sky to heaven - the invisible life.

You & the Earth are ONE.

When I was young, I used to walk in the rain without an umbrella, and back then, people only said, “Don’t walk in the rain, or else you might catch a cold.” But nowadays, people say, “Don’t walk in the rain, or else your hair is going to fall out.” In my lifetime, the rain has changed from being healthy to unhealthy. From safe to dangerous. From life-giving to life threatening. And who did this? We did. It was neither God or Nature – it was Man. We did this to ourselves.

And it’s not just the rain - but also the air. I live in a city, and every day I breathe air that’s dirty, dangerous, and disgusting. Eventually, something in my body will be affected. Something in my body will give out, and pay the price. Perhaps I’m already paying a price now. And who is doing this? We are.

And it’s not just the rain or air. We pollute the oceans and rivers with chemicals and waste. We pollute the earth with chemicals and waste. We even pollute our own bodies with chemicals and waste. And who produces these chemicals and waste and then pollutes it everywhere? We do.

Our own pollution is coming back to us now – for there is nowhere for it to go on this planet, but back to us. Cancer rates are rising. Health problems are increasing. More species are becoming extinct. Clean water resources are declining. Temperatures are climbing. Weather patterns are changing. Everything we do to the earth has a price. But we live as though somebody else will pay it and pick up the tab. And somebody else will. We all will – including our children and all those we love.

For it is a natural law of physics, chemistry, and of life - for every action, there is an equal and opposing reaction. What we have done to the earth in the past, is coming back to us now. And what we continue to do to the earth, will come to us in the future. If we continue to pollute the earth, the earth will pollute us. The earth can only give us what we give to it. So it is not so much the earth that harms us, as it is we who harm ourselves.

For you and the earth are one. Because you need the air, water, and food that the earth provides. Your life literally depends on them. Your life IS them. You need them to live the life you want to live – you need the earth to be you. It was always this way, and it will always be this way. You can no more say that you are not a part of the earth, than a star can say, “I am not a part of the sky,” or a tree can say, “I do not need the earth.”

Progress in Wisdom, not progress in Technology.

Perhaps you are a believer in technology as our savior. If I say there’s too much dirty air, you say invent a clean fuel or air filter. If I say there’s too much waste, you say recycle. If I say too many species are dying out, you say clone them. If I say, too many people are getting cancer, you say invent a cure. If I say, the earth will soon be uninhabitable, you say develop space technology and move to outer space.

For every problem, you propose a technological solution. Instead of simply ceasing the actions which produce the problem, you wish to invest enormous amounts of time, energy, and resources to invent solutions which may or may not work. For a smoker who is in danger of getting cancer, would you say find a cure for lung cancer? The easier, more cost-effective, common sense solution is to stop smoking. Stop the actions that create the problems. And so it is with our relationship to the earth – the solution is not to cure the earth of its ills, but for us to stop doing the damage.

Because technology is only as good as the people who use it are good. If the people who use it are not wise, technology will be destructive. There is a saying that goes,“Guns don’t kill people - people kill people.” This same principle is true for all technology. The problem or solution is never the technology, but the hearts & minds of men that use technology. And until the hearts & minds of men are at peace, then technology will be abused. For there have been many technological revolutions in human history, and yet little change in the destructive behaviors of our race. So it is not a revolution in technology that will save us from ourselves, but a revolution of our hearts and minds. The future of the human race depends not on the advancement of technology, but on the advancement of wisdom and peace. Peace with the earth and with ourselves.

Respect the Earth that gives you life.

Perhaps you think things are not yet so bad – that I am exaggerating. You want proof that the earth is seriously in danger before you change your lifestyle. You want proof that the human race is causing its own destruction before you change your ways. You think your request for proof is objective and rational. Forests are burning, animals are disappearing, the air is getting dirtier, more people are getting sick, and still you want “proof”. Destruction is occurring everywhere, and yet you still require “proof.” You want proof even though the signs are everywhere – in the air, water, food, and earth.

But I believe, if you need to ask for proof, then you don’t really want it. Because you don’t really want to change your life. You don’t want to think things are bad – because your life right now depends on it not being changed. You don’t want to change, because you think it’s difficult, inconvenient, and it means giving up what you have - even though right now the earth is undergoing difficult and inconvenient times, and it is already giving up much of what it has. And few people want to deal with such a global problem – because most of us feel we have enough problems to deal with in our own personal lives.

In the end, it is not a question of proof – but a matter of respect. If I went into your home and polluted your air, water, and food, would you still hold an objective and rational position and say, “You can continue polluting until there is proof of life-threatening damage”? Of course not, because you would instinctively know that my behaviors were destructive – you would not need “proof.” If I went to your home and cut down your trees and killed your animals, you would think I was not only disrespectful, but also unjustified, unkind, selfish, and even insane. You would wish, even demand, that I discontinue my actions immediately. And yet, this is exactly what is occurring right now in your own home.

But you do not think so, because your traditional idea of home does not include the earth – even though there is nowhere else for us to go on this planet but here. The air, water, food, and earth, give us all life – and so it is truly our home. Yet we dirty them instead of respect them. We think of them as just dead “things,” when actually they are the foundation of every-thing in our life. They give us our life – every moment you are alive. You think you are separate from these things, so you can do with them what you will – that you can pollute them, abuse them, control them, or ignore them as you please. But as long as your life depends on them, you are not separate from them. You and the earth are one.

Do unto the Earth, as you would have the Earth do unto you.

Do you feel sorrow? Do you feel depressed? Do you feel despair? You are not alone, for I can imagine that others may feel such things also. Perhaps the earth has a heart, and it too feels such things. And that would be natural, for you and the earth are one. But the earth would not have you feel these things for long, because sorrow, guilt, and regret are only the first steps towards change, not the last. Any wrongs that have been done, have already been done. It is not time to dwell on the wrongs that have been committed, but on the rights that can be made.

There is much work to be done if we are to change the cycles of destruction we have created. And I believe that most of this work is not in the outside world, but in the hearts and minds of humankind. I do not know what each person should or should not do, for each has their own purpose, task, and place - and must decide what they are. But I do hope that we as a race can learn to respect all things, as we ourselves wish to be respected by all things. That we take, use, and consume less of all things, so that we will have more – in the world outside, and inside ourselves. That we let most things be as they are, as we wish others to let us be as we are.

You may believe that these principles restrict your pursuit of happiness. Most of us believe to live simply is to suffer, for we equate living simply with living in poverty. But this is because most of us do not live in harmony with what is around us, and so we do not know the happiness that comes from harmony. Instead, we live in disharmony, which is why we know more of conflict, struggle, and unhappiness. For we equate freedom with doing what we please, when true freedom is a state of being which respects all things. If it is our wish to survive on this earth, we must do unto the earth as we would have the earth do unto us. For we and the earth are one.