But I have not lost hope.

I have not lost hope because I am persuadedagain and again that, lying dormant in the deepestroots of most, if not all, cultures there is anessential similarity, something that could bemade--if the will to do so existed--a genuinelyunifying starting point for that new code of humanco-existence that would be firmly anchored in thegreat diversity of human traditions.

Don't we find somewhere in the foundations ofmost religions and cultures, though they may takea thousand and one distinct forms, common elementssuch as respect for what transcends us, whether wemean the mystery of Being or a moral order thatstands above us; certain imperatives that come tous from heaven, or from nature of from our ownhearts; a belief that our deeds will live afterus; respect for our neighbors, for our families,for certain natural authorities; respect for humandignity and for nature: a sense of solidarity andbenevolence towards guests who come with goodintentions?

Isn't the common, ancient origin or human rootsof our diverse spiritualities, each of which ismerely another kind of human understanding of thesame reality, the thing that can genuinely bringpeople of different cultures together?

And aren't the basic commandments of thisarchetypal spirituality in harmony with what evenan unreligous person without knowing exactlywhy--may consider proper and meaningful?

Naturally, I am not suggesting that modernpeople be compelled to worship ancient deities andaccept rituals they have long since abandoned. Iam suggesting something quite different: we mustcome to understand the deep mutual connection orkinship between the various forms of ourspirituality. We must recollect our originalspiritual and moral substance, which grew out ofthe same essential experience of humanity. Ibelieve that this is the only way to achieve agenuine renewal of our sense of responsibility forourselves and for the world. And at the same time,it is the only way to achieve a deeperunderstanding among cultures that will enable themto work together in a truly ecumenical way tocreate a new order for the world.

The veneer of global civilization thatenvelopes the modern world and the consciousnessof humanity, as we all know, has a dual nature,bringing into question at every step of the waythe very values it is based upon or which itpropagates. The thousands of marvelousachievements of this civilization that work for usso well and enrich us can equally impoverish,diminish and destroy our lives, and frequently do.Instead of serving people, many of these creationsenslave them. Instead of helping people to developtheir identities, they take them away. Almostevery invention or discovery--from the splittingof the atom and the discovery of DNA to televisionand the computer--can be turned against us andused to our detriment. How much easier it is todaythan it was during the First World War to destroyan entire metropolis in a single air-raid. And howmuch easier would it be today, in the era oftelevision, for a madman like Hitler or Stalin topervert the spirit of a whole nation. When havepeople ever had the power we now possess to alterthe climate of the planet or deplete its mineralresources or the wealth of its fauna and flora inthe space of a few short decades? And how muchmore destructive potential do terrorists have attheir disposal today than at the beginning of thiscentury.

In our era, it would seem that one partof the human brain, the rational part, which hasmade all these morally neutral discoveries, hasundergone exceptional development, while the otherpart, which should be alert to ensure that thesediscoveries really serve humanity and will notdestroy it, has lagged behind catastrophically.

Yes, regardless of where I begin my thinkingabout the problems facing our civilization, Ialways return to the theme of humanresponsibility, which seems incapable of keepingpace with civilization and preventing it fromturning against the human race. It's as though theworld has simply become too much for us to dealwith.

There is no way back. Only a dreamer canbelieve that the solutions lies in curtailing theprogress of civilization in some way or other. Themain task in the coming era is something else: aradical renewal of our sense of responsibility.Our conscience must catch up to our reason,otherwise we are lost.

It is my profound belief that there is only oneway to achieve this: we must divest ourselves ofour egotistical anthropocentrism, our habit ofseeing ourselves as masters of the universe whocan do whatever occurs to us. We must discover anew respect for what transcends us: for theuniverse, for the earth, for nature, for life andfor reality. Our respect for other people, forother nations and for other cultures, can onlygrow from a humble respect for the cosmic orderand from an awareness that we are a part of it,that we share in it and that nothing of what we dois last, but rather becomes part of the eternalmemory of Being, where it was judged.

General observations of this type are certainlynot difficult to make, nor are they new orrevolutionary. Modern people are masters atdescribing the crises and the misery of the worldwhich we shape, and for which we are responsible.We are much less adept at putting things right.

So what, specifically, is to be done?

I do not believe in some universal key orpanacea. I am not an advocate of what Karl Poppercalled "holistic social engineering," particularlybecause I had to live most of my adult life incircumstances that resulted from an attempt tocreate a holistic Marxist utopia. I know more thanenough, therefore, about efforts of this kind.

This does not relieve me, however, of theresponsibility to think of ways to make the worldbetter.