A path to soil health and food independence

[Constance]

Zach Bush MD, is spearheading a movement called Farmers Footprint, for the salvation of human health.

You can see the preview for the documentary Farmers Footprint here. The documentary will be available in February 2019.



This is the second video that Zach Bush has made with interviewer Rich Roll and it is titled very appropriately,
Food Independence & Planetary Evolution.

The first video with Rich Roll can be seen here.

Please do have a listen to the last eleven minutes of this podcast at 1.45.15 or read the transcript below. The rest of this video really deserves some attention. It strikes at the very heart of our current planetary situation and where we stand as human beings.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=X3aOQ0N74PI

As Rich Roll says, this is one of the most powerful and profound dissertations you will ever hear.

I think we are all walking around lonely as hell.

And our opportunity to rebirth, because death is not an end point, it is a transformation moment, it's an expansion beyond the limits of this frail biologic shell that we carry around.

And the instant that we step out of that, we find out that the universe embraces us in every single second of our existence in complete acceptance of who we are.

We are enough. In and of our own identity of I am, at every second, of every point of our existence.

It's the disbelief of that, that's keeping us locked in these stupid conversations we just had for the last hour and a half, that is myopic conversation in and of itself. When you back up for a moment and say, okay, we are killing ourselves. But what if, we need a death moment to transform completely, to let go of all of the preconceived notions of what it is to be human and to say you know what, we are beings of light and we are completely accepted at every moment, including this moment when we would rape the earth, of what we are raping it, when we would kill each other at the rate we do, when we would destroy the entire ecosystem of a green planet, in the middle of black space and when we would have that level of hubris, we are still completely accepted, and our journey is somehow understood by something more benevolent and more complete than we can see as human beings.

And so let's not beat each other up over this issue, let's not see this as a failure, let's see this as an obvious next step in our journey, and death is the inevitable thing marching at us that's going to say, "Are you going to wake up and see the transformation at that moment of death and transformation and you are going to say goodbye homosapiens? Or are you going to do it a moment before that, in the body, before the doctor starts the resuscitation?"

Are you going to say, "You know what?" What if we all looked at each other in wonder and awe and said, "You are enough, I accept you completely. I want to be with you. I want to live with you, I want to be alive, period." And if it's with you, then it must be on purpose because we are in the same room. And the odds of that is zero.

And so we are here, seven billion of us showed up right now, which is really odd because I just laid out a horrific story of what is happening on the planet and yet seven billion of those white souls, that seconds after death are going to realise that they are who they have always been, they are fully accepted, and they are moving in true love, and that white light is the love, and they are in that space, what if we can transform before we die?

Then there is no reason to go to Mars, there's no reason to go anywhere else because we will do absolutely every single thing differently, here on earth.

We will do it differently, by just that simple recognition of I am who I am, you are who you are, that's enough, and I accept you completely, and let's figure out how to do this within the design of nature.

There's enough energy, there's enough food, there's enough soil, there's enough commodities, there's enough resources for everybody on the planet, to thrive at a level that has never been experienced in human history.

We cannot continue any form of human economic systems that have ever existed before and expect us to escape the death moment.

We literally have to invent everything.

And so if you are under the age of eighteen right now, you are the last generation that may have lived to the fullest extent of the human potential.

It is you who are being called to transform because you showed up right when you did.

If my generation is to do anything it was to say, "Oh my god, we are going in the wrong direction". But my generation doesn't have enough time now to turn the boat around, reinvent everything. And so our mission is not to inspire the farmers that are currently fighting the good fight, it is to inspire their children to do the right thing and do it differently, connected to new children who are in the cities, who are in the tech world, wherever they are, connect those kids back, give them a sense of that unity, give them a sense of the oneness, give us all a sense that this is the inescapable optimism as we are going to transform, period. And it might be the point of our death, or miraculously, it might just happen right before it.

[Constance]

The One-Straw Revolution

About “The One-Straw Revolution”

Masanobu Fukuoka (1913-2008) was a farmer and philosopher who was born and raised on the Japanese island of Shikoku. He studied plant pathology and spent several years working as a customs inspector in Yokohama. While working there, at the age of 25, he had an inspiration that changed his life. He decided to quit his job, return to his home village and put his ideas into practice by applying them to agriculture.

Over the next 65 years he worked to develop a system of natural farming that demonstrated the insight he was given as a young man, believing that it could be of great benefit to the world. He did not plow his fields, used no agricultural chemicals or prepared fertilizers, did not flood his rice fields as farmers have done in Asia for centuries, and yet his yields equaled or surpassed the most productive farms in Japan.

In 1975 he wrote The One-Straw Revolution, a best-selling book that described his life’s journey, his philosophy, and farming techniques. This book has been translated into more than 25 languages and has helped make Mr. Fukuoka a leader in the worldwide sustainable agriculture movement. He continued farming until shortly before his death in 2008, at the age of 95.

After The One-Straw Revolution was published in English, Mr. Fukuoka traveled to Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. His interest turned to rehabilitating the deserts of the world using his natural farming techniques. This work is described in detail in Sowing Seeds In The Desert (2012). Mr. Fukuoka is also the author of The Natural Way of Farming and The Road Back to Nature. In 1988 he received the Magsaysay Award, often referred to as the “Nobel of Asia,” for Public Service

[dim]

At last.









[ten characters]

[OopsWrongPlanet?]

I too would like to recommend Masunoba Fukuoka's book 'The One Straw Revolution' wholeheartedly. There are also some documentaries about him kicking around on Youtube.

With his Zen 'non-intervention', just-let-Nature-do-her-thing, and stop-trying-to-think-you-can-improve-on-it approach, he is regarded by many as the Father of 'Permaculture' although he himself and his disciples (eg Larry Korn of Oregon USA, who edited and translated his book in English) prefer to think of it as 'Natural Farming'.

Fukuoka and the beautiful spirit of a man Larry Korn have had an enormous influence on me, as after my awakening experience in 2012 they enabled the whole experience to take on a (much needed) practical , down-to-earth aspect. My partner and I set about turning our field into a fruit forest, aiming for only gentle interventions and just allowing Nature to prevail, and to teach us.

For anyone who has even just a little land and a little time to invest in this, it is IMO a really worthwhile venture and learning experience, both from a spiritual perspective and from a practical one. The benefits of being in contact with the land (from the perspective alone of the health benefits of earthing) could on their own make this project life-changing. But there is so much more to discover in this path. We have found it to be perspective changing, eye-opening and heart-softening in so many other ways too. Something about just flowing with Life.

Plus you might get organic fruit!

Well that's our experience so far anyway.

x

M

[Bubu]

the PDF is too long for a slow reader like me. Can anyone who have read already please post the basic principle of one straw revolution?

[Bubu]

Things to consider in farming:

Soil contain almost all the nutrients needed by plant in a form not absorbable by plants
some micro organism particularly fungi degrade the soil so it can be absorbed by plants
this micro organism feed on plant sugars or anything thats in the plants
If you kill the forest you also kill the micro organism that helps the plant

My question. Why does the forest thrive year after year after year for thousand of years without anyone tending to it? "comprehend and copy nature" viktor schauberger
My theory and suggestion here https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...dirt-gardening.
Its a pity that more than a year had pass already and I did not get the chance to do the prototype.

[Pam]

Posted by OopsWrongPlanet? (here)
I too would like to recommend Masunoba Fukuoka's book 'The One Straw Revolution' wholeheartedly. There are also some documentaries about him kicking around on Youtube.

With his Zen 'non-intervention', just-let-Nature-do-her-thing, and stop-trying-to-think-you-can-improve-on-it approach, he is regarded by many as the Father of 'Permaculture' although he himself and his disciples (eg Larry Korn of Oregon USA, who edited and translated his book in English) prefer to think of it as 'Natural Farming'.

Fukuoka and the beautiful spirit of a man Larry Korn have had an enormous influence on me, as after my awakening experience in 2012 they enabled the whole experience to take on a (much needed) practical , down-to-earth aspect. My partner and I set about turning our field into a fruit forest, aiming for only gentle interventions and just allowing Nature to prevail, and to teach us.

For anyone who has even just a little land and a little time to invest in this, it is IMO a really worthwhile venture and learning experience, both from a spiritual perspective and from a practical one. The benefits of being in contact with the land (from the perspective alone of the health benefits of earthing) could on their own make this project life-changing. But there is so much more to discover in this path. We have found it to be perspective changing, eye-opening and heart-softening in so many other ways too. Something about just flowing with Life.

Plus you might get organic fruit!

Well that's our experience so far anyway.

x

M

Oops, I would really love for you to share more of your experiences with your land if you ever feel so inclined. Possibly a thread? I have a feeling many could benefit from your insights and experiences.

[RunningDeer]

I caught part of the OP video in a cut version. It's 11 minutes. Dr. Zach Bush talks about the topic of death and dying. How we're removed from the death process. And the disappointment from people that were brought back from death. The patients described what it was like when they passed.

Dr. Zach Bush: So Much Wisdom!

"...But let me tell you about what my experience has been in those last moments with patients who are dying."

“… but there's one sentence that came back again and again. And I had one ICU shift that was very weird where I worked for 36 hours shift. I see three people die and I bring them all back.” “…every single one of them, their first sentence was “Why did you bring me back?”

"...And what I've seen it to be is a massive expansion of consciousness of reality of awareness and ultimately of love. And the most poignant examples of this are people that actually die biologically and we spend 15 or 30 minutes and ICU resuscitating them with drugs and shocking their chests like you see on TV shows and everything else and we have a dismal track record..."

“…death is not not an endpoint. It’s a transformation moment. It’s an expansion beyond the limits of this frail biologic shell that we carry around. And the instant that we step out of that, we find out that the universe embraces us in every single second of our existence and complete acceptance of who we are we are enough in and of our own identity of I am at every second of every point of our existence. And it’s the disbelief of that that's keeping us locked in these stupid conversations we just had for last …”

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fZIpdRRxht0

CABIN TALK
Published on Jan 19, 2019
SUBSCRIBED 15K

Link to the entire interview

more snippets:

“…At the end of the life, we've termed it death. And what I've laid out for you today is the possibility of the death of our species in seventy years,100 years. Who cares if was 200 years, it's still pathetic. And so we have, we're looking at the last chapter of life on earth with our current course of action. But let me tell you about what my experience has been in those last moments with patients who are dying.

We have the belief, I think in our subconscious because of the movies we watch, because of the TV shows we watch, because of our our big divorce from the death process, it's become sterilized.

"You a have probably not seen many people die. You’ve probably not seen your loved ones die. They've probably died in operating rooms, or in ICU or and they died before you could fly across the country and see them."

"So very few human beings are now watching this process of of death. And it's allowed death to be defined as an endpoint, as a contraction or a disappearance rather than what I what I've actually seen it to be. And what I've seen it to be is a massive expansion of consciousness of reality of awareness and ultimately of love. And the most poignant examples of this are people that actually die biologically and we spend 15 or 30 minutes and ICU resuscitating them with drugs and shocking their chests like you see on TV shows and everything else and we have a dismal track record..."

“…meanwhile been in the ICU for a week or a few days or weeks, months in some cases.”

“…and by this time they've been isolated away from humans for quite some time they're only touched by latex gloves hands. Only people with gowns on will come and see them that masks on. They haven't seen a human face and close up in months. you know they're so isolated and lonely and they go into this moment on the other side. And then we start working on them and doing our code and and as the hero depicted on TV, you become that doctor that pulls somebody back from that that other side of the veil and it…”

“…these patients for hours after these experiences they all told such a similar story on the other side of biologic life…”

“…you just couldn't pick three different medical cases or three different human beings and every one of them, the first sentence was “Why'd you bring me back.” And then as they start to get oriented and in the in the hours that followed, they are telling their loved ones, I went into this space and it was bright white light everywhere and I in that moment felt completely accepted for the first time in my life. "

“…that if we need a death moment to transform completely to let go of all of the preconceived notions of what it is to be human. And to say you know what we are beings of light and we are completely accepted at every moment including this moment when we would…”

♡

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Bubu (here)
the PDF is too long for a slow reader like me. Can anyone who have read already please post the basic principle of one straw revolution?

The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming

Amazon
Summary:

Call it “Zen and the Art of Farming” or a “Little Green Book,” Masanobu Fukuoka’s manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book “is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical. It is an inspiring, necessary book about agriculture because it is not just about agriculture.”

Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka rejected both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, deciding instead that the best forms of cultivation mirror nature’s own laws. Over the next three decades he perfected his so-called “do-nothing” technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort.

Whether you’re a guerrilla gardener or a kitchen gardener, dedicated to slow food or simply looking to live a healthier life, you will find something here—you may even be moved to start a revolution of your own.

Editorial Reviews:

"The One-Straw Revolution is one of the founding documents of the alternative food movement, and indispensable to anyone hoping to understand the future of food and agriculture."—Michael Pollan

"Only the ignorant could write off Fukuoka, who died two years ago at the age of 95, as a deluded or nostalgic dreamer...Fukuoka developed ideas that went against the conventional grain....Long before the American Michael Pollan, he was making the connections between intensive agriculture, unhealthy eating habits and a whole destructive economy based on oil."

--Harry Eyres, The Financial Times

"Fukuoka's do-nothing approach to farming is not only revolutionary in terms of growing food, but it is also applicable to other aspects of living, (creativity, child-rearing, activism, career, etc.) His holistic message is needed now more than ever as we search for new ways of approaching the environment, our community and life. It is time for us all to join his 'non-movement.'"—Keri Smith author of How to be an Explorer of the World
 
“Japan’s most celebrated alternative farmer...Fukuoka’s vision offers a beacon, a goal, an ideal to strive for.” —Tom Philpott, Grist
 
“The One-Straw Revolution shows the critical role of locally based agroecological knowledge in developing sustainable farming systems.” —Sustainable Architecture
 
“With no ploughing, weeding, fertilizers, external compost, pruning or chemicals, his minimalist approach reduces labour time to a fifth of more conventional practices. Yet his success in yields is comparable to more resource-intensive methods…The method is now being widely adopted to vegetate arid areas. His books, such as The One-Straw Revolution, have been inspirational to cultivators the world over.” —New Internationalist

Every now and then you read a book which is so inspiring and such a pleasure that you feel impelled to stride down the street shouting “read this!” Well, I’ve just read The One-Straw Revolution and I urge everyone to buy or borrow a copy without delay. — Tom Hodgkinson, The Idler


[RunningDeer]

Avalon mod, Joe from the Carolinas offers tips on his YouTube channel. Scroll further down his main page.

Permaculture Garden Harvest Tour

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=IVCuKT3CrVk

Joe from the Carolinas
Published on Jul 19, 2017

A tour of my permaculture zone 1-2 garden tour. Garden for Victory!

[Yetti]

Thanks for the post, I'm just one who get envolved in farming 8 years ago, from cero more or less.
Every day I feel that was a great decision aldough was no easy endeavour, still no easy way to do it if you are working on a daily basis and pretend to farm afterworks. For all of you that thing about to grow your own food and be more food independent , I can give you some advice ahead based on my own experience and hope will be helpfull to someone.
For a family of 5 base, we have 4 milk goats ( 2 are more than enough) about 40 chicken 5 turkey's and rise beds for planting our veggies. about the beds , rise beds are exelent option ,Moles do not destroy everything....this way. easy for your back, easy to put the tunnel cover, easy to controll plagues, etc.
if you have any animals on ypour farm you work for the guy who sell the food for them, so the smart way is to reduce the amount of purchased food as much as possible by growing god pasture , or made a hidroponic forrage system in wich i'm working now. this will take down a considerable amount of money from the negative equation of buying food. hope this will be helpfull in anyway.

[Bubu]

what about the critters below the soil surface are they not part of soil health? Why is there no mention of them?

[Constance]

Posted by Bubu (here)
what about the critters below the soil surface are they not part of soil health? Why is there no mention of them?

Here ya go Bubu

Page 72 of One Straw revolution

However, non-cultivation is fundamental to natural farming. The earth cultivates itself naturally by means of the penetration of plant roots and the activity of microorganisms, small animals, and earthworms.

Page 73

Fertilizer
I have been known, in chatting with soil fertility experts, to ask, "If a field is left to itself, will the soil's fertility increase or will it become depleted?" They usually pause and say something like, "Well, let's see … It'll become depleted. No, not when you remember that when rice is grown for a long time in the same field without fertilizer, the harvest settles at about 9 bushels (525 pounds/ per quarter acre. The earth would become neither enriched nor depleted."
These specialists are referring to a cultivated, flooded field. If nature is left to itself, fertility increases. Organic remains of plants and animals accumulate and are decomposed on the surface by bacteria and fungi.
With the movement of rainwater, the nutrients are taken deep into the soil to become food for microorganisms, earthworms, and other small animals. Plant roots reach to the lower soil strata and draw the nutrients back up to the surface.

Page 100

During the summer Mr. Fukuoka cuts the weeds, briers, and tree sprouts growing beneath the orchard trees with a scythe.] As a result of this thick weed/ clover cover, over the past twenty-five years, the surface layer of the orchard soil, which had been hard red clay, has become loose, dark colored, and rich with earthworms and organic matter.

Page 108/109

Cultivate a flooded rice field with a plow or tractor and the soil becomes deficient in oxygen, the soil structure is broken down, earthworms and other small animals are destroyed, and the earth becomes hard and lifeless. Once this happens, the field must be turned every year.

Page 210

Agriculture used to give incentive pay to encourage compost production, and competitive compost exhibitions were held as annual events. Farmers came to believe in compost as though it were the protective deity of the soil. Now again there is a movement to make more compost, “better” compost, with earthworms and “compost-starter.” There is no reason to expect an easy acceptance of my suggestion that prepared compost is unnecessary, that all you have to do is scatter fresh unshredded straw across the field.

[Constance]

Vernacular farming at its finest.

This phenomenal video shows how the management of Ano Farm (Western Ethiopia) has used The Vetiver System to reduce erosion and improve groundwater recharge.
Vetiver grass has a massive root system that binds the soil together. The results are higher crop yields and increased groundwater and regenerated water flow from springs. There are 250 km of vetiver grass hedgerows on this 600ha farm.



The farmer manager of Ano farm reports, "When we took this land, it was completely abandoned. No trees, no shrubs, nothing grows there. Then, after we take over, two years later, we brought these vetiver seedlings and plant as you have seen it, such a long distance. Then, two years later after plantation, these small green (plants) start to spark from different angles. Now you see it is different..."

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ytZ1xgdie5Y

[Constance]

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[Constance]

This is the long awaited documentary by Farmers footprint.

https://farmersfootprint.us/member-v...eid=3a9391d897

[enfoldedblue]

https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stame...FIJG4kgVD9GgH0

This is really interesting! He discusses mushrooms' ability to not only decontaminate soil..but to encourage the propagation of abundant life.

[Constance]

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[Delight]

Thought i would place this here. I honor the people who came before us who knew what was important.

Healthy Soils, Healthy People:� The Legacy of William Albrecht (1888-1974)[i]
John Ikerd[ii]

Abstract:

William Albrecht was not only a distinguished scientist and brilliant scholar; he was also a true visionary and committed humanitarian. He believed that animals, including humans, provide biochemical photographs of the soils in which their foods are grown. With effective and affordable commercial fertilizers after World War II, the health and natural productivity of the soil no longer seemed to matter. Albrecht risked his academic reputation by warning of the public health risks posed by this so-called modern, industrial agriculture. History provides compelling evidence that he was right. A half-century later, America is facing an epidemic of diet related illnesses, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and various forms of cancer. If current trends continue, the cost of health care, which is already nearly twice the cost of food, will claim more than one-third of the U.S. economy by 2040. Recent scientific studies have linked a decline in the nutritional value of foods with the industrialization of agriculture. The result is foods rich in calories but poor in essential nutrients. As Albrecht had warned, the declining health of our people may well be a biochemical photograph of the declining health of our soils. Regardless, today's agricultural scientists should embrace the vision and courage of William Albrecht to venture beyond their narrow academic fields of study, to rethink the science involved, and perhaps redefine their disciplines. The health of our nation may be impossible to restore without first restoring the health of our soils.





William Albrecht was still Chairman of the Soils Department and a familiar name in the College of Agriculture when I first arrived on the MU campus in the fall of 1957. I recall a friend who was a bit offended because Albrecht seemed to be questioning the intelligence of people, like him, who been raised on food from the �worn out� soils of South Georgia. We students weren't aware of the larger controversy surrounding Albrecht's work linking the health of soils to the health of people. While President of the Soil Science Society in 1938, he had written in the Yearbook of Agriculture �A declining soil fertility, due to a lack of organic material, major elements, and trace minerals, is responsible for poor crops and in turn for pathological conditions in animals fed deficient foods from such soils, and mankind is no exception."[1] My soils instructor, Prof. E. R. Graham, stuck pretty close to the physics, chemistry, and biology of soils. I don't recall him ever mentioning Albrecht's work linking soil health and human health. Perhaps he didn't want to endure the professional criticism Albrecht received for venturing beyond the narrow bounds of his disciple. The University of Missouri had plant and animal scientists to worry about the health of plants and animals and an entire medical school to deal with the health of people. Professor Albrecht was admonished to restrict his observations to the health of soils.



Perhaps his most controversial, most important, study was a review of World War II era dental records of 70,000 U.S. sailors. He linked the health of sailors' teeth to the health of soils in their native regions of the U.S. In those days, people mostly ate foods grown on local farms or at least grown in their respective regions of the country. He concluded, �If all other body irregularities as well as those of the teeth were so viewed, it is highly probable that many of our diseases would be interpreted as degenerative troubles originating in nutritional deficiencies going back to insufficient fertility of the soil.�[2] With the end of World War II, Albrecht called for a major national initiative to restore the health and fertility of America's �worn out� soils.



Instead, the nation's agricultural priorities shifted to producing more and cheaper food. Albrecht anticipated that reliance on commercial fertilizers to increase production would degrade both soil health and human health.� He was particularly concerned with an overemphasis on nitrogen, prosperous, and potash (N, P, & K), would lead to depletion of trace minerals, such as manganese, copper, boron, zinc, iodine, and chlorine, and degrade basic soil health. He wrote "N P K formulas, as legislated and enforced by State Departments of Agriculture mean malnutrition, attack by insects, bacteria and fungi, weed takeover, crop loss in dry weather, and general loss of mental acuity in the population, leading to degenerative metabolic disease and early death."[3]more here

I also really like earth pilgrim Satish Kumar: Soil Soul and Society

Satish Kumar: the link between soil, soul and society
We are losing connection with the soil. Satish Kumar wants us to understand the connection between soil, soul and society and drop ego in favour of eco
Mon 16 Sep 2013

Many historical movements in the world have three key words that express their spirit. During the French Revolution the words were "liberté, égalité, fraternité", in the American Declaration of Independence they were "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

The implication of both phrases is very similar. It is human life, human liberty, human equality and human happiness. Even the words adopted by the New Age movement - "mind, body, spirit" - refer to the human mind, human body and human spirit. It's an anthropocentric worldview - the view that human beings are at the centre of the universe.

This worldview is no longer valid - we are utterly dependent on other species and we have to take care of them. We are members of one Earth community and need a new trinity that is holistic and inclusive, that embraces the entire planet and all species upon it. So I propose a new trinity of soil, soul, society. Soil represents the entire natural world. Without soil there is no food and without food there is no life, trees, forests, animals or people.

In our education systems, we have come to think that soil simply means dirt and that dirt means dirty. But dirt is not dirty; it is the source of life. Without it there is no life.

We are related to and dependent on the soil. If somebody grows food, we think: "Oh poor man, peasant, labourer - he is not educated so he has to grow food." If you are educated you don't grow food - you manufacture cars, televisions, computers or work in a bank or office. We sit at our computers and our food comes from somewhere.

The word peasant itself has become a term of an insult. I want to change that. I want to reinstate a respect for soil. We must touch the soil. How many times do we touch our mobile phone every day? Maybe 100 times. How many times do we touch the soil? Hardly ever. We must give dignity to peasants, farmers and gardeners.

We are all part of this healthy web of life maintained by soil. The Latin word humus means soil. The words human, humility and humus all come from the same root. When humans lose contact with soil, they are no longer humans.

Trees, animals, plants, rocks, mountains, rivers, worms, butterflies, honeybees – all have intrinsic value. They have the right to be as they are. We talk about human rights, and that's fine. But nature also has rights. The trees have a right to exist. We have no right to cut them down without proper purpose. When we recognise the rights of nature, then we have understood the meaning of the word soil.

The second word in my new trinity is soul. Soul is something we cannot see. The human body we can touch, hug, kiss and admire, but in order to touch soul I have to close my eyes. Everything – trees, animals, worms and humans – has a soul. Soil is the outer landscape and soul, the inner landscape.

We need to take care of the soul, as we take care of the soil. But we can only take care of the soul when we slow down. Take time for ourselves. Meditate on the fact that you represent the totality of the universe. There is nothing in the universe that is not in you, and there is nothing in you that is not in the universe. The universe is the macrocosm and you are the microcosm. You are earth, air, fire, water, imagination, creativity, consciousness, time and space – you have all this in your soul, in your genes and in your cells. You are billions of years old.

So if you want to take care of the universe, start with your soul. Care of the soul is for self-realisation. When you are at home within, you are at home in the universe. Taking care of yourself, being at ease with yourself, being happy within yourself, being fulfilled in yourself is a prerequisite, an imperative for self-realisation. Everything you truly need and want is within you. You are capable of solving every problem in the world with your inner wisdom.

If you want power, possessions and clutter, it is because you have lost touch with your soul. Then your soul is hungry or empty. But that emptiness will not be filled by computers, cars or mobile phones. Slow down and take care of your soul. Without spiritual fulfilment there is no happiness. Spiritual poverty is the greatest poverty, greater than any physical poverty. And as we take care of the soil, we take care of the soul. When we take care of both we achieve true wellbeing.

Caring for the soul has nothing to do with individualism or ego. This is why I include the word society in this trinity. We are members of the Earth community and we are also members of the human community.

If I think of myself as Indian then I will see others as Europeans or Africans. If I am a Hindu then I will see others as Christians or Muslims. But if I see myself as a human being, then I see everyone else as human beings. This way I can rise above my narrow identity and identify myself instead with all of human society.

We need to embrace all of society. We need to solve social problems of poverty and wars with imagination, compassion, creativity and forgiveness. All problems can be solved by negotiation, friendship, giving in, letting go of ego and going into eco. Let us make a shift from from self-interest to mutual-interest of whole human society. If we can have a holistic view of soil, soul and society, if we can understand the interdependence of all living beings, and understand that all living creatures – from trees to worms to humans – depend on each other, then we can live in harmony with ourselves, with other people and with nature.

Satish Kumar is the editor-in-chief of Resurgence & Ecologist. His new book Soil, Soul, Society is published by Leaping Hare Press.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=MCW-qkbyezs

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qzGyidN1nqE

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ic4iwmLoRoI

[Bubu]

Posted by enfoldedblue (here)
https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stame...FIJG4kgVD9GgH0

This is really interesting! He discusses mushrooms' ability to not only decontaminate soil..but to encourage the propagation of abundant life.

Yes fungi are amazing but mushroom to save the world sounds like sales pitch.