The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path

by Norman Fischer

But evolutionary theory has evolved. Further studies in social biology suggest that cooperation, altruism, kindness, helpfulness, and love have powerful evolutionary functions. The human capacity for cooperation and communication may be our strongest skill set for survival. In our time, when we face the strong potential of planetary damage on a wide and devastating scale, we may need to develop these skills more than ever. Technical solutions to climate change are more or less known and doable. It’s lack of cooperation and motivation, lack of human connection, that prevents us from saving ourselves. Impossibly idealistic though it is, it may be that the bodhisattva path, and other such religious paths toward universal love, is our most practical tool for the future. The perfection of ethical conduct—which purifies the heart of its greed, grabbiness, self-focus, and aggression—is a necessity for the survival of human life on earth.