Bear's Blog

In its broadest definition, the earth means the planet and everything it supports. Animals, plants, rocks, microbes, insects, the atmosphere, the surface and all that rumbles below it. The saying “everything between heaven and earth” speaks to that, and includes the cosmos! Part of the big picture, the actual earth - the soil - is so basic it's taken for granted. It’s literally the ground we stand on, but doesn’t get as much attention as polar bears, butterflies or birds.

It’s easy in the man-made environment to not step on open ground every day. In the city we need to be intentional about it. We are urged to ground ourselves these days for good reason. The main definition of “ground” is the basis for something. Grounding means integration with our physical bodies, and connecting to the larger whole. A reference point that helps us discharge any chaotic energies and come into coherence.

An electrical grounding device is a “low-resistance path to flow back to the source and prevent damage.” A completion of a circuit. On every electrical utility pole there is wire that makes direct contact with the earth. If we never ground ourselves, we are in our minds, living in electromagnetic fields that are highly changeable and unstable.

For corporations the crust, or mantle, of the earth is another resource to exploit. It’s a medium for growing food and a storehouse of minerals to be turned into profit. In both cases, the “resource” is degraded and depleted. Soil is beyond profit and loss; it's essential to life on earth.

Underneath the surface where plants are rooted, there is a vast network of fungal microbes, single cell organisms that can absorb nutrients directly from the environment. They communicate with each other, exchanging nutrients, antibodies and water as needed. They organize to nourish and protect the life above ground.

Is that a sign of intelligence? Do they signal each other like the neurons in our brains do? The amino acid glutamate is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the human brain. It’s also present in the fungal network, traveling through the medium of soil to resource trees, plants and many other forms of life.*

Earth Day was started in 1970 when big oil companies were starting their disinformation campaign. After 55 years not much has changed. LIke the gun lobby, they've thrown enough money at elected officials to prevent any meaningful legislation to curb them. That corruption helped to usher in the age of oligarchy, leading to its most recent incarnation. 

This year’s Earth Day theme is “Our Power, Our Planet” to stress the importance of increasing renewable energy sources (we are, in fact, powered by the earth in every way!) This day is meant to raise public awareness and pressure the political establishment to address environmental concerns. As if protecting our main source of sustenance is political! Greed has disrupted humans’ reciprocal relationship with the earth.

 The climate crisis is existential, weighing heavily on the minds and hearts – and shoulders – of young people. If we destroy this planet there are no real alternatives  (looking at you, Mars!) What will be the ultimate outcome? The earth will always support life, just not every kind of life. Ask the dinosaurs…

Native Americans not only understood their reliance on the earth, but celebrated that interconnectedness, recognized it as sacred. The relationship is one of kinship – that all beings are our relatives. In Buddhism we use the phrase “all beings” a lot. That includes everything - even microbes!

Peace, love and healing -

Bear

*From “Finding The Mother Tree” by Suzanne Simard, a book I highly recommend! (I am voting with my $, and urge you to buy directly from a bookstore if possible.)

If you want to get more involved, Sadhguru has put out the call with his organization Save Our Soil (SOS).

If you haven’t already, watch ”Don’t Look Up”! In the film the world ends when an asteroid hits, but the main culprit is human ignorance, greed and denial. Truly hilarious, it points to the absurdity – and danger – of the current moment.