(From da Net)
Unusually for Papal teaching, this encyclical is not just addressed to Roman Catholics but to everyone on Earth“every person living on this planet,” calling on all humans to help save the planet that the Pope says we are in danger of destroying.
Pope Francis blames ‘human selfishness‘ for global warming
Pope calls for a radical change in behaviour to save the planet for future generations.
In the letter, he urges the rich to change their lifestyles to avert the destruction of the ecosystem.
Humans to blame
The encyclical named “Laudato Si (Be Praised), On the Care of Our Common Home”, from the Canticle of the Creatures by St Francis, the patron saint of animals and the environment, whose name Jorge Bergoglio adopted when he became Pope, aims to inspire everyone – not just Roman Catholics – to protect the Earth.
The 192-page letter, which is the highest level teaching document a pope can issue, lays much of the blame for global warming on human activities.
Using sometimes dramatic language about the Earth, Pope Francis writes: “We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will.
“The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life.”
He highlights the loss of biodiversity in Amazonian rainforests and the melting of polar glaciers.
He criticises what he calls a “collective selfishness“, but says that there is still time to stop the damage, calling for an end to consumerism and greed.
The questions the Pope puts at the heart of the document are: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” and the profound moral and existential question: “What is the purpose of our life in this world? What is the goal of our work and all our efforts? What need does the earth have of us?“
Pope Francis believes that unless mankind struggles with the deeper issues, human concern for ecology will not produce any significant results.
He believes that we can do more to prevent climate change.
His encyclical backs scientists who say global warming is mostly man-made, and says that developed countries have a particular responsibility to stop creating the damage to the Earth and its climate that will hurt the poor the most.
It was a theme he enlarged on at his weekly general audience.
“This home of ours is being ruined and that damages everyone, especially the poor.” “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth,” he writes.
“Mine is an appeal for responsibility… I ask everyone to receive this document with an open spirit.”
The Pope, however, thinks that it is not too late for mankind to change its ways: “Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home.
The pope stated, “Human beings, while capable of the worst (– the demonic Ego-self factor), are also capable of rising above themselves (– the divine Higher Self factor), choosing again what is good, and making a new start.”
——————————————————————————————————————————
As an aside…
- Hear with Your Open Ears O good men! See with your Clear Mind’s Eye (– an Ego-Free no-mind state), and then (after independently and freely thinking for yourself, fearlessly) Choose your Path (– Good or Evil): every man or woman to set to Work Independently to make the Right Choice (through independent free-thinking in discerning the Right from the Wrong) by himself or herself, alone. Zarathustra’s 1st Sermon, c. 1600 BCE
- Listen with your open ears to the Best things (– the more elevating and morally superior thoughts/ideas). Reflect with a clear mind’s eye (– an Egoless no-mind state) – man by man for himself – upon the Two Choices of Decision and find out what you ‘Ought’ (– the Right Path — and what you ‘Ought Not’ — the Wrong Path), being aware to declare yourself to Him before the great retribution. Zarathustra – Avesta, Gatha 30.2
- Yes, there are Two Fundamental Spirits, renowned to be in relentless conflict. In thought, and in word, and in action they are opposites: the Better and the Bad. Of these Two, the wise (Ashavant – the ‘Noble Self’-aware righteous ones)choose aright but not so the (Dregvant — the ‘Beast Self’-blinded unrighteous) fools. Zarathustra – Avesta, Gatha 30.3
———————————————————————————————————–
Self-centred humanity
The encyclical is divided into six chapters, starting with a review of the current situation based on scientific findings, followed by a look at Judeo-Christian tradition, with the root of the problems analysed as being due to excessive “human self-centeredness“.
Pope Francis is keen to initiate a dialogue at every level of social, economic and political life, one that works on all levels: from the educational, to the spiritual, political and theological. Emphasized on the ‘Moral Approach.’
——————————————————————————————
Themes of the encyclical:
The intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the planet
The conviction that everything in the world is connected
The critique of new paradigms and forms of power derived from technology
The call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and progress
The value proper to each creature
The human meaning of ecology
The need for forthright and honest debate
The serious responsibility of international and local policies
The throwaway culture and the proposal of a new lifestyle
——————————————————————————————–
The Pope also states that “access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right”, and that the plants and animal species that are disappearing have a value in and of themselves.
And on the “perverse economy” and its inherently-flawed Model of Development, he makes clear his distaste for consumerism and waste, saying that “by itself the market cannot guarantee integral human development and social inclusion“.
Above all touching on the moral dimension, he makes clear that humans have become too self-centred, “focused exclusively on themselves and on their own power“.
This results in a “use and throw away” logic that justifies waste, environmental or human.
It is typical of this Pope that he should choose as his first major teaching not abstract theology, but an attempt to change something so fundamental to the future of all humanity and what he sees as all God’s creation.
Whether he can help move the Earth’s political and business leaders to act more quickly or persuade them to ask voters to change their first-world lifestyles is another matter
Pontiff determined to act as a catalyst for change, and a powerful diplomatic player on the world stage.
The release comes six months before international leaders gather in Paris to try to seal a deal to reduce carbon emissions.
“This will be fundamental,” says Neil Thorns, director of advocacy at Cafod (the official overseas development and relief agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.)
“The Pope has always sided with the poor. We all know in the rich world that we have caused this environmental problem.
“He is encouraging us all to do a number of things: to look at our lifestyles, the way we live our life.
“The Pope is also encouraging businesses to look at how they operate, and say to themselves, ‘Are we operating for the common good or just for profit?‘”
=======================================================
‘Enormous consumption’
In the paper, Pope Francis presents both scientific and moral reasons for protecting God’s creation.
He puts much of the blame for global warming on human activities, mentioning the continual loss of biodiversity in the Amazonian rainforest and the melting of Arctic glaciers among other examples.
The draft also says that developing countries are bearing the brunt of the “enormous consumption” of some of the richest.
Pope Francis calls for swift action to protect the Earth and fight global warming, puts much of the blame for global warming on “human activities.”
The pontiff calls on all humans – not just Roman Catholics – to prevent the destruction of the ecosystem before the end of the century and to establish a new political authority to tackle pollution.
This is not just an issue involving scientific, economic and political dimensions, but even more critically – the Moral Dimension– wherein alone, the Permanent Solution lies.
The encyclical has been months in the writing, and the Pope is said to be keen for it to set the tone for the debate at a UN summit on climate change in November in Paris.
==============================================================
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Pope Blames Markets for Environment’s Ills
Pontiff condemns global warming as outgrowth of global consumerism, includes pointed critiques of globalization and consumerism, which he says lead to environmental degradation.
ROME – Pope Francis in his much-awaited encyclical on the environment offered a broad and uncompromising indictment of the global market economy, accusing it of plundering the Earth at the expense of the poor and of future generations.
In passionate language, the pontiff attributed global warming to human activity, blamed special interests for holding back policy responses and said the global North owes the South “an ecological debt.”
Using unusually strong language he writes, “Economic powers continue to justify the current global system where priority tends to be given to speculation and the pursuit of financial gain.” Saying, “As a result, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenceless before the interests of the deified market, which become the only rule.”
In the encyclical, Pope Francis wades into the debate over the cause of global warming, lending high-profile support to those who attributed it to human activity.
A “very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climactic system,” contributing to a “constant rise in the sea level” and an “increase of extreme weather events,” he writes.
“Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it,” he adds.
While acknowledging natural causes for climate change, including volcanic activity and the solar cycle, Pope Francis writes that a “number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others) released mainly as a result of human activity.”
The pontiff goes on to argue that there is “an urgent need” for policies to drastically cut the emission of carbon dioxide and other gases and promote the switch to renewable sources of energy.
But the pope goes further by weaving his signature theme of economic justice and his vehement criticism of capitalismthroughout the entire encyclical.
The document alternates between passages of almost apocalyptic moralizing and more-technical language, including practical proposals for alleviating environmental problems.
Pope Francis opens the encyclical, which includes extensive sections on the theology of creation, with a lament for man’s sins against “Mother Earth”: “We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life.”
The pontiff later denounces past failures to enact bolder environmental policies. “The failure of global summits on the environment makes it plain that our politics are subject to politics, technology and finance. There are too many special interests, and economic interests easily end up trumping the common good and manipulating information so that their own plans will not be affected,” he writes.
The Argentina-born pontiff, the first in history to hail from the Southern Hemisphere, writes that the North owes the South an ecological debt because “developing countries, where the most important reserves of the biosphere are found, continue to fuel the development of richer countries at the cost of their own present and future.”
The encyclical addresses other environmental problems besides climate change, including the “water poverty” of Africaand other poor regions where clean drinking water is scarce. The pope even advocates more environmentally conscious lifestyles, including reduced use of plastic, paper and water; separating trash; carpooling and turning off lights.
“We must not think that these efforts are not going to change the world,” he writes.
Needless to say, the Pope is confronted by strong opposition from within his circle as well as from the hard-headed old world hold-outs, big business and climate change-deniers.
The US Republicans, advocates of Big Biz and the Gun-culture tearing the US body social from inside, as vested-interests, are particularly overwhelmingly resistant to accepting the pope’s message.
US Senator, Jim Inhofe, chairman of the US Senate Environment Committee, said he disagreed with the Pope’s “philosophy” on global warming.
“I am concerned that his encyclical will be used by global warming alarmists to advocate for policies that will equate to the largest, most regressive tax increase in our nation’s history.”
Prof Myles Allen, Professor of Geosystem Science at the University of Oxford in the UK, said: “If Pope Francis can’t speak up for our unborn grandchildren, then God help us all.”
===============================================================
Hindustan Times – Fri June 19, 2015
VATICAN CITY: In a sweeping environmental manifesto aimed at spurring action, Pope Francis called Thursday for a bold cultural revolution to correct what he said was a “structurally perverse” economic system in which the rich exploited the poor, turning Earth into an “immense pile of filth”.
Francis framed climate change as an urgent moral crisis to address in his eagerly awaited encyclical, blaming global warming on an unfair, fossil fuel-based industrial model that harms the poor the most.
The document released was a stinging indictment of big business and climate doubters, and aimed to inspire courageous decisions at the UN climate negotiations this year as well as in domestic politics and everyday life. Citing Scriptures and his predecessors, the pope urged people of all faith and even no faith to undergo an awakening to save God’s creation.
Environmental scientists said the first-ever encyclical, or teaching document, on the environment could have a dramatic effect on the climate debate, lending the moral authority of the immensely popular Francis to an issue that has long been cast in purely political, economic or scientific terms.
Scientific data on Thursday backed up Francis’ concerns. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released figures showing that last month was the hottest May around the globe in 136 years of global records.
Francis said he hoped his paper would lead both ordinary people in their daily live and decision-makers to a wholesale change of mind and heart, urging all to listen to “both the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.” …[Francis’ Quotes in Article Window…]
“Nobody is suggesting a return to the stone age, but we need to slow down and look at reality in a different way.”
“We need to recover the values and the goals swept away by our unrestrained delusions of grandeur.”
“It is not enough to balance, in the medium term, the protection of nature with financial gain, or the preservation of the environment with progress.” He warns, “Halfway measures simply delay the inevitable disaster. Put simply, it is a matter of redefining our notion of progress.”
“Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a pilgrimage, woven together by the love of God.”
Hindustan Times – Fri June 19, 2015
===============================================================
So, it is obvious from the above exposition of the ‘encyclical’ that The Root Cause of our 20th C. World Sickness and its Symptoms –Social Disorder, Warring & the Environmental Malaise – lie in Mankind itself – the Moral Dimension (– the World-Life-History disrupting godless-lawless Ego-entity – the Trojan Horse within man).
And this Human Predicament — the Demonic Ego-entity surreptiously-entrenched in man whose only aim is to Throw-a-Spanner-in-the-Works of God’s Creation, dear fellow Human Beings, is the Point of Rot/the Sceptic foci that is Culpable for this Extreme State of Chaos and Crises in our current World Condition.
Till we remain in its thrall, mesmerized like moths heading for the flame, and do not recognize this Devious-Destructive Ego-entity within ourselves …the Earth & her Children will never be at Peace.
==========================================================
Some Quotes from ‘The Collection’ (Estd. 1958) that help elucidate the above…
| Extract: DHARMA OF NO-mIND
CIRCULATED IN THE HUMBLE-HEARTED, OPEN-MINDED, JOYOUS-SPIRITED ADVENTURE OF KNOWLEDGE-SHARING THAT …ALL SENTIENT BEINGS MAY AWAKEN & WORLD PEACE MAY REIGN |
|
| [Note: The (interpolations in Coloured Italic Script in Brackets) within the Body of the Original Quotes in Bold – Intuitively Revisited & Reinvested with Comments — are the Personal Subjective Thoughts, Opinions and Utterances of the Compiler-Commentator – dredged from within the depths of his Limited Framework-of-Knowledge and Partial State-of-Understanding …and is not positioned as The Definitive View on the Subject]. | |
| Note:
Concept: Atman Self – Upanishads/Bodhicitta/Buddha-Nature – Buddhism/Noor-i-Ruhani/Ruh-i-Ilahi – Islam/Holy Spirit – Christianity/Noble Self – Zoroastrianism/‘No Mind’ – Zen/ Gentleman – Confucius. Refers to: ‘Godly-Lawful Higher/Immortal/Eternal Self’ in man. Represents: Constructive/Divine Forces of Light-Love-Life Concept: ‘Nafs – Islam/Aham – Indic/Ego – West/Beast-Self – Zoroastrianism/‘Mind-States’ – Zen. Refers to: ‘Godless-Lawless Lower/Mortal/Transient self’ in man Represents: Destructive/Satanic Forces of Darkness-Violence-Death |
|
| We are living in a historical transitional period in which the awareness of the conflict between (…mindless, consumerist-centric, destructive-development-driven) human activities and (…Nature-imposed inescapable) environmental constraints is literally exploding…. Never before in our history have we had so much knowledge, technology and resources… Never before have we had such great capacities. The time and the opportunity have come to break out of the negative (world-life divisive, strife-torn) trends of the past (…and to collectively, concertedly and correctively act so as to creatively respond to this mega-challenge in a way that overcomes it …in time to make the difference …before it overcomes us). | Gro Brundtland, Head of U N Environment Agency, 1990s |
| During the (inevitable) transition to sustainability (i.e. if our perverse ego-enslaved species awakens in time and is fated to survive), political leaders and citizens alike will be forced to re-evaluate their goals and aspirations, to redefine their measures of success and to adjust work and leisure to a new set of (ecology-centric imperatives and environment-compatible) principles that have at their core the(sustainable well-being and) welfare of the future generations. | World Watch Institute – State Of World Report, 1990 |
| The old (pagan ego-formulated) story (of science-driven, untrammelled economic growth, runaway technology and uncontrollable material advances) sustained her (– our natural-resources-gobbling modern global civilization –) for a long time – it shaped our emotional attitudes, it provided us with life’s purpose, it energized our actions, it consecrated suffering, it guided education…. Now the old (pagan ego-formulated, unsustainable and counter-productive) story is not functioning, and we have not yet learned a new. | Thomas Berry |
| The New (emerging One World) Order will not put an end to History. It will not be as an Utopia; harmless and placid. Indeed, (a ruthless state of worldwide) conflict (between and within nations/commercial entities/mega-conglomerates/regional militant warlords etc. will be unleashed in a desperate bid to corner and control the last remaining reservoirs of natural resources, minerals and strategic materiel vital to the survival of their societies. This) is more likely now that the Cold War has ended and the (conscienceless, rapacious doctrine of unsustainable patterns of growth-for-the-sake-of-growth as an end-in-itself – the Mantra of the) Market has triumphed… For inequality(among the economic-military haves and the have nots will now trigger a new, unprecedented, unrestrained and irresponsible arms race that)will cleave the (the still aborning) New (One) World Order (and threaten the survival of emerging nations) as surely as the Berlin Wall once divided the east and the west (…and threatened the survival of the free world). | Jacques Attali |
| There is nothing more difficult (in the ensuing chaos of transition)… than to take the lead in the (discovery and) introduction of a new(higher) order of things (…even as the old lower order is rapidly crumbling). | Niccolo Machiavelli |
| When the forms of an old (– now obsolete and counterproductive)culture are dying, the new (more evolved time-spirit/zeitgeist-compatible) culture is created by a few (Higher Self-aware, independent-minded, alternative-thinking visionary) people who are not afraid to (take the risk, stretch-the-envelope and) be insecure. | Rudolf Bahro, Socio-Ecologist |
| The way of cowardice is to embed ourselves in a (complacent and apathetic) cocoon (of pseudo-comfort, safety and security) in which we perpetuate our obsolete (pagan ego-conditioned, counterproductive and regressive) habit patterns. When we (– thus enslaved by the ego-shackles of old habit –) are constantly re-creating our basic (fixed-static-obsolete) behaviour patterns, we never taste the fresh air (of freedom and well-being) or know the new (Higher Self-blessed soul-liberating) ground. | Trungpa |
| The end of an era, and the beginning of a new one, is literally forcing us to find a new context, a new way to orient ourselves to the experience of being alive (in an uncontrollably fast-fleeting, rapidly-changing world). And unless we are each (and every one of us) willing to make the effort (to independently and freely think for ourselves, carefully reflect and) become clear about what our fundamental spiritual and philosophical position is, in relationship to what it means to be a (sensitive, selfless Higher Self-) conscious human being in an evolving universe…we (ordinary mortals, immersed in our insensitive, selfish lower ego-selves) will find ourselves (helplessly and hopelessly) tossed all over the place (like strands of straw at the mercy of the winds of change), swept here and there by the fast-moving tides of (uncontrollable) exponential change (…inexorably dragging us towards the slippery slope/precipice of self-extinction). | Andrew Cohen |
| Our (21st century) civilization is (unwittingly trapped) in the(treacherous throes of an uncharted) transition stage (irrevocably suspended) between the (atavist ego-dominated, divisive-minded Old)Age of Warring Empires and that of (the inescapable emerging dynamics and imperatives of an ego-free, all-inclusive-minded New Age of Brotherhood –) World Unity and Peace. (Who’s collecting the bets?). | John Boyd Orr |
| There are many signs that the next general international crisis is going to be about the environment. There have been warnings of environmental abuse for decades, but (due to the dynamics of our inter-civilization hot and cold war priorities, long-term) concerns(about our irreversibly deteriorating natural environment) were separated from high politics and security. Now (…with the common threat of global-scale climate change and the specter of mass-extinction staring us in the face, remedial, therapeutic, corrective) convergence has begun. | Flora Lewis |
| Many people are concluding, on the basis of mounting and reasonable objective evidence that the length of the life of the biosphere, as an inhabitable region for organisms, is now to be measured in decades rather than in billions of years. This is entirely the fault of our own species (…and its unthinking, unholy ego-driven mantra: “Growth is great, greed is good, and wallowing in the decadent excesses of the vanity-immersed, hedonist-materialist-consumerist way-of-life, as an end-in-itself, is the best”…at least till the reality hits the fan and everything tanks). | G. Evelyn Hutchinson – Scientific American Sept ’70 |
| Both biological and cultural diversity are now severely threatened (by the dehumanized, monolithic-destructive forces of modernity and globalization) and working for their preservation is a critical task (…on which hinges the well-being of our current generations and the sustainable survival of our species). | Dr Murray, U S Physicist |
| Our massive (arrogant pagan ego-driven, ignorant) tampering with the world’s web of life – coupled with the environmental damage inflicted by deforestation, species loss, and climate change couldtrigger widespread adverse effects, including unpredictable collapses of critical biological systems whose interactions and dynamics we(pagan ego-dominated, ignorant and arrogant beings) only imperfectly understand. | World Scientist’ ‘Warning to Humanity’, Signed by 3500 Scientists, 1992 |
| During the last few decades, humans have emerged as a new force of nature. (Through human-impacted influence and change) We are(ignorantly, mindlessly and purposelessly) modifying physical, chemical and biological systems in new ways, at faster rates and over larger spatial scales than ever recorded on earth. (Unawakened, pagan ego-dominated) Humans have (arrogantly – albeit) unwittingly embarked upon a grand experiment with our planet. (Yikes! God help us! But then again, maybe even He cannot get us out of this messy situation we have made of our own ego-poisoned ‘freewill’ for ourselves). | Jane Lubchenco, Ex-Pr. American Ass’ for the Advancement of Science |
| (Our inherently-flawed, human-engineered, Destructive Model of)Development (…as we know it today, with its unbridled exploitation of natural resources, runaway technology, exponential rates of economic and material growth, and its resultant uncontrollably increasing carbon footprint) is like a wild horse that we are riding over which we have lost control. | Thich Nhat Hanh, Philosopher; (As Guest Editor of Special Peace Edition, Times ofIndia – October 2nd2008, Gandhi Jayanti) |
| Our unique (– albeit indiscriminate) capacity to innovate and our(uncontrollable, albeit myopic) drive to create (conditions and things most suited to us – our wants-comforts-conveniences-ease – by exploiting and modifying Nature) have (no doubt) bought forth unimaginable potentials (in the fields of science, technology, medicine, agriculture etc.) and simultaneously have carried us to the very brink of self-destruction (– the inexorable process of the “suicide of civilization” – Schweitzer …is now well underway. Think! Is this ‘The World We Want’, as is the title of the Rio + 20 declaration. Is the trade-off worth it?). | Andrew Cohen, The Speaking Tree – June 24, 2012 |
| It is clear that present (pagan ego-promoted, anthropocentric-determined, counter-productive) growth patterns and practices (which are immiserating our peoples, exhausting our non-renewable resources, devastating our environment and destabilizing our climate) are self-destructive and cannot be sustained. The challenge that humanity now faces is nothing less than that of creating a whole new (Higher Self-inspired, holistic, benign, nature-centric worldview — a Theology of Ecology — vis-à-vis the obsolete partial, malign, self-centric one — the Theology of Egology – as a creative) approach to the(environmentally-sustainable, socially-secure, economically-equitable, spiritual) growth of our society, to the (character-developing, personality-building, man-making creative directions it takes into the near future towards new benign) goals of growth, to the (mutually beneficial, non-exploitative, non-destructive, all-inclusive, harmony-enabling) processes of growth. | Maurice Strong, Environmentalist 1977 |
| (Today, in the 21st century) We are dancing (precariously poised) on a Volcano (…apprehensively awaiting the coming man-impacted, ecology-precipitated state of mass-extinction – Pralaya/Apocalypse — currently impatiently marking-time, just around-the-corner, to make its destructive, all-engulfing appearance on the World Stage — sooner rather than later). | Narcisse Salvandy |
| We find ourselves on the brink (of ecology systemic-collapse and mass-extinctions). It’s clear (that godless ego-dominated, ignorant) humans have had a devastating impact on our planet’s ecological web of life. Because we’ve waited (– the classic insidious delay tactic used by vested interests – the counter-productive mantra of “Let’s wait and watch”), because we’ve (conveniently) turned our backs on nature’s warning signs (saying, “It’s happened before, they’re only natural, temporary phenomena”) and because our (selfish, greed-blinded, power-hungry) political and corporate leaders (…who have a deeply entrenched stake in the current decadent status quo) have consistently ignored the overwhelming scientific evidence (…by remaining immersed in a state of deep-denial as their whole sense of being and way-of-life is invested-in and dependent-on the continuity of this decadent system), (…and due to these pagan ego-imposed obstacles) the challenges we face (to the continued survival of our species per se) are that much more difficult. We are in the environmental age whether we like it or not. So, what does the future look like? Will our pivotal generation create a sustainable world in time? (Answer quickly! For on your answer depends whether you are the bearer of the Palanquin…or the one who rides in it!). | Leonardo DiCaprio, Actor-Environmentalist: Film-Documentary – The 11th Hour |
| Disregard for our natural inheritance has bought about the danger that now threatens the peace of the world… Such destruction of the environment and life depending on it is a result of (our godless aham/ego-aroused uncontrollable tendency to contention, conflict and violence rooted in the evils of) ignorance, greed and (the unconscionable) disregard for the richness of all living things. This(greed-driven, vanity-fueled, malignant-minded, environment-ravaging, social chaos-spreading) disregard is gaining great influence (as more and more unawakened-unthinking nations and peoples are jumping on to the Bandwagon of Destruction – desirous of getting more and more richer). If peace (– at the individual and collective levels) does not become a reality in the world and if the (mindless-counterproductive-irreversible) destruction of the environment continues as it does today; there is no doubt that future generations (– the very extensions of our own loins –) will inherit a dead world. | The XIV Dalai Lama |
| (Mindlessly and myopically) Destroying rainforests (…which serve as our global lungs and a sanctuary for many life-forms merely) for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal(– only godless ego-intoxicated savages are so capable). | E O Wilson |
| Both economic pressures and political instincts encourage a short-term focus (– the self-defeating, counter-productive ideology of immediate results, instant gain, quick fixes — all needed here-and-now);but (as any sane man knows) pressures to wring too much out of land(or animals or man) in the short-run can destroy it in the long run. | U.S. Farmer |
| Growth for the sake of growth (– as a decadent end-in-itself) is the ideology of the cancer cell (– by extrapolation of which fact we can reliably surmise that ‘man’ is a cancer on Earth). | Edward Abbey |
| A (heathen ego-driven immoral) way of life that evermore rapidly depletes the power of the Earth to sustain it (by irresponsibly living a consumerist-centric, greed-driven, unsustainable way-of-life) and piles up evermore problems for each succeeding generation can only be called violent. | E F Schumacher, ‘Small is Beautiful’ |
| No generation has a (de facto, de jure or de moralis) right to impose debt for future generations. | Thomas Jefferson, Fmr. Pr. US |
| (Urgent, globally-unified, remedial) Moves should be taken to ensure there was something left to hand on to future generations. | Prince Charles |
| Sustainable development is not a fixed state of harmony, but rather a(creative, synergistic) process of change in which the (sustainable, symbiotic) exploitation of resources, the (benign, natural resources-protecting) direction of investments, the (ecology-sensitive)orientations of technological development and (socially inclusive, economically equitable) institutional change are made consistent with future as well as present needs. | World Conference on Environment and Development Report, 1987 |
| Conservation is the (benign, sustainable) management of the human use of the biosphere so that it may yield the greatest sustainable benefits to present generations, while maintaining (if not enhancing)its potential to meet the (sustainable, sufficiency-based) needs and aspirations of future generations. | World Conservation Strategy Report, 1988 |
| The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end (– perverse ego-conditioned, anthropomorphic comfort, convenience and gain) justifies the means (– environmental exploitation and loss of species). | George Bernanos |
| The (godless-lawless ego-promoted) greed of gain (-name-fame — which is the central driving-force of all outward-focused, illusions-immersed, narcissism-hedonism driven, attachments-bound, impure mind-states conjuring unawakened beings –) has no time or limit to its(self-destructive, covetous) capriciousness. It’s one (self-centric, profit-directed demonic) object is to (ensure the mindless commoditisation, exploitation and exhaustion of Earth’s Natural Resources in order to)produce and consume (– the narcissist-hedonist promoted mantra of ‘conspicuous consumption’ as the be-all and end-all of life). It has pity neither for beautiful nature (which nourishes, supports and promotes the wellness of all life on Earth) nor for living (fellow) human beings(whom it callously exploits). It is ruthlessly ready without a moment’s hesitation (or tinge of qualm) to (selfishly and counterproductively)crush beauty and life out of them, moulding them into money (…such that very soon – at the end of the day – we will have Godowns-full of money …but no Nature-provided food left to eat). | Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Prize for Literature |
| If the ethical foundation (as propagated by the reality-anchored, self-illumined, original-inborn higher Atman Self-realized/‘Creative Individual’/‘Good Man’’) is lacking (– due to a dearth of ‘such ones’and the preponderance of the lower ego-self-dominated uncreative ones), then civilization collapses; even when in other directions creative and intellectual (socio-politico-economic, techno-scientific-academic) forces of the strongest nature are at work. … The difficult problems with which we have to deal, even those that lie entirely in the (external) material and economic spheres, are in the last resort only to be solved by an inner change of character (…an ‘attitudinal mindset shift’ away from our lower-malignant ego-centric, greed-driven ways of destructive thinking-behaving-living …towards the Higher Self and its benignant, nature-sensitive way-of-living in sustainable, symbiotic harmony with its surroundings). | Albert Schweitzer |
| Our own (ignorant-arrogant ego-induced, insecurity-immersed, greed-driven) devastating impact on the biosphere will probably be a singular event, not a part of a recurrent pattern. Why? Because we probably won’t survive long enough as a species to do it again. | David Quammen, The Song of the Dodo |
| Our survival demands new (Higher Self-enlightened, non-destructive, alternative-thinking, environment-sensitive) ways of operating our civilization (…in-accord-with the limitations and imperatives of Natureas per God’s Design/Dharmic Plan). (For, the old impure-pagan lower ego-self propagated, anthropo-centric, nature-destructing, materialism-focused, narcissist-natured, hedonism-immersed, mortality-bound, counter-productive mind-states conjured unconscionable creed of ‘Conspicuous Consumption’ and the unholy mantra of “Greed is Good”… consecrated at the unholy alter of unbridled economic-growth and untrammelled technological progress rooted in an ethically flawed, destructive, unsustainable Model of Development …that has clearly failed us – and how!). | D. Hoffman |
| We must learn to think in new (Higher Self-inspired, benign, environment-sensitive, ecology-centric, species survival-promoting, sustainable ways …and eschew the old pagan aham/ego-centric, malign, environment-destructive, species survival-endangering unsustainable) ways. | Gorbachov – Fmr. Pr. USSR |
| We need a new global agenda that would provide a win-win solution for everyone (…with Reverence for All Life on Earth – Schweitzer)… We need new (principles-centric, morality-moored, values-driven, ethics-designed) architecture for the way we (live, shop, invest and)work (…so as to be sensitive to environmental concerns and ecological imperatives). Our test will be to see how adept and wise we are in finding (and adapting ourselves to) a (new, sustainable, ecology-compatible) solution. | Richard C. Celeste.U.S. Ambassador to India in XLRI Workshop, Mumbai (TOI 12th Dec) |
| There are risks and costs to a programme of (environment-affirmative) action. But they are far less than the long-range (species-survival threatening) risks and (national economy-bankrupting) costs of (convenience-centric) comfortable non-action (rooted in individual ego-centric complacency-apathy-ennui and the lack of collective social-political vision and will to initiate corrective action). | John F Kennedy, Pr. USA |
| The measure of intelligence (which ensures the survivability-quotient and continuity of a species) is the ability to (be resilient and adapt to evolutionary) change (instead of opposing and resisting it. Change or perish is Nature’s inescapable diktat). | Albert Einstein |
| It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most (resilient — most adjustable and)adaptable to change (in-sync-with the freshly emerging environmental imperative). (Methinks, herein lies the rub for man who in his arrogant ego-induced state-of-inebriation as Master of the World thinks nothing of changing and adapting the world of nature to suit his own ambitions, comfort and convenience instead). | Charles Darwin |
| The (pagan ego-self caused) social and ecological problems that afflict us, cannot be solved by mere tinkering with the symptoms alone –conventional technological solutions though important, will not be entirely sufficient. The key lies in our own (Higher Self-aware, environmentally-benign and humane) way of life and the (universal-humanist, ecology-centric) ethical values that govern it. | Elizabet Dowdeswell, Ex-Dir’ UNEP |
| We (as ego-dominated, greed-driven beings thoughtlessly and feelinglessly) abuse land because we (ignorantly-arrogantly) regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we (awaken to our Higher Self and its true perspective and) see land as a community to which we belong, (…then and only then) we may begin to use it with love and respect. | Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac |
| Illness (physical or mental) is in part what the world has done to a victim but in larger part it is what the victim has done (in abusing and playing mischief) with his world and himself. | Karl Menninger, Psychologist |
| Without a (Higher Self-inspired) revolution of the spirit, the ( obsolete, exploitative, greed-driven) forces (of the Old World Order)which had produced the (divisive socio-economic conditions and)inequities of the old (politico-military-industrial world) order, would continue to be operative, posing a constant (obstacle and) threat to the(freshly emerging New Age) process of reform and regeneration(…towards the birth of an all-inclusive, benign and sustainable New World Order …still in the process of aborning). | Aung San Suu Kyi — Noble Peace Prize |
| We need more understanding of human nature, because the only real danger that exists is (godless ego-inebriated) man himself. And we (– deeply immersed in our self-destructive, world-life-history disrupting ego-mechanism –) are pitifully unaware of it. His psyche should be studied – because we are the origin of all (past, present and) coming evil (…causing global-scale warring, the collapse of ecosystems and the suicide of civilization). | Carl G Jung, Iconic Psychologist |
| There we were, one foot on a bar of soap and the other in the gutter (– an apt comment on the 21st century Human Predicament). | Commander Pursey |
| Everyone saw it coming. Everyone understood its hard deadline. Everyone understood its worldwide scope. Everyone realized its massive potential for harm. And everyone let it happen. (The perennial story of the godless ego-lulled Slumbering Man and his deeply-flawed, time-delaying mantra of “wait and watch.”) | Harris Miller, Disaster Mgmt Expert (during Y2K computer crisis that fortunately did not happen) |
| CATCH – 22
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY |
|
| The history of mankind is the story of a bunch of apes (– with apologies to that noble species) playing with matches in a petrol dump. | Bertrand Russell |
| If the human race wants to go to hell in a basket, technology can help it get there by jet (…at warp-speed). It won’t change the desire or direction (we have set for human species-destruction), but it can greatly speed the passage. | Charles Mallen |
| For as we have seen, (human powers expanding, science-driven)technical inventions, improved means of communication and methods of production leading to (apparent) progress, physical growth and(instant) material results though seemingly (adding to our comfort-convenience and) increasing our powers in the struggle with nature, all (in truth-reality – when viewed in its totality – undermine and) take away much more from (the basic fabric of peace-harmony-sustainability of society and) civilization than they give to it. (The Big Question here: “Is the trade-off worth it?”). | P D Ouspensky, 1932 |
| Science… never solves a problem without creating ten more. | George Bernard Shaw |
| It is not science (or Nature) that has destroyed the world, despite all the gloomy forebodings of the earlier prophets. It is (-the ego-blinded, senses-deluded, greed-driven, vanity-fuelled, herd-minded) man, who has destroyed man (…and of course, as the cognoscenti will aver, much, much more). | Max Lerner |
| The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new (more considerate, non-toxic) ways of thinking about them (and more sensitive-caring-benevolent, world-life- promoting ways of applying them). | William Lawrence Brag |
| The (insidious-heartless) machine (born of science and technology and spawning it uncontrollably) threatens all achievement (of humanities and civilization). | Rainer Maria Rilke |
| As for those who would take the whole world / To tinker with as they see fit, / I observe that they never succeed: / For the world is a sacred vessel / Not made to be altered by man. / The tinkerer will spoil it, / Usurpers will lose it. (Those ego-immersed, malign-natured ones who seek to change and adapt the natural world forces and environment to suit their partisan conveniences will end by destroying themselves. And those benign-natured, creative ones that change and adapt themselves to the imperatives of the natural world forces to suit the larger good of future generations …will evolve to higher states of being). | Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Ch19 |
| Significant problems (– such as the nuclear Damocles Sword, the coming global-scale societal-disintegration or tectonic-scale events of climate change and ecology-systemic collapse) cannot be solved at the same level of (partisan anthropo-centric, techno-scientific) thinking from where we created them. (It instead, calls for a radical-bold-innovative ecology-centric approach necessitating the reparative-reorientation of our ego-infected Attitudinal Mindsets from an environment-destructing, profligate-consumerist lifestyle …to a benign frugal-spartan, non-destructive way-of-subsistence living so as to be more in-resonance-with the newly emerging imperatives of sustainability …within the bountiful limits of Nature). | Albert Einstein |
| The universe is not meant to be in perfect harmony with human ambition (– au contraire – it is we that better be in perfect harmony with the imperatives of Nature or else…). | Carl Sagan |
| Man is no lawgiver to Nature. He is an absorber. She it is who stands firm. He it is who must accommodate himself (and adapt his lifestyles to the imperatives nature …or perish). | William James, Iconic Psychologist |
| We cannot command Nature except by (by adapting to and humbly)obeying her (dictates and adopting her ways …so as to ensure the sustainable survival and evolution of all life on earth). | Francis Bacon |
| Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative (…what could be simpler and easier?). | H G Wells |
| For every action there is a reaction / You abuse Mother Earth… she will strike back / With forces strong and aggressive / Affecting every human being. / The writing is on the wall / Yet few of us can see / To save our suffering planet /Is up to You and Me… (What sayest thou? Are we up to it?) | Simi Bajaj |
| Nature is proving that she can’t be beaten – not by the likes of us. She’s taking the world away from intellectuals and giving it back to the apes (who’ve looked after Mother Nature far better for millennia longer than man). | Robert E Sherwood |
| Mosquitoes remind us that we (…great as we think ourselves — in the final analysis –) are not as high up on the food chain as we (would like to) think. | Tom Wilson, Artist |
| When Heaven sends down calamities, there is hope of weathering them. When (godless ego-dominated ignorant) man brings them on to himself, there is no hope of escape. | T’ai Chia |
| Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all –the (godless ego-dominated) apathy of human beings. | Helen Keller, Icon Blind Girl Persecuted by the Nazis |
| We have grasped the mystery of the atom (at the core of our material world) and rejected the Sermon on the Mount (at the core of our spiritual world). | Omar Bradley, US General |
| The (pagan ego-dominated) man (of intellect), who knows how to split the atom but (…who being without the spirit of man) has no love in his heart, becomes a monster. | J. Krishnamurthi, 20th C. Philosopher |
| Evil does not lie in the atom (/matter), but in (the pagan-ego dominated condition of) man’s soul (/Spirit). | Adlai Stevenson |
| Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. | Omar Bradley, US General |
| The splitting of the atom changed everything, save the modes of our(obsolete pagan-ego-dominated, self-destructive, violence-prone)thinking and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe. | Albert Einstein |
| An indiscriminate pursuit of science and technology (…consecrated to fuelling unbridled economic growth, unsustainable levels of consumption, runaway technology and material expansion) in the third millennium without any respect for (the limits and imperatives of)nature, could spell doom for humanity. | Richard Ernst – Noble Laureate |
| If there is technological (and economic) advance without social advance (…adding up to the emergence of a responsible-mature populace), there is almost automatically an increase in human misery. | M. Harrington |
| The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom (to make constructive use of the scientific knowledge and not self-destructive use of it). | Isaac Asimov, ‘Science and Nature Quotations’ |
| Before we acquire great (techno-scientific) power we must acquire wisdom to use it well. | R W Emerson |
| Science has made us gods (by amorally gifting us enormous powers)even before we are worthy of being men (and not pagan-ego dominated savages). | Jean Rostand |
| What business has science (-technology) and capitalism got, bringing all these new (dubious, unsought) inventions into the works, before society has produced a generation educated (and spiritually mature enough) up to using them (…without destroying itself and its surroundings). | Ibsen |
| Unless man increases in wisdom, increase in (techno-scientific)knowledge (and economic wealth) will be increase in sorrow. | Clarence Darrow |
| I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interactions(and be replaced by techno-interfacing and e-interactions via computers, smart phones etc). The world will have a generation of idiots. | Albert Einstein |
| Science without conscience is the soul’s perdition (– so we better get our act together and fast …or prepare for a tour of Hell). | Francois Rabelais, Pantagruel, 1572 |
| Our society is bathed in (disco-brightening) artificial light, and submerged in (soul-crunching) spiritual darkness. Everywhere there is light, except in the hearts of the people. Spiritual enlightenment(which brings about a sense of brotherhood and responsibility towards our natural environment) is our greatest need. | Roy Davison |
| Scores more Quotes in this Vein avail in ‘The Collection’ (Estd. 1958) |
