William Bezanson: I BELIEVE

William Bezanson: I would say Materialism, Consumerism, Lack of Big-Picture Thinking, and Lack of a Spiritual Viewpoint. That book that you mentioned has the subtitle “Personal and Spiritual Responsibility”. That signals the intent that I have in the book of emphasizing my belief that we all have a responsibility to look after ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods, and ultimately, the world. I also point out in the book that by “World” I mean Earth plus Spirit, physical plus spiritual. Not many people think of it that way, in my opinion, and I’m trying to raise peoples’ consciousness not to neglect the spiritual side of our responsibilities. I use the image of shopping carts that are abandoned as a symbol for our various responsibilities.

OMTIMES: There is much talk about NOT having religious education in schools. Do you think we, as a species, need to develop a way to teach our youth how to develop a moral compass? If so, how do you envision that?

William Bezanson: I would focus not on a religious view, but on a spiritual and mystical one. The former is an indirect accessing of the Divine, and the latter is a direct, personal accessing.Also, I would encourage us not to try to teach our youth, but to encourage them in what we want them to learn. Teachers should be allowed, and not afraid, to speak of God, the Divine, how to explain myths and mythology, and so on. If a person does not know something, such as the mysteries of Nature for example, then they won’t care about it. For Youth, there are so very many distractions, such as social media preoccupations and peer pressures, such as fashions and behaviors. Our youth need to be aware of nature, animals, trees, and so on. And especially, they need to see a big picture of how our environment is so delicate and our world so precious. So we can encourage this view in the minds of our youth and then teach them by example. I’m trying to teach with my books. I’m trying not to be dogmatic or preachy, but to write about what I’ve experienced and about what motivates me, as an example to others. Or let’s reduce it down to only one thing. Suppose we could just teach our children to meditate. Think about how our world could transform with a new generation of spiritually-attuned, mystical thinkers in young people.