More and more people are beginning to realise that all is not well with the way in which we relate to each other. They are experiencing difficulties in their family relationships, in their closest friendships, and with their wider circle of acquaintances, both in tier private and working lives.
Scarcely a human being exists who lives a completely solitary life. Even in large cities, people who live alone have some contact with others on a regular basis, while most of us have extensive experiences of social relationships.
Why then does this experience serve us so poorly? Why was social historian Arnold Toynbee able to say that while we have developed dramatically in intellectual, scientific and technical spheres, our level of human relationship is much as it was 5000 years ago? People loved and hated in ancient Babylon much as they do today.
Although it appears that human beings have developed lopsidedly in this way, at the same time we have also developed the sciences which could assist us in our social relationships: psychology, sociology, politics and economics. And how does spirituality come into the picture, that important resource which, in all its various forms, includes among its concerns many rules and principles for social conduct.
Every major religion teaches about the love of god and love for a fellow human beings, and love is unsubtly a fundamental in ingredient in successful relationships.
What prevents us putting this knowledge into practise? To me there seems to be only one answer: our prejudices and we can only overcome these through a new understanding, an understanding of ourselves ad of others.
Extract taken from To Understand and Be Understood, a practical Guide to Successful Relationships. By Erik Blumenthal. ISBN 1-85168-137-x Oneworld oxford publishers. Originally published in German under the title Verstehen Rex-Verlag Munchen/Luzern 1977. Copyright under Berne Convention.
