EARTH DAY REFLECTION: You know that relaxed, refreshed, recharged feeling you get from nature? Why is that, do you think?

Image by Genesis Eco Fund: Earth Day Reflection: Mechanical Approach v.s. Sustainable Approach

“A mechanical, systems-based approach can only produce more exploitation because its foundation is separation. True sustainability emerges when we consciously embrace an ecosystems-based approach.” 
~ Wolfgang Amelung, Inventor & Co-Founder of Genesis EcoFund

Every Earth Day it’s the same thing: the world expounds on the virtues and necessities of saving the planet, and they point to the perils and evils of one kind of technology, while gushing over the benefits and glories of a different brand of technology, all the while missing the point entirely.

Have you ever been in nature? You know that feeling that you get? That relaxed, refreshed, recharged, clear-headed, balanced feeling? Why is that, do you think?

Maybe it's because our TRUE NATURE is NOT the mechanical mind we have and are trapped in most of the time: all our systems, linear thinking, engineered solutions--and their antithesis, our "escapism," desire for randomness and abstract thought, wanton destruction (even if its in movies, video games, or on the nightly news).

Maybe our true nature is reflected in the highest expressions of Mother Nature...not what we superficially see and describe in primitive linear relationships (competition, survival of the fittest, etc), but precisely what we don't see and what the mechanical mind cannot comprehend fully. But let's give it a shot anyway...

To truly comprehend the meaning of “Earth Day,” we must begin to comprehend that “the earth” has always had a second meaning as it applies to humanity. While this meaning is not exactly “hidden” in the strictest sense, it has been lost on most people.

“Earth” is another word for “soil;” the hume in the word hummus (a very “earthy” substance indeed); that is the stuff; earthstuff, if you will…the flesh of the earth. This sense of the word applies to the hume in human. In truth, the word human is a compound word meaning earth and mind (hume and manas).

Image: Earth, Hands  
Source: breisebreiseleighgoleire1969.wordpress.com: Breise! Breise! Extra! Extra!: News Headlines from around the world Septmber 11th 2011

THAT is why we feel so good in nature...because on some level we feel as though we've come home...held in the comforting bosom of our Mother's healing embrace.  In a very real sense, when we think about Earth Day, we should not avoid thinking of ourselves.

But we do. We see ourselves as somehow separate from the earth when in truth, we are the earth; it is us. This is both a physical and metaphysical phenomenon: it is a reality in every sense and at every level.  It is not the whole truth, but it is far closer to the complete picture than modern science (or even contemporary religion, for that matter) comprehends.

And therein lies the problem. We separate ourselves into a distinct category (human world v.s. the natural world). We believe ourselves to be lords over nature: that it somehow is ours to do with as we please; subject to any and every monstrosity our mechanical minds can conceive of.

What we call progress and civilization, built on so-called human ingenuity and technology, has been at the expense of the earth; of nature; and our own fundamental nature as earth! Our relationship with the planet is directly 1:1 analogous to our relationships with ourselves and each other.

Production, consumption, construction, destruction, addiction, affliction, subjugation, medication…anxiety, stress, SUFFERING.

And what’s our response? To continue the insanity, as Albert Einstein described it; that is, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Humanity believes so-called advanced technology—the same old linear, binary, mechanical systems-based approach made more complicated and sophisticated—will save it.  Economists actually believe they can achieve perpetual growth by returning indefinitely to the wellspring of efficiency. But efficiency is at best only 1/6th of sustainability.

Image Collage by PeapodLife: It takes more than “efficiency” to be “GREEN”

Sources: http://imgarcade.com/1/environmental-sustainability/;https://environmentaleducationuk.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/environmental-sustainability-is-out-the-window-if-commission-is-cut/; http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1857113,00.html

All it takes is a conscious, honest, objective look within oneself and any and all of nature on this planet and in the vast expanse of the universe to know the utter tragicomedy of modern humanity’s thinking…nothing in the physical universe lasts forever: not even planets, stars or galaxies.

So what’s the Answer?

It’s quite simple, really. We advance with a conscious appreciation of authentic nature. We throw away the crude linearity of a binary existence—the legacy of our mechanical systems-based approach—and embrace the infinite complexity of an ecosystems approach.

Instead of imposing a mechanical bias on nature (which is a crude and superficial understanding at best) and subjecting it to the unspeakable horrors such cold, heartless calculations create in the real world, we expand our consciousness and with objectivity embrace the reality of nature…harmony and mutual symbiosis...as modelled by ecosystems.

Only nature can create authentic sustainability. And even then, we must acknowledge and accept that the cycles of birth, death and sacrifice are fundamental to the nature of all things—ourselves, our civilization, and our planet is no exception.

The beauty is, once you start embracing an ecosystems approach—once you immerse yourself in the electromagnetic field of an indoor ecosystem and open your consciousness to your participation in it and relationship with it—you settle into the unavoidable laws of the universe…inspiration, innovation and comprehension follows.

By comprehension we mean a deep, conscious appreciation and direct experience of the nature of yourself and all things; this is not an intellectual pursuit, and cannot be achieved by reading books or any other intellectual means. However, it can and must be experienced for real personal growth; and is the REAL SECRET behind every major paradigm-shifting advancement in any and all fields of pursuit:

• Sir Isaac Newton discovered Gravity meditating under an apple tree
• Einstein discovered relativity while taking a bubble bath
• Beethoven's 5th symphony was inspired by birdsong
• and countless other examples

ONLY nature has this power...to help us achieve our highest potential, because that is the very purpose and meaning of EVOLUTION itself!

And, as it turns out, conscious comprehension and direct experience of the nature of ourselves and all things is the birthright of humanity, the dream of every living being, and represents the real “progress” and true sustainability for our individual 'earth,' and the planet as a whole.

In other words, "No man is an island." What would the planet be without the Sun's rays and the moon's rhythms? So too, we as individual 'earths' need our immediate environment to support us and vibrate in ways which optimize our lives--mind, body and soul--so that inspiration, innovation and solutions to so many of the problems the planet faces will automatically be aligned to the underlying paradigm of life itself: harmony and mutual symbiosis.

This is the mission of Genesis Eco Fund, and our hope for you and the whole planet from this Earth Day forward.

To look at all this in a slightly different way, contemplate the following quotation which has been attributed to Chief Seattle, although according to Barefoot Windwalker it is neither “historically accurate, nor even something that Chief Seattle said” regardless…

“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
~ Chief Seattle
Source: barefootsworld.net: CHIEF SEATTLE'S LETTER

Image: Quote by Chief Seattle, “This we know: the earth does not belong to man…” 

Source: www.plentifulplanet.com

Related Links:
Earth Day Canada
Earth Day Network
PeapodLife

World Wetlands Day 2015: Wetlands for Our Future

Image: WLE Postcard (back/front) highlights ecosystem services provided by Southeast Asian wetlands
Source: http://wle.cgiar.org/blog/2015/02/02/wetland-ecosystem-services/  
February 2nd 1971, the Convention of Wetlands was adopted and began the annual tradition of celebrating World Wetlands Day.

This year, the International Water Management Institute, or IWMI, has marked the occasion with the theme, Wetlands for Our Future, a photo contest, and communication materials available for download.  

In addition, they have produced the following infographic which highlights how broad-reaching the impacts of wetlands are on all of us.

Image: IWMI Infographic “Wetlands at Work” Source: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/infographics/infographic-wetlands-at-work.pdf

What is particularly telling is the foundational impact of wetlands on ecosystems.

The Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) and International Water Management Institute are a part of CGIAR—A Global Agricultural Research Partnership.

CGIAR research partnerships focus on reduction of rural poverty, improvement in food security, nutrition and health, and sustainability in managing natural resources.

What International Wetlands Day signifies is the recognition that ecosystems are the backbone of sustainable agriculture, and that ecosystems themselves have a foundation—wetlands…water.

More than anything else, wetlands produce living water. This ionized energy-rich flow is capable of supporting massive plant and animal populations, in addition to providing naturally filtered water for human consumption, so long as it is an agricultural ecosystem.

What wetlands cannot support (what no living system can support) is industrial agriculture model built on a paradigm of exploitation.

Any attempt to use wetlands as a “silver bullet” to support inherently unsustainable western-style industrialized agriculture is doomed to fail. Trying to bring increased productivity and efficiency to the rural poor using an anti-ecosystem model, supported by what can only support ecosystems, is folly.

That said, opportunities do exist to uncover and embrace nature’s modus operandi, thereby producing everything required by local populations in environmentally responsible and sustainable ways. In other words, to comprehend how wetlands and other ecosystems interact, and use that comprehension to enable those systems to flourish naturally. 

Any exploitative model, however ingenious it may seem, will be in a constant state of conflict with the underlying natural world which seeks harmony and symbiosis. An ecosystem approach, built on harmony and symbiosis, will be met by nature as an ally, and will be supported by nature to succeed.

It’s an infinitely complex process summed up by a very simple fact. All research in this area should be focused on restoring humanity’s harmony and symbiotic relationship with the ecosystem—wetlands included. How can we contribute and support ecosystem (as oppose to “exploit and manage” resources).

A Garden to Create Peace? Reverse Climate Change?

Watch more news videos | Latest from the US 

Video: ABC News 

Source: Video: abcnews.go.com: ABC News Source: Go Green With Your Own Indoor Garden

“A weed is but an unloved flower.”

― Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Source: goodreads.com: Goodreads Quotes About Gardening

Can a garden create peace? Reverse climate change? Are botanists the answer to world peace? And is science the “objective language” of peace and harmony?

Genesis Eco Fund can’t help but question the validity of some of the opinions / conclusions expressed by Dr. Peter Raven in the above video. As a matter of fact, his oversimplification of matters is typical of the kind of “scientific thinking” which causes so many of the problems we live with today.

For starters, we must make the distinction between a garden and an ecosystem. Dr. Raven seems to completely overlook the fact that nature’s basis for collective harmony and symbiosis is the ecosystem.

“Well-kept gardens” are entirely manmade phenomenon which, for the most part, offer humanity “tidied-up versions of nature,” or expressions of nature free of our subjective aesthetics of “ugliness” and “wildness.”

We so-called human beings like to think of ourselves as above all that “wildness” so we craft gardens in the image we have of ourselves: clean, ordered, flawless, perfect…like the legendary Garden of Eden itself.

So right away we see a problem. Gardens are not real. They are a projection. Gardens immediately provide a stripped down, sanitized, façade of nature—and heaven forbid any unwanted “pests” (members of nature) decide to come take up residence in our garden. Woe is them.

The second aspect of gardens and gardening is this misplaced idea that we are here to “lord over nature.” That somehow, without our direct intervention, nature won’t be able to evolve. At best we see ourselves as custodians of the natural world, at worst nature’s lord and master.

But it’s really all the same thing: our collective unconscious avoidance of self-control. The nature we are meant to be lord and master over is our own wild nature—anger, lust, pride, greed, etc. By assigning ourselves the role of taming the nature around us, we happily avoid looking at ourselves.

Which brings us to this question of can a garden create world peace? Ridiculous! You cannot go anywhere in the world and not encounter beautiful gardens! The trouble is, they are aesthetic; and aesthetics are the best anesthetic.

Some of the most beautiful and opulent gardens in the world happen to be owned by the wealthiest, most heartless bankers and industrialists—if not despots and tyrants!

Image: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon 

Source: water-is-life.blogspot.com: Water Is Life: The Decline Of Glorious Babylon

At the end of the day, then, this notion of creating world peace (or solving global warming) via gardens is a naïve utopian concept: simultaneous ego-projection and avoidance of the true source of our problems and suffering: ourselves; our own psyche. The answers lie within.

So what about an ecosystem? How does an ecosystem differ from a garden? For starters, an ecosystem is not an esthetic exercise. It’s beauty is there, but its beauty is primal, elemental…objective. The ecosystem is whole and complete—and messy. It is not carefully groomed, sanitized, etc.

More importantly, an ecosystem is collective harmony and symbiosis. Its functioning and energetic field reflects the fact that it is in a constant state of balancing. Unlike a garden which can only fall into “chaos” and must be “kept,” an ecosystem can self-organize, evolve, adapt, and surprise.

When a “pest” enters a garden, it must be “eradicated.” When a new organism enters an ecosystem, it is accommodated.  Sometimes, a foreign invader is introduced which the ecosystem cannot fully handle (English hares and cane toads in Australia), but still the self-organizing, self-correcting, ever-balancing activities of the ecosystem go on.

No garden can compete with nature’s level of determination and sophistication. A pest can wipe out a garden in no time at all.  It takes decades for an ecosystem to collapse. Gardens have no resilience compared to ecosystems.  They are too rigid in design and lack adaptability. Of course! Gardens are reflections of our minds…our so-called “objective science.”

Here we come to the real problem of this video: the erroneous belief that the scientific method is objective, and that somehow science holds the keys to solving our collective situation—which is, let’s face it, dire. 

We hold in our minds “scientific concepts” about the nature of reality which are, like the gardens we create:

1. projections of our own psyche


2. sanitized, oversimplified, stripped down versions of reality


3. rigidly designed, lacking in resilience and adaptability


4. must be “kept” in order that they do not fall into “chaos”


5. are aesthetic, and thus act as a powerful anesthetic to the consciousness.

Image: “Mind Projection” 

Source: pharrah13.com: Pharrah13 Live Psychic Reading: Astral Projection

Our attachment to materialist science and our wonder in our own scientific splendor (i.e. technology) is like any other drug. The fact that science is so wrapped up in personal, professional and economic gain simply adds fuel to the fire.

For anyone to believe that science is objective is just that: a belief; the new religion of our world. Strange, we see science advancing in leaps and bounds, and our societal and global problems lock-step with it, in much the same way that the ascension of organized religion created more problems than it solved.

That’s because both science and organized religion still only play with concepts. They are games in the mind. Science worships aesthetics and like any exercise of pure aesthetics, it is completely void of conscience.  Aesthetics is the best anesthetic. Science as we know it puts the conscience to sleep.

So botanists, studying “the science of plants” fail to recognize that plants simply do not function in the way they think they do. A plant in nature behaves differently than a plant in the laboratory. Plants are not little “bio-chemical machines.” They are individual members on an ecosystem.

So there is a science of expanded conscience. The first step is to expand one’s awareness to ecosystems. To study and comprehend how nature achieves collective harmony and symbiosis in naturally self-organizing, self-sustaining, and self-balancing systems seems like the logical place to start looking for answers on matters of peace and harmony for humanity.

Likewise, in terms of sustainability, climate change reversal, etc., why not look to ecosystems which were around long before this humanity arrived and will be here long after we have gone? 

Gardens? Ecosystems!

EARTH DAY REFLECTION 2014: the Mechanical Approach versus True Sustainability Live Life Consciously in Harmony with Nature; Your Earth & the Whole Planet are Reborn!

Image by Genesis Eco Fund: Earth Day 2014 Reflection: Mechanical Approach v.s. Sustainable Approach

“A mechanical, systems-based approach can only produce more exploitation because its foundation is separation. True sustainability emerges when we consciously embrace an ecosystems-based approach.”
~ Wolfgang Amelung, Inventor & Co-Founder of Genesis EcoFund

Every Earth Day it’s the same thing: the world expounds in the virtues and necessities of saving the planet, and they point to the perils and evils of one kind of technology, while gushing over the benefits and glories of a different brand of technology, all the while missing the point entirely.

To truly comprehend the meaning of “Earth Day,” we must begin to comprehend that “the earth” has always had a second meaning as it applies to humanity. While this meaning is not exactly “hidden” in the strictest sense, it has been lost on most people.

“Earth” is another word for “soil;” the hume in the word hummus (a very “earthy” substance indeed); that is the stuff; earthstuff, if you will…the flesh of the earth. This sense of the word applies to the hume in human. In truth, the word human is a compound word meaning earth and mind (hume and manas).

Image: Earth, Hands  
Source: breisebreiseleighgoleire1969.wordpress.com: Breise! Breise! Extra! Extra!: News Headlines from around the world Septmber 11th 2011

In a very real sense, when we think about Earth Day, we should not avoid thinking of ourselves. 

But we do. We see ourselves as somehow separate from the earth when in truth, we are the earth; it is us. This is both a physical and metaphysical phenomenon: it is a reality in every sense and at every level.  It is not the whole truth, but it is far closer to the complete picture than modern science (or even contemporary religion, for that matter) comprehends.

And therein lies the problem. We separate ourselves into a distinct category (human world v.s. the natural world). We believe ourselves to be lords over nature: that it somehow is ours to do with as we please; subject to any and every monstrosity our mechanical minds can conceive of.

What we call progress and civilization, built on so-called human ingenuity and technology, has been at the expense of the earth; of nature; and our fundamental nature as earth! Our relationship with the planet is directly 1:1 analogous to our relationships with ourselves and each other.

Production, consumption, construction, destruction, addiction, affliction, subjugation, medication…anxiety, stress, SUFFERING.

And what’s our response? To continue the insanity, as Albert Einstein described it; that is, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Humanity believes so-called advanced technology—the same old linear, binary, mechanical systems-based approach made more complicated and sophisticated—will save it.  Economists actually believe they can achieve perpetual growth by returning indefinitely to the wellspring of efficiency.

All it takes is a conscious, honest, objective look within oneself and any and all of nature on this planet and in the vast expanse of the universe to know the utter tragicomedy of modern humanity’s thinking…nothing in the physical universe lasts forever: not even planets, stars or galaxies. 

So what’s the Answer?

It’s quite simple, really. We advance with a conscious appreciation of authentic nature. We throw away the crude linearity of a binary existence—the legacy of our mechanical systems-based approach—and embrace the infinite complexity of an ecosystems approach.

Instead of imposing a mechanical bias on nature (which is a crude and superficial understanding at best) and subjecting it to the unspeakable horrors such cold, heartless calculations create in the real world, we expand our consciousness and with objectivity embrace the reality of nature…ecosystems.

Only nature can create authentic sustainability. And even then, we must acknowledge and accept that the cycles of birth, death and sacrifice are fundamental to the nature of all things—ourselves, our civilization, and our planet is no exception.

The beauty is, once you start embracing an ecosystems approach—once you immerse yourself in the electromagnetic field of an indoor ecosystem and open your consciousness to your participation in it and relationship with it—you settle into the unavoidable laws of the universe…comprehension follows.

By comprehension we mean a deep, conscious appreciation and direct experience of the nature of yourself and all things; this is not an intellectual pursuit, and cannot be achieved by reading books or any other intellectual means. However, it can and must be experienced for real personal growth.

And, as it turns out, conscious comprehension and direct experience of the nature of ourselves and all things is the birthright of humanity, the dream of every living being, and represents the real “progress” and true sustainability for our individual earth, and the planet as a whole. 

This is the mission of Genesis Eco Fund, and our hope for you and the whole planet from this Earth Day forward.

To look at all this in a slightly different way, contemplate the following quotation which has been attributed to Chief Seattle, although according to Barefoot Windwalker it is neither “historically accurate, nor even something that Chief Seattle said” regardless…

“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
~ Chief Seattle
Source: barefootsworld.net: CHIEF SEATTLE'S LETTER

Image: Quote by Chief Seattle, “This we know: the earth does not belong to man…” 

Source: www.plentifulplanet.com

Related Links:
Earth Day Canada
Earth Day Network
PeapodLife

"My Green School Dream" (Ted Talk) - "The Greenest School on Earth"

 TED.com Video | John Hardy: My green school dream
Join John Hardy on a tour of the Green School, his off-the-grid school in Bali that teaches kids how to build, garden, create (and get into college)...
Credit: TEDGlobal 2010 • Session 5: Healthier Together • Filmed Jul 2010 • Posted Nov 2010

What John Hardy achieved in Bali, Genesis will help bring to your child’s school

“Our vision is of a natural, holistic, student-centered learning environment that empowers and inspires our students to be creative, innovative, green leaders.”
~ www.greenschool.org 

Welcome to the inaugural blog post for Genesis Foundation for Ecological Atmospheric Research.

Rather than fill this space with bland expositions on “who we are, what we do, etc.,” we’ll save all that for the website (which, at the time of this post is still under construction). Instead, this blog will be dedicated to sharing stories that matter to us—and you. 

Since part of the Genesis mandate is supporting education and helping children reestablish positive, mutually harmonious relationships with nature, we share the above TED Talk by Canadian designer John Hardy, founder of the Green School in Bali.

“The U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools awarded Green School the “2012 Greenest School on Earth“. This was an affirmation of the program we provide to enrich and nurture our students.”
~ www.greenschool.org

It shows. Here is a school which prepares children and youth for the realities of tomorrow, today. While most educational programs have emphasized material science and mathematics in order to “prepare tomorrow’s workforce,” Hardy’s Green Schools seek to prepare tomorrow’s human beings.

Green Schools seem to foster a more enlightened, well-rounded (one could even say holistic) sense of community, one which leaves space for individuals of all gifts and ability to make a positive contribution. For instance, while engineering and artistry (design) trump technical skills and craftsmanship in the west, John Hardy has built a successful international business on embracing both artistry and craftsmanship.

Teaching kids essential ecological knowledge and practical skills in sustainability via Green Schools is only the latest in John Hardy’s vision. For more, including an even more fascinating and beautifully filmed look into his world, see PeapodLife’s blog: Recreating Eden: Designing Paradise (Video)—Has John Hardy discovered the Ultimate Expression of “the PeapodLife” in Bali?

Genesis looks forward to connecting with the likes of John Hardy and all forward-thinking, NOW-acting individuals who recognize the essence of this famous warning for a humanity “addicted” to the status quo:

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”
~ Narcotics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous 
Source: goodreads.com: Quotes: Narcotics Anonymous