The End of Times & Non-Attachment

Steve Dallas’ Son: “Opus, Pickles and I are having the definitive scientific/religious debate of humanity: The Stars. The Cosmos. Hummingbirds. Espresso. Bonnie Raitt. The Universe! The Whole Enchilada!...”

Pickles: “When will it end?”

SDS: “In billions of years!!”

Pickles: “No!! Any day now!!

- Excerpted from “Opus,” by Berkeley Breathed

Lately, a friend of mine has been accusing me of being apocalyptic. I strongly dislike apocalyptic thinking. In no way do I believe the Rapture will be coming anytime soon to punish the wicked and save the righteous. However, I am prone to make statements about the potential unraveling of the United States government and the eventual dissolution of the Catholic Church.  I do believe, intuitively for the most part, that things (institutions, governments, even relationships) are shifting, many of them evolving into something else and some collapsing altogether.

There are a number of peak oil theorists and researchers. Their approach ranges from the extremely doom and gloom, conspiracy theorists to the slightly more hopeful realists. Mike Ruppert (www.fromthewilderness.com) is of the doom and gloom variety, and while his website is full of valuable links to extremely pertinent international news related to peak oil and the potential crash of the U.S. dollar, you get the feeling that you have stepped into the world of ruthless global politics and economic hitmen. I have no doubt that these things exist, I just have a hard time reading about them regularly.

Also, in this camp of extremely poor outlooks, is the Olduvai theory or the “sliding toward a post-industrial stone age” theory. Engineer and energy analyst, Richard C. Duncan presented his paper in 1989 entitled, “The Peak of World Oil Production and the Road to the Olduvai Gorge” (www.hubbertpeak.com/duncan/olduvai2000.htm). Based on world population data and energy production, Duncan believes that modern industrial civilization will have a projected life-span of about 100 years. He starts counting in 1930. World energy production peaked in 1979, since that time we have been producing less and less energy each year, what Duncan refers to as the “Olduvai Slope.” Between 2000-2011, he sees us entering the “Olduvai Slide” which he characterizes as similar to the “Great Depression.” From there we reach the “Olduvai Cliff” between 2012 – 2030, here he simply states, “I know of no precedent in human history.” Duncan sees the ultimate collapse as involving epidemic black-outs worldwide. “When the electricity goes out, you are back in the Dark Age. And the Stone Age is just around the corner.” Not exactly a cheery subject. Duncan reportedly went into a severe depression for a number of years after formulating the theory, testing and re-testing it.

Our culture seems to thrive on the morbid and the apocalyptic, but when is it important to pay heed to these messages of doom and gloom? The global issues around energy production and use in many ways appear to be insurmountable. We simply can’t force a cataclysmic change in lifestyle on millions of people in just a few years. So what is an individual to do?

Here is where I really tick-off my friend, because I espouse the approach of non-attachment and acceptance—it allows me to function on a daily basis. He sees this approach as passive. And he questions why I do what I do—write a Sustainable Living column, write this blog site, get involved with my community??

Buddhism defines two different forms of detachment, viveka (meaning separation, aloofness, seclusion) and viråga, which is linked to the practice of mindfulness and to seeing into the truth of things. For Buddhists, therefore, non-attachment or detachment (viråga) does not mean a withdrawal from the world but a movement towards seeing the true nature of things more clearly, being less judgemental and more impartial, standing back and allowing events to unfold according to their own rhythm. When we are too closely attached to outcomes, people, places, things it usually comes from our own ego and not from a basis of love or true compassion. Non-attachment is not indifference or lack of love. In fact, it has the potential to be real love, because it is not defined by outward appearances.

As a parent, I try to practice viråga daily. I love my children deeply and while I need to establish firm boundaries for them and instill in them a sense of responsibility, at their core I cannot control who they are, who or what they will like, how they will dress, what careers they will choose or what music they will listen to. And why would I want to? In the midst of another tantrum, if I can step back and not let my emotions take over, I can provide a stable foundation where they can begin to regain composure and see an example of sustainable emotions being played out. If I can provide for my children the space and freedom they need to grow, expand and learn to have trust in themselves, if I can learn to accept them as they are, I will have truly learned the meaning of love.

Can this approach be applied at a global level? The Buddhist believes it can. In the face of skyrocketing food and energy costs, a collapsing economy, global warming, and limited supplies of drinking water, I can still actively engage with my world, yet disengage from the fear by trusting that catastrophic global events may be part or our collective process. I do not need to have faith in institutions such as the United States government or the Catholic Church, while both have aspects of beauty and truth within them, at their core they are temporal. Their potential dissolution does not need to shake my trust in humanity or its continual evolution.

So like those “new-age wackos,” I have hope that all of this is part of our process of becoming and I look forward to the end of the Mayan calendar (2012) not for its end of times scenario, but for its potential to usher in a new, richer, deeper, more humane era.

The 9-Lives of Urban Cohousing

We are still moving forward with the cohousing project. Just when I keep thinking that there are too many complications, too fast a schedule, unwilling property owners—the process takes a turn for the best and keeps going.

For a few weeks we were moving frantically ahead trying to develop a set of numbers to see if the project was even feasible, cost-wise. I toured a “Rastra-house” (Rastra is a recycled polystyrene block)  that is utilizing many of the same materials and systems that we hope to use and it is coming in around $140 square foot—way higher than we hoped to spend.

We spent a day picking out finishes at EcoDepot, ProSource and Carpet Gallery. We hoped to incorporate at least some the following: Bamboo floors, Marmoleum (linoleum), recycled glass tile, paperstone countertops and recycled rubber flooring. Choosing recycled and sustainable materials are a given, but not necessarily the most cost effective in the short term. For instance, we refuse to use vinyl windows (polyvinylchloride), the manufacturing of which is one of the largest producers of dioxins (for more information check out the documentary, Blue Vinyl, http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/bv.html). So instead we have to look to either wood or fiberglass. Cost for either is much greater.

We kept having Saturday morning brunches with families and our children to discuss our dreams for a sustainable project and I think the developers began to get a bit nervous at this point, the shared garage and emphasis on green materials was beyond their comfort zone. When we mentioned that we preferred to not use natural gas and instead look to more sustainable forms for energy, they looked genuinely freaked out. It was then that they offered to sell us the lot for a small profit and we could become our own developers. Cutting out a developers profit on a completed development helped tremendously with our number crunching.

The City lot that we now have the opportunity to buy is a standard size lot, nothing too special but it does have the opportunity for some views, is one lot away from a great park and is close to downtown and it is also surrounded by about 5 other empty lots. Gain control of these and we would be well on our way to creating a true “eco-village.”

The lots would have to be developed in a dense manner, duplexes on each lot, designed to work with the surrounding fabric, but also allow for a better use of city land and to alleviate high land costs. There is even the potential for a large, shared, south-facing community garden and possible “Common House” for meal sharing and social events. The potential is tremendous and luckily for us, the owner of at least 4 of the other lots is receptive to our ideas.

Time is still an issue. Zoning changes could be approved in less than 30 days in the City, potentially screwing up our plans for duplexes (the entire neighborhood is being re-zoned from multi-family to single-family). And the whole PUD (Planned Unit Development) process is a bit daunting. But things are still moving.