How would a sage care for the planet?
April has already begun and I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about the habit I would like to develop in pursuit of a more sagely existence. First, let’s recap what was said in the inaugural Year of Sagely Living post:
April - Large Intestine, Mao 卯 (Rabbit) - Care of the planet/consumption: This category will contain practices that develop us into compassionate and sane consumers, while helping to develop our deep relationship with the natural world. Why this pairing? April is a time when we can see the beauty of nature all around us, so is a great time to contemplate our dependence on it and responsibility towards it. Also, the negative side of LI/Rabbit is a tendency to run rough-shod over the needs and wants of others, these practices will seek to counterbalance this.
My lifestyle is already very much concerned with what I would call “compassionate consumerism,” which is to say that I consider the human and non-human ramifications of my actions every time I buy, consume or discard something. I recycle about 20 times more than I throw away, my version of whole-foods veganism lives lightly on the planet, I use my own two feet and public transportation most of the time, so on and so forth. Looking for a way to leave the planet in better shape than I found it has been a sort of part-time job of mine. So, figuring out an excellent practice for April’s Year of Sagely Living both had more weight and seemed more challenging.
At the end of March, I really took some time to review the whole Year of Sagely Living project. I have a passion for personal development, and my thoughts and actions naturally tend in this direction. However, “regular” personal development is not what my schooling, future career, and this blog are really about! The point is to look at categories of practice that seem to be aligned with the essence of Chinese medical philosophy, live by them, and analyze the results. The hypothesis is that these practices, particularly when they are very deeply rooted in Chinese medical philosophy, will be productive of excellent human beings. What I’m getting to here is that I want to be sure that I stay connected to the aim of reaching back to the ancient wisdom.
So, when considering my April YSL goal, I really tried to consider what kind of practice I could do that would bring me in line with the overall aim of the project. I’ve decided, with my family, to try to grow as much of our produce as possible in our backyard. I have been trying for a long time to develop the habit of growing food. We have beautiful houseplants and have managed to grow some excellent flowers, shrubs and trees in our yard. We have several fruit trees, raspberry bushes, and now a strawberry patch. We have had a container garden on our back stoop for two years running that was mildly successful. Now we have the space and the desire to really make a push and create a beautiful, bountiful space to provide our fruit and vegetable needs and we should use it.
This goal is ideal in a number of respects. First, it really brings us into line with our desire to buy the majority of our food locally. We shop at our local coop which has this goal as one of its goals, so we generally eat food that comes from pretty close to home. However, growing it in our yard would take that to another level. Eating locally is one of the greatest things you can do to reduce your environmental impact, as it reduces theamounto of petroleum used to get you the things you eat. It has a number of residual benefits as well, such as strengthening the local economy. We are making an attempt to make this even more petroleum-neutral by using public transportation when we can to get things for our garden, sharing some supplies (and their transportation) with a garden-savvy friend, etc…
Another reason why this goal is ideal for the YSL is that it connects the two vital practices of interacting with nature and ensuring the viability of our ecosphere. Chinese medicine has nature observation and contemplation at its root. Watching the cycle of growth, death, and rebirth will certainly deepen my understanding of this root. Third, there are a number of health benefits involved in growing a significant portion of our food. Micro-agriculture seems to yield more Qi-laden veggies, having lots of veggies around will promote us to eat them more often and the work itself (when done mindfully) can be tremendously good exercise. Finally, I really believe that interacting with nature on this level will confer some spiritual benefits - improving my general level of personal cultivation.
Some details:
- We will be growing the following: two kinds of kale, two kinds of chard, two kinds of lettuce, lots of tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, summer squash, delicata squash, cucumbers, spicy peppers, chicory, carrots, fennel, basil, oregano and maybe a couple of other herbs. I will be seeking out Chinese herbs to grow as well. I know our local Classical Chinese Garden sometimes has plant sales.
- We will be using all organic soil amendments and pest control.
- We will not be using any machines in creation of the garden.
- We will be using heirloom varieties whenever possible, open pollinated.
- We will be using raised beds created from recycled wood (left in our yard by the landlord) or FCS certified wood
I will discuss the particulars of my experience and probably even find a way to post pictures of the garden as it grows. This will obviously be more than a month, but I will use my Year of Sagely Living intensity to really engage in the process of setting up the garden and getting it in the ground and then do periodic reports as time goes on. I can’t wait to hear about other people’s April Year of Sagely Living goals!
Eric
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Tags: chinese-herb, chinese-herbs, environment, environmentalism, garden, habits, nature, organic, Personal Development, Year of Sagely LivingRelated posts
Blog Action Day 2007 : Is Chinese medicine environmentally friendly?
Today is Blog Action Day - one day where many writers come together to blog about a single topic to increase our total impact. This year, the topic is the environment - something near and dear to my heart. In this article, I’d like to suggest that Chinese medicine can easily be a strong part of the solution to our growing environmental problems while also mentioning one area in which Chinese medicine practitioners need to advocate for more ecologically friendly practices.
Balance is as balance does (or vice versa)
One of the most powerful features of Chinese medicine is its ability to bring us into closer harmony with the natural world. In fact, all of the Classics talk about the importance of people’s closeness to and concordance with the processes of Earth. QiBo and Huangdi, some of Chinese medicine’s founding fathers, repeatedly lament the lack of people’s ability to live within nature’s boundaries and point to it as a major cause of disease as well as treatment resistance. Now it could easily become (and in some ways has become) a watered down forceless statement to say that Chinese medicine can bring you into harmony with nature - what does that really mean and why does it matter from an ecological perspective?
Being in balance means simply this - your body is in a physiological state whereby there are no extreme states. No intense cravings, no wildly oscillating emotions, nothing like that. You can sleep. You can smile. When you eat normal food, your guts don’t hurt. You don’t go into sneezing fits at the merest whiff of cat dander. There may be pain, sure, there may be problems of varying kinds - but the body is generally in balance around these points and things are moving in a more or less effortless fashion. When some adverse condition arises, your body is able to respond appropriately.
It is my assertion here that this state of balance, whatever it looks like for a particular individual, produces generally balanced behavior. Balanced behavior is less likely to be destructive in a number of ways. So much of what goes on from an environmental damage perspective comes from people’s unordered responses to life. Think about vices, for instance. So many of these (tobacco, alcohol, coffee) are intensively farmed with the accompanying herbicides and pesticides. Also, a body in balance may be more likely to ask for things that are generally good for it - such as fresh air, long walks and clean water. I know that when I’m the least in balance, I’m least likely to care whether I am drinking filtered water or eating organic food. It just doesn’t matter to me. Maybe I’m the only one.
Ecological medicine
Chinese medicine is generally ecologically friendly. Our equipment needs are minor, we don’t require huge research facilities that use a variety of toxic chemicals to operate. Because many Chinese medicine practitioners are likely to be following the principles set out in the classics, they may be more likely to pay attention to the way their products are produced and the way the electricity for their offices is generated. This is, of course, not always the case and probably less so outside of the Western world. Chinese medicine also doesn’t ask people to consume synthetic drugs, the production of which puts a heavy environmental load on the planet.
But what about herbs? If you’ve thought about it even for a little while, you’ve likely been concerned about the ecological impact of Chinese herbs. I know I have and I’d like to address a couple of the most obvious problems here.
Herbs frequently travel long distances, increasing our dependence on fossil fuels : what to do?
The vast majority of Chinese herbs are produced in Asian countries. If you do not live in an Asian country, it follows that these substance are going to have to be transported to your place of practice. The travel may be considerable and of course this means reliance on significant amounts of fossil fuels. There are a number of things Chinese herbalists can do to reduce their impact. Probably the easiest and most effective behavior is to research the herbs you are procuring from grower to distributor. Where do they come from? How are they transported? Can you find a distributor close by so you can use alternative transportation to get them? Can you find a supply line with a minimal number of links? Can you find a supply line that includes companies that have an ecological frame of mind? This will, of course, require some research - but it will be well spent.
Another possibility is to grow some of your own herbs or form growers coops in your local area. This is energy intensive and there is some question as to the energetic quality of the resulting materials, but I think it is at least something to consider. Going a step further, some people have suggested that instead of using the Chinese species of herbs we should do the research required to find local correlates to all of the herbs. These folks argue that the herbs will be more likely to resonate with our own physiology and the disease patterns we present if they are local. I am not convinced that this is the case and I am by no means sure that we are energetically sensitive enough to discover the Wei and Qi of herbs in an accurate manner today.
Chinese herbs are commonly produced using lots of chemicals in China : what to do?
Simply demand organic, or at least pesticide and herbicide free herbs. This is a very similar tactic as has worked with the organic foods movement. Simply know where your consumables are coming from and how they are grown and when the practices are ecologically damaging, demand better. Only buy from companies/distributors that support best practices - and when that is not possible, communicate your desires to the people you are working with. Finding chemical free herbs is not only good for the environment, but it’s great for your patients and will do a lot to alleviate their fears about taking products produced in China.
There may be other positive and negative environmental impacts of Chinese medicine, but these are the ones I think of most frequently. I’d like to hear what others think on these and related topics - please add your voice in the comments.
Eric
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