Keywords:

Commercialization; east-west fusion; evangelism; secularization; politicization

Idea:

The rapid globalization of the last two decades has held Southeast Asia in the grip of cross-cultural evolution – and this has affected not only its secular but also its religious structure. The overall pattern, on five levels, individual to societal – points to an invisible war between the higher and lower levels of consciousness, between religion and society.

Scenarios:

Five emerging patterns on spiritual evolution in Southeast Asia can be observed from (1) a commercialization in personal level, (2) an East-West fusion in group level, (3)an evangelism in group level, (4) a secularization in sector level, and (5) politicization in societal level.

Personal level: Commercialization

Modern media have raised everyone’s expectations, and many religious followers now anticipate entertainment everywhere. Yielding to these forces, charismatic sects, churches and temples have converted to pop-style music for services, and scheduled more social activities for member families. New Age groups have tried to counterbalance this by focusing on a deeper inner life, exhorting followers to disregard ‘outer branding’ and work towards true emotional rewards. But their successful use of mass media has made it difficult to distinguish between sincere spiritual initiates and faddish followers. However, as they mature, the metaphysical may yet take root.

Cultural level: East-West fusion

Cultural mixing has greatly increased the number of westerners flying to Southeast Asia for training and ordination in Buddhism, and meditation centers are flourishing. Conversions from Buddhism to Christianity and vice versa have multiplied, but seem dependent on personal relations. By contrast, both Muslims and Hindus, with their more closed social cultures, have experienced less flux. Zen and New Age groups have recruited mostly from the margins of these major religions. Thus population percentages of traditional faiths have held steady in each country.

Non-indigenous religious groups have become more ensconced in the region – Hindu temples and statues of Hindu deities have long been common in places of worship across Southeast Asia. In recent years, many have turned to Ganesh: pictures, statues and amulets have multiplied in or around Buddhist temples. The Chinese goddess, Kuan Yin, gained enhanced popularity in the 1990’s, and the Japanese Shinnyo-en Buddhists have connected with many thousands in Southeast Asia since 2000. When joining such new groups, the motivation seems to be social as well as spiritual, with an expectation that enrolment will tangibly improve their lives.

Group level: Evangelism

Since Southeast Asia imitates developed nations with a lag period of about 20 years, the latest cycle of evangelism has just now hit the region. There is little cross-religion integration. A ‘results-driven’ business mentality has shifted the focus of many religious leaders from spirituality to recruitment. And intensified radicalism (exemplified by evangelical Christians and extremist Muslims) shows a reactionary stance against the perceived erosion of the purity of their culture. Oftentimes, outsiders have intervened, as in the case of the Malay model sentenced to be punished severely for drinking beer.

Sector level: secularization

Religion has always played a role even in secular societies. But in times of crisis, the profusion of religious symbols suggests an atmosphere of increased hopelessness. Considerably more taxis now display amulets and pictures of Buddha for protection in Thailand, and many leaders have filled their offices with statues of deities. Some resorts even advertise a religious theme in order to gain from spiritual tourism; tour groups to Laos are fed a steady diet of mysticism concerning Luang Prabang.

Societal level: politicization

But perhaps the most newsworthy trend is the politicization of religion. The most vivid examples of this are provided by the march of the Burmese monks in 2007, and the participation of monks in the more recent political protests in Thailand, which stretched the bounds of community engagement. And the battle over Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Temple has sparked political frenzy. Given the emergence of powerful religious sects, societal groups may co-opt their support for secular goals for awhile, before a more spiritual focus can resurface.

Implications:

Spiritual War

The psychic energy in Southeast Asia has become more masculine (vs. the passive feminine) since the integration of Western-style action orientation. In the race for power in society, form has temporarily won over function; and dogma over experience. Throughout modern parts of Southeast Asia, we see examples of religion used as a tool for profit, rather than as a doorway to enlightenment. Blood curses on enemies, and feng shui adjustments at political and government buildings, illustrate this. The Cambodian ambassador to Thailand recounted how a Thai thief returned stolen Cambodian Buddhist statues to him because he associated a run of bad luck in his family to the dates these objects were in his possession. Mentalism (often dismissed as superstition by Westerners) remains a strong force in Southeast Asia.

But everything occurs in cycles, and the swing back can take many forms. Though Western-style materialism is well engrained in the region, over the past few years Western influence in Southeast Asia is giving way to a new ‘ASEAN pride’. Now more protective of their disappearing culture, Southeast Asians are increasingly demanding that imported systems match local traditions. The war between short term satisfaction and future focused spirituality has begun since the economic crisis of 1997. The focus on entertainment, material gain, numbers, power, and position has a new enemy in the happiness index. In the medium term future, the zeitgeist of Southeast Asia may shift back towards spiritual enlightenment.

Public Policy

To many observers, recent instances of intensified political disturbances, religious scandals, natural disasters, and health crises are but a manifestation of collective karma. The sins of society seem to have accumulated into a pool of poison: widespread gambling, prostitution, illicit drugs, corruption, and the ignoring of those in need. The symptoms of social malaise are in plain sight, but – and especially during a time of revival of organized religion -the solutions seem surprisingly unreachable. Various religious sects teach that problems are lessons for individuals. However, too many such lessons in one place may be unsustainable for a society. This may be the time for public policy to step in, not in a radical way as in the Spanish Inquisition, but as containment. The freedom of the actors may have to take a back seat to the needs of the victims, in order to heal spiritual starvation, and so that spiritual goals can make a return to their former usefulness in the political and socioeconomic spheres.

Early Indicators:

In analyzing religious trends, it is notable that evolution at all social levels, individual to societal, has been motivated by self-serving goals. But the downward spiral of the world order is reaching a tipping point, after which the entire physical/ sociopolitical/spiritual structure will correct itself: a catharsis will take place. The presencing of the holistic body will be aided by the new technologies of mass media, and this self-correction will filter through all levels of society.

Effects of mass media on spiritual trends

A new religious landscape will emerge as a direct result of the internet revolution. Internet will allow the ‘truth within’ to strike a chord with a wider audience, leading to democratization of religious views. Media will bring in the common voice, and help to raise the status of women in religion, as well as find common ground within all faiths. Stereotypes and radical elements of religions will be brought to light and gradual mainstreaming of sects and cults will result in more moderate beliefs. Modern religions will go the way of pop-psychology and self-help groups, bringing basic spiritual truths to the masses, and to the common people who don’t attend temples and churches regularly.

Communications will be more basic, because of increased exposure to the light of analysis by non-believers. Thus religious people will have to re-evaluate their convictions, resulting in more justified tenets, and more flexible dogma that must be applicable to everyday life. This will create a more fluid and responsive belief system.

Effects of spiritual trends on power structures

Within power struggles in Southeast Asia of the past few years, much has been made of the rule of law, but not much has been said about the spirit of the law. Political parties wave about various laws and interpret them according to the whims of the current office holders. Riots and demonstrations have prevailed over structured discussions in official organizations. And traditional media outlets take sides according to personal affiliations rather than objectively covering all sides of the issues. But like the human body, which only hears its rhythms when it is ill – the social order will recognize the roar of its tsunami when the system fails.

The Thai demonstrations were referred to as the ‘Mobile Phone Revolution’ and media have now dubbed the recent Egyptian demonstrations as the ‘Twitter Revolution’. But in future, these same media will have created a population that is no longer manipulated by puppet masters of technologies. Future leaders will need to deal with a new society that is only reachable from the inside, on a spiritual level, rather than mental. And their beliefs will be more fluid, not fixed on dogma from familial upbringing. In the newly spiritualized world, everyone knows how to use the media, so it will speed up the inevitable, taking a few less side roads to corruption. As Gandhi said, “The truth will always come out, always”. New media will make the inevitable truth a key factor in decision making.
Future power structures will be more fluid – they will use the internet for consensus, they will throw their ideas out to the public more often, and let the people react through social networks, and these virtual town halls will yield real time results. However, whereas in the past, elections were precursors of populist policies for short term gain, future decisions will weigh in on deeper issues. Rule by numbers will evolve to rule by social choice.

Religion VS Society

With the prevalence of new media, future believers will recognize that major religions share many fundamental tenets: compassion, sacrifice, honesty, “Let go and let God”. We will see a convergence of religions and religious leaders, rather than a polarity of extremists. Public reasoning will take place not only in social, but also in religious arenas. And as the thought structures of all sectors are rebuilt, we will see a new fluidity. But as the new world order achieves success, it will also try to make the new order permanent, thus lending itself to concrete groupings and new battles. This cycle will repeat itself throughout time like a spiral.

When Voltaire wrote in Candide, “All things happen for good in the best of all possible worlds”, many critics thought he was satirizing this optimist philosophy. However, it is possible that on a deeper level, Voltaire recognized the spiral of the infinite waxing and waning of form, and the contribution of all events to the overall makeup of human existence. The interplay between religion and society follows this yin-yang history. Therefore, whereas it may seem that society today has more power than religion, we are approaching the tipping point when that trend will reverse, and religion will take over. The key will be to hold both in balance.

The danger of either society or religion having too much sway over people expresses itself in extreme forms, such as uncontained sins, or over enforcement of faith-based rules and regulations. At the receiving end of punishments for infractions will always be the weak and poor, and thus a constant state of war. New Age faiths which follow the path of ancient religions such as Taoism and Zen, appreciate the totality of existence, and this is the spirituality that is coming into Southeast Asia in the medium to long term future.

When we look, one day, it will just Be. In the meantime, we must take great care to not get in the way. Less form, more substance would allow this interchange, this balance, to happen. And in the long term, the higher level of consciousness will finally win over the lower level structured world. That will finally be the beginning of sustainable peace.

Early indicators:

Changes in religion and social interaction resulted from increasing numbers of new media uses.
Flows on old and new religions and belief systems within Southeast Asia.
Increasing on Asian evangelism.
Tangible presence on religious plurality in an individual and group.

Drivers & Inhibitors:

Drivers:

Increasing of new media in religion and spiritual sectors.
More people with social networking access in Southeast Asia.
Religions and secular groups adopt and implement more media technologies.
Variety of belief systems are available for people to practice.
Increasing engagement of religion in national politics.

Inhibitors:

Intensified control by state authorities.
Societal control by religious leaders.
Conflicts within seculars.
Miscommunication between believers and non-believers.
Co-opting of evangelistic activities by secular groups.