ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Ecology is that branch of science that studies the interrelationship between organisms and their environment. This branch of science has come to maturity during and as result of this awakening. As it has matured it has gained not only professional stature but expanded in breadth and depth. Increasingly people are understanding ecology as about more than interrelationships. Ecology is about harmony, cooperation, mutual support. The whole is far greater than the sum of the parts.

More and more, people are becoming aware that human beings are one of the organisms most involved in creating a viable ecology. Human beings are the principle agents that create and maintain ecological harmony. We are one with the earth and all its creatures. We are one with the sky and water. We are one with Life and the divinity of Life.

In addition, a new awareness has grown that the whole system including the planet earth itself is a living organism. It evolves as we evolve. As we evolve it evolves. We are not simply a part of the system. We are the custodians and stewards of the system. Survival and evolution of the whole depends upon us just as our survival and evolution depends upon the whole.

As this awakening expands and deepens so does our awareness of the fact that we and our environment form one living organism. The life of this organism requires that each part supports every other part. Ecology is an expression of the unity of life. The lesson that we are learning is the lesson of love, the embrace of all with all. Our survival is based on love itself. Our evolution toward the embrace of love is the lesson that we learn from our growing consciousness of the interconnectedness that is the unity in diversity of ecology.

The insights, methods, strategies, and techniques required to ensure the proper functioning and evolution of this living organism of which we are a major constituent have expanded dramatically. We now know that the manner in which we build our homes, offices, schools, and hospitals need to be correctly designed and constructed. We now know that the energies of our planet, our solar system, and even the universe operate in specific ways. We are discovering the techniques of 'green architecture': how to build our homes, communities, cities in harmony with our environment at every level for the benefit of a building's occupants and their surround. As that harmony is achieved every participant in the ecological system benefits expanding the abundance of its own expression of life.

During this awakening the ancient architectural systems of China and India have come to light. These systems are based upon the knowledge of the energy fields that exist in our solar system and on our planet. Based on this knowledge there are certain rules about: how a building should be oriented with respect to the cardinal points of the compass, the materials that should be used, how the rooms should be laid out, how the interior should be decorated, the shape and slope of the land, the location of surrounding bodies of water, forests, mountains, the composition of the soil, etc. When these principles are employed the result is that the occupants and the environment thrive as one. Our modern approaches to architecture are incorporating these ancient principles in a contemporary way so that something is evolving that is new, beautiful, and life supporting.

Another area in which ancient knowledge and the science of ecology are discovering one another, is the field of agriculture. Modern mainstream agricultural methods are threatening the survival of the world. Chemicals and GMO are poisoning our crops and the soil, water, and air needed for their growth and ours. Organic non-GMO farming has become the fastest growing business in the world. Here again, many ancient techniques are being rediscovered and incorporated in modern ecological methods. As the principles of organic farming are more widely employed in this awakening, there are those who see this as a way to end poverty in the poorest countries. These countries have millions of acres suitable to organic farming. If these lands are employed in an ecological fashion they can be a source of employment, profits, health, and well being for the people of those countries.

Ecology involves every aspect and level of life. Ecology is the science of how diversity functions in unity to evolve to more and more fulfillment for everyone and everything. We have reached the point in our evolution where industry, commerce, economics, environment, agriculture, architecture, government, health, education, society as a whole, are viewed as matters of ecology. Religion, itself, is joining this list. This view has risen from the ground of our own evolution as we become increasingly aware that the universe itself is a living, organic whole, and will not function any other way. Our evolution, our spiritual development, is the subject of ecology.

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