March 19

I see that the date on this question is from months ago, but maybe someone will come across this at some point. I think that in order to come to a place where one can understand sustainability beyond the accounting, one has to come from some core sense of place within the larger whole. This relationship of self to community is crucial as a basis for understanding the nature of the questions everyone asks: Why am I here? What purpose do I serve? What is my place in the universe? Does my being here and aware of being here in any way have impact on any other sentinent being?

This is a complex question, simple as it looks. I really want to address it, but I'm not sure what to say.

To me, there's something in here about the fact that this earth is our home in this lifetime. This earth is not all there is, in the ultimate realm, but this is the material circumstances of our lives right now. This earth is the place where we get to do our best to grow spiritually, to understand ourselves and each other. So we need to care for it.

Our earth is beautiful, and for many people, a source of spiritual inspiration. If we continue to degrade it - if we do not live in a way that sustains our planet - we will lose one means of connecting to ourselves and each other spiritually. If you have ever stood in an old growth forest, you know what I mean. If you have ever slept under the stars in the middle of nowhere, you know. It makes me sad to think of all the people in the world born in the middle of crazy cities who never get to experience that. It's such a source of richness in life.

There's also another angle here, and that is that living sustainability is part of living spiritually. When we do not build personal sustainability into our lives - when we don't take care of ourselves, and live in a way that nurtures us and would allow us to live happily in those patterns indefinitely - we suffer spiritually. We cannot grow spiritually when we are living unsustainably.

So there is a profound and complicated relationship between sustainability and spirituality, but my sense is that people are avoiding this question because it's a hard one to unpack. I'd love to hear what others have to say.

Spirit and sustainability have something to do with mountains and ecovillages, less to do with fashion and cool cars.