What Price Progress

Progress is like a race without a finish line, a road without a destination. We are all frantically rushing, but we don’t know exactly where we are heading. In the end, pursuit of progress is a meaningless mission that wastes a precious life. It is another man-made illusion built on the larger illusion of personal or group ego. It means trying to run faster than what nature has prepared us for. In the process, we often stumble, hurting ourselves, or we trample others, hurting them. Often it is a combination of the two.

Most of the harm caused by human beings to our home, planet Earth, comes camouflaged as technological progress. No one would argue that technology has given us certain conveniences and provided benefits that were not available before the advent of modern technology. However, what price are we paying for the conveniences and benefits? Do the costs justify the good things? If we look clearly at what is happening around us on the planet, the answer seems to be a definite no. Another question to ask is: Are the conveniences and benefits essential for the well-being of ourselves and others? Again, the answer seems to be a clear no.

… Most of us are familiar with the contamination of vegetation and the environment through agrochemical products. Pesticides and other chemicals used in the name of agricultural efficiency and effectiveness harm all forms of life. They reach human beings directly through environmental pollution and indirectly through animal products. Other harm caused by agrochemical products includes destruction of beneficial bacteria, contamination of drinking water, and unwitting creation of strains of pests that become more resistant to chemical pesticides.

Those and other environmental crises make a number of things apparent to us. First, our actions have brought about a state of affairs that threatens the survival of life on planet Earth. Second, the major cause of this unfortunate situation is our unrestrained push for material progress backed by an equally unrestrained technology. Third, the root cause of it all is none other than the human ego. And fourth, urgent action is needed if we are to ensure that the earth continues on its journey through many more generations to come.

Let us recognize that there really is no need for the mad technological and industrial scramble in which we are involved. There is enough food and other essentials for all beings on earth if we decide to use these resources for the well-being of all and not to satisfy greed. Also, any technological initiative must be inspired by emulating Mother Earth’s respect for nature, not designed as a target for plundering. Undoubtedly, technology and industry have contributed to the well-being of people, but the amount of resources needed to obtain that benefit is a small proportion of the present enormous waste that has rebounding negative effects on all of us and our children.

~ Bhante Y. Wimala, Lessons of the Lotus: Practical Spiritual Teachings of a Traveling Buddhist Monk