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  • From: Marsha Hanzi <mhanzi@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] Happy Pilgrims..
  • Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 02:17:29 -0700 (PDT)

I think one of the most imporatant things we can question in Permaculture is the definition of happiness.  The industrial world defines happiness in material terms, which works only when the basics are not covered ("Gandhi says that to a hungry man God can only appear in the form of a loaf of bread).

Why do people travel so much?  I was impressed, last year,when I visited the States, by the immense number of house trailers, campers, etc..I was VERY impressed by the intense traffic in the middle of the desert...

Actually these travellers are pilgrims, looking for something.  Only pilgrimages normaly are slower, often on foot, having time to contemplate...I think the great number of natural and spiritual retreats are signalling this, as well as the intense movment in national parks. (Larry Santoyo´s project seems to be an interesting example)  They are all pilgrims ( conscious or unconscious). As such, there is no blame, even if we see the end result of billions of gallons of petrol going down the guzzel in this frenetic movement.  We need to find ways to offer what is REALLY missing, and I think this is first of all a more honest definition of happiness, and opportunities for that which pilgrims always look for- profound integration ( I recognize that most do not even realize that´s what they are looking for-- it is a visceral impulse like opening the fridge not because you are hungry but because you need zinc in your diet...)

I think the simpler lifestyle that Permaculture offers, where you are not separated by air conditioning from the night breeze, where you put your own hands into the dirt, has this effect ( even being a design system with alternative technologies etc..) It seems to me that just the simpleness of it diminishes the distance between us and the world that surrounds us...So willing or not, it brings in integration in a profounder sense, moving into the direction of a new definition of happiness as quality of life...

Marsha


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