I think part of the reason a lot of people shy away from spirituality and deep self reflection is because most people choose instant gratification than real growth and clarity. Especially in western society, most poeple’s lives reflect an addictive nature and feel the constant need to fill their life with something – texting, TV, internet, magazines (reading other people’s life to suppress the feeling that their own life may be boring and pointless), fast food, junk food (using food to suppress anxieties, fear, or grief), use alcohol or drugs to relax (because there is deep anxiety and restlessness within). Technology can benefit our life greatly and can be great tools to search for and receive advanced knowledge if we follow our desires to grow rather than using them to suppress and escape.

The other reason that we don’t really teach spirituality at school is because it challenges a lot of the current beliefs. For example, it is true that we can heal ourselves through diaphramatic breathing, mediation, emotional healing and herbal treatment. If people were taught this, a lot of the pharmaceutical companies will go out of business. If you pay attention to drug’s effects, you’ll realize they don’t really heal people, they only manage symptoms. That’s why most drugs have side effects because they create imbalances in the body that is not natural. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most lucrative industries in the world along with alcohol and arms industries. All of them have been abused to make money for people who seek excessive wealth, power and control. People tend to use drugs rather than natural healing because of the societal conditioning that makes people judge their own feelings and emotions and look for external means to escape the emotions, which is very detrimental because every time we deny our feelings and emotions, we deny ourselves.

Jane Huang