Never before was the search so acute, so intense, because never before was man in such an anguish as he is today. The search always comes out of anguish. Whenever there is great anguish, the anguish becomes a challenge, one has to search for something which is so meaningful that the anguish can be dissolved through it. When the darkness is very very deep, only then does one search for light.
And the darkness is really deep. This is one of the darkest of ages: never before has man been in such a disturbed, confused chaos. Because all the old values have disappeared. Man is no more rooted in the past, there are no more any goals in the future, all utopias have failed. Man is utterly desperate now to know what to do and where to go.
In the past it has happened many times that a certain value became valueless, another value took its place, it was substituted. One religion died, another took its place. One idealism was found futile, another better vision, more golden, was immediately available. What has happened this time is that all the ideals have failed and there is no more any substitute. It is not that one value has failed and another has come into being; that is not much of a change. This time, value as such has failed and there is utter darkness, nowhere to go. This is the greatest challenge to human awakening.

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