Green Yoga by Georg
Feuerstein and Brenda Feuerstein (Traditional Yoga Studies 2007)
Generally speaking this was a good book with useful info, facts, and stats. Georg Feuerstein the yoga scholar recently passed away to the detriment of yoga knowledge. Here he and his wife tackled yoga and green philosophy with sometimes mixed results in my opinion. The book is more about environmentalism than yoga and ties the two together on several points. The bibliography is good and there is some information that is not generally well-known. One aspect of the book that I found annoying– it seemed a bit anti-American. Georg was German but moved to
An underlying premise of the book is the dire situation of
the catastrophic destruction of the environment being wrought by industrial
civilization and population growth. The authors suggest that the so-called
Sixth Mass Extinction is being accelerated by human activities as species
disappear every day. The alarmist tone in the book sees the situation as a global
crisis which it may well be. The Feuersteins compare yoga to deep ecology in
that both advocate reverence for all life forms. They equate ‘greenness’ with
spiritual maturity in that it takes a certain maturity to develop holistic
–‘big picture’ views. Since contemporary yoga (sometimes referred to as Modern
Postural Yoga) involves mindful caring for the body it can be related to
mindful care of the mind and of the earth. The dire situation is presented here
in the form of statistics and scientific predictions. The bottom line of the
book is the suggestions of lifestyle changes one may implement in order to help
alleviate the problems. As for us I think we have implemented nearly 90% of the
suggested changes – but I am rather doubtful that the majority will do so
without being forced in some way as people tend to be resistant even to common
sense in the light of political and religious convictions. Occasionally in the
book there appears a ‘greener-than-thou’ tone that I think we all have to watch
out for. While there is much evidence to suggest that lifestyle changes are
necessary in order to protect the environment it is not evident to everyone and
we all contribute to the destruction in various ways – even if we are green.
The authors mention the yogic suggestions to eat a pure diet, drink pure water,
and to purify one’s thoughts as a yoga morality that promotes purification.
This would also imply promoting the purity of the environment. Purity in yoga
may be seen in terms of the old idea of the three gunas, or modes of material
existence – tamas, rajas, and sattva. All matter may be seen as containing a
proportion of these three qualities. Tamas is the principal of veiling,
inertia, darkness, heaviness, rest. Rajas is the principle of dynamism, activity,
motion. Sattva is the principle of lucidity, light, purity, revealing. One goal
of spirituality in this model is to become more revealed, more light/lucid,
more pure, more sattva – so that “sattvification” is synonymous with
purification. Part of being mindful in the modern world should include being
mindful of the effects of one’s actions on the environment and the practice of
keeping well-informed of environmental impact by keeping up to date on things
and continually educating oneself on environmental impacts. I might also add
that one should strive to remain as unbiased as possible. One should be aware
of what one buys, consumes, uses, and discards and how those things affect the
environment. This is simply our responsibility as modern humans.
The authors point out that the sages of the early Upanishads
emphasized the ‘inner sacrifice’ as renunciation of the world, over the
‘external sacrifices’ of the Vedic Brahmin priests. These forest ascetics also
called this the self-sacrifice of the ‘ego-reflex.’ The Bhagavad Gita favored
‘karma yoga’ – the yoga of performing duty actions without attachment - over extremist
renunciation asceticism. Probably for this reason the Gita became beloved by
the masses. Here Krishna states that we always
do actions so that ‘action transcendence’ is preferable to renunciation in
solitude. The authors see this karma yoga as a spiritual activism and suggest
environmental activism as a continuation of it. Although it does not become
clear till the end of the book, I think what they refer to as ‘environmental
activism’ is primarily the making of lifestyle changes rather than the intense
vocal and protest activism usually seen as ‘activism.’ Two – Ethical Pillars of
Green Yoga – are proposed. The first is loka-samgraha
which can be translated as ‘world maintenance’, ‘world welfare’ or ‘world
guidance’. This term only appears in the Bhagavad Gita and is not well
explained. The authors see it as karma yoga, as “working for the material,
social, moral, and spiritual benefit of the whole world.” The second pillar is
the Bodhisaatva Ideal expressed in Buddhist philosophy which is to work ceaselessly
for the benefit of all sentient beings. They compare this to sattvification.
When one focuses on the happiness of others the ego-grasping tendency is
weakened.
The section on cosmology and interconnectedness was very
good. Here we encounter the idea that since the universe is thought to have
expanded from a point, a singularity – then at one time we were all much closer
together and more intimate in the spatial sense. This idea may inform things
like quantum entanglement and ecology as the study of relationships within a
system, an ecosystem. The idea of interconnectedness was first noted in the
Vedic Hymn to Man, the Purusha-Sukta where
the universe is said to emanate from the Primordial Man and we all retain the
potential of the Primordial Man, the universe, within ourselves. The Web of
Life (Ecosystems) and the Vedantic idea of the “Thread–Self” (sutra- atman), the stretched out thread
that weaves the universe, relate the same ideas of interconnectivity and
interdependence. In the Upanishads there is the notion of “food mysticism” as
the authors call it. This is simply the observation that all life necessarily
consumes other life as food. This is the food chain. We eat. We are ultimately
food for others. Mystical attainment, or Samadhi, often involves the
realization of oneness with the universe. This is a realization of
interconnectivity and interdependence to the point of union with the object of
contemplation.
Next a distinction seems to be made between the spirituality
of yoga philosophy and the materialistic view, which is a bit inexplicably
linked to secular humanism. A suggestion is made that interconnectivity beyond
the material world is only possible in a spiritual view. I disagree as a psychological
view also deals with hidden connectivity and is not inherently spiritual. This
supposed distinction is used to explain why materialists might be more apt to
disregard interconnectivity – meaning they would be more apt to deny
environmental impact and proper treatment of animals. While this may be
statistically true in some ways – I don’t know – I think it is a bit of a
dangerous assumption to tie philosophical views as such to what I see more as
morality (in the case of animals) and social responsibility (in the case of the
environment). In other words I do not think reverence for life needs to be
based around any ideological framework – I think it can simply be intuitive.
In discussing overtaxing the environment we are confronted
with population growth being ultimately unsustainable. At some point the growth
will have to slow. Related problems are overconsumption such as overfishing and
what they call consumption high in the food chian – which refers to eating
large animals raised as livestock which is taxing in terms of energy, land, and
environment, compared to plant foods. Though the arguments tend to be unpopular,
it is well known that raising livestock for meat is immensely destructive to
the environment. Massive amounts of land are used up compared to raising
nutritionally comparable plant-based nutrition. Massive amounts of food are
grown to feed the animals. Massive amounts of water are used. There are massive
amounts of greenhouse gases emitted from livestock (roughly 18% of all
emissions). Other dangerous gases such as ammonia are emitted as well. Food
grown for livestock increases pesticide use. Erosion and runoff and water
pollution from hog farms and manure ponds are also big problems. Not to mention
all that there is also the horrific problem of the cruelty and violence of
factory farms. Personally I think the evidence is rather clear that adopting a
vegetarian or vegan lifestyle is one of the easiest and most effective ways to
help the planet, improve the lives of animals, and contribute to sanity. I
would recommend it to anyone.
The next sections deal with the various forms of pollution
on the planet. Water pollution in the oceans, rivers, and lakes is detailed
first. The overuse of plastic, the problem of trash heaps in the oceans,
shipping waste, chemical and oil spills are all documented. Apparently shipping
is also responsible for much air pollution and the authors note the particularly
enhanced destruction caused by large cruise ships – those made for human
enjoyment and excesses. Apparently, human rights abuses have also been well
documented on employees of cruise ship companies. Constructing large dams for
hydro-power has been a concern around the world as it displaces people, often
indigenous people, as well as animals, plants, and it floods usable land.
However, I think there are trade-offs there where in some cases it may be a
better overall choice than not – though I am just speculating here. Human
sewage and industrial runoff are the largest pollution sources of rivers.
Pesticide runoff and animal waste are likely not far behind. Of course, fossil
fuels are responsible for much pollution as well including acid rain from coal,
particulate matter from coal, and greenhouse
gases from oil and gas combustion. Burial of extremely dangerous nuclear waste
residue is always a risk. Much radioactive waste has also been dumped in the
oceans in the past but this presumably does not happen any more. Access to
clean water is an issue in many parts of the world as well as overuse of
existing water sources and groundwater aquifers. Privatization of water – where
corporations have bought up water rights from states and municipalities has
created a lot of political problems in various regions – as water access and
quality is often a regional issue. Water-borne infectious diseases are the
biggest water pollution problem in Third World
countries and kill many people there. Lack of sanitation and water purification
is actually the biggest problem. Even so, overly chlorinated water and water
run through lead pipes (as in older American homes) also has its own sets of
health problems. Adding the known toxin – fluoride – to drinking water in order
to prevent tooth decay is also quite problematic. One has to work a bit to give
oneself a supply of mostly untainted water.
Over-farming, over-fertilization, and deforestation are
other problems explored. These all deplete the productiveness of the soil and
are characteristic of modern farming methods. Organic farming methods have been
gradually making headway throughout the world and the dangers of biotech crops
(GMOs) are gradually coming to the fore. Buying organic both supports organic
farming methods and boycotts GMOs. GMOs also threaten “food sovereignty”, can
bankrupt Third World farmers, increase pesticide and chemical fertilizer use
and dependency, can lead to “superweeds” and “superpests” and have unknown
effects on health. Most deforested land ends up being used for livestock
grazing and livestock feed plots. Loss of the world’s forests is a big issue as
forests are huge carbon sinks that can potentially keep CO2 out of the
atmosphere. Urban sprawl is another issue brought up and the excessive use of
travel. Buying and eating local is much encouraged in green circles. Landfills
and the big business of waste transport are also addressed. Statistics are
given for all these things that have environmental impact. The importance of
recycling is emphasized and some good news is that recycling rates have been
slowly increasing.
Mining impacts and pollution are explored. Mineral, uranium,
gravel, and coal mines all produce toxic waste and deform and impact land. Erosion
and air/water pollution are also big problems. Apparently, illegal logging is a
big problem in many parts of the world and is a significant depleter of forest
beyond that which is sanctioned. In places like Indonesia
and Brazil
The authors don’t particularly like the idea of “carbon
offsetting” and prefer the idea of simplifying one’s lifestyle. I tend to agree
although this is not easy for everyone and for some that is the best they can
do and we should be OK with that for now as it is a conscious beginning. Here
again we could get into the “greener-than-thou” mindset.
Another huge problem is simply waste and inefficiency. 500
million wooden pallets are used to transport goods – this makes up about 40% of
all wood products according to an article my son read – and most (about 2/3)
are disposed in landfills. This is usable wood, often hardwood such as oak and
should not be wasted. Plastic grocery bags and disposable chopsticks are also
examples of mass waste. Lack of recycling usable products such as the wooden
pallets is an example of lack of efficiency.
Air pollution is next examined. Greenhouse gases, dangerous
particulate matter, and modern problems such as indoor air pollution are
examined. Household and construction chemicals can pervade the indoor air in
many houses and buildings. Due to smog and particulates urban air is much more
toxic than rural air. The WHO estimates that 1.6 million people die a year from
indoor air pollution. Wood, coal, and dung fires can create much indoor
particulate pollution in poorer parts of the world. Diesel-powered bus fleets, ozone, sulfur
dioxide, nitrous oxides, and other particulate matter are big problems in
cities around the world and create many health problems. Hog farming is a big
producer of air pollution in some areas. Airborne pesticides can also be a
dangerous source.
Global warming/climate change and recently discovered
“global dimming” – where particulate matter in the sky particularly from
massive jet travel dims the light of the sun and helps increase overall temps –
although I am not sure how much effect this really has as it has only been
documented since the September 11 tragedy after air travel was suspended for a
few days. Air travel is also a major source of air pollution. Although global
warming is well documented it is less clear how it will play out. There are
various scenarios, some more dire than others. It is debatable whether we are
headed for certain biosphere collapse and if so when it will occur. The
evidence does suggest that we should act by simplifying our lifestyles,
decreasing waste and extravagance, becoming more efficient, and implementing
green strategies in our lives.
The last part of the book is about Green Yoga Activism. This
consists of simple suggestions that we can do to decrease our carbon footprints
and our environmental impacts. Although there are many sources of such
information it does not hurt to keep educated, to remind ourselves to keep our
commitments to these strategies, and to know them well enough to pass them on
to others. Reduce/reuse/recycle, avoid excessive packaging, use Energy Star
appliances, conserve water, don’t over-heat or over-cool, wash clothes with
cold water, dry clothes on a rack or outdoors if possible, buy and eat local,
turn off and unplug appliances, compost, avoid fast food, eat vegetarian or vegan
as much as possible, avoid plastic bags, plant trees, use green power if
possible, avoid plastic water bottles, avoid excessive transportation, use
compact fluorescent light bulbs, use eco cleaning products, invest with
socially and environmentally responsible investments, consider driving a
hybrid, go paperless as much as possible, grow some of your own food, and
support public libraries. Many of these things are easy enough. Various
organizations, websites, documentaries, and a good bibliography is given as
well.
The authors suggest that yoga practitioners have a special
responsibility to be green as part of living and promoting a holistic and
healthy lifestyle for themselves and those around them.
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