We admire tigers and wolves and falcons and dolphins, and many other
creatures, because they have qualities we admire. They are beautiful. They are
often graceful and elegant. They are invariably “natural”. They have “personal
power”, which enables them to fight, escape, adapt and survive in difficult
situations. They are always ecological, living in harmony with nature and the
planet. Apart from the relatively few who are physically injured or suffering
from lack of food, they are all in perfect health. And, within the limitations
of who they are, they all behave with great intelligence. All this is very
obvious when we observe them. Significantly, when we speak of “tiger nature” or
“dolphin nature”, or about the nature of any other creature, we have something
admirable in mind, perhaps strength and a kind of perfection.
In complete contrast, when we speak about “human nature”, we seem to
have imperfection and weakness in mind. We seem to believe that is is human
nature to make mistakes and behave less than perfectly, with all that this
implies. How different it is for all other creatures! If they made mistakes on
the scale that we do, if they behaved as imperfectly as we do, they would soon
be in serious trouble. If very large numbers of them were not in perfect
health, did not have “personal power”, and did not act intelligently and ecologically,
they would soon cease to exist. Why, then, do we make ourselves the sole
exceptions? Why are so many of us not in perfect health? How many of us can
truly say that we are in good shape, fit, and free from any physical, mental or
emotional health problems? Why is truly wise, intelligent behaviour the
exception for us, and not the rule? Why do so many of us lack personal power?
Why do so few of us live ecologically, in harmony with each other and planet?
And why do we continue to believe that we are the most intelligent species on
this planet, when our behaviour suggests the opposite?
It would take a long time to answer all these questions, because there
are so many factors. However, a few quickly spring to mind – our dependency on
technology; the way we deplete the planet’s resources; and manipulation of
minds and behaviour by business, governments and other powerful interests. But
one thing is very clear – any species where the majority are in less than
perfect health, where personal power is conspicuous by its absence, where
unintelligent behaviour is widespread, and which, as a collective, does not
live ecologically, is not going to survive forever, even with the cushion of
technology. This means that our current ways of being and doing and living are
simply unsustainable. The question is: what are we going to do about it? How
will we achieve and maintain perfect health, personal power, intelligent
behaviour and ecological living? Whatever our answers to these questions, we
need to start right now because, without these things, any human future can
only be, at best, a perpetual repair job.
