When one tugs at a single thing in nature, one finds it attached to the rest of the world.-John Muir
James: I propose that while all environments are helpful, nature is one of the best places to understand interconnection and interdependence. It is sometimes difficult to see the importance of interconnection in the concrete mazes of our cities where we have sacrificed a sense of community on the altar of individuality. It's still possible to witness the interconnection in city life but difficult with all the shiny, bright distractions. Yet walking mindfully through nature's wonders (forests, mountains, jungles and beaches, etc) it is immediately clear that there is a rhythm. There is a well balanced community that exists in a constant state of co-operation. Glaciers feed streams, streams become rivers, which water trees and other plant life.
The green foliage grows high and deep providing ample food for the deer, which in turn shit out seeds for future grass plants elsewhere in the forest providing for a constant migration and survival of that vital plant. It is hard not to feel small in such a intricate yet vast natural system of interdependence. Yet it's not feeling small in a depressing way but rather feeling apart of something. In the city it's as if we are in a sanitized, isolating bubble bouncing erratically without much control but bouncing into one another from time to time. Yet not long enough to form much of a bond.
Often in nature, if one plant goes extinct then it can throw the whole system of interdependence off, which can eventually bring down the entire eco-sytem. We humans are no different but we think we are. We think that we can worship individuality and not face the consequences of living in this illusion. Yet the consequences of basing our culture around individuality couldn't be clearer. We think that man has become so smart that we have mastered nature and don't need her but obviously this is a delusion based on our greed to consume endlessly. Our greed is so ravenous that we are killing our own host--Mother Earth. We are shitting where we eat, sleep and live. Yet like a drug addict destroying the lives of everyone around them, we push on thinking we can out smart nature. Oh foolish man.
The green foliage grows high and deep providing ample food for the deer, which in turn shit out seeds for future grass plants elsewhere in the forest providing for a constant migration and survival of that vital plant. It is hard not to feel small in such a intricate yet vast natural system of interdependence. Yet it's not feeling small in a depressing way but rather feeling apart of something. In the city it's as if we are in a sanitized, isolating bubble bouncing erratically without much control but bouncing into one another from time to time. Yet not long enough to form much of a bond.
Often in nature, if one plant goes extinct then it can throw the whole system of interdependence off, which can eventually bring down the entire eco-sytem. We humans are no different but we think we are. We think that we can worship individuality and not face the consequences of living in this illusion. Yet the consequences of basing our culture around individuality couldn't be clearer. We think that man has become so smart that we have mastered nature and don't need her but obviously this is a delusion based on our greed to consume endlessly. Our greed is so ravenous that we are killing our own host--Mother Earth. We are shitting where we eat, sleep and live. Yet like a drug addict destroying the lives of everyone around them, we push on thinking we can out smart nature. Oh foolish man.
~Peace to all beings~
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