Jimmy Lama Chapter Leader & Youth Activist, Children of the Earth, Nepal Youth are the most dynamic resource of the world, walking to lay out a new path for civilization being guided by the spiritual leaders of the present day. Standing on the threshold of this important point of history, all the generations - elders, youth and children - must meet as partners to work together in order to contribute to make our environment a safer place to live in. The creation of such a new path for the world, imagined by the elders and to be paved by the youth will ensure a better home for the generations to come, to live in a much safer, sustainable and peaceful environment.
We are forced to live in a world that has become more and more imbalanced due to rampant human desires as a result of which every sphere of our life from our external atmosphere to our internal noo-sphere has been greatly disturbed and is gradually deteriorating. In my humble opinion, the very essence of our birth out of this bountiful earth, the true purpose of our life, is to ignite energy from our inner spirit to serve for the betterment of humanity. Spirituality is one thread that binds all creatures on this earth, and each of us represents a tiny thread of it with a duty to keep on connecting with others so as to spark greater understanding and higher consciousness.
At a time when the world is distinctly divided between those who have more than enough and those who have too little resources, privilege and powers, the activation of spirituality as widely as possible is the only way to bridge these mounting gaps. And, this process of activation is most crucially needed for young people who will inherit the responsibility of leading and managing this world in the future. Helping them lead from their inner selves will resolve many of the problems that we see in the world today. This is because our spirit represents the purity of our life. Listening to the pure spirit within us will prevent our actions having the propensity to exclude others' needs and interests. In other words, spiritually oriented young people will keep their thoughts and actions aligned to their spirit's calling.
In my country, Nepal, due to dysfunctional government, the children and youth have long been denied access to basic necessities like education, health, drinking water and other resources. These disaffected young people being pushed back by irresponsibility and lack of timely support may potentially harbour frustration and desperation within them - the prime causes of violence and conflict if we examine history. To imagine the consequences is dreadful, but the causes of these latent problems are easily preventable if only the leaders act more responsibly and consciously. These problems which occur and persist, in fact not only in Nepal but in many nations around the world, occur less due to the economic or political condition of a country more because of the spiritual component that is lacking. Therefore, the need of the 21st century is spiritual education that trains our minds to heed to our spirit to form our knowledge and decisions.
Many young people confuse spirituality with religion. At first glance spirituality might seem to them as in opposition to all the worldly experiences they can have. However, this is an illusion only until one fathoms the beauty of living through the spiritual connections of life. Almost always, the foundation of our upbringing is based on one or another form of faith or tradition or religious belief. As such, a major part of our future direction is linked to the disciplines we have followed in one of the belief systems that we were part of through our families' or societal connections. Therefore, to my understanding, spirituality is like coming out of our birth home into a sea of new homes as we mature, that are also ours but were unknown to us in the beginning which can enable us to build bigger connections for greater harmony and peace. In such a world, we take full responsibility for our actions and play a no-blame game; our actions are spiritually oriented; we rise up beyond our individual needs; at all times, we look at the world with our optimistic eyes; we continuously seek for new directions where humanity in its entirety can walk together; and we live morally under the universal principles of ethics in which our spirits guide us.
As a spiritually empowered Youth trained by Children of the Earth, I would like to quickly share an example of how I have been inspired to make a difference in my local community.