SUBHEAD: The Earth community is in hospice due to Fukushima and catastrophic climate change.
By Carolyn Baker on 6 November 2013 for CarolynBaker.net-
(http://carolynbaker.net/2013/11/06/fukushima-and-catastrophic-climate-change-the-earth-community-in-hospice-by-carolyn-baker/)
Image above: An elderly woman in hospice is given compassion and understanding without self delusion. From (http://guardianlv.com/2013/02/hospice-and-some-new-statistics-from-the-census/).
As I write these words in early November, 2013, humanity is confronting an unprecedented and horrific challenge which it may or may not survive. I’m referring to two uncanny realities about which we are not being told the unmitigated truth.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which suffered a catastrophic meltdown on March 11, 2011 is poised to inflict death and disastrous illness on millions, if not billions of people, as a result of ghastly amounts of contaminated water that is gushing daily into the Pacific Ocean and has already been detected on the West coasts of Canada and the United States. (28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Fried By Fukushima Radiation)
A short video entitled Fukushima: Beyond Urgent, provides a complete explanation of what happened at Fukushima and the consequences in terms of atmospheric and oceanic pollution and ultimately, the life and death of species affected by those. According to physician, Helen Caldicott who has been researching nuclear radiation for decades, we are in a nuclear crisis and have been since March 11, 2011.
We have never been told the full extent of the effects of the Fukushima tragedy, nor can we easily grasp the incompetence of TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, that owns and manages the Fukushima plant. Throughout the duration of this incomprehensible nightmare, TEPCO has proven itself phenomenally inept and corrupt.
The most extensively damaged reactor at Fukushima, Reactor 4, contains spent fuel rods that are highly radioactive and if not removed from the reactor, will continue to catch fire and spread pollution through the air.
Within the next few weeks, TEPCO is planning to remove some of the more than 1400 damaged fuel rods. Professor Emeritus, Guy McPherson noted last month that:
Fukushima represent a major threat to humanity. If they fail in moving the spent fuel rods next month, according to nuclear researcher Christina Consolo, if one of those MOX fuel rods is exposed to the air, one of the 1565, it will kill 2.89 billion people on the planet in a matter of weeks, so nuclear catastrophe is right there on the horizon.
Even if TEPCO is able to remove these unfathomably dangerous rods without a glitch, that will not stop thousands of gallons of radiated water from being released daily into the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to the horrors of Fukushima, our planet is also confronting catastrophic climate change. Guy McPherson’s latest updated compilation of climate change science demands our attention. Meanwhile, ignoring the ghastly realities of Fukushima, some of the top climate scientists in the world, including James Hansen, are embracing nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels and a silver bullet for reversing climate change. This is unequivocally insane.
Dear reader, I hate to break the news, but there is NO silver bullet for catastrophic climate change. Please watch Guy McPherson’s stellar presentation on climate change at Bluegrass Bioneers, November 22, 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky. Climate change now has a life of its own, and even if we were to cease tomorrow doing everything that has caused climate change, it is essentially irreversible. Moreover, research increasingly suggests that by mid-century, there will be few habitable places left on this planet that can actually sustain life. This is another truth that we have not been told.
The Lessons For Conscious Humans
What are the lessons for those who wish to be awake at this moment in human history? Scientists such as Guy McPherson, Arnie Gundersen, and Dr. Helen Caldicott can provide a number of lessons having to do with energy, economics, and environmental issues, but the real issue at this moment is: What is the spiritual lesson for humanity?
To his credit, McPherson is positing that humanity has now put itself in a hospice situation. Between the dire consequences of Fukushima and catastrophic climate change, we are confronting near-term extinction, not only of the human species, but perhaps all species on earth.
The fundamental question that McPherson asks is: How Do We Act In The Face Of Climate Chaos? Furthermore, I would ask: How do we now act in the face of possible impending meltdown and radiation poisoning of billions of living beings on this planet? How we act will be determined by our perspective—by our consciousness.
These unprecedented, unthinkable events compel us to consciously admit ourselves, emotionally and spiritually to “hospice for humanity.” Obviously, we all die at some point in time. However, few civilized humans, especially those of us who grew up in America, have ever really grasped, on every level, that we are going to die. Some part of us believes we are exceptional and invincible—which is precisely what has caused the crises with which we are now confronted.
Moreover, we now need the love and support of each other as never before in the history of our planet. Kurt Vonnegut often spoke of his son who somewhere between being a patient in a mental hospital and becoming a student at HarvardMedicalSchool said, “We have to help each other through this, whatever this is.”
It is time to stop trying to “do” things to reverse the cataclysm in which we are embroiled—to stop looking for “answers” and start asking the right questions. The most important one we can ask in this moment is: How do we live in the face of the possible near-term extinction caused by the Fukushima nightmare and catastrophic climate change?
As a two-time breast cancer survivor, I offer these suggestions:
Death As A Spiritual Advisor
One of my spiritual teachers, Leslie Temple-Thurston writes that “we must take death as an advisor—that when we live with the awareness that death could overtake us at any time and fully let that realization in and accept it, our life becomes more real and fulfilling.” In other words, when we allow death to be our constant “advisor,” we become completely alive.
People who are committed to facing their death consciously do a great deal of reflecting. Here are a few key questions for reflection in our hospice situation: How can I best hold onto you and you to me, and how can we help each other through this? How can I really, really see you and listen to you, and how can I tell you my deepest truth from the depths of my heart?
Are there people I need to make amends to? (Now is the time to do it. It’s time to take a searching and fearless inventory of how we’ve lived our lives.) What was really good and decent and precious about our lives? Where did we fail ourselves? Where did we fail others? Where were we less than we could have been? How do we wish to be remembered, even if no one is there to remember?
Life and death are inextricably connected, and ironically, a conscious, clear-eyed preparation for death often results in people living richer, fuller, more meaningful lives than they have ever lived.
Both the poet Rumi and Buddha said, “Die before you die.” It’s time to let go—let go of control, let go of resentments, let go of anything and everything that does not really matter in the face of death. This is an exquisitely sacred time. Let us mentally greet everyone we encounter with a deep, sincere
“Namaste”—the sacred in me salutes the sacred in you.
Namaste, dear reader, and when death comes, may we be fully, passionately, vitally alive, doing the work we came here to do and sharing the love we came here to share.
In addition to the above suggestions, you can read my new book Collapsing Consciously: Transformative Truths For Turbulent Times. The 52meditations contained in the hard copy and the 313 meditations in the e-book will fortify, inspire, and enliven you as you navigate your hospice journey.
.
By Carolyn Baker on 6 November 2013 for CarolynBaker.net-
(http://carolynbaker.net/2013/11/06/fukushima-and-catastrophic-climate-change-the-earth-community-in-hospice-by-carolyn-baker/)
Image above: An elderly woman in hospice is given compassion and understanding without self delusion. From (http://guardianlv.com/2013/02/hospice-and-some-new-statistics-from-the-census/).
To be in a body is to hear the heartbeat of death at every moment.
- Andrew Harvey
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which suffered a catastrophic meltdown on March 11, 2011 is poised to inflict death and disastrous illness on millions, if not billions of people, as a result of ghastly amounts of contaminated water that is gushing daily into the Pacific Ocean and has already been detected on the West coasts of Canada and the United States. (28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Fried By Fukushima Radiation)
A short video entitled Fukushima: Beyond Urgent, provides a complete explanation of what happened at Fukushima and the consequences in terms of atmospheric and oceanic pollution and ultimately, the life and death of species affected by those. According to physician, Helen Caldicott who has been researching nuclear radiation for decades, we are in a nuclear crisis and have been since March 11, 2011.
We have never been told the full extent of the effects of the Fukushima tragedy, nor can we easily grasp the incompetence of TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, that owns and manages the Fukushima plant. Throughout the duration of this incomprehensible nightmare, TEPCO has proven itself phenomenally inept and corrupt.
The most extensively damaged reactor at Fukushima, Reactor 4, contains spent fuel rods that are highly radioactive and if not removed from the reactor, will continue to catch fire and spread pollution through the air.
Within the next few weeks, TEPCO is planning to remove some of the more than 1400 damaged fuel rods. Professor Emeritus, Guy McPherson noted last month that:
Fukushima represent a major threat to humanity. If they fail in moving the spent fuel rods next month, according to nuclear researcher Christina Consolo, if one of those MOX fuel rods is exposed to the air, one of the 1565, it will kill 2.89 billion people on the planet in a matter of weeks, so nuclear catastrophe is right there on the horizon.
Even if TEPCO is able to remove these unfathomably dangerous rods without a glitch, that will not stop thousands of gallons of radiated water from being released daily into the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to the horrors of Fukushima, our planet is also confronting catastrophic climate change. Guy McPherson’s latest updated compilation of climate change science demands our attention. Meanwhile, ignoring the ghastly realities of Fukushima, some of the top climate scientists in the world, including James Hansen, are embracing nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels and a silver bullet for reversing climate change. This is unequivocally insane.
Dear reader, I hate to break the news, but there is NO silver bullet for catastrophic climate change. Please watch Guy McPherson’s stellar presentation on climate change at Bluegrass Bioneers, November 22, 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky. Climate change now has a life of its own, and even if we were to cease tomorrow doing everything that has caused climate change, it is essentially irreversible. Moreover, research increasingly suggests that by mid-century, there will be few habitable places left on this planet that can actually sustain life. This is another truth that we have not been told.
The Lessons For Conscious Humans
What are the lessons for those who wish to be awake at this moment in human history? Scientists such as Guy McPherson, Arnie Gundersen, and Dr. Helen Caldicott can provide a number of lessons having to do with energy, economics, and environmental issues, but the real issue at this moment is: What is the spiritual lesson for humanity?
To his credit, McPherson is positing that humanity has now put itself in a hospice situation. Between the dire consequences of Fukushima and catastrophic climate change, we are confronting near-term extinction, not only of the human species, but perhaps all species on earth.
The fundamental question that McPherson asks is: How Do We Act In The Face Of Climate Chaos? Furthermore, I would ask: How do we now act in the face of possible impending meltdown and radiation poisoning of billions of living beings on this planet? How we act will be determined by our perspective—by our consciousness.
These unprecedented, unthinkable events compel us to consciously admit ourselves, emotionally and spiritually to “hospice for humanity.” Obviously, we all die at some point in time. However, few civilized humans, especially those of us who grew up in America, have ever really grasped, on every level, that we are going to die. Some part of us believes we are exceptional and invincible—which is precisely what has caused the crises with which we are now confronted.
Moreover, we now need the love and support of each other as never before in the history of our planet. Kurt Vonnegut often spoke of his son who somewhere between being a patient in a mental hospital and becoming a student at HarvardMedicalSchool said, “We have to help each other through this, whatever this is.”
It is time to stop trying to “do” things to reverse the cataclysm in which we are embroiled—to stop looking for “answers” and start asking the right questions. The most important one we can ask in this moment is: How do we live in the face of the possible near-term extinction caused by the Fukushima nightmare and catastrophic climate change?
As a two-time breast cancer survivor, I offer these suggestions:
- Begin working consciously on the reality of your own death. Do whatever emotional and spiritual work is necessary to accept your mortality.
- Recognize that you have been admitted to hospice whether you are aware of it or not.
- Utilize every spiritual practice and every spiritual tool of which you are aware.
- If you do not have a spiritual practice, spend as much time in nature as you possibly can.
- If you DO have a spiritual practice, spend as much time in nature as you possibly can.
- When you are in nature, commune with it. Listen to the trees, the wind, the water, and the sounds of creatures. Talk to them as if you were speaking with another human.
- Do everything you can to make this crisis easier on other species.
- Allow yourself to feel the deep, deep grief that invariably occupies your body. Talk about it with trusted allies. Take yourself out into nature and mourn—cry, wail, scream, laugh, and dance. William Blake wrote, “The deeper the sorrow, the greater the joy.”
- Look within yourself and look around you and see where you are meant to be serving in this moment. As we live in hospice, our three main functions are to love, to serve, and to create.
- Focus on how you can give, not what you can get.
- Give love as often as you can. My friend Mike Ruppert says, “It is time that we spent our love fully and completely, as though it were fiat currency on an unlimited line of credit.”
- Every moment of your life from this moment forward is sacred. Every person you meet or interact with is sacred. Every animal, every tree, every insect is sacred.
Death As A Spiritual Advisor
One of my spiritual teachers, Leslie Temple-Thurston writes that “we must take death as an advisor—that when we live with the awareness that death could overtake us at any time and fully let that realization in and accept it, our life becomes more real and fulfilling.” In other words, when we allow death to be our constant “advisor,” we become completely alive.
People who are committed to facing their death consciously do a great deal of reflecting. Here are a few key questions for reflection in our hospice situation: How can I best hold onto you and you to me, and how can we help each other through this? How can I really, really see you and listen to you, and how can I tell you my deepest truth from the depths of my heart?
Are there people I need to make amends to? (Now is the time to do it. It’s time to take a searching and fearless inventory of how we’ve lived our lives.) What was really good and decent and precious about our lives? Where did we fail ourselves? Where did we fail others? Where were we less than we could have been? How do we wish to be remembered, even if no one is there to remember?
Life and death are inextricably connected, and ironically, a conscious, clear-eyed preparation for death often results in people living richer, fuller, more meaningful lives than they have ever lived.
Both the poet Rumi and Buddha said, “Die before you die.” It’s time to let go—let go of control, let go of resentments, let go of anything and everything that does not really matter in the face of death. This is an exquisitely sacred time. Let us mentally greet everyone we encounter with a deep, sincere
“Namaste”—the sacred in me salutes the sacred in you.
Namaste, dear reader, and when death comes, may we be fully, passionately, vitally alive, doing the work we came here to do and sharing the love we came here to share.
.
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