To illustrate this point, I quote from the memoirs of Sakharov, that eminent nuclear scientist and designer of Russia's hydrogen bomb. ‘I felt like God regenerating the mysterious energy of the sun and stars. I felt unbelievably excited. I had the ultimate instrument of power within my grasp’. But thankfully, there was a spiritual transformation of his character, when he realised the horrific implications of his discoveries. Strangely, he could not explain how he had received ‘messages’ to stop his work and oppose the development of such devastating weapons. For this unpatriotic step, he was banished to a Siberian labour camp where he suffered terrible hardships. This intelligent and remarkable man further stated in his memoirs; ‘I was initially inspired by emotion rather than intellect, and patriotism clouded my moral judgement’. This true story brings to light the confused state of human thinking on the world scene, when a few people with exceptional intelligence can bring humanity to the brink of annihilation. There is an added moral to the Sakharov story, because having awoken to his true peaceful role, he devoted the rest of his life to human rights causes in a most fervent way. One can only theorise how the spiritual element came to enter Sakharov's soul at a crucial time for the world, because his thoughts changed dramatically from ‘destruction’ to ‘construction’. There are strong beliefs that we are entering a new age of spiritual consciousness, when holistic values will dominate human decision making. But in the meantime, we must monitor what we do with our technology. Intelligence without the guidance of a spiritual philosophy, is like a train on a journey with the signal man taking a day off. It is Russian roulette of the most hazardous kind.
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