Gaia’s Perspective On Life

Tenet #1.

All beings within this diverse community of life are equal and necessary. By virtue of their very existence, Life itself says that this is true. Otherwise, their existence is unnecessary. Each life form has a role to play, a means by which this earthly existence may be held in balance. This is how I self-regulate and sustain us all. This is how we all flourish and continue to evolve.

To destroy this biodiversity is to destroy existence.

It’s that simple. And that complex.

Human beings must find a better way to live. A way of existing along side of and in harmony with the rest of Life. This will require deep, wholesale changes on the part of humans living within industrial civilization. It will not be easy. Nothing worth while ever is. But it must be done. Whether it happens willingly, or is forced upon you, is up to the culture as a whole. But either way, it will happen. You will learn to live sustainably, in harmony with all life, or you will eventually perish, no doubt taking a great many other life forms with you on your way out.

You already Know what to do. You’ve just forgotten.

Please remember.

Soon.

Tenet #2.

The gift of time, the period in which you get to experience physical existence, is paramount. When your time is done, it’s done. No amount of begging, bartering, or buying will change this fact. And no set amount of time has been promised. The gift comes with no warrantee. You get what you get. It is what it is. Use it wisely.

Squandering the gift of time is an affront to the very idea of Life, and to the many sacrifices Life must make in order for your existence to continue, day by day.

The majority of human beings, those who refer to themselves as so-called “civilized”, trade the lion’s share of their gift of time for the idea of money. Then they trade that money for food, shelter, clothing and the like. Which is okay, I suppose, to a certain degree. But most humans don’t stop there. They continue trading even more of their time, for more money, to trade for more things, which they don’t actually need. Things they simply desire. And this is where it gets dicey. How much of this precious time should one trade away in vain attempts to fill this bottomless pit of desire? Where does it end? What is the purpose? What is the point?

Wouldn’t your gift of time be better spent being in relationship with Life rather than being at work?

Think on this.

Think a lot.

Tenet #3.

What do I mean in declaring these three things as primary? Simply this. I can sit you down in your beautiful home, surround you with all of your beautiful things, provide you with every comfort, every form of entertainment, all that you could ever want or hope for. But if I then take away the air that you breathe, you will very quickly recognize its primacy. Minutes after that recognition, you will die. The same is true if I remove drinkable water from the equation. You will die within days. Without food, it may take a few weeks, but the outcome is the same.

And yet, every single day, humans literally dump untold tons of poisons into the air and water and onto the food I grow, expecting me to deal with it. Expecting me to clean up their messes and continue to provide breathable air, drinkable water, and edible food. How logic such as this can seem sane to otherwise rational human beings is beyond me.

And please don’t say that YOU would never do these things. Don’t give me that tired argument about how it isn’t you, it’s other people that do these things. Bad men. Faceless corporations. The machine.

Bullshit. You are guilty, even if only by your complicit, willing silence.

You can do better than this. You ARE better than this.

Tenet #4.

It’s all about relationships. The giving and receiving between one thing and another. That’s what makes all of life work. That’s what makes life sustainable. Life is always seeking balance between its myriad of polarities. Everything exists in relationship to everything else, and all of it must exist in some form of harmony.

Human beings are deeply out of balance with life. Their relationship to the rest of the natural world is based solely on dominance and control. They see all non-human life as nothing more than resources to be exploited for human benefit. They take far more than they give, and far more than they need. They trash the land. They trash the oceans. They kill whatever they please, be it trees, wolves, elephants or giraffes. If it’s in the way, cut it down. If it occasionally eats one of your livestock, kill it. If it makes you feel like a big man to hang its head on your wall, kill it. No other justification needed.

Seriously?

Tenet #5.

Belonging, Love, Kindness and Acts of Service. These are the big four. Within these things may be found true happiness, as well as both inner peace and the greater outer peace you all so desperately seek. All else is secondary.

All beings have the need to belong to something greater than themselves. A need to be seen, heard, and accepted for who they are. All beings experience the need to give and receive love, to be treated with kindness and understanding, to be respected and feel valued. These things are not merely esoteric thoughts or niceties. These are the true motivators for everything we do beyond basic survival.

Human beings, with their over-blown sense of entitlement, their propensity for drama, their vulnerability to depression, and their misguided belief that their own wants and needs reign supreme above all other beings, are especially susceptible to deep feelings of loss when love, belonging, and kindness are found lacking in their lives. This can lead them to despair, selfishness, and closed hearts. They may build walls around their lives, trying in vain to insulate themselves from the pain this type of separation makes them feel. They do this even as the small voice inside tells them that this is no way to live, that there must be more to it than this.

And they’re right.

There is a better way.

There is a sure-fire path leading from the dark forest, straight back to the warmth of the sun, back to love, back to belonging, to kindness. It is the path of Service, or rather, the Act of Service. Service to another. Service to a cause. Service to the Earth. Pick one. Pick them all. Just do it. Acts of service to other are the quickest way out of your own shit, and the best way to re-find both your lost sense of purpose and meaning, and a renewed sense of belonging and even love. And not coincidentally, it is also a pathway back toward learning to live in balance and harmony.

This is true whether you choose to believe it or not believe it.

It’s true whether you come to understand it, or refuse to even try.

But why not try?