There are people in various religions that see the world as Maya or of the Satan. My response to that is that failing to appreciate the world is not being righteous or enlightened. It is being an unappreciative pig.

There are many good things in the world. These include both nature and civilization. These include both business and culture. These include both technology and the arts. In all these things, there are things of greater merit, wisdom and intricacy than anything that is taught in such spiritual paths.

So we have Jehovah’s Witnesses claiming to be “in the world but not of the world.” I knew a man from Jehovah’s Witnesses who got together with a woman from Melbourne. He got tons of things out of his relationship with her. But his belief that she was a bad person justified him in not only failing to reward her for what he was getting from her but in treating her like dirt. The problem here is not with the world. It is with the Jehovah’s Witness.

So we have people saying not to love things of the world. I love things of the world, and I make no apologies about it. Enjoyment is appreciation; appreciation is gratitude; gratitude is righteousness. You do not get to keep things of the world in heaven or hell. Going through life without enjoying them is a stupid way to live.

It should be possible to both have a spiritual life and a life in the world.. With good art, for one, we see accomplishments of both the world and spirituality. There is no contradiction between the two. The two can, and should, work together. And then we will see people having a full experience of life.