The following article is by a good friend of mine, Steve Larsen, and addresses the global warming phenomenon from a consciousness perspective that is quite Theosophical, if not, entirely so, and therefore is a great example of applying the truths of the Wisdom Tradition to current affairs. Govert
Beyond Global Warming: Consciousness as the Ultimate Cause of Earth Changes
There is no doubt that earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters are on the rise in this age. Where doubt and controversy exists, however, is in the determining the cause behind all of this. Environmentalists insist that global warming is the root of the problem, which in turn is said to be caused by greenhouse gases resulting from pollution and over reliance on fossil fuels for our energy and transportation needs. Global warming skeptics, usually conservatives, contend that these trends of nature have nothing to do with greenhouse gases and global warming, but are rather, the result of natural cycles that occur completely independent of the influence of mankind. Some religious fundamentalists, moreover, see the hand of God in all this, punishing mankind for its sins and perhaps leading up to some ultimate Armageddon that would be end of the world as we know it.
So which of these positions is the correct one? I submit that while each has elements of truth, the correct answer is none of the above. The religious are correct in that there is a cause-effect spiritual component to this, but it is certainly not a predestined or necessarily apocalyptic one. The conservatives are correct in suggesting that there are cycles in the earth, but are mistaken in the belief that these cycles are completely independent of our actions. The environmentalists are perhaps closest to the truth in suggesting a link between the actions of mankind and earth changes, but are misguided in their belief that fossil fuel use is the ultimate culprit behind earth’s recent travails.
I would make this a lot simpler: the physical cause is clear (yes, burning fossil fuel) – the reason we do that is spiritual in essence: We are shortsighted and selfish as noted by several people on This discussion on the environment.
Dear Steve,
Your article is a very convincing meditation into this non-dual, holistic sense of life. It’s actually also one of the main foci of the Theosophists, though they might express it slightly different.
All kudos aside, my reservation, if I may, is that the infinite, or the whole, also includes the finite and its sub-parts and does not exclude them as if it were an either/or question.
Therefore, even if the primary focus should be on this sense of wholeness and infinity, this doesn’t mean that we can count on its effect of things becoming right just because of that shift in perception and attitude. We will have to engage in wise stewardship in reducing climate-affecting polution, and we have to be aware, in a balanced way, that this earth, as it is vulnerable, can experience an apocalyptic black-out, and that we have to be sensitive to earth’s own rythms and manage these Feng Shui style for the benefit of all. But the focus is this sense of limitless non-duality and you made that quite clear.
dora wrote somethign sort of like this, but on a smaller scale. she said something along the lines that we unknowingly affect things like weather by passing on vibrations of our thoughts/emotions to nature spirits and devas and whatnot. we sort of agitate things. as far as climate change. i think we are altering the planet. but i think this author’s ideas are too human-centric for me. there have been tectonic shifts and changes in climate etc. large scale shifts in the planet long before us folks have been around- and to put it in ts lingo, the first rr’s were said to exist on earth in a climate and continant configuration much different then the current.
I am encouraged that theosophists are focusing on the causes of climate change. The root connection for theosophy in my opinion is biosophy. Theos- can be nothing more than anthropocentric conjecture and anthropomorphic projection. But it can be transendental too!
Bios- teaches us about the nature of reality and the reality of Nature. It can lead to nothing more than the acuisition of power, as per Francis Bacon, over the natural world. But it can be the antidote to the pathology underlying our negative impacts on the life community, a pathology of anthrocentrism that afflicts all who are not, as St Francis of Assisi observed, twice-born. the vision quest of native American indians was aimed at correcting this pathology of perpetual adolescence/addledessence.
Theosophical programs for the young can play a vital role in this transformative/maturational process. Onward and upward!
—Michael W. Fox,
author of The Boundless Circle, Quest Books.
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth”.
We have a tough row to hoe… We still have a very “Red” (Spiral Dynamics) attitude prevalent in the world today when it comes to the Earth and its resources.