If we accept the Gaia Theory, what is inescapable, is that human civilization is analogous to Earth's cancer. The personal challenge then, for each of us, is to evolve from a virulent to a benign strain, by raising our environmental consciousness. ef
Beyond the metaphor for Earth as a holistic self-regulating organism, Gaia can also be perceived as somewhat similar to the divine feminine of Daoist yang, the Hindu Shakti, Lakshmi and Devi- a manifestation of all immanent cosmic reality as well as the Sophia of the gnostics. Such a concept is presented with qualifications in my dual/nondual Dual Nondual Model of Reality
GAIA LINKS
Surprisingly a major controversy has arisen over whether Gaian consciousness is antithetical to the Integral Spiritual paradigm as modeled by the Ken Wilber community. See Eco Spiritual Controversy
Homage to Gaia by James Lovelock Reviewed by Imogen Evans-Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
One Last Chance to Save Mankind - interview with James Lovelock - With his 90th birthday in July, a trip into space scheduled for later in the year and a new book out next month, 2009 promises to be an exciting time for James Lovelock. But the originator of the Gaia theory, which describes Earth as a self-regulating planet, has a stark view of the future of humanity- but he's still optomistic about reaching 100.
Inside Gaia- The Ecological Enigma of the Earth- An examination into our collective failure to take realistic action on behalf of our own survival. Overcoming The Energy Of Old Evil And Old Gods We Will Arrive For The First Time Upon The Sacred Enigmatic Earth As The Single Home Of All Humanity And All That Lives.
Cionaodh Gaia Blog "I read an interview with Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber (a must read) who said that: "...unfortunately, you can't really embrace Gaia until you transcend Gaia. Otherwise, you have a mere addiction to the finite realm. You're not embracing it with love; you're embracing it with basically the same addiction you would heroin or any sort of sensory indulgence." I have been grappling with this thought for a long time, trying to understand how best to be of benefit to Gaia, humanity and the Universe and have found that paradoxically from Mr. Wilber it too must be transcended- if so we must challenge it wholeheartedly. We have to not only be as I promote so heavily, be a Citizen of Planet Earth, but also a Galactic citizen who would know the unborn and Universal truths that Justice holds in front of us all today. Sometimes, Love just is not enough.
Nuclear Gaia? by Ben West 2006 "Now that we have made the Earth sick, it will not be cured by alternative green remedies, like wind turbines and bio fuels alone. This is why I recommend instead the appropriate medicine of nuclear energy as part of a sensible portfolio of energy sources." -the words of James Lovelock. For years the global trend has been the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in the aftermath of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, with the exception of some new plants in Asia. However, Lovelock and several others clearly think that the threats facing our biosphere are more serious and immediate than the potential risks from producing more nuclear power.
The We Campaign is a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan grassroots effort founded by Nobel laureate and former Vice President Al Gore. Our ultimate aim is to halt global warming. Specifically we are educating people in the US and around the world that the climate crisis is both urgent and solvable. We need an international agreement on the climate crisis that is consistent with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's findings. It must cut global warming pollution sufficiently to ensure our children and their children inherit a healthy planet–not one severely damaged by the effects of climate change.
In Newt Gingrich's 2007 book Contract with the Earth- a book on the environment co-authored by Terry L. Maple, President and CEO of the Palm Beach Zoo and professor of conservation and behavior at the Georgia Institute of Technology -- Gingrich and Maple advocate "Green Conservatism," an innovative, market-based, common-sense approach to protecting the environment by rewarding conservation through incentives while fostering "green" economic growth.
The Gaia Sutra by Tim Willard- examining Gaia concepts in terms of metaphysical/philosophical aspects. His current blog Green Future focusing on practical issues concerning Gaia eco-sustainability.
Gaia's Evil Twin (NewScientist.com June, 2009) Biologist Peter Ward argues that Earth is not a nurturing mother of life. It is far more like a murderous Medea and seems to be pursuing its own demise, moving ever closer to the day it returns to being sterile (but thankfully not for at least another 500 million years).
The Population Imperative
Return of the Population Growth Factor Science Magazine: Between 2005 and 2050, the world population is projected to grow by 2.6 Billion- a number roughly equal to the total global population in 1950 (2.5 billion) Decisions made now can influence the growth rate. If the rates are not altered, hundreds of millions of families will suffer from proverty, hunger, inadequate education, and lack of employment opportunities, [not to mention the environmental devastation] all of which might otherwise have been avoided. The loss of attention to population has created formidable problems for the future. Some countries are undergoing explosive and possibly unsustainable population growth: Niger with 15 million today could hit 80 million in 2050, and Afghanistan could grow from 30 million to 82 million. In 1950, Sri Lanka had the same population as Afganistan, but it implemented a realistic set of fertility regulation choices, and as a result, it will have one-quarter the population of Afghanistan a century later. In 1970, there were 5 million more people in Bangladesh than Pakistan, but Bangladesh focused on making family planning available in culturally acceptable way, while Pakistan did not. As a result by 2050 Pakistan will have 62 million more people than Bangladesh. (United Nations, Economic and Social Affairs, World Population Prospects: the 2004 Revision Highlights (UN, Ny 2005) Table VII.2. p. 34.
Rainforest Action Network
Audubon Martin County, FL
SaveWolves-Defenders of Wildlife
Environmental Orgs. Web Directory
Review of Gaia Hypothesis
The Vanishing Face of Gaia by James Lovelock 2009. The financial crash may help sales of James Lovelock's second volume on Gaia. If it happened to the economy, why not to climate? Both systems are "complex and non-linear and can change suddenly and unexpectedly", he writes. He lacks confidence in climate models with their smoothly rising curves of global temperature up to 2100, and instead anticipates a sudden flip to a state 5°C as hot.
Joseph Campbell Foundation
E. O. Wilson on Biodiversity
Opinion: A new alliance for creation By David Gushee January 23, 2007
The evangelicals who signed on to this statement to save the environment do not represent a consensus of the evangelical world, nor did we purport to do so. We know what we believe however, and are moving ahead with our alliance between leading scientists and evangelicals to address threats to the well-being of God’s creation.
The Gaia Hypothesis: Implications for a Christian Political Theology by Stephen B. Scharper - faculty lecturer in religious studies at McGill University, Montreal. A political theology of the environment that utilizes social, economic, and cultural analysis in order to show how human agents may advance a society more in harmony with a gospel vision of a just, peaceful, and sustainable society, thus becomes an important field of cultivation in light of the cultural and intellectual tumult spawned by our ecological insensitivity.
Fritzof Capra/Schrodinger Lectures
The Maya-Gaia, GAIA PROJECT
NATIVE GEMS (unfinished project planned to showcased the native endangered habitats, plants and wildlife of my region of Florida and feature artwork by a group of local artists (ficticious, except mine) concerned about preserving our environment.
A painful recounting of my slow growth to
Gaian Consciousness-
and belatedly discovering how to live the end of my life more purposefully.
I chronicle these shameful details to illustrate that an environmental consciousness does not necessarily manifest full blown- but may accrue in punctuated fashion over a number of vagarious episodes until finally it is realized as a holistic responsibility. Now- thankfully- there are well-publicized paradigms that encourage kids to adopt enlightened ethics regarding all nature so fewer adults wind up as ignorant and insensitive as I was and won't require a samadhi experience to embrace a Gaian ethos.
MAYA-GAIA INTRODUCTION & SITEMAP
