Host:  Last week Pepper Trail introduced the idea of the Earth Precepts, a set of ten principles to help us live in harmony with the Earth.  Today we begin our exploration of each of these in turn, with the precept Honor the Earth, upon which all life depends.

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“Living in harmony with the Earth” may sound like a wispy environmental fantasy, but in fact nothing could be more urgent – or practical.  At the beginning of the 21^st century, human beings are the dominant life form on the planet.  Our influence has spread to every corner of the world, and we are rapidly changing even the seemingly eternal oceans and atmosphere.  Simply put, we find ourselves responsible for the Earth.  If we are to continue to enjoy all the benefits of the life-nourishing biosphere that we depend upon, we must be mindful of that responsibility.  The Earth Precepts are a way to think about how to do that.

So, let’s being with the most simple and basic of the precepts:

☼      Honor the Earth, upon which all life depends

This precept contains all the others.  But there is nothing as difficult as simplicity – just ask any Zen Buddhist or Quaker.  Therefore, this is the most difficult of the Precepts to accept and live by.

Let’s begin with the word “honor.”  What does it mean to you?  In current usage, to honor something usually involves a public demonstration of devotion.  Public devotion is all very well, but too often the devotion ends there, in the public display.  It is a form only.  The most organized activity to “honor” the biosphere in the United States is Earth Day.  Strolling past the corporate-sponsored booths at many Earth Day events, one sees . . . what?  All too often, it is complacency and self-righteousness – but no devotion, no true honoring.  If there is any devotion to be found, it is on the margin of the crowd.  There, groups of children dance, sing, and paint pictures of fat yellow suns shining on circles of green and blue: our star, our earth, our home.

Like any vow, the Earth Precepts may be reaffirmed in public, but must be truly taken in private.  To honor the biosphere is to vow to treat it with appropriate gratitude, respect, care, and love. It is to say: “My life, my very being is an unearned gift, given by the Earth.  Thank you.  In gratitude for my life, I will care for Life.  I will care for you.”

To bring this precept to life, to accept it as a personal commitment, we may begin by identifying one specific way to care for the Earth – for example, by buying organic foods in order to reduce pesticides in the environment.  Or, we may acknowledge one of our activities that does NOT honor the Earth, and vow to stop that activity.  Then repeat this process, again and again.  Bit by bit, we will accept our responsibility to care for the Earth that cares for us so well.

For many people, this vow to take responsibility and to show honor is suffused with deep religious feelings, and is addressed to God, or Buddha, or Allah, or Gaia.  For others, who consider themselves resolutely non-spiritual, other names may be given, other entities thanked:  evolution perhaps, or photosynthesis.  While all these names are interesting and revealing, the distinctions they suggest are not, I think, ultimately meaningful.  This first Earth Precept is fulfilled as long as one vows to honor and protect Life, in whatever guise it is named.  And as long as we do that, all the other precepts will fall into place, and our relationship with the Earth will grow in health and beauty. 

Until next time, this is Pepper Trail.

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