The Earth as one family
We are suffering deeply as a result of our conception of the Earth as dead matter in order to conquer it. Healing our suffering requires us to remember all beings are one family.
Dear friends: This week, I share more thoughts prompted by listening to the talks offered in the Dalai Lama’s World Vision Summit last week.
Dr. Vandana Shiva, a quantum physicist and environmental advocate, offered: “Militaristic, mechanistic thought is at the root of all the crises we face.”
These words echo Dr. King’s insight regarding the fundamental evils of militarism, materialism, and racism.
Dr. Shiva discussed the Enlightenment, when thinkers such as Francis Bacon “insisted we had to see the Earth as dead matter in order to conquer it.” And here we are, centuries into the industrial and information revolutions that enlightenment thinking spawned, and we are suffering deeply as a result of our conception of the Earth as dead matter. Did we conquer it? Perhaps so, if conquering equates to imminent destruction of our own habitat.
But if these are habits of mind, then we can change them. We can listen to the insistent inner wisdom that calls us to recognize the interconnection of all beings, the literal mutual dependence of all beings as we take part in the Earth’s offerings of air to breath, water to drink, and food to eat. As we realize that we, too, our part of the cycle of nutrition that makes all life possible. Dr. Shiva said: “An enlarged heart and an enlarged mind sees the Earth as one family.”
Too many of our entrenched thought habits drive us to consider dominance as our ultimate goal. We will find ourselves reigning over the death of our own vital habitat if we do not shift our thinking, and our actions.
As Venerable Tenzin Preyadarshi said: “You either perpetuate a system or you disrupt it. There is no other way.”
On our path forward, what steps are we taking to disrupt the militaristic and mechanistic paradigms that cause our current crises? What steps can we take, together, to enlarge our hearts and minds?
Thank you for your company on this journey.