The Dream of the Earth

It's Friday, and it seems like an appropriate time to share (finally) some Thomas Berry. Berry (1914-2009), who was a Catholic priest, cultural historian, ecotheologian, cosmologist, geologian, and deep ecology advocate, is the author of the seminal work, The Dream of the Earth. This amazing treatise, first published by the Sierra Club in 1988, provides an intellectual-ethical framework for the human community by positing planetary well-being as the measure of all human activity. 

Such a fantastic universe, with its great spiraling galaxies, its supernovas, our solar system, and this priviledged planet Earth. All this is held together in the vast curvature of space, poised so precisely in holding all things together in the one embrace and yet so lightly that the creative expansion of the universe might continue into the future. We ourselves, with our distinctive capacities for reflexive thinking, are the most recent wonder of the universe, a special mode of reflecting this larger curvature of the universe itself. If in recent centuries we have sought to collapse this larger creative curve within the horizons of our own limited being, we must now understand that our own well-being can be achieved only through the well-being of the entire natural world about us. The greater curvature of the universe and of the planet Earth must govern the curvature of our own being. In the coincidence of these three curves lies the way into a creative future.

- From the Introduction, The Dream of the Earth

This book is a foundational volume of the ecological canon. Timely words for troubled times. Highly, highly recommended. [NOTE: Just so you know, today is my birthday].

No Cutting, No Goats, No Fires

Sign on one of the trees along the road inside the Oronjia Forest protected area. The tree with the orange, papery bark is Delonix velutina, an important local species used to make canoes; the species is classified as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List. I saw tree felling and I saw a lot of goats in the reserve, but no fires. [NOTE: Some interesting strategies are being implemented to get the goats out. Only a few families have goats, but their impact on the forest affects everyone. Stay tuned].

Flying In to Antananarivo

Flying in to the capital city of Antananarivo, or "Tana", after the workshop (see Oronjia Forest and More Oronjia). Beautiful colors as the sun goes down, but not much green. Mega-diversity country with a rapidly dwindling forest base. I was told that the great majority of the 2.1 million people in Antanarivo still cook with charcoal. Sigh. 

Taco Truck

There's a taco truck parked outside of the back door of my office at NYBG. Probably part of the new Frida Kahlo exhibit. New addition to the somewhat pedestrian back-door environment of the Harding Lab. [NOTE: Wonder how many other tropical ecologists have a taco truck parked outside of their office]? 

Going On Patrol

Early morning servicing of the motors at the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary Forward Station (see How Tall Is That Teak Tree? and Sandstorm). Once the motors are working well, they are attached to long boats (see below) and filled with a team of rangers who will navigate into the backwaters of the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary and spend two weeks walking through the forest looking for poachers or loggers or gold miners. They will be replaced by a similar team who works a different sector of the protected area. Two weeks hiking, two weeks off. These are some gnarly young men. 

Moon Over Uppatasanti

Forgot I had this image from the Uppatasanti Pagoda (ဥပ္ပါတသန္တိစေတီတော်) in Naypyidaw. We went back to the pagoda (see Uppatasanti Pagoda) after dinner to look at the relics (see Buddha's Tooth), and there was the moon in a cloudless, starry sky. [NOTE: Ready to go back, and am currently working on a proposal to fund continuing work in Myanmar. More later].

Everest: A Tribute to the Fallen

"Imagine a 1500 ft tidal wave of snow, rock and debris headed straight towards you. This was our reality on April 25th, 2015 at Mt. Everest basecamp when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake triggered a massive avalanche at Mt. Everest Basecamp that claimed 16 lives and critically injured 50+ men and women". A short documentary by award-winning filmaker, Elia Saikalay.  

Eight Years Ago Today

I was in the Selva Maya of Quintana Roo putting dendrometer bands around some of the timber trees to measure growth (see Selva Maya III).  There were monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi yucatanensis) jumping around in the canopy and making a lot of noise and one landed very close to me and was checking me out. I tried to get a picture, but my camera focused on the leaves in the foreground, not the monkey in the background. [NOTE: I hate it when that happens]. 

Schoolkids at MOMA

Was back at the MOMA yesterday with my friend Silvia Purata (see Reading the Bands). Fantastic art, as usual, but this visit I was struck by the people as much as the art. Tuesday is apparently a big day for school groups. Something about the little girl with her audio tour headphones, orange school pass lanyard, blond ponytail, and peach sweatshirt standing in front of The Kitchen by Picasso gave me a real "Art is for Everyone" moment. Thank you MOMA. 

Bodhisattva's Embrace

Hozan Alan Senauke has been in residence at the Empty Hand Zen Center for the past few weeks (deep bow of gratitude, Alan). I have been reading through his book The Bodhisattva's Embrace: Dispatches from Engaged Buddhism's Front Lines as part of his class on Dogen's essay Bodaisatta Shishobo (Four Embracing Dharmas) from Shobogenzo.

As Vice-Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, leader of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, founder of the Clear View Project, and advisior to the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, Alan has a unique and global perspective on socially-engaged Buddhism as a force for positive change. And the clarity of this view comes through in his writings. This is a wonderful book. [NOTE: Click here to download a translation of Bodaisatta Shishobo. Read slowly. Repeat. Conscientiously apply in your life and become a Bodhisattva].