Ecospirituality and Compassion

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Ecospirituality is the application of spiritual principles, summed up as Love, to the environment or ecology. It implies sharpened awareness of ecology, the sacredness of all life, and our assignment to be "guardians" of our natural world.

Earth is a beautiful but tiny jewel in space. Its biosystems support all life, and are created by the "Goddess," nature. For this reason, and because all life is sacred, these supportive chemical systems are also sacred.

It is obscene to plow into a pristine wilderness and devastate a landscape, ruining the natural habitats of numerous creatures. It is also immoral to kill a living sentient (selfaware) creature, if that murder can be avoided. It is violent; it is filthy; and it is antispiritual, for it is antiagapic (against Love).

We must learn to treasure each and every resource that is given so freely by nature. We must learn that each, and each life-form, is precious.

But on the earth, at present, under the present system, ecological progress must usually be accomplished by the joint efforts of many people working together in harmony. These are people with good hearts and good minds; they have a noble and elevated vision of how they can transform the future.

But, like all other people in a corrupt and imperfect world, they must do much of their work through the use of money. This is not "bad," or "terrible." It is just the way things are on this little planet at this time.

But this does imply priorities that are absolutely necessary, absolutely indispensable. This means that a dollar given to one cause cannot simultaneously be used for another, second, cause. And, in ecology, dollars are often extremely or severely limited.

The reason that this is mentioned is that there are interests in ecology that come and go. These might not concern the whole of ecology, or truly important ecological matters, but might be based on passing sentiments.

The wise are careful not to splurge their rare dollars (which represent
timenergy) on "ecofads." Instead, they make certain that their "ecodollars" are used to support the entire ecosystem of life. Some of these rare dollars are used to improve human conditions; for the human being is also a part of nature, often neglected. According to brain-development-- and this is only one of many criteria by which we can measure-- human needs, and human beings, are high on the list of priorities, with those of whales, dolphins, simians, and other developed mammals.

So, then, let us not forget our little "sisters and brothers" in the animal kingdom. For we were once in their form, and they shall someday be in ours.:)
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