The Right to Right Livelihood -- The Economics of Compassion

Shirley Lewis once told me we need to live as sustainably as possible

ASAP

and I agreed, then she said the key is, given your current circumstances.  Finally, I understood!  It wasn't about achieving an ideal of perfection, that stops some dead in their tracks, but taking stock of your current realities, then just taking one step forward at a time -- toward what you see as being sustainable.

What Sustains Us -- I thought I already knew the answer to this.  Shirley showed me this diagram called the Arc of Respect.  She believes that all the elements (of which earth is only one) are needed for our sustenance.  Plus -- we need the compassion and love of our fellow humans.  By the way here is a new way to describe ourselves.  Human comes from the same word as humus.  Yes we are of the earth and return to earth, but aren't we more?

Just as Shirley has said, we are beings of love.

So now as these beings, we try to keep our sense of humus intact (recycling, reusing, reducing) and keep on composting.  (I now have the Humanure Handbook, and it rocks... by the way.)

However, we need to have our own sense of compassion fully operational to graduate from being human to being love.



This is why I wish to talk to you today about a new economics and a new way of making a living and prospering and sharing with those in need.  It's called the economics of compassion.

 Walter Brueggemann is already implementing this idea in Cincinatti, Ohio (USA)

             

Anitra (Life Without Money) Nelson guided me to this fellow (link) who has managed to create a ground swell in the Free Land Movement in Australia.  He simply asked (on Gumtree) and simply received (by website users responding in kind.)

His wish is for the greater good, that is why I believe it has worked.  Not only a little but a lot!  So far I understand 3000 acres on 12 properties mostly in NSW -- some internationally -- has been offered free of charge for the production of food for the community.  (I presume this means the money-free community for practical reasons, but should apply to any one who is in need who comes forward -- and aren't such people already free of money.)

  Pragmatically, each property mentioned above represents a unique  

  situation that the participants will create in their own way.  When it comes  

  to money, it is still a planet of free choice,  

  and we can do what we like with this type of energy/abundance.  

The stigma our society has created around lack of money is intolerable.  It is bad enough not to be able to meet one's needs or one's family's, but don't dare talk about it. You see, money is a two-edged sword.  Whilst is can be said that it helps us meet our needs, it creates a dependence on itself (plus the fear of the lack of there being enough) just as a drug does.  Can't sleep without valium, can't wake up and go to work without coffee.  Can't live without money.  Sound familiar?

 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

Articles 23 & 24 pertain to work.

I recently attended a methadone clinic for money addicts (in Australia this is called Centrelink, or the dole) that made sure I would have a two-weekly top-up of matrix-juice in my bank account.  However, it wasn't until I travelled out of my normal bucolic surroundings toward the big city of Sydney (which I normally avoid) that I fully comprehended the grip of this methadone metronome that fully hypnotises its users.  Sorry but I will not give horrible details of what happened to me in Sydney, but I will tell you I am much happier now than before, and I could write a book about what happened called, The Way I Changed in a Day.  This drama is instructive, because it shows that empowerment of ourselves and fulfillment of our heart's desire is also possible (you should see the land I found thanks to Spaces of Love (FB group) -- but it is possible precisely without money.

Example of right livelihood organisation --

http://www.grassrootsonline.org/

This picture, "Promoting Seed Sovereignty"

Working around the world to reclaim the right to seeds and to a dignified life

At the very moment my own personal finances had reached the zero point, my empowerment reached its peak.  That is because I realised that my so-called support systems were actually draining me.  Job, Centrelink, employment agency.  By freeing myself (internally mind you, this had to come first) of them, I found power I had never known before.

The Mondragon Corporation in Spain is defying the overall economy there

 to bring egalitarian working conditions (and employment!)

through its cooperative model

It includes companies such as the Orbea bicycle makers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-19213425

External circumstances, grim as they may have appeared at times, all seemed to conspire and align perfectly with my heart's desire, so the fruit of the internal work became apparent very rapidly.

 We are talking a week here.

I should also like to mention a debt of gratitude to one of my classmates in the "Work Readiness" program.  You might think it strange that some one already employed had to attend a course of that name.  So did I.  Not only that, but having a day's work was no excuse for missing a class!  With Integrity I came back the following week (and boy did I resent it) to make up the missed material.

Somehow this man's material (via several youtube videos) had been inserted into the course presentation  (I love the way things are done in this country, even bureaucrats have a soul!).  I remember Alan Watts saying it is stupid to keep doing things we hate.  I couldn't find this exact quote any where, but that is what I got from the sound of his words.

http://permaculturenews.org/2014/02/04/let-us-turn-earth-

paradise-vandana-shivas-message-latin-america/

Who is Vandana Shiva?

Here is an interview with her.

Soon after this seed was planted, my life returned to me.  The country music record played in reverse.  I didn't have to go to an unhappy job or seek jobs I didn't want, got to spend time at home with the family (the dog did come back, eventually!) and potentially have found a beautiful new home that will empower me to participate in its design and construction -- plus I am blogging again after ten weeks absence.

http://www.ringingcedarsofrussia.org/anastasia/the-ringing-cedars-of-russia.html#world3

In spring 2013, the first preparatory stage began in the

construction of the Drugi eco-settlement in the

 south of Serbia. In 2014, the construction of houses was planned.

Linguistic note, drugi means "others" in Serbian.

The actual reason for the hiatus was another matter that I will share with you.  It was the birth of a beautiful baby daughter in September that kept me off they keyboard.

Evgeny Savchenko, 

Governor of Belgorod Oblast. 

Members of the Belgorod Duma have 

given legal status to Kin's Domains.

http://www.ringingcedarsofrussia.org/

kins-domains/legal-status.html#n3

Never thought I'd use a politician as an example

of Right Livelihood -- Congratulations, Evgeny!

Interesting in a way that the post I had planned to send before my daughter's birth (also on Right Livelihood) looked completely different.  This little cherub has changed my life for the better just by her existence.  A quiet, good sleeper she is.  So if I have lost any sleep recently it is because I have been wondering how I could improve the world I brought her into.

As the Dalai Lama said in an interview in this book -- The Art of Happiness at Work (which I found life-changing enough in less-fortunate times seven years ago) -- Your Holiness, and what do you do?  Reply -- after clarifying what was meant by do -- to mean what is your principal work -- Nothing.  I do nothing, just care for myself, I suppose.

And when the Dalai Lama cares for himself -- he breathes in and out, eats, rests and drinks tea of course.  But the world is changed by his existence.  How does he do it?  And how can we do it?

Note -- the Dalai Lama knows how to ground and balance himself -- that's what he means by taking care of himself.  But look how effective it enables him to be.  How early does he get up?  And meditate?  And how many people does he meet with every day?  Was he ever persecuted or exiled? Is he still balanced in spite of it?  See what I mean..

http://onebigphoto.com/worlds-most-beautiful-trees-photography/

The Greening of Australia -- Why I Want to Learn Russian

It all started in 1980 -- with the Moscow Olympic boycott.  My family was supposed to be going.  And my parents had been taking a night school course to learn Russian.  So I am what you call a false beginner -- no real vocabulary or skill, just enough not to be completely ignorant.

   The Russian e-book. 

What this meant was a very long delay recently (4 years) between VN Megre's release of the 10th book, Anasta and when it became available in English (2014).

 And English. (e-book) 

So motivated was I [that] I bought the book in Russian.  And the German version proved easier to read, as about 10% of the words were comprehensible with an English vocabulary.

    Yes, the German version (hardcover).  

Why do we have so many languages -- something to do with the Tower of Babel.  Divide and conquer -- we have conquered ourselves by dividing our thoughts to the degree where it is unlikely for every one on earth to share the same thought.  For the power of all of us uniting behind one single idea would be the strongest force in the universe, stronger in all probability than that of our creator!  [This idea is put forth in Megre's book Anasta.]

But what if there were another way to unite -- that does not rely so much on the spoken language -- or at least as we know it.  First -- what are the universal languages we know.  There is music -- rhythm, melody.  These impart emotion.  That is the key.  Next, love.  Same everywhere.  And the smile!  Who cannot understand this?  Facial expressions are not culturally specific.  Food.  [chocolate link].  Flavour and taste and nourishment are universally recognised.  So it seems we can communicate together.  But there is one more thing.  The image.

 Language the beans, humanity the pods. 

It does not require any words at all, carries a weight and significance that all can grasp who can visualise it and may be transmitted at will to any one, any time.  So we're not as isolated as our many and diverse language families would suggest.  It's just that we need to practice thinking and communicating with pictures.

    A beehive by any other name is-  

  an apiary in Kovcheg Ecovillage, near Moscow.  

Benefits are that solutions may be visualised instantaneously without linear thought logic that ends up going in circles or tying us up in knots.

 Fedor (Fyodor) Lazutin writes in English on "Keeping Bees With a Smile" 

 

Images and emotions are our best friends who will help us bring the world together.

~

Here is an image.  Previously, I blogged about the sub-saharan green belt project [link] that spans the width of Africa.  Doing some research (on the topic, "contacting people in Russia") I found this -- that some readers may know about.  Plans are afoot to forge a rail link across the Bering Strait.  Then London and New York can be linked (a la the Channel Tunnel) by rail -- via Canada, Siberia and Europe.

 

So.. if we can imagine this and create it, why not imagine something living that can go the same distance -- a green belt across the globe, from London to New York (could follow the rails!).

Why this is important I will show.  Because I have made contact with the Russian speaking world (thanks to Chris Cole's project, Elena Andreeva a Russian living in Australia and the Ringing Cedars of Russia movement),  

Russian pages can often be translated.
(Depending on website and your browser.)

     I have now got scientific evidence of something I have always suspected and intuitively knew.  Trees are capable of bringing precipitation into the heart of a continent that, by rights should remain completely dry and devoid of the precipitation that coastlines often enjoy.  [link biotic regulation]  (Source of figures below.)

As an aside, deforested coastlines are often dry too - 

viz Namibia, Peru, Chile and the Nullarbor Plain.

The gist of the article, fortunately available in English, is that the transpiration of trees sets up a favourable flow of energy/water from the coast inland, toward the trees in the form of wind, clouds and rain.  [The Gaia hypothesis by James Lovelock also states living things create or change their environment towards the conditions that are more favourable for themselves -- for their continuing existence.]

As long as the water sent into the atmosphere outweighs that coming from the surface of the sea, the rain will travel inland to the forest [a convection draft is set up]. 

Also, trees release micro-particles such as drops of oil or 

even associated fungi spores that seed the formation of clouds.

Thus the Siberian forests have proved to be one of the natural wonders of the world and potentially its greatest resource, outside of the oceans themselves (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern that link all the landmasses together).  Were these forests not there, this part of the Eurasian landmass would look more like the heartland of Australia (or Mongolia).

 Fig. 2. Annual precipitation 

 P versus distance x from the 

 source of moisture on 

 (a) deforested territories 

 and (b) in natural forests. 

 Where there is a forest, 

 precipitation increases further inland. 

 http://www.bioticregulation.ru/pump/pump3.php 

The distance rainfall can travel inland is amply evidenced by the Siberian boreal forests -- [see Yenisey, figure above] so in theory, the coastal rain belt of Australia would expand inland if -- the forests were able to do so.  (I realise we need to look at other things such as latitude, but let's give it a chance!) 

 Forest spans all latitudes, along Australia's coast line.

I had suspected that we could influence micro-climate [biotic regulation link] by planting trees (Peter Andrews and others, Alanna Moore for example, seem to think so.)  -- but thanks to Russian scientists we may now consider macro-climate!

We are not just talking about halting the spread of the desert, but changing the rainfall patterns of a whole continent!  Of course, the Siberian forest is probably not a man-made phenomenon.  But it at least has not been ruined by us and offers hope in other regions of the world that have not been so fortunate.

 Short video (clip) here. 

In summary, the benefits of speaking another language are many.  I would like my English-speaking sisters and brethren to open our minds and hearts to a region of the world that has so much to offer.  

 http://www.ringingcedarsofrussia.org/kins-domains/legal-status.html#n3 

Many are already familiar with the the Ringing Cedars of Russia books, fortunately available in many languages.  There is a whole host of scientific, philosophical, spiritual and of course practical (and humanitarian) information that becomes available in Russian.

Are Universal Land Rights starting to appear in the 

Belgorod region, Eastern Russia?  (Scroll down page, in link above.)

Now of course we can use google translate (or the browser's translate button), and that often suffices.  But something is always lost in translation.  I'll give you an example in English.  Each language has a secret code within it, some call it a mantra that may be discovered only by those who have mastered it completely.

I

WE

common words.

ILLNESS

WELLNESS

also common.

This specific meaning embedded is without logical explanation and almost certainly cannot be translated (but carries emotion, does it not?).  Russian is no exception.  

What if some one had mastered it to the degree that they (he or she) could deliberately embed emotion, or even a (positive) image that would be absorbed by any one reading or listening to it.  

And if we could learn Russian we could too 

feel the enormous benefit that was intended.

  Questions and answers with Vladimir Megre. 

I'm saying this because it has been suggested this is taking place with the RCofR books (ZKR knigi) in Russia.

 Звенящие Кедры России книги 

Let's look at the results shown by this theory (or experiment).  In Russia, hundreds of settlements have been created around the Ringing Cedars image [of people taking back their motherland, their special place on earth].  

In non Russian-speaking areas only a handful have.  We cannot thank the translators for this.  I'm convinced some people are pre-inspired because they were already on the same wavelength and didn't require a language-mantra attunement by the specific sounds/images they were reading.  

That's fortunate for them, but what about the others?

  Vedrica Forest Gardens, a Ringing Cedars inspired Community in Idaho, USA.  

Well, the image can and is being conveyed outside the books in human interactions, all the time.  Thank goodness for the language of emotion that can convey at least as much as the language of linear logic!

Footnote on Biotic Regulation in Australia [link to b.r. site for Australia].

The article says that the natural tendency of rainfall that strikes land is to run out toward the sea, under influence of gravity.  But not in Australia!  Here there are substantial inland (landlocked catchments) and underground reservoirs of water that are vast, in the East and West.

Besides antipodean upside-down-ness [contrariness], an interesting explanation (Peter Andrews, thank you) for our inland flowing rivers is this.  When Australia was joined with Antarctica, Antarctica had the highlands (still does) and Australia the lowlands (ditto).  The flow patterns persisted even after they broke up.

Also, very importantly, (also from Peter Andrews) Australian soils have underground clay deposits that act as a sponge, preventing [assuming in the first place a healthy landscape] flow of water to the sea, and releasing it when it is needed.  What would the Gaia hypothesis say about this or Biotic Regulation?  This is beyond plant life -- but involves a seeming cooperation between Animal, Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms.

Translation provided by Elena Andreeva.

.

Сноска на Биотическую Регуляцию в Австралии [ссылка на вопросы биотической регуляции в Австралии].

Статья (Биотическая регуляция) говорит, что выпадающие на землю дожди имеют тенденцию естественно стекать в океан согласно действию силы притяжения. Но не в Австралии! Здесь находятся значительные обширные скопления подземных вод, как на востоке, так и на западе материка. 

Кроме антиподного (перевёрнутого) расположения (спасибо Peter Andrews за эту идею) , есть и другое объяснение наших внутриматериковых течений рек. Когда Австралия была соединена с Антарктикой, Антарктика имела гористую поверхность, как и сейчас, а Австралия - низменную, тоже как и сейчас. Узоры течений сохранились и после их разделения.

Также, что очень важно (снова спасибо Peter Andrews), почвенный слой в Австралии имеет залежи глины, действующие как губка, предотвращающие стекание воды к морю и высвобождающие её по мере необходимости. Что бы гипотеза Gaia сказала об этом или о биотической регуляции? Это не входит в жизнь растений, но вовлечено во взаимодействие царств животных, растений и минералов. 

Перевод Елены Андреевой

   Hand-made honey log on family domain, Russia .

 House-building in Rodovoye settlement  

 south of Moscow region. 

   Rodovoye settlement, Tula region. 

 Photos courtesy Elena Andreeva.