I’m going to start this blog with a provocative statement.

The climate crisis has not been created by the burning of fossils fuels, but by the level of consciousness that continues to burn them.

So what is this ‘level of consciousness’ that I am talking about?

From antiquity until today, the understanding of most spiritual traditions has been that there are many levels of human consciousness. For example, ‘enlightenment’ has been a commonly used dividing line between lower and higher levels of consciousness.

The lowest and most basic level of consciousness is generally considered to be that of the animal soul. A human being operating at this level has no awareness of their divine nature, but is driven by the instincts and emotions of the animal self. These instincts operate to ensure physical survival, and determine whatever actions are necessary to make that happen. This includes the inescapable drives to eat, drink, find shelter, mate and nurture young. It includes the forming of groups and dominance hierarchies, the emotions of fear and rage, and the fight-flight-freeze response. Most important, the animal soul lives for this moment and views all other living beings as objects to be used purely as means to survival. (You can find a fuller description of all these qualities here.)

So a human being operating at the level of the animal soul will use whatever is available to enhance its own immediate survival, and the survival of its group, tribe or herd, which is never larger than a few hundred others.

When we look at the utilization of our current fossil-fuel driven technology, we can see that it has largely been created by humanity’s animal soul to serve that animal soul.

It has been used to vastly enrich the dominant few, thus ensuring their self-centered short-term existence. These dominant few regard the earth’s resources, her minerals, plants, atmosphere and sentient beings purely as things to be used in their survival quest, which definitely includes a surfeit of feeding, drinking, mating and sheltering. Meanwhile the rest of us meekly fawn and serve their dominance, hoping at some primal level that they may see us as part of their tribe and allow some of the spoils to trickle down to us.

This use of technology has, as we are all so aware, led to the plundering, depleting, destabilizing and poisoning of the biosphere. The biosphere is actually the primary foundation of survival, much more foundational than the stuff we extract from it, but the animal soul focuses on what’s right in front of it, rather than the bigger picture.

Many good people coming from a level of consciousness somewhat above pure animal, have tried desperately to redress the balance. But those efforts have been mostly directed towards a better technology, a technology that will allow us to continue to act and consume as we have been, but without destroying the biosphere. The sincere belief has been that if we can just transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, we will save ourselves from catastrophic climate change and the looming sixth great extinction.

But when we look at what the new technology entails, we see that, like fossil fuel technology, it depends on the mining of earth’s resources, toxic chemical-based refining and fabricating, and the exploiting of human labor. This is already happening. And nothing has changed with the capitalist economic structure that allows the few dominant technology owners to become fabulously rich while the rest of us labor in service. The faces and products may change, but the pattern does not.

It seems self-evident that the factors that led us into the survival trap cannot extract us from it. We cannot solve the climate crisis at the level it was created. A few energy-production tweaks around the edges are not going to do it. We are doomed to fail if we stay with the social and economic systems that are the creation of the animal soul. And even if we somehow survive the coming climate catastrophe, at some point, unless we change our ways, we will find ourselves in the same trap again.

So what IS needed to address the biosphere crisis?

We need a social and economic system that reflects the natural outflowing of the divine soul, rather than the drives of the animal.

The divine soul acts from the ground of unity of all that is. It knows that every physical manifestation on earth is a cell in the body of the One, and that whatever happens to one cell, affects them all. Knowing this, all actions are taken with respect for the hologram of life. There is a natural attention to maintaining harmony, balance and homeostasis. This means living sustainably on the earth, using only what is needed, and making sure that every action preserves the earth for the future. Actions are guided by love and care for the welfare of all beings alive right now, and all future generations of life.

What is ultimately needed is nothing less than a profound spiritual transformation of humanity.

This will probably not be quick or easy, but right now we can each do our part to foster our own personal and spiritual evolution. Whatever transformation we achieve, no matter how small, benefits the Oneness of the whole body of humanity, the earth we live on, and all other beings who share this earth with us.