Japan is one of the most fascinating economic powers in the world. Over the whole of its history, even in the strong isolationist periods, it has been importing foreign ideas which were later adjusted to suit its own needs and developed in compliance with its own opinions. At the beginning, Japan's main mentor was China, often through the countries of the Korean Peninsula, but the West started to take China's place as the culturally dominant Alien, the basic supplier of goods. The Japanese became aware that they would probably be unable to chase away the western barbarians and, under the circumstances, they should start to learn from them. 'Japan would pass away, turn empty, waste, colourless; it would turn cunning and rich.' But will it indeed be so? 'The world is a global village' - the sentence that was once a daring statement now ended as a cliche, and it is no longer amazing that we get into contact with people from the other hemisphere or that so many students enroll in programs connected with distant civilisations. Japan is among the countries whose names frequently appear in the surrounding reality and sounds less and less exotic.
In this article I will try to expound and examine the debate of materialism and spiritualism in the context of two cultures: Western and Eastern respectively. It was Vivekananda, a neo or practical vedantin, who attached two isms with two cultures. Western society has excelled in the ‘art of matter’ and focused all their attention on it. The opposite is true of the eastern world. Ignoring the material aspect of life, they have spent their energy on learning the ‘art of soul’. These two societies have remained ignorant of other aspects of life. The result is a paralyzed growth of the human world. This is visible in the process of globalization as well. In the present world, we are following utter materialism in the name of globalization, which results in consumerism. Here, I wish to mention the solution prescribed by Vivekananda. In his view, the remedy lies in the synthesis of ‘spirit’ and ‘matter’. For both these cultures, oriental and occidental should come together and learn the missing part from each other. Westerners should learn from eastern people about spirituality, whereas the ‘art of matter’ should be learnt under the guidance of westerners. When ‘matter’ and ‘spirit’ go together, a new life will emerge on earth and only such world will be a real ‘global village’.
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