Observations From a Rainforest
Posted June 16, 2011 in Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
I have just returned from a trip to the Amazonian rainforest in Ecuador. More than just a vacation, the objective was to learn about the indigenous people there, their lifestyle and worldview. And specifically, to see what they may have to offer us as we seek more sustainable ways of living.
It turns out they can offer us quite a lot. The cornerstone of the journey was four days spent with the Achuar, a tribe living deep in the rainforest, largely the same way they did before being contacted by outsiders. It took us a flight to an airstrip in the middle of the forest, a long walk, a canoe ride and another walk to reach their village. And it was worth it.
Here is a typical Achuar morning, one of which we had a privilege to participate in. We got up at 4 a.m. and slowly assembled in the communal longhouse. It was pitch black, with only the perpetual fire smouldering in the middle of the floor offering some light. Sitting silently in a circle alongside the Achuar, we were soon offered bowls of wayusa tea. Drinking gradually, we individually trickled beyond the edge of the compound to make ourselves vomit. Once reassembled, the most important part of the day could begin.
Ingesting the wayusa tea (made of a regular herbal extract) and the subsequent purging makes one enter a lucid, highly alert state of mind. And as dawn starts to turn the sky to the east slightly gray, the Achuar relay their dreams from the previous night to each other. On the basis of the interpretation of these dreams, they decide to go hunting or fishing that day, they glean what the weather has in store and receive all information necessary to give the day direction and content. Dreams and their interpretations are an invaluable daily compass for the Achuar.
In fact, the whole early morning period is. They use the clarity and calmness of the mind for the discussion of any contentious issue, and resolve it by compromise. In addition, any proposal to marry must be made during this period. By the time it is light—around 6 a.m. —the day has content and no issue of importance has been left unresolved.
Strange? Yes and no. The highest entity in the Achuar world is Pachamama. It represents all the beings and objects in the world and extends to all of the universe and all of time, past, present and future. As such, it is the ultimate One. Everyone and everything in Pachamama is interconnected. And all actions, large and small, affect all of Pachamama. Of course the complexity of such a web of relationships is literally infinite. That’s why the Achuar believe in the role of the mysterious and resort to their dreams in order to determine the direction of their actions. It is a humble and wise posture, one that considers people deeply integrated into the surrounding world and doesn’t put them above anyone or anything else. It is the ultimate holistic view.
A bit different from the mainstream Northern / Western thought, right? Here, we are a society of reductionist experts who seek perfect understanding of their chosen specialization. Moreover, we, the narrow experts, don’t think twice about acting on our knowledge, usually disregarding wider implications of our actions. Cut down trees to make room for palm oil plantations with their predictable income? Don’t worry about the loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and impact on weather patterns. Build a dam to generate hydro power? Don’t worry about the migrating fish upstream and other life that depends on the river’s flow. Irrigate this arid field to grow water-guzzling alfalfa? Don’t worry about the once mighty river reduced to a trickle. The externalities are not my problem.
Except they are. The world really is far more interconnected than our behavior would suggest. The planet is a closed system where there is no “away.” We cannot throw things “away” or do anything that causes a meaningless reaction somewhere else. The planet cannot be harvested and used forever.
The Achuar know this instinctively, and their behavior reflects that. I don’t think it is necessary for us to drink tea before dawn every day and purge, nor do I mean to draw thoughtless parallels between different worlds. But if we could learn the simple yet deeply profound knowledge of interconnectedness from the Achuar, our planet—together with us—would instantly face far better prospects.
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Comments
Ian Wilker — Jun 16 2011 02:50 PM
What a treat to read this story.
In the western world, we typically give no time and energy at all to starting the day with a centering practice like you describe — the alarm rings, and we go from dreams to a full-tilt sprint of doing, doing, doing. Who has time to reflect, to reconnect with a sense of the whole of things, how we fit into it as individuals, the very real way in which we are interdependent with all else?
The problem with this way of living, in my experience, is that it makes each new day nothing more than a continuation of the past's momentum. It forestalls the possibility of intentional change, which requires a surrender to ... well, stopping, and listening, and looking deeply. And in the end, the daunting global problems we face today will overwhelm humanity if it is not up to the challenge of making intentional, rather than adaptive, change.
I have been so angry and frustrated of late with the American political landscape. But I wonder what would happen if I (and everyone concerned about climate change) were to live as the Achuar do and begin the day with contemplation. I've tried this but it hasn't become true habit. I bet I'd do a better job living well and in a less resource-intense way. And maybe I (we) wouldn't see those on the other side of the divide as the "other"; maybe, in affirming each day that we are all one, new possibilities might open for engaging those folks.
When people consider how humans might evolve from here, it's usually increased intelligence we think of. But I suspect that if humans avoid going the way of the dinosaurs, it will be because of increased spiritual capacity more than brain power.