, all that ever was, always will be, always moving into rom, through form and out of form. It’s the same description, just different terminology. So if you think you’re this ‘meat suit’ … think again you’re a spiritual being. Your energy field, operating in a larger energy field.” (p.158-59). This supported by Dr. Dispensa who said that an atom is 99.000 percent energy and only .001 percent matter. We are a composite of atoms and thus we are 99.000 percent energy, affirming O’Murchu and Ray.

Energy centers from Hindu, Catholic and Jewish Perspectives

Figure 1. Energy Centers: Hindu, Catholic and Jewish

The seven Chakras is explained by Sarah Regan (2020) in Your Guide To The 7 Chakra Colors & How To Use Them. She says: “1. Root Chakra is our foundation. It develops in our first seven years of life and deals with survival and security needs. It’s represented by the color red, and when out of balance, we may feel insecure, unsafe, and even disconnected from reality.” Th Catholic theology sacrament of extreme unction prepares the believer for life everlasting. In Kabbalah it is being in touch with the Divine, a spiritual Being.

Regan says that “2.The sacral chakra, which is located in your lower abdomen, is all about creativity and sexuality. It’s associated with orange and is formed in the seven years after your root chakra until age 14. Christian believers relates this to a special vocation of being a priest ordained with special power to mediate between God and His people. Kabbalah is being in touch with divine wisdom and understanding.

Regan says that “3. Solar plexus chakra is from the lower to the upper abdomen, you’ll find your solar plexus chakra, which is associated with the color yellow. This chakra deals with confidence as well as overall self-worth and self-esteem.” In Catholic theology, this is related to the sacrament of Confession, a powerful exercise of self-examination and revelation of one’s weakness in order to become a better person. Kabbalah interprets this as capacity to receive and give mercy and compassion.

Regan says that “4. Heart Chakra is next is the heart chakra—located just above your heart in the center of your chest—which is associated with the color green. It deals with our ability to both give and receive love to ourselves and others. This is the sacrament of Marriage in Catholic theology. It is a manifestation of divine love in human form. In Kabbalah, it is an expression of human love and compassion.

Regan says that “5. Throat Chakra is associated with light blue or turquoise, is all about expression and truth. When it’s open, we can communicate our truth clearly and effectively. When it’s blocked, we struggle to share authentically.” This is the sacrament of Confirmation in Catholic theology. The symbol when one receives this sacrament is a light slap on the face of the believer. It symbolizes his/her strength to be strong and stand for the faith. Kabbalah related to the human virtue of integrity and endurance in life’s challenges.

Regan says that “6. Third-Eye Chakra. As we get older, we get closer and closer to self-actualization. From ages 36 to 42, our third-eye chakra develops, and it’s associated with dark blue and purple shades. It deals with intuition and our ability to move past our ego. When it’s unbalanced, we’ll feel out of touch with our intuition.” Catholic theology related this with the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. It is receiving the Body of Christ and being transformed as a Christian who sees all of life with eyes of Jesus Himself. Kabbalah relates this with acts of creation, seeing and making all things.

Regan says that “7. Crown Chakra is at the crown of our head. The final chakra is associated with shades of violet and glowing white. It develops when someone has become evolved enough to tap into higher consciousness—something that can take a lifetime and doesn’t happen for everyone. This is related to the sacrament of Baptism, where the believer is born to a new life in Christ being gifted with a new life free from human sin and frailty. He receives the power that makes him, the image and likeness of God Himself. Kabbalah relates with connection to life at its purist and highest manifestation.

As global citizens, we are challenged to understand our own spiritual roots and at the same time understand how other cultures have a similar concept and experience of the spiritual and the experience of a divine in a different mode of spirituality. The commonality the chakra, sacraments and Kabbalah is that they speak of the same language in terms of energy. This confirms the advanced notions of quantum physics, telling us that we are spiritual, we are divine and that we are 99.999 percent energy because of the existence of atoms and quarks in our physical existence.

Inspirational Authors.

Teilhard de Chardin was supposed to have said: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” But this quote is also attributed to other authors. This above statement also appeared as the epigraph of chapter two within the book. Dye. He is the leading candidate for creator of the saying. But Dyer did attribute an unrelated quotation about love to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin within the 1989 book, but he did not link Chardin to the target quotation.

In 1989 educator and motivational author Stephen R. Covey published the influential work “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. Covey presented an instance of the saying and credited Chardin. He said: To the degree to which we align ourselves with correct principles, divine endowments will be released within our nature in enabling us to fulfill the measure of our creation. In the words of Teilhard de Chardin, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Wayne W. Dyer employed a version of the saying in 1988, and he is the most likely creator based on available evidence. This ascription may shift if new illuminating citations are uncovered. Stephen R. Covey attributed the saying to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, but there is no substantive support for his claim at this time.

Neale Donald Walsch (2021) The heart is the bridge between the mind and the soul. First get out of your mind and into your heart space. From there it is a quick jump into your soul. July 21, 2021 (Facebook post, M.P.Hudtohan) youtube.com The Apocalypse of Belief – Healing Our Culture. http://www.brucelipton.comHumans evolved from within a “Garden,” posted July 22, 2021

What is spirituality?

Fahlberg and Fahlberg (1991) avers that “The difficulty in addressing the concept of spirituality is related to both its association with denominational religion and our cultural emphasis on the material realm. However, some scholars are now associating spirituality with the development of human consciousness beyond the ego level Thus, investigation in the realms of consciousness beyond the ego can be addressed within theories of knowledge that are grounded in experience.”

An open definition of spirituality is “people’s multiform search for meaning interconnecting them with all living beings and to God or Ultimate Reality. Within this definition there is room for differing views, for spiritualities with and without God and for an ethics of dialogue” (European SPES Institute, n.d.).

In their management textbook, Dyck and Neubert (2011, p.490) define spirituality as “a state or quality of a heightened sensitivity to one’s human or transcendental spirit.” Western authors use the word ‘meaning’ to imply a transcendent value which directly or indirectly implies spirituality (Tolle, 2005; Ulrich, 2012; Kilmann, 2001; Hicks & Hicks, 2010; Pape, 2014; Craig & Snook, 2014). Warren (2002) is more direct in weaving purpose as meaningful experience of God. Fifty years ago, Van Kaam (1964, p.42) noted that “Ultimate meaning…is grounded in [man] himself, others, and the ultimate Other.”

In 2015, Unilever in London commissioned Authentic Leadership Institute (2014) to design their Purpose Drives Leadership Program 2020, a workshop intended to “make sustainable living commonplace in the UK and Ireland” (Radjou & Prabhu, 2015). Unilever’s 2020 workshop considers purpose as very crucial at the workplace and the spirituality of leaders finds meaning in accomplishing corporate purpose (JHudtohan, personal communication, 2015). Julian (2014) in his book, God is my CEO, cites the faith-work experience of 20 executive leaders. He used the Bible as point of reference in grounding the principles and values of the chief executive officers in America.

Spirituality and Consciousness.

According to Mayer (2007), Spirituality requires consciousness because we need to be aware, and to be self-aware, in order to apprehend spirituality of any kind. Some make the extravagant claim that our human consciousness is somehow connected directly to a ‘cosmic consciousness’.

He continues to say that spiritual intelligence includes: 1. Capacity for transcendence, 2. Ability to enter into heightened spiritual states of consciousness, 3. Ability to invest everyday activities, events, and relationships with a sense of the sacred., 4. Ability to utilized spiritual resources to solve problems in living, and 5. Capacity to engage in various behavior or to be virtuous (to show forgiveness, to express gratitude, to be humble, to display compassion. Heightened intelligence is heightened consciousness. The idea of spiritual consciousness stems from the possibility of structuring consciousness through meditative contemplation…o that it focuses on oneness, transcendent states, and ultimate concerns. The shift in language of mental ability to one of consciousness and awareness yields a spiritual consciousness.

According to Aumunn (1985, p.3) Christian spirituality in the Catholic tradition is about “the lives and teachings of men and women who have reached a high degree of sanctity throughout the ages…[that] the perfection of charity can be attained by any Christian in any state of life.” Downey (1997) opines that “Christian spirituality…is the Christian Life itself lived in and through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. It concerns absolutely every dimension of life, mind and body, intimacy and sexuality, work and leisure, economic accountability and political responsibility, domestic life and civic duty, the rising costs of health care and the plight of the poor and wounded both at home and abroad. Absolutely every dimension of life is to be integrated and transformed by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.”

From a psycho-spiritual point of view, spirituality considered as wholeness and wholeness is equated to holiness because human and spiritual development are intertwined (Erickson, 1968; Shea, 2004; Caluag, 1980). Friel (n.d.) says, spirituality can be defined as a “fully human phenomenon, and it is a phenomenon of the fully human.”

Emergence of a Spiritual Civilization

In this narrative, consciousness is widely used by the commentators. As discussed earlier, spirituality requires consciousness because we need to be aware, and to be self-aware, in order to apprehend spirituality of any kind (Mayer, 2007). Thus, it is assumed that we are spiritual beings with human activities. Laszlo’s image of the New Civilization is in fact an image of an emerging Spiritual Civilization where humanity adapts to a new worldview, life ways, morality, decision-making and moves to a new consciousness, affirming an emergence of a Spiritual Civilization.

Worldview 2025

A worldview is the set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of Reality that ground and influence all one’s perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing (Funk, 2001). One’s worldview is one’s philosophy, philosophy of life, mindset, outlook on life, formula for life, ideology, faith and religious belief. For me it is a platform upon which an individual becomes a member of a spiritual civilization.

The elements of one’s worldview, the beliefs about certain aspects of Reality, are one’s: epistemology: beliefs about the nature and sources of knowledge; metaphysics: beliefs about the ultimate nature of reality; cosmology: beliefs about the origins and nature of the universe, life, and especially man; teleology: beliefs about the meaning and purpose of the universe, its inanimate elements, and its inhabitants; theology: beliefs about the existence and nature of God; anthropology: beliefs about the nature and purpose of Man in general and, oneself in particular; and axiology: beliefs about the nature of value, what is good and bad, what is right and wrong. Worldview is the set of beliefs about fundamental aspects of Reality that ground and influence all our perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing. Our worldview consists of our epistemology, our metaphysics, our cosmology, our teleology, our theology, our anthropology, and our axiology. Each of these subsets of our worldview is highly interrelated with and affects virtually all of the others (Funk, 2001).

Laszlo (2006) asserts that “in the third decade of the twenty-first century…the view of people is united in rejecting the mechanistic and fragmented concept of world and self that was the heritage of the Industrial Age. A new view is emerging: Humans are organic wholes within an organic biosphere in the embrace of an organically evolving universe.” (p.42-43). People existence and community development Is inherently connected with nature. People no longer believe they are free to manipulate the environment as they wish, in the hope that the consequences will take care of themselves or new technologies will take care of them. The mechanistic view of reality is transcended: the universe is not a passive backdrop to human actions, and individual actions have an immediate impact on the environment. Subtle ties bind human being to one another, to the biosphere and to the cosmos as a whole.

The Institute for the Future (2009) affirms Laszlo’s world view 2025. The report says that “A collapsing economy paves the way for discovering new kinds of value in all forms of interaction – from the microscopic scale of atoms to the macrocosms of human connections with each other and the planet they inhabit. Look at the coming decade from the perspective of millennia of change. Focus on the progress of the universe from the breakthrough structures of the atom to the living cell, the biota, the human body, the community of nations, the global economy. This is how the future will be new, by continuing the incredible experiment of reorganization for greater complexity, by creating the next astonishing structural forms in this long evolutionary path.”

Life Style 2025

The life style in 2025 announces” a renaissance of spirituality as well; women and men are rediscovering a higher or deeper dimension of their lives and existence”. (Laszlo, 2006). According to Laszlo, “people live simply than those who can afford luxurious life style in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. These are not imposed by poverty and they are not the consequence of rules and legislations or high taxes. They are voluntary result of a different mindset. For me, a spiritual higher view on what life is all about. People realize that a high material standard of living does not necessarily mean high quality of life.”

They have a healthier lifestyle with nature and the environment better than the Industrial Age paragon of success, affluence and luxury. Individuals of 2025 are healthier and they live longer, but do not trigger growth of the population. Life ways are becoming ecologically sustainable. People are reoriented from aiming external growth to focusing on internal growth, shifting from aiming at conquest and consumption to wishing further the evolution of their thinking and behavior and the development of their communities.

Pande and Vian (2009) aver that the citizen of the future will be “a native of the network and that changes everything. It tempers border-based boundaries. It refocuses political notion on issues that are both more local and more global at he same time. It links expressiveness to empowerment and turns the smart consumer o the early internet era into activist citizen of the coming decades. The network superstructs citizenship.” Harari (2016; 2018) affirms the role of technology in all aspects of the life of a 21st century human who has become a Homo Deus, interacting with artificial intelligence in a widely networked relationship.

Morality 2025

Laszlo (2006) believes that “Moral considerations inform the decisions people make in the private sphere as well as in the sphere of business and profession. In 2025 people agree that it is immoral to live in ways that reduce access for others in the resources required for a life l of basic dignity and wellbeing. The new morality is rooted in a universal principle: Live and act in a way that enables others to live as well. Live not necessarily in the same way but with a real possibility of satisfying basic needs and pursuing the ends of well-being and happiness.” (p. 45).

I would like to equate wellbeing of Laszlo with the wellbeing of Dyck and Neubert (2012). The various forms of wellbeing are: Physical: health, safety, Emotional: stress, positive feelings, work-life balance, Material: productivity, efficiency, profitability, Social: nurture community, social justice, help disadvantaged, Intellectual: coherent ideas, clear rationale, sound theory/logic, Aesthetic: beauty, elegant products/services, appealing workplace, Ecological: natural environment, sustainability, minimize pollution, Individual: self-interested self and stakeholders, and Spiritual: meditation, guided by spiritual truths/forces,

Decision-making and Security 2025

Laszlo (2006, p. 46) says, “The political world is globalized, but it is locally diverse; it is networked, but not monolithic. Sovereign nation states, has given way to a transnational system organized as a Chinese box of decision-making forums, with each forum having its own sphere of authority and responsibility.” This vision is shared by Jake Dunagan (2009) who says, “To survive the 21st century, humanity must undertake a massive, collective program to redesign our basic government structures at every level – based on the emerging technologically and cosmologically powerful understandings of life and the universe available.”

He continues, “The 2025 world is not a hierarchy but a “hererarchy”: a multilevel sequentially integrated structure of distributed decision=making. It is aimed at global coordination combined with regional, national, and local self-determination. The global level is the highest level of decision making, yet it is the lowest level at which peace and security can be ensured and global flow of goods, money and technology can be monitored. The regional level is indicated for decisions that coordinate the social and political aspirations and concerns of nations within the given regions Regional economic and social organizations provide the forum for the elected representatives of the member nations to consider and harmonized the interests and aspirations of their population. The national level Is appropriate for most of the functions traditionally performed by national government but without claiming absolute sovereignty for the nation-state and with due regard for decisions made in other forums in direct consultation with their inhabitants. The local level of decision making brings together the elected representatives of urban and rural communities. They coordinate the workings of the social and political towns, villages and rural regions in direct consultation with their inhabitants.”

Spiritual Consciousness 2025

Global consciousness for the good, truth and beauty of nature and humanity is a manifestation of a Spiritual Civilization. According to Laszlo (2006), “There are many things that differentiate people in the year 2025: religious beliefs, cultural heritage, economic and technological development, climate and environment. But a new consciousness enables them agree on principles that really matters:

1. That it is immoral for anyone to live in a way that distracts from the chances of others to achieve their life basic well-being and dignity.

2. It is better to exercise responsible trusteeship of human and natural sources of wealth on this planet than to exploit them for narrow and short-term benefit.

3. Nature is not a mechanism to be engineered and exploited but a living that brought us into being, and, given our awesome power of exploitation.

4. on and destruction is now entrusted to our care.

5.The way we solve problems and conflicts is not by attacking each other, but by understanding one another and cooperating in ways that serve the shared interest.

6.That the universal rights adopted by foresighted people in the 20th century – the right to freedom of expression, freedom to select our leaders, and freedom from torture and other arbitrary constraint on personal liberty as well as the right to food , shelter, education and employment – apply to everyone in the world, and deserve to be respected above and beyond consideration of personal, ethnic and national self-interest.” (Laszlo, 2006, p. 48).

Social Spiritual Civilization

Ecological Civilization is both a creative and innovative concept of China, which ultimately drives spiritual civilization. It is a creative product of human imagination because presents a new idea on how humans and nature should relate with each other. The need for harmonious relationship is for humans to treat nature with respect and judicious use of its abundant life-giving gifts to mankind.

It is innovative because it has an enhanced continuity for the 1987 Triple Bottom-line: People, Profit and Planet as critical sectors in sustainable development, where people (society), profit (economy) and planet (ecology) must relate harmoniously. Ecological Civilization in 2018 created a pyramid, where a new key player, Politics (governance) sit on top to manage Society (people), Economy (profit) and introduced a new element, Culture (belief). Culture is driven by one’s belief and attitude toward ecology (environment), economy (profit), an society (people). Culture hints at a higher level of human existence where, which Laszlo and other metaphysical gurus call consciousness. A new consciousness vis-à-vis ecological civilization calls for a human behavior based on spiritual values the guide and promote harmony with nature. Ecological civilization is leading mankind towards a Spiritual Civilization.

The term social spiritual civilization is way ahead of my pioneering concept of spiritual civilization. It appears that China is a leader in presenting new concepts to the Western world. Ecological Civilization was coined by President Xi Jinping, a concept that updated the 1987 Triple Bottom-line (People, Planet, Profit) paradigm for sustainable development.

The following is a narrative from Qi Zhenhai (2014). He said that the problem of building a socialist spiritual civilization is drawing the attention of the whole party and people across the country. In his “Speech Delivered at the Rally in Celebration of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China,” Comrade Ye Jianying stated: “Simultaneous with our effort to build a high level of material civilization, we must raise the educational, scientific, and cultural levels as well as the health level of the whole nation, foster the lofty ideal of revolution, cultivate revolutionary ethics and customs, and develop a noble and colorful cultural life in an effort to build a high level of spiritual civilization.” Comrade Deng Xiaoping also pointed out that the endeavor to build a socialist spiritual civilization “refers not only to education, science, and culture, but also to communist ideology, ideals, faith, ethics, discipline, revolutionary stand and principles, and the comradeship between man and man”

Their expositions expound in depth the content and major significance of building a high level of socialist spiritual civilization. As architects of socialist spiritual civilization, teachers should be more enthusiastic than others in responding to the party Central Committee’s call to give wide publicity to and build conscientiously a high level of socialist spiritual civilization.

The Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress is a commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) tasked with educational efforts to build a “spiritual civilization” (Jingshen Wenming) based on socialism and the goal to build a socialist harmonious society, according to the official CPC policy.(Shambaugh, 2007).

The Commission was established on April 21, 1997. As one of the most important ideological steering bodies of the CPC and the People’s Republic of China, it controls nationwide propaganda and ideological dissemination, overlapping another similar body, the Leading Group for Propaganda and Ideological Work. Both the Commission and the Leading Group are chaired by the Politburo Standing Committee responsible for propaganda, and overrule the CPC Propaganda Department.

Wu Yuanliang (2014) says that at the Party Twelfth National Congress, Comrade Hu Yaobang pointed out that simultaneous to the construction of a high level of material civilization efforts must also be made to build a high level of spiritual civilization. This is an issue related to the strategic policy of building socialism. The historical experience of socialism and realities in China today tell us that whether or not this policy can be adhered to will have a bearing on the rise or fall, success or failure, of socialism. Why should we raise the question to such a high plane? How can a high level of spiritual civilization be built simultaneously with a high level of material civilization? In advancing a coordinated development of the two, this article tries to inquire into the above problems and provide some theoretical explanations. A balanced approach to socio-economic-cultural emphasis in China’s development has entered a new phase of spiritual civilization.

Conclusion

1. The leap from Newtonian mechanistic physical science to quantum mechanics has pushed the idea of consciousness as a bridge to understanding Spiritual Civilization.

2. The end of the Great Period of Change (1987-2023) gives a glimpse of a New Enlightenment.

3. The Industrial Civilization and Global Civilization based on Newtonian science created havoc to the environment that triggered China’s Ecological Civilization.

4. A vision of a New Existence, after reaching Chaos Point presents an opportunity for a spiritual civilization

5. The experience of a 2025 consciousness is a foundation for an emergent spiritual civilization.

6. Western gurus that consider humans as spiritual beings are precursors of a Spiritual Civilization.

7. The existence of a Social Spiritual Civilization of China promotes human values without the religious flavor which the Western and Eastern religions impose on how to be part of a spiritual civilization.

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