conscious evolution

here are a few shots from a night visit to my organic/permaculture garden... i wore a miners lamp strapped to my forehead to illuminate. i liked some of the lighting effects. ironically, pictures of the volunteers, (weeds is not a term i use) the 8 ft tall sunflowers turned out best. i say 8 ft tall, but i mean 8 ft long. because they're laying down, laid down by their own overgrown weight... and the flowers just keep rising heavenward. trying to get infinitesimally closer to the Source.

this is a close up is a flower that reverted to a previous form, one with a big head and few flowers. i bought the hybrid seeds years ago. but because it was a hybrid, the offspring have not been so big headed (not that they are conceited, though they kind of deserve to be, i think). until now! i'm going to save the seeds of the beautiful thing. it just so happened that the flower also came out very short, which makes for good efficiency of space and resources. i'm saving these volunteers because the bunch of them came up together in a tight patch, like nowhere else, and never before. it felt like they were communicating with me (ok, maybe that sound crazy, but hear me out).

maybe they know me. i've been touching them for years. could they learn my smell? act to get my attention? it would certainly be an evolutionarily advantage to be able to act this way. here's how they benefit. i feed them to birds, which they're made for. they make a mess (not to put too fine a point on it) the seed falls and sprouts. they get lots of success this way. also, i'll take care of them and perpetuate them. the sunflowers win. i win. the birds win. the cat wins because she gets the birds. the hawks win. the doves are fat, slow nourishment.

i'll grow seeds for the birds i've been feeding for years. i believe it gets them to know and trust me enough so i can ask them to leave much of my garden alone. it gives them a great source of food. so, they're not so hungry, and most of them would prefer to go to the sunflower seeds, first. maybe it seems like reverse logic.

here's a story. we have a black cat that lives in the backyard. the jay was making these complaining sounds, commenting on the cat, who was on my lap. and, i wondered if there was something else involved. another shows up. he looks straight at me.

"oh, hi." and i realize it's the male. he's following up with her, whom he hears complaining. and he doesn't like to hear it. "what's up with her?" i ask. he looks me in the eye, and he makes the same motion he makes when cracking open sunflower seeds, tapping the branch under his toes, as if there's a nut there. but there isn't, and i know it. we were out of sunflower seeds! i hadn't replenished his supply, and he wanted his family fed. and on top of that, i had that darned cat on my lap! why does my friend sit with my enemy!? ok, i think nonchalantly. how should one respond? well i thought simply would best. "that'll do," i thought. and that must be rewarded for its value. he communicated with me. that required that he take me into his confidence and give me enough credit to think i'll understand and grant his wish. easy money. well, let's think about it...

over generations, we could evolve this communication in amazing ways by using behavioral methods, positive reinforcement. in time, they learn, and we tell them to leave our gardens alone, and they'll get the sunflower seed. it would be conscious evolution. symbiosis. raise birds to go out and educate other birds. teach them about ourselves and become trusted as good stewards again! by them, and by the Earth, herself!

incidentally, i have anecdotal evidence that the fear response of animals to humans is learned, not instinct. everyone knows that if you raise an animal from the egg, or whatever, they imprint and bond with you. give them food! that's obvious. but i have another story.

a mockingbird, a youngster who can fly but is standing on the ground. s/he's about a 2 ft away from me. "aren't you afraid of me?" i ask. he just looks back. not a prob, bob. "awesome!" i think. "man, that's cool." i can see from his movements (they seem to have a kind of naive inexperience, a new-to-his-body-and-the-world quality to them) that s/he's a juvenile. then, the adult busts in on the party. she chides him with a buzzing, harsh tone they both clearly understand that he had better not trust the human - none of them. he flys away. lesson learned. fear perpetuated.

of course, it's also conscious evolution. we can play that game. we're smart enough for that, aren't we!? aren't we!?

peace,

sarva

david

here's a pic of me, just for giggles...