from Verse ElevenAs heaven reaches its heights and earth reaches its depths, as sun and moon shine, as the stars twinkle, as yin and yang harmonize, there is no contrivance in any of this. Make the way right, and things will spontaneously be natural.~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~
It is not yin and yang and the four seasons that give birth to the myriad beings; it is not timely showers of rain and dew that nurture the plants and trees: when the spirits are connected and yin and yang harmonize, then myriad beings are born.
If humanity disappeared from the face of the earth tomorrow, life would continue to evolve on this orb. We humans too often view the plane of existence through our eyes only. If something doesn't appear to be of value to ourselves or our kind, we consider it useless.But, as far as we know, ours is the ONLY species that struggles to live the Way. We're the only one that lives by contrivance. We're the only one that struggles throughout our lifetimes trying to discern our own nature and which paths to take. We're the only one who must make an effort to find that which we have lost -- Oneness, Tao.
And yet, despite all this, we believe our species represents the top rung of the ladder!
Such a delusion we share.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
I saw a Greenpeace protest 3 days ago. While well meaning and I support the general idea they were selling fear to people.
ReplyDeleteTheir T-Shirts read "Extinction is forever"
I had a few issues with this;
1) there is no such thing as forever
2) exactly the point you made over humanity not being the be all and end all, if we die, well, life goes on.
3) There is no proof whatsoever that given a few more million years a dinosaur would not re-evolve. - Given natures way though she more likely come up with something far more exotic.
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As for the post. Yes we are not in charge of the movements of the heavens or our own heart beat even. If we had charge over either then we really would make a mess. Everything is under control, everything is ok, the magic show is on and will not falter at our non-involvement, sit back, enjoy the ride.
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I still haven't had a copy of this book enter my path yet... It will..
In the overall scheme of things, I know you're correct. Nothing we humans will or can do will snuff out creation. That said, I still think we have responsibility to do as little damage as possible. Our actions could lead to the deaths of many current species of flora and fauna.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Carlin on "Saving the Planet" comes to mind. Maybe we are part of the universe's plan to make...plastic?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw
I'm doing my best for the environment, and currently heartbroken over some tree removal where I live...but a good laugh now and then helps.