Nature conservation and the human healing crises

“The European has a science of nature and (yet) knows astonishingly little about his own nature, the nature within him. What he lacks is conscious recognition of this inferiority to the nature around and within him, to learn that he may not do exactly as he wills. If he does not learn this, his own nature will destroy him. For the Indian it comes as a blessing to know of a method which helps him to control the supreme power of nature within and without.”
C. W. Jung (‘Yoga and the West’).

The Taoists great Way of the Te is rooted in a subtle but powerful connection with the spiritual essence of life, their universe rooted in and governed by being attuned to this ‘ultimate’ life force. The ancient Chinese held the belief that health, and all good fortune, is the result of being in harmony with the flow of all the forces of the universe, represented on earth as the various elements of nature. The flow of energy, or chi, and the concept of prana in yoga, can be likened to acknowledging the presence of the spiritual life force of the universe, a creative or ruling power similar to that the Christian God, although this energy is rather more impersonal, simply an energy field, the ‘god force’ the entire universe, animate or inanimate, exudes.

This same at one-ness with nature, its forces and products, is also reflected in the Japanese Zen garden, its temples and architecture, a manifestation of the early Chinese Zen influences. Mystics of all ages have found their inspiration through communing with nature, the ‘garden of God’. Primitive civilisations have put respect of nature as its highest priority, and all civilisations disregard this respect at their own peril.

Adhering to the universal laws of energy exchanges encourages the individual to follow the path of self-cultivation without self-destruction. This will result in a society that honours, rather than obliterates, its habitat. Living as a participant in the great cosmic dance of atoms and electrons, and the ebb and flow of tides, reflects the real value and reality of the human life cycle of conception and death.

Living in harmony with nature encourages humans to adhere to divine instincts, sensitivity and respect of all forms of life, and not to social/human demographics of class, creed or personal identity. Spirit is everywhere, the same organic needs for food, shelter and pro- and recreation drives all human survivor instincts – but when we become blind to the ‘spirit of life’, when our instincts to survive turns into greed we attempt to dominate nature, and in ignorance of the laws of universal energy exchange, destroy our inner divinity, or harmony with the very thing that supports our life systems.

All systems, be it machine, the human body or the echo-systems of earth, operates on external energy sources and constitutes fine mechanisms that controls the flow of this energy on the inside. When we neglect to feed our bodies with balanced meals we get ill, when a car is neglected and not serviced it will eventually break down, and when we destroy large portions of the planet by development and pollution the planet will ‘break down and get ill’. Broken machines need fixing, and ill organic systems needs great care in order to restore its natural balance – fortunately there is always a critical period warning period, a foreboding clunk in an engine, or pains and aches in our limbs that indicates a need for a service, or rest and healing. When we ignore these warning signs we proceed on borrowed time, and when we put off addressing the problem, it becomes a real, critical danger to the life and future of the machine or body that can only lead to the termination of the subject if the cause of the looming crises goes unchecked.

Our planet is currently experiencing such a crises. It is desperately ill and in need of healing. But halting the physical destruction alone cannot bring about this healing. When we are seriously ill because of poor lifestyle management like insufficient, diet, use of drugs, to much stress and to little rest, we have to implement radical lifestyle changes to address the problem – simply taking a dose of vitamins is not enough. The cause of the problem, man’s insensitivity towards his own and planetary health, must be addressed, and not the symptoms alone. When we are in danger of losing our life, and realise that we have take care of our own health, we also become more sensitive to the fact that all our actions have a direct rippling effect on entire systems around us. Everything we do carry consequences. Everybody has to learn to accept responsibility for his or her actions, be it the position of a building site, constructing a freeway, or simply carelessly leaving a plastic container on the beach.

Conservation is a vast and complex issue. Our situation is a desperate one, but unfortunately desperate attempts that address issues superficially can only bring temporary relief. We do need to apply systems to scale down the impact of development, find scientific solutions to the looming crises, elect conservational bodies, enforce environmental planning, support individuals and organisations that care, but the effects of the damage already done can no longer be contained by window dressing the problem – we have to dig much deeper. The continuing destruction can only be halted by a massive change of heart amongst the people of the earth that are inflicting the damage.

To heal the planet requires its human population to change its attitudes towards the well being of the environment in the same way as individuals need to make certain lifestyle changes in order to heal their sickly bodies. Making these changes often requires radical transitions, yet, whatever the technique required, or the complexity of the issue is, there has to be a definite decision to make the necessary change. Underlying this choice is the choice to ‘grab life’ – it is a spiritual decision. Changing environmental attitudes is as hard as getting people to accept responsibility for their health – only when we lose it we become aware of it. This choice is often not made or taken too late by individuals, but unfortunately we have only one planet to lose for everyone to get wiped out. Considering that most people care very little for their own bodies, chances to appeal to them taking care of the extended body of nature is slim. The only way to inspire these critical changes in a technological age hell bent on destructing of its own habitat may be to raise the awareness, the human spirit, of powerful individuals, or of small groups of people within communities sensitive to these issues in the hope that their example may lead for others to follow.

Something more than environmental programmes are needed - a miracle will need to take place. And this miracles will not ‘just happen’, it will be the result of great faith, and of the human spirit rising from hard work. Raising awareness and consciousness of our dependency on nature is vital. The changes required and subsequent healing will have to take growth in the hearts all caring and conscious people, individuals who will have to set the example and fight for the right to live. When sufficient forces are mustered a quantum leap of healing, something of a spiritually driven nature, may take place.

Groups of individuals, like a physical river estuary for example, form their own echo-system or energy fields, where all its elements are important to the well being of the larger system. The planet is made up of various echo systems, just like the total population of the planet comprises different groups of people. When enough of these groups set an example, and raise a positive attitude, a shift in the dynamic energy balance of the ‘spiritual echo-system’ can take place where planetary healing can be facilitated. It is essential that all participants in the drive towards global healing will work in acknowledgement of this spirit, starting with our own personal selves and our immediate environment: our homes, families, friends, work and local issues. All healing should start with cleaning up our own act, by encouraging self-respect in every individual, mutual respect for others, and a reverence for nature, honouring the spirit of all life, the universal governing spirit of our lives on earth.

Global disease, pollution and destruction of the planet is an accurate reflection of the self-destruction of its populations, and its individuals. Nature on is the physical home of our bodies, the earth the home of nature, and the universe the home of earth, and of our spirit. Disease of the human organism is a call for help of the body, crying out for intervention from its owner, its human soul. The universe is appealing to our soul to take care of the planet put in our custody; earth is appealing to our human spirit to survive, crying out for help from its custodians. The healing crises associated in humans with near death experiences often brings about deep spiritual growth and enlightenment. Earth is our diseased and dying body, calling on us to grow and act, to embrace and celebrate our life on it, or loose it altogether.

If all humankind can learn to harmonise with the forces of creation and not, through ignorance, greed and selfishness, attempt to dominate nature, the destruction of our planet can be halted. Once we re-member the harmony between the inner and outer worlds our spirits will rise, and teach us the lessons we need to learn to create the paradise that our world can become, and to receive a beautiful future. Accepting the fact that we have to make painful changes to facilitate this growth can be humbling process not easy to accept, but while we may only learn through loss and failure, we also have to learn that we have lost more than we can afford already. If we do not accept this challenge of change we will lose much more; we are about to lose our planetary home, our precious earth and life itself.

In order for society to become more conscious of its spiritual reality and bring about the miracle of positive change required for its survival, it needs to take up an active pursuit of more holistic lifestyle practices. These can range from exercises like yoga, tai chi, karate, swimming and hiking, to adopting a critical view of ordinary allopathic medicine, financial structures and commerce, agricultural principles and institutionalised religions in favour of, or balanced with, a more organic and holistic models of society.

Yoga postures, and its general meditative qualities, install a greater sensitivity of the body and mind towards natural living in its practitioner. It provides the stimulus to ask the right questions, physically and metaphysically, which can lead to more conscious living that includes reverence for the natural spirit of life itself, the reverence necessary to halt the destruction of our habitat and the depletion of our natural resources. Through yoga we can learn to feel what prana, or life force is, and understand the reality, importance and vitality of its energy, in its physical and metaphysical context. Although the existence of prana can be scientifically proved, it cannot be known or ‘felt’ by the reasoning mind, but has to be understood intuitively through feeling and experiencing the life force in the blood, the heart and the gut. Yoga helps us to achieve this connection, a recollection of our true inner selves, a reminder of our own humble godliness and connection with the divine life force.

The profound insights and understanding of our true nature has to start with discovering, or uncovering this reality before any meaningful changes in regards to our own self respect, towards the planet and holistic healing in general can take place. There can be no sustainable future development without individuals and societies that have developed self-sustainable, integrated personalities. When we understand that prana is the nature of the cosmic force, expressed on earth by the diverse life forms that make up its ecosystems and all the life that has evolved from it, we may be humbled sufficiently by understanding the total extent of the dependency of our own lives on it. Only this realisation can destroy the human ignorance and its attitude of superiority that has lead to its current wasteful, self destructive, megalomaniac behaviour.

“Chop down the trees,
put them in a tree museum
Charge a dollar and a half just to see them
Don’t it just goes to show
you don’t know what you got until its gone
Pave paradise,
put in a parking lot”
- Joni Mitchell