CAN this child "afford" spirituality and self awareness? Absolutely. Will he get the opportunity in this life? No. Why? Because nobody in his environment is there to give it to him. Will this life experience eventually lead to the desire to pursue spirituality, some kind of deeper, longer lasting happiness? Yes. And that desire will lead to being born into the proper environment to cultivate that spirituality.

The picture raises a lot of questions for most people, I'm sure! ... The first obvious one is "Why???"

All the death, disease, famine, suffering, whatever... is all of our own doing. We create them... but of course, not consciously. They are created -- experienced -- by the states of mind we create for ourselves, and the karma we generate for ourselves. Through ignorance, lack of understanding of "how things work", and misplaced identification (identification with the body for example), all sorts of suffering is experienced. In suffering, know that only YOU are the cause of it... nobody else, no external circumstance. The external is only a reflection, a manifestation, of the internal. For example, one mind-state that could lead one to great famine is the thought (and identification with that thought) of "never having enough". If you become identified with such thoughts, and allow them to develop strong roots, if you become "immersed" in them, then they will begin to manifest in your actual experience.

When looking at it from the limited perspective of one individual life, it might not make any sense. You have to understand that there is "something" that remains after death, and by desire and habituation, takes on a new form. The "soul"... spirit... self... whatever you want to call it... moves through many bodies just like you move through many changes of clothes. When we die, this individual identity must die. Why? Because this identity is ultimately based upon this body. When this body dies, the identity must as well. But there is something more subtle, that doesn't die. This more subtle "essence" also carries with it deep imprints (karma... karmic and mental tendencies/habits... deep-seeded desires) that were "generated" during the bodily life, or even lives before that. These imprints, which are the essence of karma, dictate the future lives we move into (the setting of the stage) and the experiences we move through during those lives (the drama that is acted out on the stage).

The question that you're asking pre-supposes that everyone WANTS to pursue spirituality... that everyone has a DESIRE to in the first place... which in many cases is not true. DEEP down, there is such a desire in EVERY FORM OF LIFE... this is the basic "magnetism" that causes evolution of consciousness, from bacteria to more complex organisms to insects to animals to humans. The "physical" evolution is only an externalization, a manifestation, a reflection, of the evolution of consciousness. To consciously decided to start developing "spirituality", one must first attain an intellect capable of making that conscious choice in the first place. One must reach that point of evolution... a monkey can't make that choice. A horse can't make that choice. A dog can't choose to develop self-awareness and spirituality.

So first a capable intellect is needed. The well-developed intellect is a very powerful tool, for the purpose of discovering ourselves. The intellect used for any other purpose is a waste. Which leads to the second necessity: the desire to pursue self-awareness, self-discovery. Even if a capable intellect is attained, it can take many many many many lives of suffering to finally develop the desire to move more deeply into the self, to be less attached to the body, and the senses and their objects (enjoyments, pleasures, pains).

This also leads to another purpose for all the "suffering" in the world: death, disease, pain and misery, all of these things can be very powerful tools to remind us of the fragility and temporal nature of this body. They can serve to remind us not to get so attached to this temporary tool. The very nature of the body is death and decay. Why? Because the very nature of this entire manifested "reality" is temporal. It is bound to come to an end. By inheritence, anything WITHIN this "reality" is also subject to the same fundamental "law". To become attached to any of this -- meaning, to invest "self-identity" in these things... to believe that "this" is "you" -- will lead to inevitable suffering, for what SHOULD be obvious reasons...

But asking whether some famine-stricken child can "afford" spirituality is like asking whether an alligator can "afford" spirituality. They haven't yet reached the stage of development necessary to even think about developing spirituality or self-awareness. Eventually they will. But YOU... yes, YOU, the one reading these words... if you are seeing these words and capable of understanding them, then you have everything that is necessary to "afford" spirituality. You have the basic potential, the basic tool. Nobody realizes just how precious this human birth really is... nobody realizes the potential... nobody realizes that this is the pinnacle of physical birth, the ultimate springboard into the eternal. If you are reading this, then KNOW that you are at the pinnacle. I can't emphasize this enough... I'm not talking about "people in general who might be reading this"... I'm talking about YOU. The one that *HAS* come to read this. YOU are at the pinnacle... understand? But whether you will choose to take advantage of this incredible gift and attainment, is entirely up to you. You're on the diving board. The diving board is a tool used to dive into the waters. But if you get too attached to the board, and see it as more than a tool, and become identified with it, then you may never take that dive into the waters. And you can't stay on the board forever... eventually they're going to pull you off of it! There are other people who are more interested in using the board properly, and there can only be so many bodies in the world.... only so many "divers" ... :)

You won't have this human body forever. You won't have this developed intellect forever. This is a rare opportunity. An opportunity lasting only as long as the blink of an eye, or even shorter. Everyone you see around you has this potential... but look at how they waste it, chasing after temporary sense objects and ego-fulfillment. Being born into a "normal" human birth (regardless of social circumstances like being poor or rich) is ALL that's necessary to "afford" spirituality, to "dive" into your own "waters".

Make every instant of your life part of your diving lesson, and don't get so attached to the board. :)
--James