RE: ecovillage and sustainability

Tom,

 

Very nice… worth pinning up and re-reading a few times :-)

 

Thx,

 

Les

 

  _____  

From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 8:24 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Ecobal]ecovillage and sustainability

 

Dear Friends,

As to establishing "principles" for permaculture and community building, I
would suggest that a law of diminishing returns quickly sets in as such
principles are elaborated and ramified.

Let's keep it simple. Here is a short principle, precept, and practice that
people can easily memorize, and that can serve as a reliable guide to
context-sensitive practice in community-building and planetary healing:

Principle: "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a
single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all
indirectly."--Martin Luther King, Jr. The Universal Dharma and the essence
of Gaian consciousness in a nutshell.

Precept: Take care of everyone, and abandon no one. Take care of everything,
and abandon nothing. --Lao Tzu. The ethical implications of the Universal
Dharma, essential if we are to avoid toxic tribalism (a war of all against
all for diminishing resources). Does not preclude taking care of each other
first, but ultimately, any community must strive to become a "community
without boundaries," engaged with, and not isolated from nor hostile to, the
rest of humanity or the rest of life. 

Practice: 
Breathe, Observe, Let Go.
Be well, Do Good Work, Keep in Touch. (with gratitude to Garrison Keillor)
Learn Gaia, TeachGaia, Heal Gaia, Create Gaia.

To unpack it a bit, the first three injunctions--the essence of meditation
practice--are our starting point, to which we can always return; they
provide the foundation for a worthy life and for any spiritually grounded
community:

Breathe: Simply draw your attention to your breath, in and out. Breathe
slowly, from the diaphragm, and keep your attention focused on the sound and
sensations of the air rushing in and out, and the pauses in between. Think
of your breath as your home base-a "safe place" to which you can always
return, no matter what is going on around you, or inside your own head. This
is the quickest, easiest way to restore calm and equanimity when you are in
any way agitated or distracted.

Observe: Sooner or later, after you return to your breath, thoughts,
sensations, images, or other distractions will draw your attention away from
your breath. When this happens, neither yield or resist-just quietly observe
the distraction for what it is. You might even try naming it, e.g. "pain in
my left side" or "music" or "anxiety about my work"-as a way of observing it
calmly without identifying with it.

Let Go: Once you have transformed a distraction from an obsession (i.e.
something you are caught up in) into an "object" whose presence you have
simply observed, you can, when you are ready to do so, simply let go of it,
and return to your breath.  This is the essence of meditation: you breathe
in order to observe, you observe in order to let go, and you let go in order
to breathe. Repeat as often as necessary until you regain a deep inner calm
and equanimity-"the peace which passeth all understanding."

The next three injunctions comprise a generic daily agenda-three vows to
ourselves to cultivate mindfulness and compassion in all our activities:

Be well: If you have followed the above instructions diligently-breathing,
observing, and letting go-you are already "well"-no matter what physical
afflictions you might have. This is a good time, then, to renew your vow to
take good care of yourself-to "be well" in body, mind, and spirit. Physical
wellness is maintained, of course, through regular rest, good diet, and
exercise. Mental wellness is simply the attitudes born of inner
equanimity-kindness, patience, diligence, tolerance, openness, and
gentleness. Spiritual wellness is acceptance of that that is; it is being
able to say "Thy will be done"-and mean it.

Do Good Work: Once you have re-established "wellness" it is time to renew
your vow to do what needs to be done, and do it well-for the sake of your
self, your loved ones, your community, and all of life. "Good Work" always
has two complementary aspects: Arête and Agapé. Arête is doing things
well-doing it in order to do it, with mindful attention to detail. Agapé is
"right livelihood"-working for the right reasons-to promote the health,
competence, and adaptive flexibility of yourself, your family, friends, and
colleagues, community, society, and all of life.

Keep in Touch: The third personal vow to renew, once you have regained the
equanimity to do so, is to take care of everyone and abandon no one-that is,
to be attentive at all times to the inner and outer needs of others-both
those close to you and complete strangers. Remembering that nothing you've
done or failed to do in the past has any necessary effect on what you choose
to do right now, this vow presents you with a good opportunity to do that
good deed that you have been putting off for whatever reason-to make
"keeping in touch" an integral part of your generic daily agenda.

The final four injunctions are enable us to establish or renew a worthy life
agenda; they can be viewed as an elaboration of "doing good work" and
"keeping in touch;" standing goals around which to organize our life plans,
whether for a day, a week, a decade, or a lifetime:

Learn Gaia:  Everyone you see, and every situation you encounter, is your
teacher, so be ready at all times to learn. Make learning-of new skills, new
knowledge, or new insight-a lifetime project. Try not to let a day go by
without learning something worthwhile about the nature of  life, of
community, of ourselves. It keeps life forever fresh and interesting, no
matter how old you are, or what your circumstances may be.

Teach Gaia: Everyone you see is potentially your student, so be ready at all
times to teach. Your learning is ultimately useless and will die with you
unless you also make an effort, whenever possible, and in whatever ways are
appropriate, to impart what you know to others-to share your knowledge and
experience, in order to improve the lives of others and to disseminate
knowledge about sustainable practices.

Heal Gaia: Everyone you see may be hurting in some way, so be ready at all
times to heal. You don't need special medical or psychological skills to be
a healer; it just takes sensitivity to others' needs and a willingness to be
there for others when they need you, and leave them alone when they want to
be left alone. But also devote your life and community to healing the land
and water, healing the social fabric, healing our precious living planet.

Create Gaia: Everyone you see may need your special gift, so be ready at all
times to create. We often delude ourselves into thinking "I'm not creative,"
but this is a lie; there is creative potential in all of us. Our task is to
discover our own special gifts, and then put them to use for the well-being
and inspiration of others and for all of life.

Finally, don't fret if you have thus far failed to live up to any or all of
these vows-to be well, do good work, keep in touch, learn, teach, heal, and
create. Think of them as asymptotic goals, for which you continually strive,
without attaching yourself to outcomes. You are always free to start anew-by
breathing, observing, and letting go-because you have the present moment in
which to do so, and the present is all there is.

--Tom