Bearing in mind the extent to which each of us carries his/her own Universe about, the task of communicating at all, let alone making any statement of general applicability on the subject of individual human progress, seems doomed from the start. We only have to recall how as adolescents we resolved to escape the mediocrity which we (rightly or not) thought we saw around us, just to find ourselves not so many years later labelled by the next generation as part of the mediocrity which they in turn seek to avoid. Looking back at the people we were then, we may also recognize that the years have not changed much in us: whatever therapies and self-help programmes we may have undergone, certain basic and not universally welcomed aspects of our character seem resistant to any attempt to modify them.

Yet the idea of a progress towards some goal which at that moment seems worthwhile is fundamental to our nature; life is change and development. Our claim to the status of most highly evolved beings (as far as we know) rests on this conscious seeking of goals and their wilful pursuit. It may take us a long time to get off the ground, compared with the foal who shortly after birth is able to walk with the mare, or the young birds which with a little exercise are ready to take to the sky; yet when we make progress it is a result of conscious willing and determination. Some time around the end of the first year of life we decide that going about on two legs not only offers a more efficient means of self-transportation but gives a more enlightened view of the environment; having decided, we literally take steps to implement the decision. A little later (or sometimes earlier) we make a similar decision to try and imitate the sounds which the people are making around us, and this is also put into practice. And so through life, the decisions to take a certain course of study, to leave home, to try to develop a sense of humour, to project a certain self-image, to share our life with another person - individual, conscious decisions taken more or less alone.

According to the model proposed here, the most important conscious decision we can make is to carry on the torch of evolution. Whereas up to the arrival of the human race evolution has been largely accomplished by a series of accidents, the human being has the power to visualize a means of transcending his/herself, and so by conscious decision to take a step, however small, towards the attainment of a higher level of being. What this step might be depends to a large extent on what his/her particular Universe happens to look like; the following might be a typical scenario:

• Recognizing that such a progress is possible
• Identifying what aspects of the current way of life are helpful to such a progress, what are a definite hindrance, and what are neutral in this respect
• Seeking to reward oneself for the positive aspects and avoid the negative ones
• Trying to identify the negative aspects for what they really are, and attempting by careful consideration to overcome them or at least learn to live with them in a conscious way
• Setting realistic short-term goals which fit in with the general plan
• Studying those artistic expressions and other sources of wisdom which might lead to greater insight into the boundless possibilities inherent in the human spirit
• Establishing a code of living for oneself and in the community, based on ethical principles and goals
• Choosing a spiritual exercise appropriate to one's temperament and way of life, and making it part of one's daily activity

• Pursuit of Truth - not assuming anything to be true unless there are good grounds for doing so, and being constantly on guard against lying to oneself about the real nature of the things one holds true
• Pursuit of Freedom - not the freedom to own weapons, traffic in drugs or express scurillous views in public, but the freedom from one's own limitations - a recognition of the inner forces which seem to hold us back from becoming that person we feel we are capable of being, and a search for the inner strength to overcome these forces

31 October 1997

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