Green and Bear It

by Swami Beyondananda

“We don’t need to save the planet, just spend it more wisely.” ~ Swami Beyondananda

GREEN AND BEAR IT:

Can Going Green Get Us Out of the Red and Keep Us in the Pink?

Everyone is talking about “going green” as a way to save precious resources, not to mention creating a healthier environment and healthier economy.  However, we all know that making lifestyle changes can be challenging, even when we have the best intentions.  In seeking advice on this all-important issue we wanted to find a spiritual being whose mind is deeper than Deepak’s, whose heart is roomier than Rumi’s, a true avatar for our age.

Unfortunately, we were unable to find anyone like that.

But we did locate Swami Beyondananda, the cosmic comic, and since we were rapidly approaching deadline, he agreed to be interviewed on how we can live a greener lifestyle and create a greener planet.

Natural Awakenings. OK, Swami.  Let’s get personal.  What are you doing to shrink your footprint?

Swami: Well, first of all I am doing the most obvious thing.  I am wearing smaller shoes.  I’m also converting my magic carpet to run on natural gas.  I think switching to a vegan diet will help with that.

Natural Awakenings. Well, that brings up another issue, global warming.  Apparently, the kind of natural gas you’re talking about … coming from cattle, primarily … actually has an impact on global climate change.  So Swami, is there anything that can counterbalance global warming?

Swami: You know, nature is amazing in how She provides just the right natural balance to any situation, and global warming is no exception.  True, for the past few generations, the planet has become warmer.  On the other hand, every generation is cooler than their parents.

But even cool people can overheat a planet if there are too many of us.  Yet once again there is a simple solution — multiple personalities.  I just read about a guy who has ten personalities, and I said to myself, “now, that’s efficiency!  Ten personalities, all inside of one body.  Why, if we had more people like that we’d need fewer people!

Natural Awakenings. Well, how about the rest of us who are limited to just one personality per person?

Swami: The best way to combat global warming is through global heartwarming. Here’s why.  Look at how much of our precious resources we spend fighting one another, all because of the mistaken belief in “survival of the fittest.”  Modern science now tells us that the true law of nature is “thrival of the fittingest.”  So the most economically and ecologically efficient thing is to form “co-operations” that will make us interdependently wealthy.