“Separation from nature is suicide, and only the humans practice that form of suicide.”
I don’t think there are many people these days who can deny the growing problems facing humanity, for they have become so great a threat to our future and the future of the planet that they are impossible to ignore - all the problems that we humans have inflicted on the planet - “brick walls of overpopulation, deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, poverty, hunger, disease, pollution; and human greed, materialism, cruelty, crime, warfare,” as Jane Goodall describes them in her book, Reason For Hope. For indeed, these problems, she writes, are now recognized by us all as “real concerns that threaten us and our children—and the survival of life on our earth, as we know it.”
That was how it looked all the way back in 1999, while the poisoning of the planet (along with humanity), not to mention a host of other destructive behaviors, have seemingly only continued to get far worse in two decades between then and now. At the same time, however, there has been an unprecedented growth in awareness accompanied by individual rejection of the corporate policies driving such destruction.
And yet for some reason, the leaders and other driving forces of western civilization appear to be set on maintaining society’s current crash course for destruction. There can be no doubt that the majority of these problems arise due to humanity’s insistence upon separation from nature, and rejection of the oneness of all life. Mother Nature could be our greatest teacher, and could also provide abundantly for all of our needs without cost, if only we were willing to learn from her, and to live in harmony with the earth and one another, and to build societies based upon sharing and respect rather than greed and materialism.
Instead the madness continues, and it is truly a form of insanity, to insist upon the destruction of our own environment, our own home, and the very source of our sustenance and life. Many must wonder if even the millions of people who are currently awakening, making important changes and shifting towards a more compassionate and sustainable lifestyle will be enough to avert the otherwise certain catastrophe that awaits us. As Dr. Brian Weiss writes in his book, Messages From The Masters, one of the many ‘messages from the master spirits’ shared in this work:
“Co-existence and harmony ... Everything must be balanced. Nature is balanced. The beasts live in harmony. Humans have not learned to do that. They continue to destroy themselves. There is no harmony, no plan to what they do. It’s so different in nature. Nature is balanced. Nature is energy and life, and restoration. And humans just destroy. They destroy nature. They destroy other humans. They will eventually destroy themselves.”
Many blame the system, the corporations, the politicians, capitalism, anything to avoid taking personal responsibility. But I have seen firsthand how the problem is still very much an individual problem for too many people, having made the great outdoors my home for the past year, traveling throughout the west as I experience the camping lifestyle. I have seen just how prevalent the practice of littering still is among so many people, even in the most rural and least visited sections of otherwise untouched wilderness. I have seen just how much disrespect so many people have for the planet and particularly planetary life, such as trees, but of course there are also many who equally abuse animal life as well.
I have personally witnessed people cut down living trees for firewood in the high desert of New Mexico where the forests are sparse and not dense, despite there being dead trees in the vicinity which could be harvested instead. The entire area had been cleared of mature trees because this was a regular practice, leading me to realize that it is not only the big logging companies who are needlessly destroying the forests of the earth, but individuals who are stuck in their ways and too lazy or inconvenienced to simply travel a few more miles to collect firewood from a limitless supply of dead trees in a burned zone. These are just a couple of examples, but no matter where I go, it seems, there is not a place that doesn’t have some scars caused by men who have needlessly left their savage marks upon the earth.
Will humanity learn to live at peace with one another and in harmony with nature before we reach the point of destroying ourselves, or possibly before the earth destroys us in order to save herself? This is the all-important question for our generation.
Many have warned us of the self-destructive path we are on, in hopes that we would change our ways in time to divert the coming disaster. One of the most interesting of these warnings that I’d like to share in this post comes from an obscure and mostly unknown South American Indian tribe called the Kogi, and I heard this story from Thom Hartmann’s book, A Prophet’s Way, although it has also been preserved elsewhere. The story was told to him by a local Columbian woman who had visited the area where the Kogi now live to hear the story for herself, and it is from this account I here reference and quote from.
Long ago, we are told, the Kogi were given the responsibility of keeping the earth alive, and it was their job to keep the heart of the Earth beating. Once widespread across Columbia, those who were able fled to the remote Sierra Madre mountains in Columbia when the conquistadors conquered the lands, and by the end of the sixteenth century only about 1,000 remained alive, and they stayed entirely hidden to preserve themselves. As far as modern man was aware, they had been entirely wiped out, but they would once again emerge into public view with an urgent message for modern man, a warning for humanity.
“The Earth is a living organism, not just a ball of dirt floating through space. It has a life and a consciousness. Therefore, humans upon the Earth must both live in harmony with and learn from the Earth, and, most important, feed and nurture the Earth with man’s spiritual consciousness.”
According to their messenger, there are people in various parts of the world who have been charged with this responsibility and taught the sacred techniques to accomplish this, including the Kogi in Columbia, a tribe in Tibet, Aborigines in Australia, an ancient hunting tribe in central Africa, a group of Native Americans in the US, ancient Hebrews and early Christians (probably of the Essene tradition), and a few others. The priesthood of each group remains separated from the world at large, and usually even from the greater population of their own tribes, so no one but themselves and those like them around the world know of their existence. These groups communicate with each other, and typically no one else.
“Each of these groups is in constant prayer and meditation. This is their purpose in life, to be so in tune with the heartbeat and soul of the Earth that they can keep alive the delicate silver thread which connects the life and consciousness of the planet with that of its human inhabitants.”
It hasn’t been an easy work, however.
“...the coming of what we call Western civilization, which has spread across the EArth like an infectious mold across the surface of a ripe fruit...has caused the Earth and the Kogi great pain, one felt across the planet by those peoples entrusted with keeping the heart of the Earth beating. But the earth is resilient, and the ancient priests who have nurtured it and kept it awake so humankind could live upon it have persevered.”
But now there is a true threat which could mean the end of this cycle and the extinction of humanity. And so it was that the Kogi chose one of their own to take their now urgent message to the outside world. He learned Spanish so that he could communicate with the locals and became the first of their tribe to leave the confines of their secret, well protected mountain fortress. Once he was trained and ready, this messenger carried the Kogi warning out to the world, and a there was even a BBC documentary made to bring the world this message - From the Heart of the World: The Elder Brothers' Warning:
(Full transcript of the documentary can be found here.)
The urgent message is regarding the true threat which could bring about the extinction of humanity. “The Earth, of course, will recover, but its consciousness, manifested in man and other sentient beings, may take millions of years to return.”
The threat is that the skin of the earth is being torn open. A great wound has also appeared in the heavens, through which Earth is being assaulted by the power of the sun and the forces of the stars.
“The viscera of the Earth is being probed and torn out by ‘civilized’ man in search of minerals and wealth, and the lungs of the Earth are choking with the filth belched forth from ‘civilized’ man’s technology.
“But most dangerous is that the blood of the Earth, its oil and its water, are being drained out, burned and polluted, and discarded.
“Unless this assault stops and these wounds are healed soon, even the efforts of the Kogi and their brothers and sisters across the world cannot prevent the death of humanity and much of the animal and vegetable world we interact with.”
Each year the Kogi messenger travels to nearby villages and cities to share the message, and warn humanity that the problem only continues to worsen, and humanity continues to inch closer and closer to her own destruction.
It is obvious this troubling warning references problems that humanity within modern society has already noticed and is well aware of, but what is missing in the West is any recognition that the earth is itself actually alive, and feeling the pain inflicted upon her, just as humanity feels the pain which it is continually inflicting upon itself.
We are like the inhabitants of a large ship who have been alerted to rocks in our path which spell certain shipwreck if the course is not changed, to use the analogy put forth by Jane Goodall, while the crew itself doesn’t even seemed concerned with attempting to change the course despite the growing insistence of its passengers. Besides, “it takes time for a big vessel to change course, so all attempts to avert disaster will fail. ... It is easy to imagine that such a fate awaits life, as we know it, on Spaceship Earth.”
And yet, as the title of her book suggests, Jane Goodall believes there is still a reason for hope, and I think many others share her hope. “Yet despite this,” she writes, “I do have hope for the future—our future. But only if changes are made in the way we live—and made quickly. We do not, I think, have much time.” And this, I believe, is the ultimate key. Time is running out, and the warning signs can be seen all around in in so many shapes and forms. Increasingly violent natural storms, the breakdown of society, the failure of governments and our economic systems to address any of the serious issues facing humanity today...
The good news is that people are waking up faster than ever before; it is impossible to deny that a global awakening is already underway. And this may be humanity’s only salvation. Time is not on our side, and the world leaders, politicians, corporations and others in key positions of power have already shown they are not going to take necessary actions to save the day. As the power structures of the world continue to march to same beat they always have, it is up to We The People of the Earth to do what is necessary to create a new way of sustainable life capable of surviving in harmony with nature. The quicker we do this, and the more of us who help do so, the more likely we are to succeed, and the more of us who will survive.
As the old Coptic teacher known as Master Stanley, also quoted by Thom Hartmann, said: “We humans are an infection on the Earth. It shall heal itself. This will be the beginning of the new times, what some would call the new age.”
That humanity has become an infection on the earth is a self evident truth that cannot be denied, only ignored and explained away. Regression and healing hypnotist, Dolores Cannon, also frequently spoke about the new earth and a coming golden age. The way she put it, the earth is currently shifting its consciousness from 3D to 4D, and it is doing so with or without mankind, which has become like a plague of flees upon her back which will soon be happily cast off - at least those who refuse to expand their consciousness along with the earth.
How many physically survive to see this coming new age will likely be a direct result of how many awaken in time, and choose to help usher in this new age of peace and harmony. Those who do not awaken, but continue sleepwalking through life as they continue to feed the very systems responsible for the destruction of both the planet and humanity, blind to the importance of the changes taking place all around them, will likely be destroyed amidst the shift from the old age of darkness to the new age of light. With the birth of the new way of life must come the death of the old way and the systems which gave it life, and their collapse will likely not come without much pain and destruction, especially considering their unwillingness to cooperate in this shift of consciousness.
“It has gone too far. The Earth cannot be saved by man: this is stupidity. The Earth will save itself, by killing off the men. Perhaps some of mankind can be saved, but the Earth will protect itself,” an African medicine man told Thom Hartmann in the 1990s.
The warnings are many, and have come from all around the world. Even in the Christian Bible, in the book of Revelation it is written that, “I will destroy those who destroy the earth.” It is high time humanity begins to truly listen, before our time is up.