Environmental Mindfulness

From the moment we open our eyes in the morning, to the quiet time we have (hopefully) just before bed;
we consume, consume and consume.

There is this quality we have, besides intelligence, no other animal or plant have;
GREED

It's not about going back to the stone-ages, to go around hugging trees or treat stray cats better than our fellow humans;
But rather, the excessive consumerism that is ever so conveniently projected in our lives these days;
confusing us the difference between a Need and a Want.

It's all about being Environmentally Mindful...

Mindful when we next go to the shopping mall/supermarket;
Mindful when we use the next straw or plastic stirrer;
Mindful when we celebrate festive occassions (from catering to decorations);

that we are just one of the 6.6 billion humans living on Earth right now.
that all the plants and animals can 'live happily ever after' without us BUT not vice versa
that we have just been walking upright 200,000 years ago (earth is 4.5 billion years old)

We are practically 'guest' on this planet;
but look at what we have done to it despite being only present 0.13% of the time since the formation of earth...

I think we should all Pause and Comtemplate...

Comments

Brandon Chia said…

Strong words! :)

31 January 2009 at 21:15

Joe Lim said…

some inspirations i had where at some forest retreat at tasik chini...

1 February 2009 at 14:26

Paramita Meditation Centre

8 years ago in Feb, i made my first maiden trip to this beautiful island nation of 30 million. Today, the pretty busy road that serves the main throughway from Colombo to Kandy has been widen, resurfaced and thus i see even huge tour coaches and container trucks passing by as i stand above about 5 storeys high at the main meditation hall as i start my walking meditation before THE SIT. Yesterday, an american-vietnamese resident nun living here gave me a surprise by giving me a local sarong and a illuminated statue of the buddha; she wished my happy new year as the sinhala new year is on the 13/14 Apr. PMC is located up the granite slopes to mitigate the noise from the traffic; however, the train tracks that probably runs at least 5 times a day is on the same height as the Dhamma Hall. Gotten used to the symphony of train, vehicular traffic and the sound of nature (birds, insects, whispering of the leaves).

Truths and Lies

A friend sent me this clip on McCruelty.com recently.... I'm sure this is just the tip of an ice-berg; behind the colours and gleamours of shopping malls and excessive consumerism of the modern human society lies all these "dirty laundry" kept away from the public eye. Another example i can think of is the BIG LIE where we are being programmed that we can just go about our daily lives concentrating on the "Consumption bit" and ignore the Extraction, Production, Distribution that came before that and Disposal that comes after that....It's time we wake up from Truths like "Perceived Obsolescence" and "Planned Obsolescence" McCruelty: I'm Hatin' It--Learn More.

Recent Road TRip to Lake Chini

Pretty pissed off with geocities for terminating my account i had for years! my homepage to all the links of photos...i guess nothin is permanent and the less we place attachments to any thing...the easier the transition... had a real quiet yet revatilising time at the Lake. some would call it the annual getaway to get far far away from the maddening money making crowd...it's a perfect place to catch up on reading, to comtemplate, meditate and recuperate! enough said..pics tell a thousand words..check out the photos link

the ART of reBIRTH

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