It's a Beautiful Planet - Look After It.

After David Attenborough's Blue Planet II showed us shocking images of plastic waste in our oceans I thought it appropriate to share this Besley cartoon from this week's Isle of Wight County Press.

And now, a quick word from the man himself....................

There’s More Than Enough of Us

Today marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Malthus. Malthus was the father of
Malthusianism, which contends that the Earth cannot support unchecked population growth.

250 years ago, the world population consisted of about 800 million inhabitants, and from that moment, it has progressively increased, until the mid-nineteen fifties in a continued, steady way, but since that date, it has been increasing exponentially. Thus, the world population has, since 1950, virtually trebled from 2,519 million to 7,401 million today.

The Buddhist views on procreation and marriage are liberal. Marriage is regarded entirely as a personal and individual concern and not as a religious duty. It is not laid down anywhere that Buddhists must produce children or regulate the number of children they produce.

Although Buddhism does not direct people to give birth, or suggest how many children they have, if any. Buddhist leaders are acutely aware of issues related to overpopulation. The Dalai Lama stated, back in 2008 that if the population grows beyond 6 billion, this will cause great difficulty - (the world population is now approaching 7.5 billion). Therefore, he says, family planning is necessary. In an attempt at humor regarding such a serious subject, he quips that if more people become nuns and monks (therefore practice celibacy) this will help control population growth.

Thich Nhat Hanh, teacher, author of books about contemporary Buddhism, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, stated in his U.N. World Conference speech, “For a Future to be Possible”:

“Our world is becoming smaller, and even more interdependent with the rapid growth in population . . . It is important to reassess the responsibilities of individuals in relation to each other and to the planet as a whole...

We are finding that the world is becoming one community. We are being drawn together by the problems of overpopulation, dwindling natural resources, and an environmental crisis that threatens the very foundation of our existence on this planet.”

Malthus himself stated that population tends to increase at a faster rate than its means of subsistence and that unless it is checked by moral restraint or by disease, famine, war, or other disaster widespread poverty and degradation inevitably result.

End of the World, Missed it Again!

Now just as I didn't detect much in the way of World Peace on World Peace Day I'm not seeing much Apocalypse on End of the World Day.

You may remember that a week ago I quoted American christian activist Scott Lively's homophobic rant about marriage equality legislation in the U.S. triggering the end of the world. It is all meant to start on Yom Kippur which actually started at sunset yesterday (ends sunset today). This all comes from the Book of Revelation in the christian bible which describes how an all loving, omniscient, omnipotent deity tortures and kills the vast bulk of the people and creatures on Earth, or allows this to happen (he's got form, remember the flood).

And then makes it all nice for the chosen few who survive.

Trouble is Scott's not the first to come up with the "we're all doomed" scenario. The list is a very long one but here are some selected highlights...............

The first one, only 30 odd years after christ's death, is 66–70 CE and comes from Simon bar Giora, an Essene. The Essene sect of Jewish ascetics saw the Jewish revolt against the Romans in 66–70 as the final end-time battle before the arrival of the Messiah.

500 CE Hippolytus of Rome, Sextus Julius Africanus and Irenaeus. All three predicted Jesus would return in
the year 500. One prediction was based on the dimensions of Noah's ark (obviously).

992–995 CE Various Christians predicted that the end was nigh as Good Friday coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation; this had long been believed to be the event that would bring forth the Antichrist, and thus the end-times, within 3 years.

Now for the obvious one, the first Millenium on January the 1st, 1000. The Millennium Apocalypse at the end of the Christian Millennium. Various Christian clerics predicted the end of the world on this date, including Pope Sylvester II. Riots occurred in Europe and pilgrims headed east to Jerusalem.

Here's a good one. 1284, Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) predicted that the world would end 666 years after the rise of Islam.

1346–1351, lots of people, time of the Black Death, obvious. (still didn't happen)_

1555. Pierre d'Ailly, around the year 1400, this French theologian wrote that 6845 years of human history had already passed, and the end of the world would be in the 7000th year.

A familiar name, Martin Luther predicted the end of the world would occur no later than 1600.

And again, Christopher Columbus predicted in his Book of Prophecies (1501), that the world would end during 1656.

1736 Cotton Mather's third and final prediction for the end of the world.

1836 John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, foresaw the Millennium beginning this year. He wrote that Revelation 12:14 referred to the years 1058–1836, "when Christ should come".

Charles Taze Russell predicted the return of Jesus to occur in 1874, and after this date reinterpreted theprediction to say that Jesus had indeed returned in invisible form.

Charles Taze Russell, "...the battle of the great day of God Almighty. The date of the close of that "battle" is definitely marked in Scripture as October 1914. It is already in progress, its beginning dating from October, 1874."

International Bible Students Association. In 1918, Christendom would go down as a system to oblivion and be succeeded by revolutionary governments. God would "destroy the churches wholesale and the church members by the millions." Church members would "perish by the sword of war, revolution and anarchy." The dead would lie unburied. In 1920 all earthly governments would disappear, with worldwide anarchy prevailing.

1972 Herbert W. Armstrong. The second of three revised dates from Armstrong after his 1936 and 1943 predictions failed to come true.

1982 Pat Robertson. In late 1976 Robertson predicted that the end of the world would come in 1982.

2000

Peter Olivi. This 13th-century theologian wrote that the Antichrist would come to power between 1300 and 1340, and the Last Judgement would take place around 2000.

Isaac Newton Newton predicted that Christ's Millennium would begin in the year 2000 in his book Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John.

Ruth Montgomery. This self-described Christian psychic predicted the Earth's axis would shift and the Antichrist would reveal himself in this year.

Edgar Cayce This psychic predicted the Second Coming would occur this year.

Sun Myung Moon The founder of the Unification Church predicted the Kingdom of Heaven would be established in this year.

Ed Dobson This pastor predicted the end would occur in his book The End: Why Jesus Could Return by A.D. 2000.

Lester Sumrall This minister predicted the end in his book I Predict 2000.

Jonathan Edwards This 18th-century preacher predicted that Christ's thousand-year reign would begin in this year.

2013 Aug 23. Grigori Rasputin prophesied a storm where fire would destroy most life on land and Jesus Christ would come back to Earth to comfort those in distress.

What will actually happen.................

The sun will slowly expand into a red giant, pushing the Earth farther out into space, but not far enough. Our home planet will be snagged by the sun's outer atmosphere, gradually plunging to its doom inside the fiery stellar furnace.

"The drag caused by this low-density gas is enough to cause the Earth to drift inwards, and finally to be captured and vaporized by the sun," explains astronomer Robert Smith of the University of Sussex.

Previous projections had all figured that the Earth would avoid falling into the sun, even during our star's red-giant phase.

The good news: This won't happen for another 7.6 billion years. The bad news: Life on Earth will end long before then. In fact, we've only got a billion years left before the slowly expanding sun boils off the oceans and reduces our planet to an uninhabitable cinder.

Everything is Impermanent

Talking about the end of the World, it's not as though it hasn't happened before...................

We had a lively discussion last week at our Sangha meeting about the recent floods here in the UK. We went on to discuss how calls to "Save the planet" are usually focused on saving our own species. The frailty of life on our ever changing planet has faced far worst challenges in the past and has survived even though individual species have not.

There have been what are known as the Big Five mass extinctions, each of which wiped out at least half of all species alive at that time.

In order, they are:-

The Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction

The third largest extinction in Earth's history, the Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction had two peak dying times separated by hundreds of thousands of years. During the Ordovician, most life was in the sea, so it was sea creatures such as trilobites, brachiopods and graptolites that were drastically reduced in number.



The Late Devonian mass extinction

Three quarters of all species on Earth died out in the Late Devonian mass extinction, though it may have been a series of extinctions over several million years, rather than a single event. Life in the shallow seas were the worst affected, and reefs took a hammering, not returning to their former glory until new types of coral evolved over 100 million years later.

 
This was the big one!

The Permian mass extinction

The Permian mass extinction has been nicknamed The Great Dying, since a staggering 96% of species died out. All life on Earth today is descended from the 4% of species that survived.




The Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction

During the final 18 million years of the Triassic period, there were two or three phases of extinction whose combined effects created the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction event. Climate change, flood basalt eruptions and an asteroid impact have all been blamed for this loss of life.



The Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction

The Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction - also known as the K/T extinction - is famed for the death of the dinosaurs. However, many other organisms perished at the end of the Cretaceous including the ammonites, many flowering plants and the last of the pterosaurs.

End of the World - Yesterday, Again

Yet again the World ended yesterday. This time it was supposed to be Ragnarok, the Viking
apocalypse, a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of gods (including Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Well they got that last part right given all the rain we've had recently.

Talking about floods, set for release on the 28th of March is the film Noah, it stars Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Connelly, and is directed by Darren Aronofsky. In this story rather than the gods being killed it's a god killing everyone (and all the animals too). But a small group are saved to carry on and rebuild the world, just like the Viking myth which has two humans, Lif and Lifthrasir, surviving to repopulate the Earth (er, sounds like another story), oh and apparently the inbreeding isn't a problem........................

Earth Day & Cittaviveka

As today is Earth Day I thought that this extract from the latest newsletter from Cittaviveka Buddhist Monastery near Chithurst, was appropriate.

Here at Cittaviveka we have come through a long hard winter with a very good sense of inner warmth and harmony. Outer warmth was in short supply, and for people living in the forest the weather was challenging – to put it mildly! However the three-month retreat was made convivial by people coming from USA, Canada and Australia as well as from UK, in order to support and participate in the atmosphere of this Dhamma-refuge. Together with a resident community of twenty, spread out between Rocana, Chithurst House and Hammer Wood, that made for a situation of good companionship with adequate individual space.

Hearing of people's suffering through economic and climatic causes, as well of as the loss of animal life, is a reminder of how vulnerable we all are to forces that seem beyond our control. Moreover, that Dhamma-practice is grounded on life on this planet; the only one that has ever been found that can support us. Over the last decade we all become painfully aware that human carelessness and misuse of the earth and its creatures is a prime reason for climate change; and that might make such winters the norm. This is kamma – the principle of cause and effect. When we reflect on cause and effect in our lives, we should consider that all material things really come from and belong to the earth. Humans can't create water, soil, minerals and animals. So how do we use its gifts? Do we take just what we need, share what we have and try to give something back (such as through planting trees, or through supporting charities)? Also whatever we dispose of has to go back to the earth, rivers, ocean and air sooner or later: do we just dump poisons and plastics into our own food supply? 

Can we refrain from using plastic bags and bottles for example? Can we learn to live more lightly? The monastic training of contemplating the requisites as offering enough shelter, clothing, food and medicines to protect us against the elements, seems a very relevant reflection. And that we use these so that we can practise for awakening: because it is through a lack of wise reflection, personal modesty and conscience and concern that our home planet has been put at risk. Mind is the origin of the world.

End of the World, again

Well it's time yet again to post my last post. As you all, presumably, know by now, it's the end of the World tomorrow.

Yes December the 21st 2012 is the end of the Mayan calendar and therefore everything else. But how did it all start, it's all to do with the ending of the 13th Baktun and something to do with the "Holy Lord", now where have I heard that before?



Panic buying of candles and essentials has been reported in China and Russia, along with an explosion in sales of survival shelters in America (makes you wonder what part of END they don't get). In France believers were preparing to converge on a mountain where they believe aliens will rescue them.

Happy Earth Day!

For those of you who don't already now today is Earth Day, your chance to be mindful of the planet that we share with countless other beings.

It's Earth Hour Tonight

Tonight, at 8:30 p.m., it's Earth Hour.

WWF’s Earth Hour is a simple idea that’s quickly turned into a global phenomenon. Hundreds of millions of people turning off their lights for one hour, on the same night, all across the planet. It’s about appreciating the brilliant world we all share – and how we need to protect it. Not just for an hour a year, but every day.

Last year over 8 million people took part in the UK alone, alongside hundreds of major landmarks including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the iconic Piccadilly lights. And this year is set to be even bigger with landmarks across the world confirmed to join the big switch off, from the Sydney Opera House in Australia and Christ the Redeemer in Rio to the Empire State building in New York and the Eiffel Tower in France.





- Go Beyond the Hour.....................

It's the End of the World...... Again

You may remember our posts "My Last Post?" and "The World Didn't End!" from back in May when an evangelical Christian minister, Harold Camping, proclaimed the end of the World (well, leastways, for all us "non-believers").

Guess what, it's Apocalypse time all over again, “the day when He will destroy the world and all that is therein!" A study of the Book of Revelation apparently reveals the date of October 21, 2011 as the date of the End of the World. Originally thought to come in stages over a 5 month period, the Rapture, Apocalypse, and End of the World will all come in one day!!!

The Rapture will come this Friday morning. Expected to seem like the longest day on earth, October 21 will begin with a large, world wide earthquake, marking the second coming of Jesus. He will be returning to earth at god’s orders to bring his true believers back to heaven, in the Rapture. He will have pre-selected the chosen ones on Judgement Day, leaving the rest of us to a hopeless last day on earth. Those left will be waiting, and begging for the End of the World, as they experience the Apocalypse.

Fire, disaster and lack of saviour will define the Apocalypse. Earthquakes and Tsunami’s causing worldwide destruction will lead to looting and rioting by the anarchists (?), as the final day edges closer to an end. Just as god "created the world", he will destroy his creation in a matter of moments. The End of the World will come on October 21, 2011, and those not saved in the Rapture will experience the Apocalypse.

So now you "know"...................

World Population Day out on the Isle of Wight?

Today is world Population Day, started on the 11th of July 1987 to commemorate the Earth’s human population reaching 5 billion. A mere 24 years later the World population is now 7 billion!

On Friday the Isle of Wight County Press reported the story of 16-year-old Grace Ireland, from Ripon, North Yorkshire, who has started a Facebook group encouraging the whole world to come to the IW on February 15, 2015, she has had more than 9,000 responses.

The idea comes from the proposition that it is possible to fit the entire human population of the Earth onto the island standing shoulder to shoulder.

At the time of writing the UN World Population Counter stood at 7,090,436,284, 27% of whom were under 15 years old.

This gives 5,176,018,487 adults and 1,914,417,797 children. One average adult can comfortably stand on a rectangle 500 cm wide by 400 cm deep ( 0.2 square metres), with the average child occupying half that area.

Therefore:-

5,176,018,487 adults x 0.2 sq. m = 1,035,203,697 sq.m

1,914,417,797 children x 0.1 = 191,441,780 sq.m

Total area needed = 1,226,645,477 sq.m

= 1,227 sq km.

The Isle of Wight is the smallest county in the country (after Rutland). It is roughly diamond shaped and measures 23 miles from east to west, and 13.25 from north to south, giving a total area (including inland water) of 94,146 acres, 147 square miles or only 381 square kilometres!

So, no, you wouldn't all fit on the island. interestingly in 1927, only 84 years ago the worlds then population of 2 billion would have needed a mere 346 sq Km and would have easily fitted, even as late as 1953 the 2.6 billion of us could have got on, but only at low tide!

Why do I raise this? As a Buddhist my concern is for the suffering of other beings and population is the "elephant in the room". We and our fellow beings live on a finite planet with finite and diminishing resources. Our human population is devouring those resources and continuing to increase with an inevitable increase in both our own suffering and that of our fellow inhabitants of this world, look no further than the disaster overwhelming the people in the Horn of Africa right now. (You can offer your support at the DEC website)

My "Last Post"?

Tomorrow's the end of the world, at least for us "idol worshipping" Buddhist sinners and any other not up to scratch non-believers in the right branch of christianity!

The world will end at 6pm tomorrow according to the followers of an evangelical Christian minister, Harold Camping, who claims he calculated the date and time of 'The Rapture' by adding up numbers in the Bible. Camping, 89, is the leader of Family Radio, an independent ministry which spreads its word via a network on 66 radio stations and online broadcasts.

Apparently the "rapture" is when the followers of Jesus will be removed to safety while those still on the Earth will face the "tribulation" period. Bear with me, this is getting weird, so the christians are whizzed off into outer-space leaving the rest of us to experience worldwide hardships, disasters, famine, war, pain and suffering, which will wipe out more than 75% of all life on the earth, that's the "Tribulation bit.... or torture as I call it.

So I wish you and all beings peace and safety for your remaining few hours before it all kicks off and I bid you a fond farewell (it starts at sunrise where you are, 5:09 BST here in the West Wight).

Happy Earth Day

Today is Earth Day! This year, Earth Day's theme is themed after A Billion Acts of Green: a people-powered campaign to generate a billion acts of environmental service and advocacy before Rio +20.

The largest living system on earth…is earth. That is a simplified version of the Gaia hypothesis, first posited by scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1970s. The idea is that both organic beings and inorganic matter have evolved to operate together as a single, living system that self-regulates, with the goal of allowing life to persist and thrive.

The Gaia hypothesis has gained credence with scientists in the intervening decades, and it has been "upgraded" from "hypothesis" to "theory", i.e., other scientists have conducted research and experiments to verify or extend its tenets. Whether Theory or Hypothesis, it's a beautiful idea with some hard edged consequences. Lovelock's theory challenges the world view, propagated by some faiths, that the Earth was put here for humans' use. Lovelock writes, "The concept of Gaia, a living planet, is for me the essential basis of a coherent and practical environmentalism; it counters the persistent belief that the Earth is a property, an estate, there to be exploited for the benefit of humankind. This false belief that we own the Earth, or are its stewards, allows us to pay lip service to environmental policies and programs but then continue with business as usual."

Buddhist Perspectives on Gaia; Gaian Perspectives on Buddhism

Since the early days of Gaia Theory, its connection with Buddhist thought has been widely remarked,