Guy Clark wrote:
>It really is quite a balancing act because it seems essential to me that
>we work on at least three levels. First and foremost, we must work on our
>own minds, hearts, souls, motivations, desires, etc. Perhaps those damned
>Buddhists were right, they always seem to be, desire may be the level below
>power. This would be interior work. At the same time, we must work on our
>external world from our personal perspective; how we live and act. But at
>the same time we feel compelled to work or struggle with the desires and
>actions of the people, faux people (megacorps(e)), cultures, governments,
>etc. to influence or even force them toward a better way of life. At the
>very least, try to stop them from continuing our imminent destruction. It
>seems to me that we ignore any level of this conundrum at our own, and our
>descendants, peril. Pacifism is not passive, that is certainly true. But it
>is also not removed from the world. Non-attachment is not detachment.
Guy, this was a great post. It faces the problem and gives a
balanced perspective (IMO). Forgive me for adding a small addendum.
A few years ago i searched for a discussion list that talked
about personal change, daily life, and approached all this
from a holistic view. I could not find such a list anywhere.
There were lots of activists lists, community lists, simple
living lists, frugal lists, homestead lists, on and on. Not
one of these lists talked about sustainable lifestyles. Often
they assumed they were talking sustainable ideas, but i could
never connect the discussion with a realistic model or philosophy.
Many of the lists were dominated by ideas for educating
others and being a activist. This seemed a little
unbalanced. Was it easier to tell others what to do than
look at our own life? That was the conclusion i came to. We
naturally move away from the painful task of analyzing our
own life. What i wanted to see was a list that did not avoid
personal issues and philosophy. One that kept the focus in
this area. I can see that it is risky to open up personal
issues and discussions, but still i wanted to find such a list.
I joined several Permaculture lists hoping to share ideas.
What i found was a lot of posts about seminars, issues for
activists, occasionally some philosophy and that often
resulted in debate. Few people were sharing ideas about
daily life and what they were doing. Why? Is Permaculture
only a design philosophy that is abstract and not personal?
Anyway, that word balance is easy to say but difficult to
implement. This list is an attempt to add one dimension
which seems to be missing, it does not have a balanced focus,
it fills a hole complimenting other lists.
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
