Nature key to human success

Tuesday, November 3, 1998

Nature key to human success

ENVIRONMENT: Harmony with surroundings true path to more
complete existence

Yet another cycle of seasons has rushed along with the path of
our lives. It is already the fifth week of the fall quarter and my
summer vacation has become another relic in my cluttered museum of
memory.

It has been almost a year since the first warnings of the coming
El Niño were broadcast by the mass media. As the months raged
from fall to winter, this occasional media blurb soon grew, like a
demented tumor, into a perpetual hysteria.

Now that the dark storms of yesterday have twisted off to
torment other parts of the globe, we can collect ourselves and
reflect on the aftermath. It seems as though many portions of
Malibu and other coastal cities were swallowed into the fetid
bowels of the earth, and monstrous piles of wrenched metal and
shattered glass were added to the city’s automobile graveyards.

Although the winter storms did not amount to the apocalypse
prophesied by the animatron newscasters, the rains and wind did
throw an ample amount of chaotic mud into the churning machinery of
our city.

Bedlam, however, is not the only aspect of El Niño. The
Earth is a living, growing system; it constantly shifts and changes
to create homeostasis. Any natural events which do occur, even if
initially deadly, are part of the earth’s life cycle, just as your
coursing blood and decaying cells are facets of your existence as a
living being.

El Niño is one way in which the Earth initiates change and
growth; it is a regenerative process. The dead sea-life left behind
by El Niño is a fertile medium from which plankton and algae
flourishes. These elements are the foundations of life on this
planet as they are the starting point of nourishment for all life.
Moreover, when spring approached, the heavy rains brought by El
Niño left the ground moist and ready for growth.

Indeed, the animatron newscasters began warning people of the
increasing pollen count brought on the by the bumper crop of flora
left in El Niño’s wake. The storms may have caused hills to
slide and trees to fall, but in the end this disruptive change
planted the seeds of renewal. Just as the Earth is the unrelenting
destroyer, so is it a nurturing mother.

Unfortunately, not many of us saw El Niño that way.

The storms were more of a nuisance than a welcome sign of new
life. No one talked about changing patterns of behavior in a way
that would make the storm more bearable. Generally, not many people
understood that the change in the seasons represented a shift in
the ebb and flow of life on this planet; a shift that could be
followed to our benefit. We simply gritted our teeth and tried to
go on with our daily lives.

It was not always this way.

Many of us have ancestors who lived in pagan and shamanic
societies which followed the patterns of nature. Our ancestors
understood what many of us have forgotten.

Anthropology has focused on the discovery of tools as humanity’s
main achievement, the profound knowledge that finally propelled us
out of the cave. However, the discovery of tools was not our most
important discovery.

Rather, tools ushered in a new era of aggressive domination,
sexuality and domination; primal man’s lifting of the bone tool
represents the first act of phallic extension.

Imagine a feral, alpha male, beating his chest, wielding his
large bone tool and extending his range of dominance and territory
while symbolically claiming his virility and potency; his face
flushed and his genitals swollen from the exciting power endowed by
the tool.

When we stepped out of the cave and raised the bone tool, we
initiated a prototypical act that would be repeated by sexually
insecure emperors, soldiers and policeman everywhere. In
retrospect, our mighty tool seems more like an ironic mix of
tragedy and comedy than an overwhelming accomplishment.

Humanity’s most enlightening moment came from the understanding
of the cyclical, rhythmic patterns of the earth. When humanity
first consciously understood that the earth behaved in a cycle of
growth and decay, and that these patterns could be used as
guidelines for planning life, we attained our highest knowledge. We
began to realize our connection to something more vast than
ourselves. When our ancestors realized that humanity, like Earth,
existed in terms of cycles of growth and death, human consciousness
began to expand.

This realization revealed a plethora of knowledge and was the
birthplace of spirituality and science. (Did not astronomy come
from the pagan and shamanic beliefs in astrology?) Celebration of
the Earth’s cycles is the true "old time religion." Humanity’s
contemplation of the forces of nature brought the gift of wonder,
and offered a glimpse at the astounding possibilities of the
universe.

We have taken the knowledge given by nature and propelled
ourselves to an unparalleled throne of power. At first, like
children, we lacked the wisdom to properly utilize our newfound
knowledge. Being only human, the power of this knowledge blinded us
to limitation and responsibility; we indulged in the fantasy that
we were gods who were free to do what we pleased.

Hence, the ozone has holes. Scientists project that at our
current rate of consumption we have fewer than 50 years of
resources left. The rainforest is being destroyed to graze cattle
for hamburgers.

These harsh realities are the currency with which we have paid
for our godhood. Isn’t human civilization too old to still be
defecating all over the place? Has our growth been so minimal?

To do nothing to counteract atrocities is unacceptable. It is
time for us to emerge from our destructive ignorance and reawaken
to ancient truths. Let us find our way back to a conscious,
respectful connection to the Earth. I call upon all who are reading
to investigate your shamanic and pagan roots. Reject this current
culture that supports a disconnection from nature.

By returning to the teaching of our ancestors we can find a way
towards creative living on this planet. By expanding our
consciousness, as our ancestors did, we can return to harmony with
nature. I suggest investigating the philosophies of the Native
Americans or the ancient Mayans. These civilizations had no
poverty, never polluted rivers and never built concentration
camps.

In addition, curbing our incessant consumerism is a vital step
towards renewal. Break the addictive chain of buying. If we were to
refrain from making purchases for one day a week, the amount of
waste eliminated solely in terms of glass and paper packaging would
be enormous.

There are no inevitabilities as long as there is a willingness
to change.Alex Dong Ko

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