“I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of [men]. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news” John Muir.
John Muir was a philosopher that spoke for the natural world in the late 1800s and early twentieth century. While he extolled the natural world, he also spoke eloquently about the problems of modern humanity being obsessed with technology and monetary things as they ‘lost’ their souls but where nature showed them the path to happiness. A few years after Muir died, another philosopher, Aldo Leopold in the 1940s said, “A system of conservation based solely on economic self-interest is hopelessly lopsided. It tends to ignore, and thus eventually to eliminate many elements in the land community that lack commercial value, but that are essential to its healthy functioning. It assumes, falsely, I think, that the economic parts of the biotic clock will function without the uneconomic parts.” Leopold also commented, “Twenty centuries of ‘progress’ have brought the average citizen a vote, a national anthem, a Ford, a bank account, and a high opinion of himself, but not the capacity to live in high density without befouling and denuding his environment, nor a conviction that such capacity, rather than such density, is the true test of whether he is civilized.” As the Capra quote from my last post emphasized, “Ecology and Spirituality are fundamentally connected, because deep ecological awareness, ultimately is spiritual awareness.”
Our ability to adapt, thrive and be resilient rests solely on our ability to be spiritually connected to life. This ego attachment to materialism has not boded well for us or the planet. As I have said frequently, trying to technologically tweak out way out of the global problems we have created will not work. We can have a comfortable, abundant, and ecologically safe technological world, but we have to live as if all life had value, and that will mean changing our values from materialist consumption to ecological resilience.
What I am seeing more and more is how people all over the world are waking up to this reality, but not quite seeing ‘what is next.’ In my last post I talked about a list of negative words that have driven our global system for way too long. The opposite of those words will be what saves us and allows the planet to be a regenerative home that allows us and the planet to thrive. That will be by default a humanity that thinks of how they fit within an ecologically connected and thriving world. Instead of service to self, we will by default move to a collaborative sustainable living society of service to others. Instead of conditional anger and hate, we must go to unconditional Love. Everyone – except our controlling, psychopathic overlords – wants and longs for Love in their lives.
In the sub-title of this post, I paraphrase the title of a 2012 film, ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the Word’ (I actually recall it as I paraphrased it – the Mandela affect?). In that film the world is about to be destroyed by a meteorite and two people find an unexpected bond that gives both of them peace and affection. If we are to find peace, we need to understand the role that Love plays in the Great Healing that will save us from the dystopia that threatens to engulf us if we persist on out present course of living. When we come from a place of Love and not fear, everything will organically fall into place. It’s not a Pollyanna dream, just a simple statement of avoiding calamity and for many, survival in a changing and chaotic new world.
And we have to get past the notion that love is just some simple emotion that attracts us together when we ‘fall in love.’ Nearly everyone seeks and craves love, but we are too often trapped in the romantic aspects of it, as emphasized by the classic Hollies song that goes with the ‘Seeking a Friend…’ film (see link). Anyone who has ever been ’in love’ knows how incredible it feels. Think of being in a loving family or a group pf close, true, friends and how that makes you feel so good. Now think of unconditional Love and you get a sense of how great it will feel all the time. None of that negative crap getting in the way of having a great life – just a continual sense of happiness and well-being. Sadly, we have been conditioned to impose conditions on our ‘love’ but imagine just being able to remain in a condition of being accepting and non-judgmental – you let go of all ego and stay in heartfelt and mindful spirit.
Quantum theorists propose that the underlying consciousness that is the universe is actually driven by a singular energy, and that it is best described as pure Love. Being in spirit connects us directly to that energy. Wayne Dyer wrote (Wisdom of the Ages) about Pierre Teilhard De Chardin (1881-1955), a Jesuit Scientist Philosopher Priest, “…who perceived matter and spirit as two distinct aspects of one single cosmic stuff without the need for any intellectual conflict.” Dyer writes, “think of a theme that, once understood by each of us, will have a monumental impact on humanity. [Chardin] speaks of Love and energy as being interconnected, suggesting that love contains within it an energy that can unite human beings because it alone joins all of us by what is deepest within ourselves.”
Dyer continues; “No one has ever seen the wind; all we can observe are the results of the wind. We watch the trees rustle, see the rain swirl in the air, and feel the air on our faces, but the wind itself remains an unseen thing. So too with waves, tide, and gravity … it’s all a mystery to our sensory apparatus … Now consider for a moment the latent power, virtually untapped in Love. All we ever see are the results of the energy. No one can agree on what or where it is, yet we all know and feel it when its results are manifest. As Chardin said from a quantum perspective, “Love is the affinity which links and draws together the elements of the world.”
Chardin believed that our mental and social evolution was drawing us towards a spiritual unity. “Love is an energizing elixir with a power to nurture and bring together humanity in much the same way that cave-people were drawn to the first bonfire. Imagine, if you will, a similar state of wonder and the impact on our survival of a discovery (Love) with the magnitude of fire” Dyer/Chardin.
“Every single act of hatred or injury toward another [which literally inhibits the phase transition] is an action that keeps us from harnessing the energy of love. It may sound gushy and way too sugary to accomplish, but I believe we can all tame our mean-spiritedness and bring about this universal phase transition that Chardin predicted was our destiny” Dyer.
In the Bible, in I Corinthians 13, the essence of love is mirrored in all religious traditions. We gain nothing without love. We cultivate love by our willingness to let go of impulses to judge others and to refuse to feel good about any suffering that others may undergo – we employ empathy at all times and all places. We live through kindness, and replace all mean-spiritedness with forgiveness and understanding. No need for some form of social sainthood, just compassionate humanity caring for each other without the psychotic hierarchy trying to run the show.
Once humanity heals itself, then healing the world is but a choice away – our lifestyles and technologies will match our newer spiritual mindset. It’s not a Kumbaya future, but one of respect for each other and for all life. Our ego related materialistic living has created forms of insanity that once revealed will make them easy to rectify. We don’t need to do this all at the same time, but there are enough of us that are already awakened and ready to live from a heartfelt place that we will make the difference during the time of chaos we find ourselves within, and that promises only to get more so. Luckily there are many examples of sustainable Living already around the world we can tap into.
To be Continued ……..
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