A revolution is to bring on change and we're spiritual people

Damian Marley, son of the great voice of liberation, utters words that pierce through the illusions of progress: “A revolution is to bring on change and we’re spiritual people trying to bring on spiritual change. It might sound like I’m a dreamer, but economic models have reached their height of evolution. Technology has evolved. What hasn’t evolved is mankind’s spirituality; everything is from 3,000 years ago.” These are not casual musings, but the cry of a prophet, pointing out the imbalance of the modern age: that we have built mighty towers of wealth and machines of wonder, yet our inner selves still wander in deserts of old ignorance.

For Marley reminds us that a true revolution is not of guns and banners alone, but of the spirit. Men have fought countless wars, toppled empires, and rewritten maps. Economies have risen from barter to coins, from coins to credit, from credit to the invisible digits of global trade. Technology has leapt from the fire to the satellite, from the wheel to the rocket. Yet beneath all these advancements, man’s inner world remains as it was in the time of prophets, kings, and ancient scrolls—torn by greed, envy, hatred, and pride. What good is progress in matter, if the soul remains unshaped?

Consider the example of Rome. The empire achieved marvels: aqueducts that carried rivers across lands, roads that linked provinces from Britain to Syria, laws that still echo in our courts today. Yet while their technology and economy flourished, their spiritual life decayed into decadence, cruelty, and hunger for conquest. When the soul of Rome collapsed, no stone bridge nor iron sword could preserve it. Thus the empire fell, and its greatness was scattered like dust. History proves Marley’s point: without spiritual growth, civilizations crumble, no matter how advanced their tools.

Marley’s words also echo the voices of sages from every age. Three thousand years ago, prophets, mystics, and teachers spoke of love, justice, humility, and compassion. Those truths remain, but mankind’s practice of them is still faint, still struggling, still incomplete. We have changed the shape of our dwellings but not the shape of our hearts. We fly to the Moon, yet fail to love our neighbors. We speak across oceans in an instant, yet cannot speak peace to those at our side. Thus, technology has run ahead, while spirituality limps far behind.

This is why Marley speaks of spiritual revolution. He dreams, yes—but his dream is a necessary one. For if humanity continues to advance outwardly while remaining stagnant inwardly, the imbalance will grow unbearable. Wars will be fought with greater weapons, greed will corrupt with greater power, and technology itself will become the servant of un-evolved hearts. Only by evolving within—cultivating compassion, justice, wisdom, and reverence for life—can mankind wield its inventions without self-destruction.

The lesson, then, is not to scorn economic models nor technology, but to remember that they are incomplete without spiritual growth. A hammer may build a temple, but only the spirit determines whether that temple is a house of peace or a prison of tyranny. Each listener must ask: “What within me has yet to evolve? Am I still ruled by the same angers, fears, and desires that ruled men thousands of years ago?” If so, then the true work of revolution begins not outside, but within.

Practical steps follow this wisdom. Begin with mindfulness, with prayer, with reflection. Train your heart to forgive more quickly than it condemns, to give more freely than it takes, to seek truth more eagerly than it defends pride. Join communities that strive not only for wealth or power but for compassion and justice. Let technology serve the spirit, not replace it—use it to teach, to connect, to heal, rather than to divide or distract. In this way, each person becomes a spark of the greater spiritual change Marley calls for.

And so, let this teaching stand: a revolution of the spirit is the greatest revolution of all. Empires will fall, machines will rust, currencies will fade, but the growth of the human soul endures through eternity. Marley’s words remind us that the truest advancement is not in what we build, but in what we become. Pursue this inner revolution, O seeker, and you shall help lift mankind from its ancient chains into the dawn of true freedom.