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| ~ ∞ ~ The Living Earth (Gaia) - Awaken the Living Awareness Within ~ ∞ ~ |
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As an extension of the previous chapter, concerning the ancient wisdom and its resurgence, it goes without saying that in a book like this, it is appropriate to pay a homage to the idea of the Living Earth (Gaia). For however small this chapter ends up being, doesn’t matter as much as showing respect to this important area. You see, it should have become clear by now, at this point in the book, that Earth is, indeed, one single living system, which regulates the chemistry and conditions of Earth’s surface in an “automatic” manner – as all living systems do.
This goes on to say that whatever happens in one part of the world is connected to what happens in another, sometimes imperceptibly, but nonetheless related to the whole. So when a butterfly takes off in the depths of the Amazon, its influence on the wind patterns of the world may be minute, almost beyond imagination, but it is making a contribution to homeostasis; the same is true of humans, of course, and our impact on the environment can be much more noticeable.
Sadly, in our hubris, we have forgotten that the Earth is our home, and even our mother – as most tribal cultures consider Earth to be. As such, we should show our mother (Gaia) gratitude, respect, and honor for her gift of life. Gaia is a very old name for Mother Earth, or Mother Nature. The mythical Gaia was the primal Greek goddess personifying the Earth, the Greek version of “Mother Nature,” or the Earth Mother. In Greek mythology, she birthed many of the major gods who ruled over different sections of the Earth.
Gaia is known as the nurturer, sustainer and giver of love to all who come to the goddess for support. She is known as the spirit of the Earth, plants, rocks and water. In the 1970’s James Lovelock reintroduced the Earth-mother concept through the medium of Ecology. He proposed that all living things are interrelated within the self-regulating systems of the Earth, which provides the optimal conditions to support life itself.
The modern approach to the idea that the Earth is a Living Being is called the Gaia theory. It explains that the Earth is a living system; that the Earth functions as a self-regulating system; that living and non-living parts of the Earth form a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism. It proposes that organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth – to form a synergistic self-regulating complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on Earth.
The idea of the Earth as an integrated whole – a Living Being, has a long tradition. Gaia hypothesis is the first comprehensive scientific expression of this profoundly ancient belief, which has been widely accepted by many scientists since the 1970’s – most notably, the acceptance comes from those who have the understanding that comes from another closely related area known as systems thinking. The most exciting part of systems thinking is applying the current achievements of system theory to Gaia theory (the living Earth theory).
Formulated by British atmospheric scientist James Lovelock, and American microbiologist Lynn Margulis – Gaia hypothesis states that the Earth’s climate and surface environment are controlled by the plants, animals, and micro-organisms that inhabit it. That taken as a whole, the Earth behaves not as an inanimate sphere of rock and soil, sustained by the automatic and accidental processes of geology, as traditional earth science has long maintained, but more as a biological superorganism – a planetary body that adjusts and regulates itself.
Fundamentally, the Gaia hypothesis finds the Earth to be more like a life form than an inanimate object adjusting to internal and external changes much as an organism might react to threats and opportunities in the environment. Lovelock likes to compare the Earth to a tree.
Lynn Marguilis, on the other hand, believes that micro-organisms and their constituent parts are as fundamental to life as atoms and subatomic particles are to matter and energy; meaning that bacteria – single-celled organisms without nucleus (the earliest life forms from which all other earthly organisms have evolved) are the building blocks of life.
Another closely connected area is something called Deep Ecology, which can be seen as a network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and interdependent. Deep ecology is a philosophical school of thought – founded by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess in the early seventies.
Deep ecology does not separate humans, or anything else from the natural environment – it does see the world not as a collection of isolated objects, but as a network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and interdependent. Deep ecology recognizes the intrinsic value of all living beings, and views humans as just one particular strand in the larger web of life.
Deep ecological awareness recognizes the fundamental interdependence of all phenomena, and that we are all embedded in the cyclical processes of nature; ultimately, deep ecological awareness is spiritual awareness, which goes on to say that when the concept of the Human Spirit is understood as the mode of consciousness, in which the individual feels a sense of belonging, of connectedness to the Cosmos as a whole – it becomes clear that ecological awareness is spiritual in its deepest essence, you see?
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~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~
Get the Book: Awaken the Living Awareness Within – Discover the Keys to Happiness, Inner Peace & Harmony
~ ॐ ~ Sambodhi Padmasamadhi ~ ∞ ~
Get the Book: Awaken the Living Awareness Within – Discover the Keys to Happiness, Inner Peace & Harmony
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Extra Material: Video: You're It - Alan Watts. Video description: "An inspiring and profound speech from the late Alan Watts. Speech extract from 'Zen Bones and Tales' by Alan Watts"
