We are farmers because written history began shortly after we settled in villages by developing agriculture and livestock. Only then, with a full
INSIGNIFICANT IMAGINATIVE FARMERS
We are farmers because written history began shortly after we settled in villages by developing agriculture and livestock. Only then, with a full belly, was the abstract word developed, which organized social life and sophisticated (utilitarian) craftsmanship to turn it into (aesthetic) art.
But we tried to control everything with words: to explain the future of Nature based on legends and gods, to the point of believing that they obeyed our prayers and were in charge of taking care of us and even defeating our enemies. Our imagination, so powerful and fascinating, became lies at the service of power.
The astonishing thing is that in this 21st century Humanity continues in this delirium, fueled by leaders and concretized in Money as a convention that condemns poverty and scarcity. We could have chosen the other path: 4,000 years ago, Taoism and Buddhism assumed that the Whole was incomprehensible, that each person develops a highly partial mental image, that the Ego shaken by emotions distances us from Serenity. But the brute force of the people who believed in the gods subdued the groups that lived in harmony with nature without aspiring to become empires.
This is as far as history has come, based on wars and oppression. In the 20th century we narrowly escaped nuclear catastrophe. In the 21st century we have as unquestionable problems climate change, population explosion and the collapse of nature. In other words: pollution, limitation of natural resources and extinction of species. These are the other three horsemen of the Apocalypse, which join the first, which is War, which continues to devastate countries.
Faced with this, a large majority of human beings must become aware and choose sobriety as a way of life, accepting that we are still “rather imaginative but insignificant farmers.”
Insignificant like the dinosaurs that became extinct due to something as fortuitous as an asteroid; it is the thought of each person that attributes meaning to the words they learn and use; no other animal abstracts categories, but rather responds to the present situation, without trying to explain its past and even less foresee the future that they cannot imagine. “Farmers” because we need food and shelter; a further step is to be “citizens,” participants in the polis, but individualism and a certain ignorance distance us from that role. “Imaginative” because the life of each person develops within their mind, and it is there where their unhappiness or Serenity resides. Imagination is an essential element of the person: it is the basis of creativity and restorative dreams, but it is often an element of alienation, of bewilderment both personal and collective.
The System (Matrix) is based on the opposite: promoting lies (gods, banks, progress), deafening with permanent noise (screens, cell phones, biased news) and promoting fear (of scarcity, of the different, of the future), with leaders who are loudmouth puppets.
For my part, this is my intellectual contribution, in case it is useful to someone. As a farmer, I will take care of my home and my educational work as a way of participating in society. As an imaginative animal, I will enjoy my dreams and those of others, all the arts. As an insignificant entity, I will assume my impermanence, the ephemeral nature of my life and the paradox of how full it can be when each moment is lived serenely in harmony with nature.
In short, my “wisdom” is summed up in an acrostic known with another meaning: G.P.S.:
Gratitude for breathing the oxygen that plants give us, for thinking with words that we have inherited from other civilizations, for receiving the relief of generations of kind humans.
Participation in a community where I can find companions to contribute and also denounce that there are petty leaders and a submissive majority. Where I can earn my bread honestly without being a predator.
Serenity to live the Present moment, with humility, with sobriety, in harmony with a planet that is optimal for life, which is the only one where evolution has reached Intelligence.
The Dark Side of intelligence is the Fantasy of Power, the determination to control others, the pathetic immortality of the pharaohs. The Bright Side of intelligence is the Lucidity of humility, treating others with kindness and tenderness during the brief but intense years that our life will consist of.
Talking about “Insignificant Imaginative Farmer” seems like a childish simplification. But it is a very powerful mental image that I want to share: visualizing myself on a small farm, looking after the garden and the chickens so that I can feed my family, and offer them a warm home of caresses instead of being subjected to technology; recognizing myself as irrelevant in the Geopolitics that is in the hands of four Chinese and four Yankees but capable of collaborating with my neighbors; with my imagination as a tool to beautify my small world and perceive the harmony that surrounds me, without falling into fantasies of control over what surrounds me.
I recognize that my phrases are “going round the wheel.” Words are not enough to express an Intuition that everything is simpler if we silence the Ego and perceive ourselves as part of the Whole.
I needed to publish this, in case it helps someone and to feel committed to what I say. I will not change the Planet or others, but I will change my inner world and my attitude. Enough to stop criticizing, to carry prejudices and false expectations, to make myself angry.
It is enough for me to be positive to look with kindness and help in whatever is in my hands. I wish that Sobriety and Lucidity were as contagious as the SubNormality brought by the virus has been. Whatever has to happen, I will see it with the serenity of a farmer who knows he is mortal.
Thank you very much for your attention and patience. It has been very enriching to “unlearn” with you, with your experiences, reflections and even your objections.
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