Written by Hymn Jay
Who is not moved by seeing orangatangs stripped of their home by the deforestation of palm oil plantations?
Many years ago the production of palm oil was already linked to environmental destruction; there was a call for multinational companies to find eco friendly alternatives or sources. But these companies and the governments regulating them did what they do, they promised to change and then quietly continued doing what is best for their financial bottom line which is what businesses are ultimately all about. Its business, nothing personal. We are slowly learning that we can campaign as much as we like to get companies and government to change laws and policy but most often what we get is window dressing and new packaging to make us feel better. How is it that we expect anything else? After all this is how businesses and governments are designed to compete and succeed in a short term environment. By their nature these organisation do not map their strategies generations into the future, they run on annual financial reports and five year plans. Business decision makers will always trying to find another shortcut to fast profits, it is their job; they will simply find another way to sneak the same ingredients and unethical activities past ‘inspection’ and back on to our consumer shelves.
Why is that? Consider that it is about our hearts. The hearts of these business and political leaders are not transformed and likewise we the consumers are still hypnotised by the lure of advertising, entertainment and the culture of short term materiality; our hearts too are not awakened.
What is killing our planet and endangering our future generation is not policy, lack of awareness or even technological solutions, it is our lack of resolve we don’ want actually want to give up our addiction and that is the matter of the heart.
Addiction cannot be transformed by laws, policy or even a moral pronouncements, it is inside of each of us. It is symptom of a fundamental spiritual disconnection from our hearts, from each other and from grandmother earth. We are so disconnected from nature we don’t have clue where our food and consumables actually come from and how it was made unless we read it in an article somewhere online or in the newspaper. I am not sure how much we really care as long as we get it and the price is good. We are consumers, we cannot even tell he difference between our bodies basic needs and the voracious appetite of our minds, this is our addiction.
It is the disconnection from our hearts that leaves us feeling unhappy and empty to our core which leave our egos running the show. We don’t know how else to fill this bottomless void other than chasing more and more things- this is our fundamental spiritual malady.
Our purpose and work is to reawakening our own hearts, our own sacred wholeness and our feeling connection to our planet. Our job is then awaken others especially the hearts of business and government decision makers as they are human too as we are, they are born of this earth as we are, they have children as we do who will inherit this earth.
As we all can rediscover our primal and divine connection and wholeness, we will realise that our bliss and satisfaction was always within us and around us. It is then that our insatiable appetite and our addiction for more will simply begin to fall away.
So while it is vitally important that we take action and campaign for environmental change, the most important campaign I believe is our own hearts transformation otherwise change is just another word for window dressing.
Heinrich is a life and spiritual coach, shamanic facilitator and theatre-makerhttps://www.tigerhymn.com/
