Photo credit: Amy

Ask a Tibetan nomad to traverse a mountainous pass where the skies have started to darken with the whispers of a white out and his inherent wisdom will make the decision for him.

It will undoubtedly be the right one.

Ask the same nomad to hand over the rights to his pasture lands so mining can commence and bewildering contracts written only in Chinese will make the decision for him.

It will undoubtedly be the wrong one.

Ancient cultures—past, present and future—are number one on the hit list of modern greed and this is happening in native lands all over our world, not just Tibet.

Harsh conditions brought about by this side of humanity are an unwanted addition to many indigenous lifestyles, at times turning their naturally challenging terrains into waterless wastelands.

And as we spend our money accumulating the next best thing, I can’t help but think, are we the hail in these storms of injustice?

Walk with me for a minute…

That new smart phone. If we did buy it, what would it mean? A pleasure resting on the jaws of impermanence soon eaten away? Extra time earned by faster performance soon whittled down by more social networking?

If we didn’t buy it, what would that mean? Less absolute power corrupting absolutely? Indigenous lands being raped less? An extra drop of hope that one day the true masters of environmental sustainability would get back their lands and be able to teach us what we need now more than ever—how to live in harmony with Mother Earth?

As the Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu said:

“The entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon and the stars live together as a cooperative. The same is true for humans and animals, trees and the earth. When we realize that the world is a mutual, interdependent, cooperative enterprise…then we can build a noble environment. If our lives are not based on this truth, then we shall perish.”

So this is a request for non-action!

By funding the corporations we are doing our bit in all of this. The wrong bit. Please stop to think: do I really need that up grade?

The time is upon us where less is so much more than more.

The foot of materialism simply has to stop stomping all over our resources of ancient wisdom. For when there is none left we are on our own and I doubt there will be an app powerful enough to save us then. What do you think?

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Editor: Jamie Morgan

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