A few days ago, I was hiking on a trail in the woods when I crossed an old friend coming down the slope in the opposite direction. We stopped to chat for a while and we commented on the delicious warm weather, exceptional for Canada at the end of October. My friend said, "My sister is a scientist and she does not believe anything about global warming." I said, "That's natural for a scientist, they always need 'more' proof, but it is a fact that the ice of the north pole is really melting." And he answered, "The planet has always taken care of itself! Don't worry!"
"You are right," I said, "the planet certainly takes care of itself, but has no obligation whatsoever to take care of us human beings... see how many species already disappeared, what about the dinosaurs and the mammoth and so many other species wiped out from existence?"
That consideration puts him somehow out of balance, but he recovered his wits saying: "We also change all the time, so does the planet, it is not our business!"
When he spoke those words, I jumped: "What? What do you mean by saying that we change all the time? You are absolutely the same Conrad since you were born! What happened is that your body grew up, but you are the same friend that I have known for years! Or are you not?"
Now it was his turn to get upset: "Well, he said, recently I have been reading about some crazy Greek philosopher called Heraclitus of Ephesus and he said that everything changes. His example was that no human being can walk twice into the same river. By the time you enter the river again, your body has changed, and the water of the river has been running down from the mountain and is a different water. So, that's it, everything changes, we can't help it!"
"Well, well, now you got really confused with your Greek philosopher. He was referring to the material, physical aspect of nature and humans - to the appearance of changes and transformations of matter. But you are not only plain matter, you are 'Energy,' you are 'Life'! You are the same Conrad who goes to sleep at night, is unconscious for seven or eight hours and wakes up in the morning saying, 'I slept very well!' How do you know that you are the same one who went to sleep? And how do you know that you slept well? Who was the witness of your deep sleep? The only answer for these questions is that there is a more subtle Self and that the physical Conrad is the manifestation of this Energy!
"Well, let's go on with our hike, but think about all this and tell your scientist sister, that Einstein demonstrated that E=mc2. This means that energy is equivalent to matter at the square of the speed of light! She may understand this equation! Bye now, have a good time, see you later!"
And he yelled at me in the distance, "I am happy to be the same Conrad! See you later!"
What would your answer be? Is the Planet changing? Are we changing? Please email me. Your opinions and further questions will then be incorporated into my future articles.
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