Two Mile Long Scar on Great Barrier Reef After Ship Grounding.

"Even if severe toxic contamination is not found at the site, initial assessments by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority indicate it could take 20 years for the world's largest coral reef to recover, said scientist David Wachenfeld. In some areas, "all marine life has been completely flattened and the structure of the shoal has been pulverized by the weight of the vessel," Wachenfeld said."

Green Man: I don't know much about international law but I hope that Australia sues this Chinese shipping company for all they're worth to help pay for the clean up and loss. If we take protecting our natural treasures then there needs to be stiff penalties for damaging such world heritage sites like the Great Barrier Reef. The other aspect of preventing this again is to end our use on fossil fuels--our oceans are a life-line for millions of people and trashing them is like slowly taking poison. The reef has been in existence since possibly twenty million years ago and so it's shocking how fast this massive yet fragile reef can be destroyed.

For centuries man has seen nature as oppressive, tenacious and something to be tamed but we have finally remembered what our ancestors knew--that as nature goes, so goes our species and every other one. We mocked Pagans and other nature based believers because they worshiped rocks and trees but they lived in harmony with the environment and not only survived but thrived. So, now that we're nearly at the point of no return from environmental degradation we need to remember that our ancestors gave us these precious treasures and the wisdom to live amongst them and yet still thrive.

Yet we forgot and/or discarded these gifts in favor of the Christian belief that nature is given to man to do with it what we please. And that since we bought the idea that "God" gave it all to us we assumed that nature was inexhaustible. Thus we arrogantly felt we no longer needed to live in harmony with it because "God" would somehow take care of any complications along the way. Well, oh how wrong we were and still are!! There are still some that believe it doesn't matter how we treat our environment because Jesus will sweep in on a white horse and save us regardless. Yet with each passing year no one comes--just like in the play, "Waiting for Godot" and our world gets increasingly uninhabitable. I can almost hear the ancestors speaking through the whispering trees saying, "We told you so" but that it's still not too late to return to the ancient ways.

~The Green Man has Spoken~

PHOTO CREDIT: NASA

The Great Barrier Reef Crashed into by Oil Tanker.

A salvage team could take weeks to remove a grounded coal-carrying ship from Australia's Great Barrier Reef, where it is leaking oil in a pristine marine environment, a state leader said on Monday. The Chinese Shen Neng 1 ran aground late Saturday on Douglas Shoals, a favorite pristine haunt for recreational fishing east of the Great Keppel Island tourist resort. The shoals — off the coast of Queensland state in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park — are in a protected part of the reef where shipping is restricted by environmental law.

Authorities fear an oil spill will damage the world's largest coral reef, which is off northeast Australia and listed as a World Heritage site for its environmental value. "One of the most worrying aspects is that the ship is still moving on the reef to the action of the seas, which is doing further damage" to the coral and hull, the government agency's general manager Patrick Quirk said.

The Green Man: This is why I am so opposed to offshore drilling along the pristine, tropical, marine life refuges off Florida. Our marine system is already under serious attack from rising global temperatures, which are bleaching coral networks that harbor some of the world's most diverse eco-systems. As well as from over-fishing but this recent destruction of the Great Barrier Reef is a real blow as it is the world's largest, and can be seen from outer space. The ship was carrying tons of coal as well, which is leeching into the water. Experts fear further break-up could release larger amounts of that coal into the water around the reef.

They can talk about clean-up all they want but the oil spill by the Exxon-Valdez up in Alaska is still affecting the eco-system negatively. Until the world finally breaks its addiction to oil we'll continue seeing these terrible accidents. The Chinese haven't had the best track record on the environment and while the U.S. has pollution issues too, the Chinese seem to literally have NO standards when it comes to protecting nature. They say that they'll be fined $1 million for this accident but that can't make up for the long-term destruction that this spill has caused for this pristine eco-system. I'm tired of seeing our Earth raped, our oceans treated as toilets and our air polluted with toxins while at the same time to warn people about the dangerous of inhaling cigarette smoke!!

~The Green Man has Spoken~

Sadhu Destiny?

Being primarily a Buddhist, I guess it doesn't come as a surprise that I accept the ideas of past lives, karma and rebirth. I have had some vivid dreams before that weren't like any other. They were so much more real than my regular dreams. They have been vivid beyond imagination.

They were like the 3D movies you can experience now like "Avatar" mixed in with an advanced interactive virtual reality experience. They weren't disjointed or a mishmash of images from the day. They had an obvious beginning, middle and end with a clear message but I've only had a few in my entire 34 years on this beautiful Earth. That also makes these dreams that much more rare, which would support (to me) the idea of them being flashes of past lives.

In one of the most vivid, I was a novice Buddhist monk in Tibet climbing a mountain to a sacred spring to learn from my teachers a lesson in enlightenment. That in part would describe why I had such a strong pull toward Buddhism from the minute that I scratched its surface.

Now we get to the heart of the post--Sadhus. Sadhus are mystics, ascetics, wanderers and yoga gurus found in the Hindu religion in India. I have long had a fascination with India and found the esoteric, mystical traditions and rituals entrancing. The subcontinent pulls at my mind like a magnet. I gobbled up everything that I could find on Indian mysticism and felt like I was reading about a longing for a way of life that I'd had for years. This was to be a wandering mystic who sheds most of humanities trappings and embraces a life of mystical pursuits. I have always had wanderlust and still love to travel today as much as I can. I have also had a long-held disgust with modern human lifestyles and pined for a simpler life living on the edges of society. Well, imagine then my joy upon discovering the Sandhus!!

Being a Sadhu in India is considered the fourth and final stage of seeking moksha (or liberation) through meditation and contemplation -- sometimes within a drug induced trance provided by the smoking of cannabis/marijuana. Marijuana is considered a sacred plant by many Indians but especially the Sandhu because it is seen as divine as it is associated with the great Shiva who is said to like the herb. In preparation for ingesting the sacred drug they chant the many names of Shiva, who is said to represent the totality of all and epitomize balance between extremes. It is said that to smoke cannabis is to cleanse the body, mind and spirit.

According to one description, when the elixir of life was produced from the churning of the ocean by the gods and the demons, Shiva created the cannabis plant when it sprang up from a drop of the elixir dropped on the ground. I partake in ingesting marijuana pretty regularly but mostly for health and spiritual purposes. It settles my mind and relaxes me to prepare for long meditation sessions.

Anyway, being disabled from bipolar I am dependent upon a small insurance check and the pay-checks of my wife. We have no children and I have often fretted over what I'd do if my wife were to die before me. I have often said that the only thing keeping me alive and going is her, so I'd be beyond lost without her. Should that happen, my plan up until awhile ago was to just end my life but now I realize why I've been so attracted to the Sadhu life because I was either a Sadhu in a past life and/or it is a role I might have yet to play. I shrink away from the thought of living without my wife but one needs to prepare for all kinds of potentials. Without her, without my parents and without children, there would be nothing keeping me from being a wandering Sadhu. I would dedicate the rest of my life to a full-time spiritual pursuit to purify my mind and cleanse my karma to prepare for entering the next life. As well as cleansing the karma of the community around me. It seems like a calling and while I hope to outlive my wife, I am prepared.

It will either be that or going to a Buddhist monastery of being a hermit monk in China with other hermit Buddhist monks. I'll be doing a more in-depth post on the hermit monks soon.