Earth Day 2012

So you want to change the world? Where would you begin?

There is not one ecosystem on Mother Earth that is not imperiled on Earth Day, April 22, 2012. The oceans, the rivers, the lakes, the land, the air, and all systems within these systems are under threat of collapse mostly due to mankind's activities. It has been said that the earth is a living, conscious entity, and that human beings, all seven billion of them, are like a virus threatening the very life of the planet. And we understand, at least intellectually, that as the planet goes, so go her inhabitants. Some readers who have made it this far into this essay have already rolled their eyes and thought, "Oh here we go. Another misanthropic rant."

Photo Courtesy of Darcy Blaine

But the theme of this essay is not misanthropic at all. To see the planet in peril and the causes for it, and to speak or write about what you see is not misanthropic. You cannot view the condition of the world without acknowledging humankind's role in it. The best science humans can muster form a consensus that human activities are affecting not just specific biospheres or ecosystems here or there, but the entire planetary body. When you view the earth as one large ecosystem, it is easy to see how that ecosystem is affected by various activities. For example, Brazil has been clear-cutting the rainforests in the Amazon basin to allow for cattle grazing. Understanding the role of trees in the absorption of CO2 and production of oxygen, we come to understand that the rainforest is like the lungs in a biological human being. Cut away the lungs and the human cannot breath and will die. Cut away the rainforest and the planetary bio-system cannot produce oxygen at the former levels. This is a very simple example of how human activity has a direct causal affect on the planetary bio-system. There are countless other examples just like this.

Human beings are prone to seeing everything from a perspective of separation or duality. Me/It. Us/Them. Most people's perception of what they are ends at the edge of the skin. The skin is where "I" end and "the everything else" begins. When a thought or argument is offered, the immediate human response is to look for the opposite thought or argument. Classic dualism. A world of opposing sides and views. Relative to this essay then, some believe that human beings have an impact on the biosphere and some do not believe humans play any significant role. Those that don't may have already dismissed this essay as propaganda for the other side. I would ask the reader to please bear with me for a moment. Grant me your attention for a few more lines as I attempt to lure us away from the duality trap of believing there are only two sides to every issue and to and every thing in creation.

We are all related. There is not one human being on this earth that is not related to all the rest. Not only that, we are all related to everything else that we can see and perceive with our senses. We are related to the eagle, the tree, the river, the sea, the mountain, the stone and the tiniest grain of sand on the seashore. We are related to the wind, the sky, the moon, the sun, the stars and the entire universe. There is no such thing as separation. Duality is an illusion. There is no us and them. No me/it. No you/I. John Lennon sang, "I am you and you are me and we are we and we are all together." He is absolutely right! We do not end at the edge of our skin or at the edge of the solar system. The universe is comprised of living energy and we are comprised of this same energy. Everything we do to another, we do to ourselves. This includes what we do to any and every part of the entire creation.

Bringing the focus back to the earth, then, it is easy to see and understand how what we do affects her. This goes for humanity as a whole down to one single human being: YOU! Each and every one of us impacts the earth (and everything else) in every single moment. This being the case, when we look at the numerous ways in which human activity is impacting the globe negatively, we are not separate from this. Nor are we separate from healing it!

So you want to change the world?

Step one. Know thyself. To know thyself is to know who and what you really are and to then take responsibility for that. The time for unconscious living has passed and the time for fully conscious living is now. We are all related and we are related to everything in the creation. The rainforest is your sister; the eagle your brother; the salmon your son; the sky your father; and the earth is your Mother! Our ancestors knew this and we forgot. It is time to remember, to re-member or re-attach to our memory of who and what we are. When you do, you will no longer see yourself as separate from anyone or anything else and you will act from this knowing.

Step two. We probably feel an urge to fight against the things we see that are wrong, or at least wrong from our new, more enlightened or conscious vantage point. We can't change the world by fighting against it. If you want to change the world, you first have to accept the world as it is, even the ugly parts. This is true for any any healing. The genesis for healing anything is to first accept and then to honor what is. What do I mean, to honor? It is one thing to accept something logically or intellectually. We unconsciously do this all the time. To bring consciousness to it is to use our awareness and our intent to accept a thing. We do this through ritual. If you want to change the world, create a ritual to honor the world. Fully accept the situation at the cellular level through your honoring ritual. This is the jumping off point to change the world.


Happy Earth Day