Is the environment the new opiate for the masses?
The Armchair Guru speaks….
Over lunch this weekend we had a discussion about the weather, the environment and global warming. No-one around the table was quite sure what the impact of global warming was. Before you think, d’oh don’t you know, do you really know what you are talking about?
Scientists continue to debate the impact and governments continue to make policy based on an idea that something not so good is going on with the environment. Fear of natural resources running out, a fear of over population, a fear of the end of the world and humanity.
I agree something is going on, but question the underlying doom and gloom. It’s not very spiritual or very conscious to breed fear and of course goes totally against any spiritual law on abundance. If you believe in lack you are going to get lack, your reality is what you believe and put faith in. That is the crux of the law of attraction and the law of creation. And as a side note, abundance isn’t just about money and personal wealth; it can be applied to overcome the perceived lack that the environmental challenges purport to present!
As the wine flowed over lunch and even after the conversation had moved on I couldn’t let go of the idea that the environment has become the religious vanguard.
I have 3 bins with my house and I religiously separate the rubbish and waste so it goes into the right bin. Blue is for recycling, brown for compost and green for the naughty stuff that sadly ends up in landfill sites. I always feel very guilty when I lift the lid on the green bin. It’s like somehow I have failed in my duty to the planet and the future. My social conscious has been deviant and I feel unethical. But this is all duality nonsense. It’s based on competition and segregation, an ‘us and them’ mentality, a heaven and hell. It is where something is right or wrong and where someone has to be blamed, or held as wrong in order to be right.
Hell was once the domain and control arm of religious bodies and I am sure still is in certain religious circles, that has been given a modern day twist through the story of the environment. Now instead of hell as an afterlife, the fear is there will be no future life. If we do make it, it’s certain to be hard and perhaps even apocalyptic. No water, no fuel, more weird weather, fewer animals in the food chain, tribal communities losing their way of life, corporations making profit from other people’s misery and pain… the list could go on.
Global warming: the new Armageddon and the Devil rolled into one
Now don’t get me wrong; I am not suggesting that I am not into recycling. Nor am I saying that I don’t care about the planet, people and the future. I was brought up wearing dresses that once used to be curtains and table clothes. The 1970s was a great time to reuse and take care; it was tied to the frugality of living which was considered post war. It remains ingrained in my conscience thanks to my mother, and I don’t like waste. I can always think of something to do with that empty jam jar!
What I am confused about is the ‘saving the planet’ part and the belief that natural resources, known or unknown, will run out. It doesn’t make sense; it doesn’t sit with the beliefs I have about the universe. I am not unique with my beliefs in spirituality yet the environment is often seen as outside of it and a representation of the sins of man.
It does surprise me that we replace an idea of a once fearful and vengeful God with a punishing planet. This planet who is going to catch up with mankind and make us pay for all the years of indulgence and downright decadence.
I am not burying my head in the sand and I am not delusional because I have a different understanding. I think there is a lot of fear and nowadays about the environment. If you don’t recycle, if you don’t believe in renewable fuels and support the investment of such things then you are a pariah. You are someone who doesn’t care or get it. People have no qualms in telling you so either with passion and anger as their finger points and lets you know that you are someone who doesn’t care about the future of the human race, planet, the weather and stuff in general.
My understanding about the planet is that she, yes she is a ‘she’ our Mother Earth, is a sentient living being. For aeons groups of people have honoured the earth and had a relationship with her. If we are to indoctrinate about how modern society is killing the future while pining for life as it once used to be when people ate less, grew their own, and didn’t use cars as much or feel the need for long haul flights, then maybe there is something of significance in how Mother Earth was viewed back then too?
It’s just a thought and something that I feel is more relevant than the punitive way we are made to feel wrong, guilty and culpable. The environment is not outside of spiritual law. It also isn’t the the blot on our record as we are led to believe. It seems as if the collective need to feel helpless and not good enough has found a new home.
If you see Mother Earth as a sentient being who like us is growing, making mistakes, wanting to try different things and have different experiences, then it is easier to see why saving her is not necessary. It doesn’t provide the right intention for all the ‘green activity,’ and anything driven by fear doesn’t give you peaceful or joyous results. Fear simply breeds fear! Instead it is about the relationship and type of relationship we have with Mother Earth that counts.
What is actually needed is cooperation and a new level of understanding to emerge. Without the emergence of cooperation we have a situation where there is confusion and control. People do things because they are told to or because they are afraid of the consequences; taxes, fines, boycotts to name but a few. Of course there are those who rebel and do nothing because they react to being told what to do and some who simply don’t care.
Like religion used to be in older times and still is in certain parts of the world, the direction the environment sentiment is moving in is something no-one feels brave enough to challenge publicly. In challenging it here I am not saying I don’t care about the future of mankind, animals or the planet! I just don’t believe it is bleak at all. Species have become extinct forever just as men, women and children die. It is a cycle of life not a sign of the end of the world.
I have no panics about the planet; she does her stuff like I have been doing mine for the last 30 something years.
While the scientists continue to argue about what is going on, and countries pick and choose responses and argue about who should be doing more and paying for environmental sins, my advice is to simply wake up to being responsible and not helpless. Think back if you are inclined to, to your understanding of abundance and like attracting like and stop believing and fearing a mystical or mysterious environmental punishment. Stop thinking about doom and gloom and start to accept that Mother Earth is wiser than you could possibly know. Being responsible requires one to think rather than have others think for you!
Opt for a belief system and pattern that allows for cooperation, not control or blame, when it comes to environmental matters. Cooperation really is the new black for 2012 if you ask me!
The responsibility to cooperate with Mother Earth is of course with each of us but that isn’t a good enough reason to be (a) scared or (b) waggling fingers at anyone, as if you do, you become part of the energy you want to resolve. In other words you become part of the ‘problem.’
To create a rosy future you need to start with the acceptance that it is possible. Don’t buy into anything else as it will not lead to a rosy future. But belief and acceptance is just part of it, there is action too. The energy of cooperation and responsibility requires action if for no other reason than the fact that we are not cooperating or being responsible with Mother Earth just yet!
The globe may be warming with mixed outcomes that can’t be truly agreed upon and I can see things are changing for both people and flora and fauna, but I just don’t agree that the consequences will be grim.
Do your bit and care about what you choose to. Where you want to be more directly involved with environmental change so we can start having a relationship based cooperation and responsibility with Mother Earth, remember to come to that action without the fight, blame or the need to be right!
This Armchair Guru is off to recycle now; not because my local council tells me I have to but because I want to and I love seeing my jam jars being put to good use!
About Sarupa Shah, The Armchair GuruSarupa Shah is The Celebrities Soul Agent and the owner and founder of The Soul Agency which supports individuals in creating global impact. The Soul Agency works with entrepreneurs and leaders across the globe who want to put soul and spirit back to where it matters and create a legacy of love for the planet. Connect at www.sarupashah.com or FANCY FACEBOOK PAGE Sarupa has recently started writing under the brand of The Armchair Guru, bringing conscious change to the masses and providing the spiritual perspective to current affairs and global issues ranging from the economy to the environment! Sarupa lives in London and loves being a vegetarian!
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2 Responses to Is the environment the new opiate for the masses?
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The powers that be certainly know how to manipulate environmental issues to push agendas, just like in the past they used religion and mysticism to do the same thing!
Jon I lovingly typed…Conservation and the community
Twitter: conservationjob
Totally agree Jon! I am pretty sure they don’t mean it harmfully but the outcome of control from fear is always the same…harmful!
Twitter: sarupashah