Are we Guardians of the Planet?

 

guardian

n

1. one who looks after, protects, or defends: the guardian of public morals.

Darkening of the Light
Witnessing the End of an Era
by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

In the Introduction to Darkening of the Light by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, we find:

 

“But this gift of light was also a test for humanity…and has forgotten our ancient purpose as guardians of the planet.”

 

Not only do I have no idea who or what religion, spirituality or movement decided that we have this ancient purpose.  It certainly was not Jewish or Christian.  According to Genesis, God has given us the planet to have dominion over.  I am aware of my ignorance and will try to find out.

 

We just cannot have it both ways.  Either we see the oneness, the non-dual in our beingness as the Earth, or we see the duality as we, creatures of the Earth protecting the other that we choose to call Earth. The bark is the tree, there is not the bark and the tree as a duality.  Yes, our language allows us to split and divide, carve up things so that we can speak of the tree roots, the tree bark, tree limbs, tree leaves, but still without these what we call parts, what we observe wouldn’t be a tree.  It is our thinking function that gets hung up on dichotomys.  Our science rips living things apart and then pronounces on what “it is.”

 

Guardianship may have ancient beginnings, but our science supports a non-dual understanding of how we are in the world.  Even to see ourselves as IN a world out there is to err.

There is no duality, no “out there” and “in here.”  As Vadim Zeland has said, the world is a mirror of your attitude towards it. The Gnostic text The Gospel of St. Thomas that didn’t make the cut by the early “holy” fathers of the church, remarks something like:  When the inner becomes as the outer, there is the Kingdom of God.  Another biblical source says that the Kingdom of God is within you. [Luke 17:21]  So, we may see that actually, the world is also within you, not “out there.”  So, if there is no “out there” and “out there” is really within us and we are “within” the planet both physically and spirituality, then what we have is oneness, true oneness.  From the perspective of planets, stars and galaxies, they are not “out there” either, so they are a oneness.  From here it is not too far out for those who speak of oneness with the Universe.

Now this is my thinking function rattling on.  How do I feel?  Can I sense oneness in my everyday interaction with what I think of as out there?  Well, since I cannot and do not want to part with my mate and buddy, the thinking function, I’ll just call it a both/and and leave it for now as I set forth for my daily bread  walking among the birds, insects, grass, trees, bushes, clouds and feeling joyful knowing that I know and I am known.