Jarv’s rules, autumn ’24

Jarvis Smith unpicks the evolution of sustainability

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Published: December 5, 2024
This Article was written by: Contributor
consciousness, meditation, men, mental health, nature, society, wellbeing, yoga

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This article first appeared in our COP29 special issue of My Green Pod Magazine. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox

As sustainability becomes increasingly mainstream, many brands, organisations and individuals are choosing to retrofit ‘eco’ concepts into old-paradigm models – and things continue to get worse.

Carbon emissions are still rising, ecosystems are still declining, biodiversity loss increases and extreme weather events break into new territories.

A decade ago my climate mentor shared that he hadn’t really been able to make the kind of difference he’d anticipated, and that perhaps he’d simply helped to delay the inevitable process we are living through today.

What’s clear is that those at the top of the financial food chain – I’m talking the 10% who own 85% of the world’s wealth – will cash in on any situation: global warming, pandemics – I could go on.

Therefore we can’t rely on anyone whose sole focus is to make more money.

Whether it’s with malicious intent or not is irrelevant; what matters is that they will always try to profit from a given situation rather than doing the right thing for the whole.

I’m not sure we can resolve any of this until we find peace and love in ourselves, and with each other.

A new narrative

The system we are born into creates addicts to life’s external drama – but what if we are in fact spiritual beings having a human experience, and what if this experience is just one of many in the multiverse we live in?

Those who have deeply explored the spiritual aspects of consciousness and being-ness – through sacred arts like yoga, meditation, qigong, shamanism, druidism, Buddhism, Taoism, tai chi and so many more – certainly seem to have a more balanced perspective on our times.

If, like me, you believe we are spirited beings who are here to experience life on this planet, and that Earth and Mother Nature are coaxing us and conspiring with us to create a mass awakening, wouldn’t it be a completely different narrative from the one we are being told today?

The consciousness of the world, and perhaps our whole entire existence, could simply be a game – a highly intelligent process we call life, where each experience is a level.

Each experience we learn is sent into a higher consciousness.

When you think about AI and how it learns from information entered into its system, surely it’s plausible.

When I describe this process as a game I am not saying for a moment that it’s fun for everyone – it’s just a word to describe the act of playing a part in a system that was created by something beyond ourselves.

There are of course rules – manmade ones and natural ones. If we played by the natural rules, or even those described as sacred, then our parameters would be very different – and so would the situation in which we find ourselves today.

Taking charge

There are some simple practices that help us to rebalance our addictions in the outside world with a knowledge of our inward selves, and through these practices we can begin to see and feel life as an experience we chose – something we have power over and that we can change.

In a sense this means taking responsibility for the situation we are in and working out how we can take control of it.

These practices begin with good health and a clarity of mind: what are you eating and drinking and what is your mind consuming?

Meditate, take up yoga and stay true to the principles of an ayurvedic or organic lifestyle where financially possible.

Get out in nature and really get to know her; observe the gifts she is offering us, rather than filling your mind with a narrative created by other humans as a way to keep us locked in a rat race. Only then can we all make this experience count.