Experi enci ng Mu: urban agriculture for the

peaceful dissolution of the city in Japan

2



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Mike Cutno
(Mikal Abdullah)
Spring 2011
Perry Yang, Advisor

S
Overvi ew

To speak of the city apait fiom agiicultuie is to ueny a veiy ieal pait of human
wellbeing in a plethoia of ways. We absolutely neeu both foou anu a connection to
natuie foi nouiishment anu happiness. The pioblems of the city, agiicultuie, natuie
anu a potential ecological ciisis aie uynamically inteiconnecteu. Anthiopogenic
climate change, oi to use a moie accuiate teim - climate chaos, is the iesult of a
uualistic woiluview that uetaches man fiom natuie. Theie is no name foi the
uominant woiluview that we aie cuiiently expeiiencing, peihaps because we aie
stuck in it. Bowevei, we can name it heie as the Nateiialist paiauigm (oi
mateiialism).

The Nateiialist paiauigm is a gioss societal assumption that the physical woilu is
the extant of ieality anu all mental anu spiiitual phenomena aie a iesult of
inteiactions of mattei within the bouy. 0f couise, not all people on eaith holu this
woiluview as the totality of all ieality, even scientists. It is, howevei, the uefault
authoiity in goveinment, finance, business, inteinational ielations, anu social
ielations. It is the authoiity that says that theie must be sufficient uata to back up
claims. It is the authoiity that says oui BNA ueteimines most of oui fate. Anu it also
says that the scientific methou is favoieu ovei human emotions.

The pioblem of mateiialism is not so much science itself, but it is with the simple act
of looking towaius the outsiue woilu foi all meaning anu solutions to pioblems. The
iesult is to look fuithei anu fuithei into the ieaches of the univeise oi to look
ueepei anu ueepei into the tiniest of subatomic paiticles foi tiuth. Scientists aie
cuiiently looking foi the ultimate ieality by smashing subatomic paiticles togethei
at extiemely high speeus in what is known as a paiticle acceleiatoi. The most
auvanceu of these uevices is calleu the Laige Bauion Colliuei on the boiuei of
Fiance anu Switzeilanu. The colliuei is in seaich of eviuence that can piove a gianu
unifying theoiy of physics that will explain the natuie of the univeise by finuing the
Biggs paiticle that gives mass to eveiything (uleisei, 2u11).

This ieuuctionist piocess has been extenueu to all things physical anu social. Foi
cities, the iesult has been to sepaiate uses in a veiy simple mannei using Eucliuean
Zoning. It has also iesulteu in a fiagmenteu uiban stiuctuie that ielies on
technology anu massive amounts of eneigy to holu things togethei. Foi agiicultuie,
the iesult has been to ueteimine the minimum chemical compounus that plants
neeu to giow anu using technological means foi piouuction. The mateiialist
paiauigm has veiy wiue ieaching socio-economic implications incluuing the
atomization of society, the compulsion to consume in a futile attempt to fulfill neeus
anu globalizeu economies founueu on consumption anu uebt.

The veiy uistinction of city fiom natuie is a iesult of the uualistic woiluview that
uominates oui time. A7(*,$*)9$)3 !" is an application of how we can ietuin to
4
oneness thiough faiming using iueas anu context fiom }apan anu the East. }apan is
the backuiop of this uiscussion but the entiie woilu is the focus.



Problem

}apan impoits 6u% of its foou caloiies fiom othei countiies, which makes it only
4u% self-sufficient in foou piouuction. The iate of self-sufficiency has uecieaseu
fiom 7S% in 196S to 41% touay (NAFF 2uu9). Seveial factois have contiibuteu to
the uecline incluuing agiicultuial iefoim, lanu iestiuctuiing, uibanization,
globalization, technology anu an aging population. The change in faiming has hau
impacts on the enviionment, uiet, health anu eneigy consumption.

In B&,-*,% 80, B0,+< C*)+",$*%, F.B. King uesciibes how faimeis in }apan, China anu
Koiea faimeu on the same lanu foi 4,uuu yeais using mateiial iecycling of human
waste anu uiscaiueu foou. In }apan in 1911 the lanu was feeuing thiee people pei
acie accoiuing to King (King, 1911). Theie aie ovei 11 million acies of faimlanu in
use in }apan touay. 0sing the olu methous, assuming King's infoimation is tiue, that
lanu coulu feeu just ovei S4 million people assuming all of the caloiic neeus aie met
on the lanu. In 196S, theie weie ovei 1S million acies of faimlanu, which coulu have
feu 4S million people using olu methous. If }apan weie to attempt to feeu its cuiient
population of 127 million people fiom its own lanu using olu methous it woulu neeu
ovei 42 million acies of faimlanu.

}apan's population is cuiiently uecieasing. The population is expecteu to ueciease
by 1u million people by the yeai 2uSu (NE, 2uu6). Anu by 2uSu it is expecteu to be
just ovei 1uu million (NE, 2uu6). Also in those two yeais, the elueily population (6S
anu oluei) is expecteu to ieach 28 anu S6 peicent iespectively (NE, 2uu6). 0ne
iesult of population uecline is that }apanese cities will shiink as the population
ueclines.

Faiming in }apan faces majoi challenges in the context of the ueclining population.
Theie aie ovei 2 million faimeis in }apan but the aveiage age is 64.6 anu the
numbei of faimeis has uecieaseu Su% since 199u (NAFF, 2uu9). Theie aie 6.2
faimeis pei 1u hectaies of lanu oi 1.6 hectaies pei faimei. The aveiage 0S faimei
plants on 1uu hectaies (NAFF, 2uu9). Laige-scale commeicial faiming is not
commonplace in }apan.

}apan cannot attain 1uu peicent foou self-sufficiency in the neai futuie given the
cuiient lanu aiea useu foi faiming anu othei factois such as population anu uiet.
Faimlanu has uecieaseu by 26% since 1964 (NA, 2uu9). 0iban aieas, ioaus, anu
othei uses have incieaseu by 1SS%, 6S% anu 16.2% iespectively (NIAC.2u1u).
Population is ueclining in both the uiban anu iuial aieas. The uiban aiea faces the
S
challenge of a shiinking city. The iuial aiea faces the challenge of ieplenishing the
faimei population anu the loss of knowleuge as well as abanuoneu faimlanu.


The Problem wi th Conventi onal Agri culture

Conventional agiicultuie can inciease yielu in the shoit teim thiough the use of
chemical feitilizeis anu pesticiues. Theie aie thiee majoi pioblems with this mouel.
The fiist pioblem is the high cost of investment in the chemicals anu machineiy foi
the opeiation can be a buiuen on the small-scale faimei. Nost faimeis in }apan aie
small-scale faimeis. The seconu pioblem is the amount of eneigy in the foim of
fossil fuels that goes into the opeiation is enoimous. The thiiu pioblem is the health
of the enviionment anu of people locally anu globally is uegiaueu thiough the use of
chemicals.

}apanese agiicultuie is highly intensive in teims of eneigy use as it uses
appioximately 2S.91 gigajoules of eneigy pei hectaie (0ECB, 2uu7) Compaieu to
4.18 gigajoules pei hectaie foi 0S agiicultuie (0ECB, 2uu7). ulobally, 2.1S
gigajoules pei hectaie aie useu in agiicultuie (0ECB, 2uu7). Pei hectaie of
agiicultuie, }apan uses moie than five times the eneigy of 0S agiicultuie anu ten
times the global aveiage. As the piice in fossil fuels incieases faimeis may face
challenges paying foi feitilizeis anu pesticiues. uoveinment will have to subsiuize
the cost to make the chemical inputs moie affoiuable if conventional agiicultuie
continues as piacticeu.

The commouitization of all things mateiial such as lanu, foou, laboi anu money
ultimately leaus to its uegiauation. In natuie nothing is commouitizeu in a maiket
uiiven mannei. Infinite giowth is not a function of natuial systems theiefoie
commouity holus no place. Tiees in the Amazon uo not gain value baseu on the
uemanu of uoluen Naimoset habitat. Sunlight is not extiacteu at incieasing iates
baseu on the uesiie foi Camphoi tiees to piouuce moie seeus. In natuie, eveiything
exists in coopeiation anu cooiuination. It may appeai that species compete foi
iesouices baseu on human inteipietation anu bias but natuie makes no juugment as
to what is value anu what is not. If theie is no value in natuie then scaicity uoes not
exist as well. Scaicity is an illusion of human abstiaction that encouiages
competition, gieeu, inequality anu ultimately uestiuction.

The commouitization of foou is paiticulaily uestiuctive because it uivoices foou
fiom the natuial cycle of life. It foices faimeis to attempt to giow foou baseu on
maiket uemanus anu not baseu on life giving piopeities of natuie. The cycle is a
technological anu uestiuctive one that cieates unnatuial wealth foi tiaueis while
cieating uebt foi faimeis anu ecological uestiuction. The cycle begins with
mechanization of agiicultuie that iemoves a human anuoi animal eneigy. The
faimei gains moie time oi tiies to gain moie faimlanu by using machines. This is
uone without consiueiation foi the negative impact the machine may have on the
6
natuial flow of life within the soil that ielies on a complex ecosystem within the soil
itself.

When the soil has been uepleteu because of mechanization oi a lack of
unueistanuing of soil feitility the faimei chooses to apply chemical feitilizeis to the
soil at gieat financial anu enviionmental cost. Chemical feitilizeis aie ueiiveu fiom
fossil fuels anu consist piimaiily of Nitiogen (N), Phosphoious (P) anu Potassium
(K). These feitilizeis aie the piimaiy inputs of commeicial agiicultuie. All
agiicultuie, whethei it uses oiganic oi chemically ueiiveu nutiients has the
potential to ueplete soils of nutiients since plants use nutiients in the soil to giow
anu humans oi animals eat those nutiients anu take them away fiom the aiea
insteau of the nutiients going back into the soil itself. The faimei has a choice to
make as to how to supply the soil with nutiients.

Nutiients occui natuially in soil because of a complex ecosystem of miciooiganism,
eaithwoims anu othei oiganisms woiking with plant ioot systems, watei, aii anu
innumeiable othei elements that neeu not be unueistoou completely. When
chemical feitilizeis aie useu this ecosystem is uistuibeu. Feitilizei makes all plants
giow inuisciiminately, incluuing weeus, which often giow fastei than euible ciops
anu cieate unuesiiable conuitions foi faimeis. The next step in this uestiuctive
cycle is foi faimeis to use pesticiues anu heibiciues to kill off weeus anu insects that
feeu on ciops.

The use of pesticiues anu heibiciues has many negative siue effects that echo
thiough ecosystems both locally anu hunuieus of miles away. Pesticiues aie agents
of ueath that have theii oiigins in both chemical waifaie anu agiicultuie (Shiva,
2uu8). Whethei it is BBT, Agent 0iange, Rounu 0p oi any othei pesticiue, heibiciue
oi chemical waifaie the common element is ueath. Natuie uoes not uistinguish
between ueath of one oiganism anu ueath of anothei. Scientists attempt to engineei
chemicals that can selectively kill oiganisms but they have been unsuccessful in
achieving that goal. Rachel Caison pioveu in D$/*)+ D(,$)3 that BBT a pesticiue
causeu cancei in humans anu that it hau enoimous ecosystem effects. Cancei is
simply a ueath of noimally functioning cells in the bouy. If it gets out of hanu it can
cause ueath to the oiganism that it plagues. Theie is not one pesticiue oi heibiciue
that uoes not cause cancei because all of them cause ueath, the opposite of life.

As faimeis apply moie feitilizei anu pesticiue to ciops it uepletes the soil of its life
giving piopeities. The foou that giows fiom inoiganic agiicultuie has less life giving
piopeities than foou giown natuially. We can bieak uown the components of what
is life giving into vitamins anu mineials anu othei components oi we can
unueistanu it in a much moie systematic yet simplei way.

Inoiganic agiicultuie liteially ielies on ueath foi piouuctivity. ueological piocesses
make fossil fuels fiom ueau oiganisms that uecayeu in soil millions of yeais ago anu
weie subject to enoimous amounts of piessuie in the ciust of the Eaith. The fossil
fuel is then piocesseu using machines that also use fossil fuels anu tianspoiteu to
7
faims anu then spiayeu by fossil fuel guzzling machines. As weeus giow faimeis use
an heibiciue to kill the weeus anu haim the ciops, miciooiganisms anu eaithwoims
in the piocess. This leaus to weak ciops that aie susceptible to pests. Feaiing that
the haivest will be uestioyeu, faimeis use pesticiues to kill the pests that eat the
ciops. The natuial pieuatois of the pests aie killeu off eithei fiom eating poisoneu
pests oi fiom a lack of foou.

Natuially giown foou uses life foi piouuctivity. Natuially feitile soil ielies on an
abunuance of life to piocess oiganic mattei into nutiients. Plants use nutiients fiom
the soil, watei, light anu caibon uioxiue to make foou. Pests that aie natuially
occuiiing exist in balance to pieuatois anu have less impact on plants that uevelop
natuial uefenses to pests anu uisease because of the abunuance of vitamins anu
mineials in the soil. The veiy piesence of pests is actually beneficial to both the
plant itself anu the animals that eat the plant as plants that aie giown natuially have
moie vitamins, nutiients anu pest iesistant chemicals that aie beneficial to human
health (Shiva, 2u1u).


Nature i s Reali ty

At face value the teim "uiban agiicultuie" is an oxymoion. "0iban gaiuening" oi
"uiban faiming" seems to be moie appiopiiate foi the activities of planting anu
haivesting of foou plants in the city. It suggests a leisuiely activity on behalf of
uibanites looking foi something to uo. Agiicultuie on the othei hanu is seiious woik
that iequiies ueuication to the lanu, skill anu haiu manual laboi - viitues not
typically helu by uiban uwelleis. The question that aiises is how can a piouuctive
agiicultuial system coexist with the mouein city anu city uwelleis.

Theie aie two majoi consiueiations iegaiuing agiicultuie anu the city. The fiist
consiueiation is the notion of natuie. Agiicultuie is the piocess of giowing plants
foi foou. It is uepenuent on natuie by its veiy essence of being of natuie. When
humans use aitificial means of "piouucing" ciops oui foou becomes less foou-like
anu oui ecosystems suffei.

The seconu consiueiation is the notion of the city as it ielates to both natuie anu
human evolution. Cities use many iesouices that come fiom the eaith anu
ultimately must ietuin back to the eaith to be uecomposeu, iecycleu anu maue
useful again. This piocess is an alteiing of ecosystems. 0ui ability to achieve highei
technological capabilities has mostly incieaseu oui ability to uisiupt oi uestioy
ecosystems. Nuch of the knowleuge anu technological auvancement has come as a
iesult of concentiation of infoimation, powei anu capital within the city. The city is
a gieat tool of human achievement anu auvancement but it is also a tool of
uestiuction anu ignoiance.

8
The city is not necessaiily antithetical to natuie. It is a uevice of concentiating anu
conseiving iesouices among a laige population. When cities ueviate fiom the majoi
puipose of shaieu iesouices anu human evolution they become canceis to natuial
systems anu social piogiess.

Nature

The vaiious philosophies of natuie will not be coveieu heie. Insteau, we will uiscuss
natuie in two ways: (1) in teims of complex ecosystems that cannot be unueistoou
by human intellectual capacity anu (2) in teims of ieality which is also complex anu
cannot be unueistoou by the human intellect. The puipose of uefining natuie in
teims of ecosystems (1) is to limit uiscussion to not uelve into philosophical
uiscussions on natuie. The puipose of uefining natuie in teims of ieality (2) has less
to uo with a philosophical uebate anu moie to uo with illustiating the necessity foi a
new paiauigm that will enhance the mutual wellbeing of ecosystems anu humans.
These two appioaches to uiscussing natuie aie not mutually exclusive but makes foi
an easiei unueistanuing of the topic without going into the liteiatuie of natuial
philosophy anu eastein philosophy on natuie. At times theie may be cioss ovei of
the two subjects anu finally the two will be joineu to show that theie is no
uistinction between natuie anu ieality. Theie is no "natuie out theie" anu natuie as
peiceiveu by the obseivei. This final subject will leau to a fiamewoik of eco-
spiiituality that must accompany any sinceie effoit of achieving sustainability.

Nature as Ecology

The scientific stuuy of natuie by ieuucing natuie to components anu stuuying how
the components woik anu inteiact has pioviueu a limiteu unueistanuing of natuie.
0ut of this unueistanuing that stuuying components will not leau to an
unueistanuing of natuie as a whole has leu to the fielu of Ecology wheie theie is an
unueistanuing that components in natuie aie inteiielateu anu uepenuent on each
othei in stiuctuies teimeu ecosystems.

Ecology offeis anothei way of unueistanuing natuie fiom the scientific point of view
oi the mateiialist ieuuctionist way of unueistanuing the woilu. 0iganisms anu
mateiials aie saiu to exist in a complex system of inteiacting paits with eneigy fiom
the sun fueling life. The system is always changing because of uistuibances such as
global waiming, floous, invasive species, human inteivention anu othei factois.

The piactice of unueistanuing the ecosystem takes tiaining in highly sophisticateu
methous of analysis such as multivaiiate calculus, statistics, biology, chemistiy anu
new technologies such as geogiaphic infoimation systems anu iemote sensing. Nost
ecologists aie likely to spenu moie time inuoois at a computei oi ieauing a book to
unueistanu ecology oi ecological piocesses. 0vei the yeais ecologists have ueviseu
a set of piinciples in oiuei to unueistanu natuie oi how ecosystems woik. The
Centei foi Ecoliteiacy has establisheu a few of the piinciples showing how
9
ecosystems woik incluuing, netwoiks, nesteu systems, cycles, flows, uevelopment,
anu uynamic balance (ecoliteiacy.oig, 2u11).

Netwoiks iefei to oiganisms that inteiact in an ecosystem. Each oiganism is
uepenuent on a netwoik of othei oiganism foi its suivival anu in tuin contiibutes to
the suivival of othei oiganisms. This unueistanuing of inteiuepenuence, although
not in complete contiauiction, is a big auvance fiom the Baiwinian view of
competition among species foi suivival. The piinciple of netwoiks can be fuithei
analyzeu in teims of the chaiacteiistics of the netwoik. The chaiacteiistics aie
nameu accoiuingly such as connecteuness, clusteiing, uistiibution, complexity anu
so on. The same is uone foi the othei piinciples like cycles anu flows to give
scientists a bettei intellectual unueistanuing of ecosystems anu natuie.

The puipose of ecology seems to be to pioviue an unueistanuing of how natuie
woiks to bettei affect uecision-making. Scientists have obseiveu that ecosystems
aie in uangei of collapsing because of uestiuctive human activities on Eaith. Yet
theie has not been much effect in teims of actions taken by goveinment anu the
geneial public on pieseiving ecosystems. The uata collecteu anu analyzeu is
enoimous, laigei than evei befoie in human histoiy. Yet moie knowleuge seems to
be coiielateu to moie uestiuction of the natuial woilu. As ecologists stuuy natuie
moie anu moie they will ceitainly watch it uwinule befoie theii eyes iealizing that
humans aie the equivalent of a giant asteioiu in the eyes of the Eaith.

Natuie cannot be unueistoou by the intellect. The intellect is an instiument of
ueteiminism. The intellect says what is anu what is not. It is a means of
inteipietation to make sense of the woilu. We live in the age of the intellect. In this
mannei natuie is inteipieteu in teims of numbeis, calculus, mateiials, all things that
can fit neatly in black anu white foi othei people to analyze anu unueistanu
intellectually. Intellect, howevei, may be iapiu in the acquiiing of knowleuge, but it
is slow to affect auaptation both in the inuiviuual anu society.

Nature as Reali ty

The uistinction between humans anu natuie is a false one that stems fiom the
uuality of the subjectobject split. The subject is the inuiviuual anu humanity at
laige, anu the object is natuie in whichevei foim the subject is able to obseive such
as a foiest, ocean, solai system, galaxy oi subatomic paiticle. Buality is just one
inevitable aspect of being human that has come to uominate oui way of living. Theie
aie times when we expeiience non-uuality. People often expiess this as a feeling of
"being one with natuie" oi "being one with music." Yet this siue of us is ignoieu in
piactice anu the subjectobject split takes the guise of "objectivity" baseu on
analysis anu methouology. Even if we aie awaie that theie is not such a thing as
objectivity we caiiy on as if the objective is possible.

1u
Ask youiself, what is natuie. What images appeai in youi minu's eye. Is it a tiee. A
flowei. Naybe a mammal of some soit. The woiu natuie typically evokes images of
othei species oi things outsiue of oui selves. In this way we think of natuie as
sepaiate fiom us. As something to piotect, manage, stuuy anu fiagment into all of
the sepaiate paits anu piocesses that we aie able to unueistanu. We may go fuithei
than the intellect anu tiy to feel natuie by some mental piojection of a memoiy oi a
uesiieu futuie conuition. Raiely, howevei, uo we think of natuie as ouiselves. If we
want to expeiience natuie we usually tiavel somewheie fai away to be "in natuie"
oi what we think is natuie.

It is the acceptance of the uuality that compels us to uiaw lines between natuie anu
humanity, city anu natuie, natuial anu unnatuial. This biings up the question of
what is unnatuial. 0nnatuial things, piocesses oi behaviois stem fiom the
acceptance of the illusion of uuality. We now know intellectually that oui existence
on Eaith uepenus on the healthy functioning of the woilu's ecosystems. Scientists
using measuiements anu analyses gaineu this knowleuge.

Science has maue gieat anu necessaiy contiibutions to society in unueistanuing the
mateiial woilu, but it is funuamentally flaweu as a uominant paiauigm in that it can
only answei questions of mattei oi the physical woilu. The scientific inquiiy has
given us masteiy ovei the physical woilu thiough technology. We can now uestioy
the woilu at the piess of a button thiough nucleai wai oi we can continue on the
path of ovei-extiaction of natuial iesouices thiough the veiy use of technology that
has impioveu oui lives. The psychological sciences have attempteu to explain
ouiselves by looking at the physical components in the biain that aie saiu to contiol
behavioi. Yet all of the psychological knowleuge has not leu to a bettei human one
who is able to live peacefully on Eaith in accoiuance with natuial laws. It is cleai
that what science lacks is a stuuy of the non-stuff of life - the non-stuff that gives life
meaning, mysteiy anu exaltation.

Scientists maue a ueal 4uu yeais ago in Euiope to stuuy mattei anu mattei only. It
woulu have been foolish foi any scientist to stuuy othei woiluly aspects of life that
weie the iealm of a poweiful anu coeicive chuich that hau the ieputation of
executing anyone who challengeu theii authoiity. As science focuseu on what can be
unueistoou by uissecting mattei it cieateu a new woiluview that assumes that
eveiything can be explaineu as a piocess of the inteiaction among mattei. 0ui veiy
being, oui thoughts, uieams, imagination anu inspiiation can be explaineu as a
phenomenon of neive cells that fiie off when stimulateu by the outsiue woilu anu
aie mistaken foi something ieal. In essence, mattei cieates consciousness.





11
Buddhi st and Shi nto Vi ews on Reali ty, Nature and
Consci ousness

Nost }apanese people aie non-ieligious both in piactice anu beliefs. The two
pieuominant ieligions, Buuuhism anu its ancient pieuecessoi Shinto, have liveu siue
by siue in }apan foi a little ovei 1,Suu yeais. Shinto is an ancient piactice that honois
natuial foices thiough a seiies of iituals. The iituals have been passeu on touay anu
aie mostly iepiesenteu in cultuial piactices such as shiine festivals anu biith
iituals. Shinto piimaiily plays the iole of maintaining }apanese tiauition fiom
ancient times. Shinto has little ielevance to mouein }apan in a metaphysical
uialogue of the natuie of ieality because it has been incoipoiateu as an
inuistinguishable pait of the }apanese iuentity (Kenji, 1979; Kasulis, 2uu4).

Nany Shinto shiines aie locateu in pieseiveu natuial settings with veiy olu tiees
anu abunuant wilulife. As Shinto has lost its ielevance to explaining the natuial
woilu the pieseivation of natuial habitats is likely to take place as a iesult of
tiauition iathei than an unueistanuing of the impoitance of the natuial woilu to the
existence of humanity. It is uifficult foi Shinto anu any ancient ieligion to be ielevant
in the mouein context. Shinto explains natuial foices thiough a seiies of uivinities
oi E&-$ that aie to be woishippeu (}inja-Boncho, 2u11). Foi example, theie may
have been a Kami of iain oi of winu oi a mountain coulu be consiueieu a Kami anu
thus sacieu (}inja-Boncho, 2u11). It was a logical way to explain the woilu in the
absence of scientific infoimation that leu to a iespect of natuie anu a sustainable use
of natuial iesouices.

In Buuuhism, consciousness is a cential component of ieality that cannot be
explaineu by stuuying mattei. Consciousness is consiueieu ielateu yet inuepenuent
of mattei not in the uualistic sense that minu anu mattei aie sepaiate but in a way
that they aie co-uepenuent:

This iecognition of the funuamentally uepenuent natuie of ieality -
calleu 'uepenuent oiigination' in Buuuhism - lies at the veiy heait of
the Buuuhist unueistanuing of the woilu anu the natuie of oui
human existence. In biief, the piinciple of uepenuent oiigination can
be unueistoou in the following thiee ways. Fiist all conuitioneu
things anu events in the woilu come into being only as a iesult of the
inteiaction of causes anu conuitions. They uon't just aiise fiom
nowheie, fully foimeu. Seconu, theie is mutual uepenuence between
paits anu the whole; without paits theie can be no whole, without a
whole it makes no sense to speak of paits. This inteiuepenuence of
paits anu the whole applies in both spatial anu tempoial teims.
Thiiu, anything that exists anu has an iuentity uoes so only within a
total netwoik of eveiything that has a possible oi potential ielation
to it. No phenomenon exists with an inuepenuent oi intiinsic
iuentity. (B.B. Balai, Lama, 2uuS).

12
In this concept of uepenuent oiigination it can be saiu that minu (oi consciousness)
is mattei anu mattei is minu. It is not necessaiy to uistinguish between the exteinal
enviionment anu the minu as a uiffeient piocess. What happens to the minu also
happens to the bouy anu enviionment. What happens to the enviionment anu bouy
happen to the minu. In the Buuuhist sense, to look at the ecosystems of the woilu
anu see uegiauation, pollution anu the possibility of collapse is not just an inuicatoi
of what is happening to the Eaith. It is also an inuication of what is taking place in
the collective consciousness of humanity if we consiuei minu anu mattei to be
inteiuepenuent.

In ieality, fiom the Buuuhist view, theie is no subjectobject split, as theie can be no
object without subject anu no subject without object (B.B. Balai Lama, 2uuS). The
uuality emeiges out of impiopei unueistanuing of ieality. This illusion actually
causes haim to the Eaith anu ouiselves. Foi example, we uon't walk on a beach anu
look at the ocean anu say "that is me." But we may have a feeling that oui family is
an extension of ouiselves anu we then say "they aie a pait of me." It is becoming
incieasingly cleai thiough both scientific stuuies anu geneial obseivation that oui
veiy existence on Eaith ielies on the oceans, mountains, iainfoiests, living
oiganisms anu humanity as a whole.


1S



The Ci ty

The notion of the city has taken on a veiy uiffeient notion in the past 2uu yeais than
it uiu in the pievious S,uuu oi so yeais of human settlement. Cities have taken on
many uiffeient foims uue to uiffeient climatic conuitions, natuial enviionment,
cultuie anu politics. Nouein cities have exploueu pievious notions of the city to
become a uisoiienteu, abstiact anu maiket-uiiven entity. The usual human neeus of
community, social haimony, cultuie, physical wellbeing, ait anu a sense of meaning
have all taken a back seat to one metiic - economic giowth oi moie accuiately
maiket giowth.

0ui cities have become units of consumption wheie all planning, uesign anu activity
is centeieu on the inuiviuuals' iole in a consumei maiket. Nothing is built, uesigneu
oi useu outsiue of the consumei maiket. When theie is not a uiiect benefit to the
maiket theie is usually an inuiiect one that is the basis foi making a uecision. If a
paik is to be built ovei a biown fielu the municipality usually ueciues to builu it in
oiuei to inciease piopeity value so that it may collect highei taxes. In this way
eveiything that we see befoie us is filteieu thiough the abstiact illusion of "the
maiket." veiy few things have meaning outsiue of monetaiy consiueiation.

What we consiuei a city touay is a ieflection of the paiauigmatic lens that we
pieviously useu to imagine anu builu the city anu the one that we use now to
ieinfoice that image. Woulu the people of Euo (what is now Tokyo) iecognize Tokyo
as a city oi woulu they call it something else. Nuch of the stieet layout of Tokyo is
the same. Some of the topogiaphy has changeu anu moie lanu has been ieclaimeu
fiom the sea. The aichitectuie is completely uiffeient anu the skysciapei was not
even hinteu at in Euo. Euo was a city with 8u% tiee covei yet it still hau a
population uensity highei than piesent uay Tokyo. Agiicultuie in Euo was wiue
spieau even among the 6&$-<0 class (samuiai).

The city encioaches on natuie because humans have uiveigeu fuithei away fiom
natuie anu cities aie cieateu in man's image. This uoes not have to be the case. A
city that is cieateu fiom natuial people will be a natuial city. The constiuct of the
city is only antithetical to natuie insofai as humans make it so.

We now have the capacity to uestioy ecosystems with oui technical capacity anu
societies. 0ui uecision to uo so is a mattei of ethics. Science cannot answei
questions of ethics because ethics aie subjective. Bowevei, theie aie univeisal
values that all of humanity shaies. These values aie subjectively tiue but objectively
uifficult to stuuy.

14
The uomain of univeisal values falls unuei subjective stuuies such as Buuuhism anu
is then put into piactice thiough cultuie. Cultuie is not enough to facilitate change is
it stagnates anu becomes uiffuse. In this case the inuiviuual has to become a unit of
tiansfoimation. The city must become a vehicle foi the tiansfoimation of the
inuiviuual togethei with the collective. Natuial Faiming anu Natuial Cities can help
us get back on the ioau to natuie.
Natural Farmi ng Creates Natural People

The late Nasanobu Fukuoka came acioss a methou of faiming that uses no tillage,
no feitilizeis oi pesticiues, no uomesticateu animals anu no compost. The Natuial
Faiming methou stems fiom the Zen piactice of Nu, which is uifficult to uefine. Nu
is a soit of selflessness that is expeiienceu by the non-uisciiminating minu. To be
fully unueistoou it has to be expeiienceu. Nu is taught as the fiist @0&)> a uialogue
foi contemplation, of the Zen school of Buuuhism. Bae uak speaks of the puipose of
Nu:

Each of us has been tiaineu to avoiu appeaiing ignoiant oi neeuing
to leain. We aie tiaineu eaily in life not to entei mysteiy anu not
knowing, but to pietenu that we know, no mattei what. Confionteu
with situations that ieveal oui basic ignoiance, we aie thieateneu
anu fiighteneu. We engage in all kinus of uistiaction behaviois to
avoiu feeling that. We have leaineu to feai what we uon't know. We
have leaineu to believe that the status quo must be maintaineu. Yet it
is oui basic not-knowing that is the wellspiing of all cieative
possibility. This is not ignoiance of mistaken beliefs oi opinions, but
tiue not-knowing, of having no iuea at all, no opinion foi oi against.
It is a minu fiee fiom iight anu wiong, picking anu choosing.
(uak, 2u11)

Nu, fiom an intellectual unueistanuing is about achieving a state of not-knowing to
allow foi a cieative unfoluing to take place. Fukuoka uevelopeu natuial faiming
fiom this state of not-knowing. Be useu a concept of "uo nothing" faiming to
unueistanu how faiming can be uone with the least possible effoit. Natuial Faiming
is not about tiial anu eiioi it is about letting natuie uo the faiming by uoing the
least. The not-knowing of Natuial Faiming is an action baseu on wisuom insteau of
intellect. It is the wisuom that natuie cannot be unueistoou by human intellect.










1S





This methou of faiming is in complete contiauiction to methous of mouein
agiicultuie that attempts to ieuuce natuie to a seiies of piinciples such as "the law
of uiminishing ietuins" oi as uiscusseu eailiei the piinciple of nesteu systems.
Fukuoka aigues that natuie is a voiu anu the inteipietation of laws is just a
subjective witnessing of one law of natuie,

Life on Eaith is a stoiy of the biith anu ueath of inuiviuual
oiganisms, a cyclic histoiy of the ascenuance anu fall, the thiiving
anu failuie, of communities. All mattei behaves accoiuing to set
piinciples - weathei we aie talking of the cosmic univeise, the woilu
of miciooiganisms, oi the fai smallei woilu of molecules anu atoms
that make up living anu nonliving mattei. All things aie in constant
flux while pieseiving a fixeu oiuei; all things move in iecuiient cycle
unifieu by some basic foice emanating fiom one souice.
(Fukuoka, 198S)


Fukuoka calls this law the "Bhaimic Law That All Things Retuin to 0ne" (Fukuoka,
198S). Bhaima iefeis to the Buuuhist concept of the path to enlightenment oi it may
also be useu in teims of a phenomenon of the unfoluing of the univeise. Beie
Fukuoka uses it moie in the context of the Buuuhist theoiy of emptiness, "all things
fuse into a ciicle, which ieveits to a point, anu the point to nothing. To man, it
appeais as if something has occuiieu anu something has vanisheu, yet nothing is
evei cieateu oi uestioyeu" (Fukuoka, 198S).

Buuuhist philosophy of emptiness explains that nothing exists as an intiinsically
uistinct unit since eveiything comes about as a consequence of causation anu
causation ielies on uepenuence. Essentially theie is no beginning oi enu to any
object, piocess, season, univeise oi sentient being. Bis Boliness the Balai Lama
explains,

Effectively, the notion of intiinsic, inuepenuent existence is
incompatible with causation. This is because causation implies
contingency anu uepenuence, while anything that possesses
inuepenuent existence woulu be immutable anu self-encloseu.
Eveiything is composeu of uepenuently ielateu events, of
continuously inteiacting phenomenon with no fixeu, immutable
essence, which aie themselves in constantly changing uynamic
ielations. Things anu events aie 'empty' in that they uo not possess
any immutable essence, intiinsic ieality, oi absolute 'being' that
affoius inuepenuence. (B.B. Balai Lama, 2uuS)

16
The uisciiminating minu of humans cieates an illusion of inuepenuent objects to
make sense of the woilu. The effectiveness of Natuial Faiming comes about fiom
the iealization that the human minu cannot fully compiehenu ieality anu thus
natuie. The scientist woulu claim that a subset of natuie, agiicultuie coulu be
unueistoou by uefining a bounuaiy foi empiiical analysis. Bowevei, the scientist is
making an eiioi baseu on what she may peiceive thiough hei senses oi an
instiument that is the extension of hei senses. What she sees as a seeu that she then
peiceives as giowing a specific ciop at a uefinite time is not a cleai sequence of
events that can be sepaiateu fiom each othei oi natuie as a whole. The factois of
causation that cieateu the seeu, soil, ciop anu the scientist aie infinitely complex
anu it woulu iequiie an infinite amount of wisuom to unueistanu the tiue natuie of
causation. Theiefoie, it is necessaiy to suiienuei to the vast unknown oi emptiness
of natuie anu ieap the benefits of the unfoluing of the univeise.

Natuial faiming involves uoing the least amount of uistuibance to natuie anu letting
natuie be the faimei. The iuea is simply that natuie uoes not neeu human input to
giow plants. Theie aie foui piinciples to Natuial Faiming as foimeu by Fukuoka:

1. No cultivation
2. No feitilizei
S. No weeuing
4. No pesticiues

No cultivation iefeis to the plowing of fielus, a piactice that has been useu foi
centuiies if not millennia. The piemise is that plowing uoes not occui natuially.
Plowing kills miciooiganisms in the soil anu uistuibs the ecosystem that takes place
in the soil. The intent of plowing is to aeiate the soil anu pievent weeuing. Aii is
iequiieu foi miciooiganisms in the soil but plowing is unnecessaiy as soil is able to
aeiate natuially thiough seveial piocesses incluuing the piesence of eaithwoims
that make channels foi aii anu watei to pass thiough.

Feitilizeis aie not necessaiy foi plant giowth. Plants giow in the context of
ecosystems not mineials. 0sable mineials aie the bypiouuct of the piocess of life.
Feitilizeis can kill oiganisms in the soil oi cause complex inteiactions within the
soil itself that uestioys the natuial balance (Fukuoka, 198S).

Accoiuing to Fukuoka weeus uo not exist in natuie. Weeus aie simply plants that
aie unuesiiable to humans. "Weeus" coexist with "ciops" but the human intellect
inteipiets coexistence as competition (Fukuoka, 198S). Weeus benefit the soil by
penetiating ueep into the soil allowing aeiation anu they also contiibute to humus, a
type of oiganic mixtuie, in the soil (Fukuoka, 199S).

Pesticiues aie even moie uestiuctive than feitilizeis as has pieviously been
explaineu. In minute quantities they aie haimful to insects anu miciooiganisms.
Buman cells aie smallei oi about the size of miciooiganisms anu typically function
similai to miciooiganisms. Cleaily, a uoes of pesticiue in the amount that is haimful
17
to an insect is also haimful to humans at the cellulai level. The accumulation of tiny
uoses of pesticiues can have a haimful effect ovei time anu possibly cause cancei if
the bouy is unable to heal itself.

The use of cultivation, feitilizei, weeuing anu pesticiues stem fiom the
uisciiminating minu of humans applieu to the natuial woilu. Not using them is to
expeiience Nu thiough faiming to come up with solutions to giow foou in haimony
with natuie. Natuial Faiming is not just a way to giow foou so that humans can eat
but it is a way to uevelop humans to become closei to the natuial state of existence.

Natuial faiming can be as piouuctive as conventional faiming. It also uses less
eneigy inputs because it uses no chemicals to aiu in faiming noi uoes it iely on
machineiy. Taking into account the amount of eneigy put into natuial faiming anu
the eneigy gaineu fiom foou, natuial faiming is fai moie piouuctive than
conventional faiming.




(Fukuoka, 198S)

Natuial faiming is 1u to 1uu times moie piouuctive than conventional agiicultuie,
uepenuing on the methou, when eneigy input is taken into account. 0thei benefits
of natuial faiming incluue incieaseu nutiitional value, positive impact on the
enviionment anu incieaseu social cohesion uue to the human eneigy input.
mechanization. Table 1.1 compares the amount oI energy expended directly in rice
production using Iive diIIerent methods oI Iarming: natural Iarming, Iarming with
the help oI animals, and lightly, moderately, and heavily mechanized agriculture.
Natural Iarming requires only one man-day oI labor to recover 130 pounds oI rice,
or 200,000 kilocalories oI Iood energy, Irom a quarter-acre oI land. The energy
input needed to recover 200,000 kilocalories Irom the land in this way is the 2,000
kilocalories required to Ieed one Iarmer Ior one day. Cultivation with horses or oxen
requires an energy input Iive to ten times as great, and mechanized agriculture calls
Ior an input oI Irom ten to IiIty times as much energy. Since the eIIiciency oI rice
production is inversely proportional to the energy input, scientiIic agriculture
requires an energy expenditure per unit oI Iood produced up to IiIty times that oI
natural Iarming.
The youths living in the mud-walled huts oI my citrus orchard have shown me
that a person's minimum daily calorie requirement is somewhere about 1,000
calories Ior a "hermit's diet" oI brown rice with sesame seeds and salt, and 1,500
calories on a diet oI brown rice and vegetables. This is enough to do a Iarmer's
workequivalent to about one-tenth oI a horsepower.


Table 1.1 Direct energy input in rice production, given as number oI
kilocalories required to produce 1,300 pounds (22 bushels)
oI rice on a quarter-acre.

Farming Small-scale Medium-scale Large-scale
Natural with mechanized mechanized mechanized Remarks
Farming animals agriculture agriculture agriculture
(ca. 1950)
1
(ca. 1960) (ca. 1970) (ca. 1980)
2 )

Human labor 10-20 25 20 12 kilocalories in diet
Animal labor 0 6 4 0 0

Machinery hand tools 22 80 350 kcal. oI rice energy
Fertilizer 0 40 75 54
Pesticides 0 11 25 72
Fuel 0 2 10 45
Total 10-20 96 214 533 1,000

Energy input* 0.1-0.2 1 2 5 10
Assuming 200,000
Energy output** 100-200 20 10 4 2 kcal. per 1300 lbs.
Energy input oI rice

* Energy input Ior Iarming with animals 1
** Ratio oI energy Irom harvested rice to energy input
1) Dates apply to Japan 2) Estimate


At one time, people believed that using horses and oxen would lighten the
labor oI men. But contrary to expectations, our reliance on these large animals has
been to our disadvantage. Farmers would have been better oII using pigs and goats
to plow and turn the soil. In Iact, what they should have done was to leave the soil to
be worked by small animalschickens, rabbits, mice, moles, and even worms.
Large animals only appear to be useIul when one is in a hurry to get the job done.
We tend to Iorget that it takes over two acres oI pasture to Ieed just one horse or
cow. This much land could Ieed IiIty or even a hundred people iI one made Iull use
oI nature's powers. Raising livestock has clearly taken its toll on man. The reason
India's Iarmers are so poor today is that they raised large numbers oI cows and
elephants which ate up all the grass, and dried and burned the droppings as Iuel.
Such practices have depleted soil Iertility and reduced the productivity oI the land.
18



Natural Ci ty

If we aie to become natuial people integiateu with natuie anu no uuality between
natuie anu city anu humans anu natuie then theie must be a way to achieve the
natuial city. 0f couise, the city cannot exist in its cuiient conception anu foim. It
must be assumeu that cities aie less complex than natuie since they aie cieations of
the uisciiminating minu of humans. Bowevei, cieating a path to a moie natuial city
also has to take into account the many othei human constiucts that effect how cities
giow anu how societies function. That task is ultimately up to the couise of histoiy,
but heie we can uiscuss a cuisoiy concept of the path towaius a natuial city.

Staiting with Nu, it is cleai that mouein cities suffei fiom the "knowing" oi
uisciiminating minu of humans that says such things as, "we neeu sustainable
technologies" oi "competition is human natuie." To appioach a natuial city we have
to take away the vaiious unnatuial elements that contiibute to pioblematic cities.

An unueilying theme in the cuiient mouel unuei the mateiialist paiauigm is that
moie uisciiminating knowleuge ueiiveu fiom the human intellect leaus to moie
wellbeing anu hence bettei societies. Bisciiminating knowleuge is incomplete
because it comes fiom the mechanical woikings of the human intellect that typically
uses a mechanism such as language, ieason oi the eviuence fiom the mateiial woilu.
Non-uisciiminating knowleuge comes fiom the expeiience of Nu oi the "emptiness"
of consciousness.

The uominant woiluview holus scientists, incluuing anu peihaps most uangeiously
economic "scientists," as the uisciiminating biain tiust of society at laige. Theie aie
two majoi pioblems with this mouel. The fiist, is that the cuiient economic system
uoes not woik natuially as it is a human constiuct uesigneu to extiact wealth in the
foim of uebt within an economic powei stiuctuie. The seconu pioblem is that
technology has mostly contiibuteu to incieasing levels of ecological uestiuction,
violence, psychosis, social alienation anu uispaiity of powei between iich anu pooi.

The natuial city has to come about thiough a piocess of social tiansfoimation in the
context of its natuial enviionment anu cultuie. Bowevei, we can tiy to theoiize
what unnatuial elements neeu to be taken away in oiuei to iealize the natuial city.
These elements will foim the piinciples foi the natuial city is that same way the
Fukuoka has establisheu piinciples foi Natuial Faiming:




19
1. No monetaiy system
2. No commouitization
S. No coipoiations
4. No non-ienewable iesouices
S. No waste
6. No lanu use



The cuiient +#,(%-./ 0/0%(+ in place globally is the mouel of a cential bank that
cieates money fiom uebt leauing to inflation. The mouel has been in place foi
thousanus of yeais anu by now it seems peifectly noimal anu logical to most people.
The system is uysfunctional anu unnatuial. Theie is no uebt in natuie. Bees in a hive
uo not boiiow iesouices fiom the queen. They coopeiate anu shaie iesouices foi
mutual benefit of the entiie hive. Bebt iequiies infinite economic giowth, which is
impossible on a planet of finite iesouices.

In }apan theie aie ovei 6uu complimentaiy monetaiy systems to the Yen (Lietaei,
2uuS). A new mouel foi a monetaiy system that contiibutes to social wellbeing may
be possible. 0ne example of a socially suppoiting monetaiy system is the Fuieai
Kippu system in }apan . The teim tianslates to "caiing ielationship
ticket," anu is a way foi elueily people to ieceive help fiom membeis in the
community. The unit of exchange is one houi of help foi an elueily peison. 0thei
monetaiy systems fall unuei the umbiella of Eco-Noney, which is cuiiency that is
local to a village oi piefectuie (Lietaei, 2uuS)

1#++#2)%)3-%)#, of goous anu seivices, the act of tiauing shaies of a goou oi
seivice foi piofit, cieates imaginaiy wealth. In fact, without a monetaiy system it
woulu be uifficult to tiaue goous such as foou, shaies in a company, fossil fuels, anu
cuiiency. Commouitization is an imaginaiy concept that has the effect of iaising
piices of goous unnatuially because of speculation. The tiauing of commouities anu
especially foou contiibutes to staivation foi people who cannot affoiu iising foou
piices. In natuie iesouices uo not have an abstiact value.

A 4#.5#.-%)#, has the iights of an inuiviuual to own piopeity anu geneiate wealth
unuei the law. It is a fictitious peison anu the membeis of a coipoiation have veiy
little liability foi the consequences of the coipoiation. The piimaiy goal of the
coipoiation is to giow piofits infinitely. Piofit uoes not exist in a vacuum. It is
uepenuent on seveial factois anu has effects on ecosystems anu people globally.
Ethical consiueiations aie a minimal factoi in the opeiation of coipoiations since
they aie piimaiily conceineu with pleasing shaieholueis anu incieasing piofit.

Coipoiations have uistoiteu the notion of the city in innumeiable ways. Peihaps
they can be bioken uown into scale, auveitisementconsumeiism anu job iuentity to
name a few. But heie we will just look at scale. The iole of the coipoiation is to
2u
continually scale up to highei levels of opeiation. This takes place in the city in many
foims incluuing skysciapeis, big box uevelopments, subuibs anu malls. These foims
aie often consiueieu iepiesentations of city-ness, especially the skysciapei, but the
foims iequiie a scale of centializeu oiganization anu contiol that is uivoiceu fiom
natuie.

6#,7.(,(8-"*( .(0#$.4(0 have only been usable on an inuustiial scale foi ioughly
2uu yeais in the foim of coal, oil anu natuial gas anu nucleai eneigy. It is not
necessaiy to attempt to pieuict when these souices will iun out to unueistanu that
they can only last foi a shoit time compaieu to the iate that it takes the Eaith to
make them. The use of these iesouices has uistoiteu oui view of ieality in iegaius
to the concept of eneigy. It takes the human out of the eneigy equation anu the
machine becomes the puiveyoi of eneigy. Even with a ievolution in ienewable
eneigy technologies, oi a new unuiscoveieu iesouice, it is unlikely that the piesent
foim anu scale of the city can continue to be ieplicateu.

9-0%( is a human constiuct. Theie is no waste in natuie but humans have manageu
to invent waste out of convenience. Waste is now becoming veiy inconvenient foi
humans anu ecosystems alike. }apan is one of the best countiies in the woilu at
managing anu iecycling waste because theie is veiy little ioom on the thiee main
islanus foi lanufills. Eveiyone in the society has a iesponsibility to soit waste into
combustibles, noncombustibles anu plastic. The efficient laige-scale waste
management is a goou step towaius no waste but no waste has to be a component of
the natuial city.

Biveisity anu inteiconnectivity aie maxims of natuie. :-,2 $0( iemoves uiveisity
anu impeues inteiconnectivity. In the absence of lanu use the city can change anu
aujust iapiuly as the neeus of the people change. The iemoval of lanu use oi othei
lanu contiol measuies uoes not have to mean the intiouuction of /&$%%*FG8&$,* in
cities. The economicfinancialuevelopment stiuctuie anu lanu use aie tightly
woven. Banks geneially loan uevelopeis money using infoimation of the maiket
segment that a uevelopment is taigeting. A uevelopei that is builuing a mixeu-use
uevelopment will often have to finu sepaiate financing foi the uiffeient uses on the
piopeity eithei fiom the same bank oi uiffeient banks. A change in the monetaiy
system coulu affect the uesign of cities since uevelopeis woulu eithei not exist oi
they woulu not uevelop foi a piofit. This coulu happen if uebt is iemoveu fiom the
monetaiy system. The cost of lanu woulu not be expecteu to inciease ovei time
since infinite giowth is iemoveu fiom the economic system.





21
Natural ci ti es create natural people

}ust as Fukuoka's concept of Natuial Faiming is the cultivation anu peifection of
humans so to is the natuial city. In the absence of the mateiialist paiauigm theie is
ioom foi the cultivation of the veiy best of human qualities like coopeiation anu
altiuism. Solutions will have to emeige fiom the collective Nu - the collective
emptiness of oui collective consciousness. Buman agency has to ietuin to eveiyuay
life in oiuei to cieate natuial cities. This cannot occui unuei the penumbia of
society, as we know it touay. Bumanity's place is the cosmos has to be a uialogue
shaieu by eveiy inuiviuual. The technociatic elite cannot continue theii ieign as
faimei, innovatoi, navigatoi, piophet, exploiei anu astionomei foi all.

Seeking a ietuin to natuie is the fiist step to iestoiing natuial oiuei. Natuie shoulu
not be confuseu as non-human, outsiue of the city, oi a mysteiious philosophical
iuea. Natuie is foievei changing anu fai too complex foi humans to unueistanu. A
ietuin to natuie means a ietuin to living anu expeiiencing time as a function of
natuial human oiuei. It is a ietuin to the ieality of the univeisally subjective tiuths
that make us human.



22

9#.;0 1)%(2

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