Towards An Ecological Lifestyle – A Spiritual Perspective

“In biology there are two main types of relationship between two living organisms – the symbiotic relationship and the parasitic relationship. The difference is that the nature of the former relationship is such that both organisms benefit from their interaction and gain something which they could not achieve alone (i.e. there is a synergetic effect); whereas in the latter one of the two organisms benefits at the expense of, and to the detriment of, the other. We can also look at the relationship between humankind and Gaia in the same light, and see that in a new age lifestyle we need to develop an interaction with the earth that is symbiotic and mutually beneficial, in contrast to the largely parasitic nature of Western industrial civilisation.”

“The next step is the acknowledgement of humankind as the custodian of the planet and of the responsibility of each of us being a wise steward of our home, Earth, in whatever way we can. Therein lies the literal meaning of being a planetary citizen: to lead a lifestyle as if the fate of the world hinged on it – for it does!”

 

Extracts taken from Towards An Ecological Lifestyle – A Spiritual Perspective, written by Alan Watson in 1982. Published in One Earth magazine, Volume 2, Issue 5, page 17.  Please click here to read the full article and go to page 17.

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

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