Smart Planet, Foolish Choices

by Swami Beyondananda

I had a dream that the Earth wasn't feeling well and went to see a doctor.  

"Doc," said the planet, "I'm feeling depleted.  My water tastes funny, I have terrible-smelling gas, and there's this premature bald spot in my ozone layer.  I figure I must be running some kind of fever, because I've been awfully warm lately.  And I'm getting those tremors more often."

"Hmm," said the doctor.  "About how long have you been having these symptoms?"

"Not long.  Just for the past hundred years or so.  But recently it's gotten worse, especially those violent flares up around my hot-spots."

"Well, you definitely show signs of mineral loss and lack of oxygen. You've been overmined, and consequently you've been undermined.  Looks like you got a pretty nasty case of People.

"People?  Isn't that a benign condition?" the Earth asked.

"Well," replied the doctor, "it was, for many thousands of years. People lived in relative harmony with other organisms. and their numbers were kept in check.  But there must have been some mutation because People are now the most dangerous parasite the Earth has ever known, consuming everything in sight, and leaving behind abnormal growth and toxic waste."

Naturally, the Earth wanted to know whether the condition is curable.

"Yes, it is," the doctor said.  "There's a warm solution anyone can make that will dissolve all toxicity.  And that is --"

But I never finished the dream.  Unfortunately, my hotel radio alarm was set to a radio talk show and I was abruptly awakened by somebody's barking dogma.  All day I pondered the dream.  Yes, it was clear that People were indeed the problem.  For one thing, there's already too many of us, and more of us arrive every day.  Do you realize that if all the women of childbearing age on the planet were laid end-to-end -- we'd end up with even more children than we have now?  All it takes is for undulating and ovulating to occur at roughly the same time, and just like that you've sprung off some offspring.  No wonder we are eating our host out of house and home.

And our petrochemical dependency has fouled the air.  If he were alive today, do you know what Franklin D. Roosevelt would say?  First thing he would say is, "Boy, do I feel OLD!  Geez, I must be 120 or something!" Next, he would probably say:  "We have nothing to fear, but atmosphere itself."  And clearcutting?  It's clear-cut insanity!  It's put us out on a limb, and we've continued cutting without noticing which side of limb we are sitting on.

That next night, I went back into the dream state with the intention of asking the Earth exactly what the doctor ordered.  So naturally, I dreamed I was a talk-show host and had the Earth as my guest.  I said, "You know, you're a pretty smart planet.  But clearly, we humans have tried to outsmart you and have made some foolish choices.  What do you suggest we choose instead?"

And the Earth replied, "Three things.  Diversity, moderation and love."  She elaborated on each of these, and I promised to convey her message to people everywhere. "Oh, and something else," the Earth told me, "I know that the military buzz cut has come back in style, but personally, I'm ready to let my forests grow long again.  So I would appreciate it if you tell the folks that clearcutting is no longer in fashion, thank you."

So, mea culpa.  You-a culpa.  We all a-culpa.  Now what do we do it about it?  We have been the problem and now it's time we applied the solution.  Here is what the Earth suggested:

DIVERSITY.  The Earth was very upset about species loss and warned, "You are gambling with a paradise!  What if I had put all my money on the dinosaur, where would we be today?"  In diversity, we see that every species and indeed every individual is irreplaceable.  I know this sounds odd, but each of us is one-of-a-kind.  That's right.  You are utterly unique -- just like everyone else.  When we truly get how extraordinarily odd each of us is, we will lose interest in trying to get even. 

MODERATION.  The Earth has been fairly temperate, providing us with a pretty decent climate.  But lately, with all the tempers flaring, the climate has become quite uncomfortable.  We definitely need to moderate our consumption, and put our emotional energy to better use.  Just think -- if we channeled our frustration by practicing tantrum yoga, we could save energy by using our anger to heat our home in the wintertime.  And with our anger released, we could live like nomads -- that's where I nomad at you, you nomad and me, and consequently, there is nomadness on the planet.  When we live the nomad lifestyle, we are able to move more freely with a minimum of baggage -- so we use up fewer resources.

LOVE.  That was the part of the dream that I missed.  Love is the solution that dissolves all of our problems.  So here is the doctor's prescription:  Every evening, dissolve all the stresses of the day in a warm solution of love.  And in the morning, do the same to dissolve all fears and anxieties.  Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," and maybe now is the time to launch a blisskrieg the likes of which the world has never seen.  It's a question of evolution:  Can mankind treat man kindly?  There's no better time to find out.

About the Author

Hear the Swami’s wisdom with your own ears -- just click onto www.beyondananda.com. To find out more about Swami’s products and appearances on the "outernet", call 1-800-SWAMI-BE.

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