{"id":821,"date":"2022-07-13T10:57:40","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T10:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/politicsofbeing.com\/?p=821"},"modified":"2022-07-13T10:57:40","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T10:57:40","slug":"the-interrelation-of-nature-and-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/politicsofbeing.com\/web\/the-interrelation-of-nature-and-society\/","title":{"rendered":"The Interrelation of Nature and Society"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the book chapter: <em>Life<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to French anthropologist Philippe Descola, the ontological separation between humans and nonhumans and the opposition between nature and culture historically only developed in the Western world, it has recently spread like a disease over the rest of the planet. The environmental crisis is a cultural crisis: it is striking to realize that cultural diversity and biological diversity tend to go hand in hand. Indigenous people remind us nowadays that humankind traditionally considered itself as part of nature, a sacred community to which we belong, together with all living beings who are our brothers and sisters, our friends and relatives, as many Native Americans say. Nature is sacred because everything is filled with life, spirit, a vital force: not only the animals and plants but also stones, mountains, rivers, the sun, the moon, the wind, the fire, and of course, our Mother Earth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At barely two and a half years of age, one of my daughters once asked me, \u201cDad, what is e-ner-gy?\u201d I was surprised! I took a pause, probably smiled, and breathed before answering her, \u201cThat is what makes all things alive.\u201d Traditionally, it is believed that this energy or spirit unites all that is, as part of a cosmic order, named, for example, Tao in China, Maat in Egypt, R\u2019ta or Dharma in India, and Logos in Greece. We can contemplate this divine order, its beauty, harmony, and wisdom in the course, ways, and laws of nature, the original and permanent source of revelation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf your heart were pure, then all of nature would be to you a book of divine wisdom,\u201d said Saint Francis of Assisi. This cosmic order, embodied in nature, often also means and is translated as the \u201cpath.\u201d Spiritual practices and duties aim primarily at harmonizing ourselves with this path, not only individually but also collectively, as the social community and order are a part, an expression, of a wider sacred community and order. Nature\u2019s life-supporting laws and principles\u2014e.g., self-organization, balance, mutuality, reciprocity, zero waste, localism, unity in diversity, etc.\u2014and its wisdom have long inspired our social systems. This is attested to by many indigenous people, whose collective organizations have allowed them to live long in relative harmony with Mother Earth and with a sense of community, belonging, respect, awe, and sacredness. It is traditionally believed that violating these natural laws and principles inevitably causes a cosmic imbalance that can manifest itself through many different social problems. Preventing these problems through maintaining cosmic harmony is the main inspiration and principle for human \u201cjustice,\u201d a concept also sometimes used to translate this natural order. Whether we like it or not, all the systems we are part of or that we are trying to transform are living systems, which are subject to nature\u2019s laws and should align with them.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the book chapter: Life &nbsp; According to French anthropologist Philippe Descola, the ontological separation between humans and nonhumans and the opposition between nature and culture historically only developed in the Western world, it has recently spread like a disease over the rest of the planet. The environmental crisis is a cultural crisis: it is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Interrelation of Nature and Society - Politics of Being<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At barely two and a half years of age, one of my daughters once asked me, \u201cDad, what is e-ner-gy?\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/politicsofbeing.com\/web\/the-interrelation-of-nature-and-society\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Interrelation of Nature and Society - 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