I wrote this piece back in 2019– Tuesday April 16/2019. More than 4 years ago
The quote below is from a book by Stephen Buhner- I’m a fan having read many of his books-
Why people fear eating the wild
“If we eat the wild, it begins to work inside us, altering us, changing us. Soon, if we eat too much, we will no longer fit the suit that has been made for us. Our hair will begin to grow long and ragged. Our gait and how we hold our body will change. A wild light begins to gleam in our eyes. Our words start to sound strange, nonlinear, emotional. Unpractical. Poetic.
Once we have tasted this wildness, we begin to hunger for a food long denied us, and the more we eat of it the more we will awaken.
It is no wonder that we are taught to close off our senses to Nature.
Through these channels, the green paws of Nature enter into us, climb over us, search within us, find all our hiding places, burst us open, and blind the intellectual eye with hanging tendrils of green.The terror is an illusion, of course. For most of our million years on this planet human beings have daily eaten the wild. It’s just that the linear mind knows what will happen if you eat it now.
But we’ve gone astray with this, distracted from our task. Still, it’s a good reminder. When your hair begins to grow long and you think strange thoughts, sometimes you will wonder what is happening and will become afraid.
In Nature, human markers fade, lose significance. It takes awhile to learn the old markers again, to see the path that ancient humans took before us. In kindness, learn how to comfort yourself, to hold yourself as you would a child that is afraid of the light. (I suppose you could learn the poisonous plants first if you need to; there aren’t very many.) For on this journey, you mostly have yourself for company.
It helps if you become your own best friend
and find out what is true about all this for yourself.
Open the door and take a look around outside.
The air is shining there,
and there are wonders,
more wonderful than words can tell”
Some of this was included in a 2017 post that I’d expanded on in 2019
In 2017 the two interviews below were included
https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2017/07/stephen-buhner-interview-plant.html
Stephen Buhner discusses his book Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Beyond the Doors of Perception into the Dreaming of Earth which reveals that all life forms on Earth possess intelligence, language, a sense of I and not I, and the capacity to dream. It shows that by consciously opening the doors of perception, we can reconnect with the living intelligence in Nature as kindred beings, once again become wild scientists, non-domesticated explorers of a Gaian world.
Download (Duration: 50:08 — 45.9MB)
Buhner explains how to use analogical thinking and imaginal perception to directly experience the inherent meanings that flow through the world, that are expressed in each living form that surrounds us, and to directly initiate communication in return. He delves deeply into the ecological function of invasive plants, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, psychotropic plants and fungi, and, most importantly, the human species itself. He shows that human beings are not a plague on the planet – they have a specific ecological function as important to Gaia as that of plants and bacteria.
Buhner shows that the capacity for depth connection and meaning-filled communication with the living world is inherent in every human being. It is as natural as breathing, as the beating of our own hearts, as our own desire for intimacy and love. We can change how we think and in so doing begin to address the difficulties of our times.
Stephen Buhner – Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Part Two
June 10, 2014
Download (Duration: 54:06 — 49.5MB)
The 2019 post included yet another interview
And then linking to a new interview- please listen to them. All.
Peter Allen as interviewed by Greg Carlwood– I loved this interview!
So much in fact, it’s already been twice listened to 🙂
So much so that I almost emailed Greg Carlwood to thank him for taking the time to talk to Peter Allen. ‘Cept I couldn’t find the darn email address on the site. Oh well.
Thanks anyway.
Mr Allen speaks about how humans are becoming mechanized. And we are.
How we’re losing our empathy… And we are
And did I mention Oak trees are discussed? I LOVE OAK TREES!
At there base is often found… Maitake (Hen of the Woods) Look it up
There is an Oak Savannah in Niagara on the Lake- (updated link)
And one particular oak tree, near that Savannah, is one of a few of my favourite oaks- due to it’s tenacious nature. Hug a tree. Expel your carbon breath in it’s vicinty- Inhale the oxygen.
And keep in mind the relationship we have with them.
It now 2023. The above pieces are from 2017 and 2019. How we’ve come to be so separated from our nature? From our reality? This separation is and continues to be a work in progress, a destructive work. Powerful people/corporations are exercising an unjust authority against us all. Yet it seems as a whole, as a society, we are willing to go along with this. It’s a mass crime against humanity unfolding in real time, openly, and too many fail to see this.
How did our eyes become so blind that we fail to see this abuse? Have we closed them for too long? Are we dazzled by the daily exposure to the unreal, the technological and the over abundant sleights of hand? So much so that we’ve lost sight of what is real and true?
5 replies on “Self Loathing Humans Need Not Apply- Humans are Not A Cancer on the Planet- Flashback”
first of to clarify, I don’t think happiness is a bad thing. Its a wonderful feeling to have and get trough your every day life.
Majority of the people on earth are on a “pursuit of happiness” and your have those who are in “pursuit of victory”, you probably have many other pursuits going on, but to keep it simple I am going to focus on these two.
These pursuers, one for happiness and one for victory have different threshold for certain feelings , but also have different threshold for a satisfactory answer.
What I made up this “pursuit of happiness” to be in a situation where you are loved/wanted, and don’t want to let that go. When something does add up, find a non controversial explanation. Like the system is run by lobby’s a certain group this, a certain group that. That its all about the money. To accept that one can’t do anything about. As long as we keep our heads low that everything will be alright. So to live a life with a half-baked understanding of the world, which allows you to distance yourself from it and focus on your own happiness. And than use that half-baked understanding to protect its position.
“pursuit of absolute moral/truth”, where being correct is most important. You end up digging deeper into subjects and keep finding damning information which at the beginning hurts, but at a certain point you end up numb to the pain of it. The penalty for this self inflicted pain is that you also start becoming numb to “normal”. It stops giving you happiness; A wedge is placed between you and every bond who have gained over the years. Because this pursuer values absolute truth more than anything else, even close friendships; those you thought were indestructible go up in flames. Your mind if not careful because an incoherent mess due to the unorganized amount of data.
When you pursue truth. You will walk hell on earth, at least at this current moment. The moment you take this route, you are burning even when your skin is burned, you keep burning. Some who can’t handle the heat end up distancing themselves to protect themselves from the flames. And others who are trying to steer you away from your trajectory of hell on earth, where you end up casting them away.
Not because you don’t like them, but because you become disgusted.
Of the life they prefer to live, The way they handle things. You dislike their “pursuit of happiness”
So in the End you end up alone. Unable to be happy, Unable to merge with the “Crowd”, because your inner self right-out rejects it. Where you end up developing thoughts of self-loathing.
So what I am trying to say is. Its Human nature not technological development. Otherwise history wouldn’t have been filled with sacrifices and bloodbaths.
kaz, thanks for the thoughtful comment- I can reply at the moment in a way that will do your comment justice but intend to do so later today
Thank you
I think happiness is a very good thing- and I like how you’ve defined it ” Its a wonderful feeling to have and get t(h)rough your every day life”
But are people happy? I know of some people, who in my opinion cannot be happy. They buy things, to fill empty places in their souls- But that’s how I see them. Do they see themselves that way? I think if they were honest they would acknowledge the excess shopping is being done because they are not happy. Or they people that can’t stand to be alone with their thoughts? How can one be happy if one cannot tolerate reflection. Or contemplation? There cannot be growth without this type of reflection..
Pursuit of happiness? Is simply to be happy. To be loved, yes. But also to be at peace with ones self- To be confident, that you’ve done the best you possibly can. Which does not mean lying to yourself- Perhaps happiness is being honest with yourself and others.
I think you can pursue the truth with the understanding that being correct is not the sole or only reason for pursuing truth- Sometimes it’s just a personal goal.
I do believe we can know truth and we can know untruth too.
Merging with the crowd, does not need to occur. In fact it’s healthier to not to so- Hence my unvaccinated status. Refusal to merge with the crowd does not mean you will be self loathing- I see it as the opposite- It means you have the kind of faith, belief and satisfaction within yourself that doesn’t require the conformity
Human nature- it’s worst propensities can be exacerbated by technology- In fact technology can dehumanize, my opinion, to the extent that we will fail to see the value in our humanity.
And dismiss it as something as unimportant- Once we reach that point, is it possible to turn back?
“But are people happy? I know of some people, who in my opinion cannot be happy. They buy things, to fill empty places in their souls- But that’s how I see them. Do they see themselves that way? I think if they were honest they would acknowledge the excess shopping is being done because they are not happy. Or they people that can’t stand to be alone with their thoughts? How can one be happy if one cannot tolerate reflection. Or contemplation? There cannot be growth without this type of reflection..”
By writing it as “Pursuit of Happiness” I tried to separate it from “Happiness” itself. Those who are on pursuit of it, are not necessarily happy or going to be happy. Some throw themselves at it by following the feelings on a whim even. But to no avail.
“Pursuit of happiness? Is simply to be happy. To be loved, yes. But also to be at peace with ones self- To be confident, that you’ve done the best you possibly can. Which does not mean lying to yourself- Perhaps happiness is being honest with yourself and others.”
I agree, but this is how we look at it, Our bar/thresholds are different from others, Our self-control is different than others. There is a reason why the proverb “Ignorance is Bliss” exist.
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“I think you can pursue the truth with the understanding that being correct is not the sole or only reason for pursuing truth- Sometimes it’s just a personal goal.
I do believe we can know truth and we can know untruth too.”
I just tried to strip it down to most basic entangle concept.
“Merging with the crowd, does not need to occur. In fact it’s healthier to not to so- Hence my unvaccinated status. Refusal to merge with the crowd does not mean you will be self loathing- I see it as the opposite- It means you have the kind of faith, belief and satisfaction within yourself that doesn’t require the conformity”
I agree, the reason I brought it up is that crowds are basically a shortcut in life to get the sense of happiness.
It hard to pin down a certain definition on an situation. Maybe something like “Survivor Guilt” is more appropriate to describe it instead of “self loathing” . Anyway it is not something its easily worked out, because of the other things you could feel is “sense of superiority”, but that is a dangerous path to take.
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“Human nature- it’s worst propensities can be exacerbated by technology- In fact technology can dehumanize, my opinion, to the extent that we will fail to see the value in our humanity.”
True, to closer we are to others to more we can hurt them. Under normal circumstances there is always a distance between people, but technology does close the gap if you let it.
“And dismiss it as something as unimportant- Once we reach that point, is it possible to turn back?”
Hard to say, looking at the dictionary being humane is : ‘compassionate, sympathetic, or generous behavior or disposition : the quality or state of being’.
I did use “pursuit of happiness”, but maybe “pursuit of satisfaction” might be more on point.
Like I said its hard to pin down definition to describe such conditions. In a book I read “The Paradox of choice” it states and I am paraphrasing that the more options a person have the less likely the are able to choose and become satisfied.
Another thing it states for example is when it comes to life-altering decisions, like medical intervention that people don’t want to choose, but that the expert they know let it choose for them.
Because in essence people don’t want to make the wrong choices in life.