An urgent plea - Stop this war now!

Hello friends,

I have just seen a podcast by Simon Smith. It is a presentation on the thesis “Territorial concessions by Ukraine would simply reward Russian crimes and aggressions”.

There are some points in it that need to be countered. Smith made the point that there is not really a territorial dispute here. I find this disingenuous. There have been longstanding disputes in the Donbas between opposing groups there. Pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian groups have been at loggerheads there for some time. It was precisely to settle these disputes that the Minsk agreements attempted to resolve.

STOP THIS WAR NOW!

The world is boiling in heat waves and wildfires. At the same time a fratricidal war in Europe is tearing us apart! Two sides seem to be gearing up for endless war.

Can we change in time?

We are all on the Titanic. The trip has been wonderful. The music is good. The wine is excellent. Life is good.

Then in comes the ship’s steward. He says:

“I have important news from the captain. According to the latest data just received, we have got to change course – right now! If not, we are almost certainly headed for an iceberg.”

The reaction of the partying crowd:

“What is this all about? This is extreme language. Let’s look into this in the morning”.

Thoughts on Buddhism and the environment

I’ve had a longstanding interest in Buddhism, in particular what it has to say about stress and our relationship with the environment.

What follows are some of my thoughts on this topic followed by a Buddhist prayer for peace, which I believe suggests a path forward for dealing with the environmental crisis:

Buddhism and the environment

Protest of the Royal Bank of Canada, a major global investor in fossil fuels

If you click on this link, you will see some action at the HQ of Canada’s largest bank, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The top video gives a general view of the demonstration.

If you open this link, from the 2.30 minute mark to the 4.40 mark, you will see the Rebellious Seeker cancelling his RBC credit card.

Rebellious Seeker

Ottawa

October 2020

Buddhism and the Environmental Crisis

The following two audio presentations offer separate Buddhist perspectives on the environmental crisis. The first is given by the Rebellious Seeker himself; the second are the thoughts of a friend. 

Brief pauses within the presentations allow time for reflection on what has been said.

The Rebellious Seeker 

Buddhism and the Environmental Crisis

Ottawa

October 2021

My views on the NCC's decision to build a hospital in a wooded area on our experimental farmland

Here in Ottawa a new hospital will be built. Our National Capital Commission (NCC), after a detailed study recommended that the hospital be built at Tunney’s Pasture. Then suddenly it was decided to place the hospital in a wooded area on our experimental farmland. At an Ottawa city council planning committee, many citizens spoke about this decision. Here is my 5 minute contribution:

Rebellious Seeker's contribution to NCC hospital location debate

Trees and the environment

There is a storm brewing at the Experimental Farm. Plans are afoot to use 43 acres to build a world-class hospital there. It will be a massive structure, complete with 20 acres of parking, including a four-story parking garage. It will be a car driver’s paradise. No more tedious searching for that last limited parking space. To build this hospital, many trees will need to be sacrificed, about 600 by a recent count.

Letter to a friend: Fusion energy -- I would love to be proven wrong, but I fear I may be correct

A good friend sent me a YouTube clip about a global quest to produce non-polluting energy.  

I responded as follows...

---

Hi John,

 

Interesting indeed. A fine example of the hope that "technology will save us". Nuclear fusion is definitely the supreme hope of these attempts. In theory, it is very appealing, but in practice it is most likely not achievable.

 

As a technologist myself, it is not easy to say that technology will NOT save us here. Why?

Imagine that we are on the Titanic…

Imagine that we are on the Titanic….

Life is good. The champagne flows freely. We are having a wonderful trip. We are enjoying ourselves in good company. We are happy. We are in a positive mood. And then…

The ship’s captain appears and says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have just received information that to the best of our knowledge we are heading into an iceberg. Our best scientific data tells us that with a high level of probability, if we do not change course immediately, we are heading into a disaster!”

Grandpa is worried about the future

Take a look at this. Then you will see why grandpa is so worried about the fate of his grandkids, and why we must act NOW!

Sir David Attenborough Presents: Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet - Documentary Preview, Apr 23, 2021

We may have already passed the tipping point

See below an important news item that may have slipped below the radar with all the other news occurring, i.e.  the G7 meetings, Israeli/Palestine tensions, etc.

Global warming may have already passed irreversible tipping point [Al Jazeera]

However the above item may be the most important of all. This report is from a very reputable group of scientists. If true, we are all like passengers on the Titanic. Being warned that we are heading towards an iceberg, it would be inappropriate to say, “Do not bother us now, we are having such an enjoyable trip”.

If we all make radical changes, our fate could be altered, but can we make the massive, global and rapid changes required?

April 21 Virtual Talk: "Coping with Change: An Environmental Challenge" with Dr. Eric Schiller

It is now almost universally accepted that unless we make drastic changes, we will be heading into an environmental disaster. What should be our personal response to this?

To see the talk , click the link below and use the corresponding passcode. 

<Click here for meeting recording>

Access Passcode: b^2U*J5^

 

In this talk, I put forward the experience of Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor, as an example of one who can help us face an uncertain future. He came out of a terrifying past and we are facing an uncertain future. (Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, 1948)

World Water Day, March 22, 2021

Here is a talk given by the Rebellious Seeker on World Water Day, March 22, 2021

< WORLD WATER DAY >
 
In the Q+A session after the talk some other points were made:

There are some occasions where plastic water bottles could be justified. For example if there has been an accident or a breakdown in the water supply system, or if there is no reliable water distribution system, plastic water bottles may be temporarily required.

Hard plastics have some useful qualities – they don’t rust or corrode, and they last a long time. There are some good applications for hard plastics. We are not talking about long lasting hard plastic here, we are talking about single-use throw away plastics.

The whole World Water Day celebration that is referred to can be seen on the blog:

< THE REBELLIOUS SEEKER > 

World Water Day presentation

 The Rebellious Seeker spoke at the recent World Water Day. Two themes covered were the following.

1. A global water crisis is emerging. This is now occurring in some of the major cities of the world, starting with Cape Town in South Africa. It is better to act now on this in order to avert a major crisis later. 

Take a look at this well documented video.

2. Bottled water is a very poor choice for drinking water in most areas that have well regulated municipal tap water. 

To see how the bottled water industry arose and how to combat it see this video clip. 

An aspiring young journalist encounters an old activist

A young journalist's interview with the Rebellious Seeker...

 

Clip 1

 

Clip 2

The choice before us

 Greetings to you all,

 

I now take it as a given that we are marching towards an environmental catastrophe. The exact time of an irreversible tipping point is not certain. It could be sooner than we think. In the meantime, a viable therapy in the face of such a situation is to do what we can to make this world a better place. Let us at least try to mitigate a coming environmental crisis.

 

We have a choice to make. Involved in this choice there are two possible world views.

 

The first world view is that in the past, life was short and brutish. It was marked by hunger, diseases, wars and extreme hardship. This has been the view of Malthus, Hobbes and Darwin and many others. In this view we have escaped from a horrible past. With our modern civilization we are advancing to a better future. Steven Pinker in his writings popularizes this world view.

 

An opposing world view is that ancient forager cultures by cooperation and nature-based living actually had a more satisfying existence than we have. At first glance this seems hard to accept, so blinded are we by our modern conveniences. However recent writers who have studied ancient cultures reveal a much different picture. An awareness of the trashing of the planet makes us open to see our modernism in a new way. This different view of the world is being espoused by Christopher Ryan (Civilized to Death) and Paul Hawken (Blessed Unrest).

 

Here is our dilemma. We have evolved from a very different past. Some of us privileged ones do enjoy benefits of a “modern” culture. However, in the process we are destroying the only planetary home that we have. We love this planet and all life in it. At the same time we grieve its loss. Can we experience joy and pain in the same song?

 

Let us all carry on as best we can,

Rebellious Seeker

February 15, 2021

Optimist, Pessimist? (letter to a friend)

Hi John,

It was great talking with you recently. Afterwards I had some reflections – here they are. You said you were a short-term pessimist and a long-term optimist. I understand why you said this. However, my views ae different. I am a short-term optimist and a long-term pessimist.

Apocalyptic Times

I have read the New Testament many times, but somehow one obvious fact has eluded me. Jesus and the early Christians strongly believed that the end of the world was near. They were eagerly waiting and working for a new world to come – the kingdom of God on earth.

How did I miss this? I simply tried to spiritualize the records assuming that the references were describing the need for my own spiritual renewal.

Facts and Emotions

The world is heading into a climate crisis. The overwhelming majority of the world’s scientists have warned us that as fossil fuels heat up the environment, global temperatures will rise – and then extreme weather events ( wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and floods ) will soar. It is already happening.