Categoria: Religião

Post-covid-19: what cosmology and ethics to incorporate (II)

Leonardo Boff3 Comentários

Many analysts predict that the post-pandemic could usher in an extreme radicalization of the previous situation, a return to the system of capital and neo-liberalism, which seeks to dominate the world through electronic surveillance (big data) of every person in the planet, which is already being done in China and the United States. We then would enter an era of darkness, risking our own destruction, as suggested by Rachel Carson in her famous book, “Silent Spring”. Hence the demand for a radical ecological conversion, whose centrality must consist of the Earth, life and human civilization: a bio-civilization.

               The possible risks in the post-covid-19 period:

We must not, however, underestimate the power of systemic violence. Sigmund Freud, replying to a 1932 letter by Albert Einstein in which Einstein asked if it was possible to overcome violence and war, left an aporia. Freud replied that he could not say which tendency would prevail: the instinct of death (Thanatos) or the instinct of life (Eros). They are always in tension and we cannot be sure which will triumph in the end. And he concluded, resigned: “Starving, we think of the windmill that grinds so slowly that we can die of hunger before we get the flour”.

There is the non optimistic opinion of Noam Chomsky, one of the greatest Northamerican intellectuals and a severe critic of the imperialist system, who says: «The coronavirus is very grave indeed, but it is worth remembering that something even more terrible is near. We are headed towards disaster, something worse than anything that has ever happened in human history, and Trump and his lackeys are leading us towards the abyss. We are facing two immense threats. One is the ever growing threat of nuclear war, exacerbated by the tension of the military regimes; and the other, of course, is global warming. The two threats could be resolved, but there is not enough time; the coronavirus is terrible and can have terrible consequences, but it will be overcome, while the others will not. If we do not resolve them, we are condemned».

Chomsky has affirmed that President Trump is insane enough as to unleash a nuclear war, without caring what would happen to all of humanity.

Notwithstanding this dramatic vision of the prestigious linguist and thinker, our hope is that if humanity were to run a truly grave danger of self destruction, the life instinct would prevail. But that presumes that we had constructed a new form of inhabiting the Common Home, on bases that are neither those of the past, nor of the present.

         Some good lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic

In any event, the coronavirus has shown us that we are not the “little gods” who claim to be able to do anything; it has shown us that we are fragile and limited; that the accumulation of material goods does not save life; that financial globalization alone, in the competitive mold of capitalism, precludes the creation, as the Chinese propose, of “a community of common destiny for the whole humanity”; that we must create a global a pluralistic center to discuss world problems; that cooperation and solidarity of one an all rather than individualism are the central values of a geosociety.

The limits of the Earth-System which does not tolerate a project of unlimited growth must be recognized and respected; we must take as good care of nature as of ourselves, because we are part of nature and she gives us all the goods and services needed for life. We must seek a circular economy that fulfills the famous “3-Rs”; reduce, reuse, and recycle everything that has entered into the process of production.

The economy must be one of dignified and universal subsistence and not of accumulation by some at the expense of everyone else and of nature. An economy of subsistence reduces our needs and leads to sobriety, and thus in great measure reduces social inequalities. The new economic order will not be ruled by profit but by economic rationality with ecological and social sensitivity.

It would be highly rational and humanitarian to create a minimum universal income; for medical attention to be a universal human right (One World-One Health) that should not be left unattended. It is important to ensure that the state regulates the market, to promote the necessary development and satisfy collective demands, be they of health or natural disasters.

We must encourage human-spiritual capital, always unlimited, based on love, solidarity, the search for the just measure, fraternity, compassion, feeling the enchantment of the world and the tireless search for peace.

              A road map to rescue life: The Earthcharter

These are, among others, some of the lessons we can draw from the coronavirus. Quoting the Earthcharter, (UNESCO), one of the most inspiring official documents for the transformation of our form of being on planet Earth, «fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions and forms of life… Our environmental, economic, political, social and spiritual challenges are interconnected and together we can forge inclusive solutions» (Preamble c).

What world vision and which values should be included?

To know and have knowledge of information about reality is not yet to act. What moves us to act? What world vision (cosmology) and which values (ethics) we should include? An important text in the final part of the Earthcharter, in whose editing I also took part, can guide us.

“As never before in history, the common destiny calls us to search for a new beginning. This requires a change of mind and heart. It demands a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility. We must develop and apply with imagination the vision of a mode of sustainable life at a local, national, regional and world levels” (The path ahead).

Let us note that it is not just about improving the path we have taken. This would lead us to the cyclical crises that we already know, and eventually to disaster. It is about “searching for a new beginning”. We are called to rebuild the “Earth, our home, that is alive with a unique community of life” (Earthcharter, Preamble a). It would be deceitful to cover the wounds of the Earth with bandages, thinking that we could cure her that way. We must revive her and remake her so that she may be our Common Home.

“This requires a change of mind”. A change of mind means a new way of looking at the Earth, according to the new cosmology and biology. She is at a moment of the process of evolution that is 13.7 billion years old, and for the Earth, 4.3 billion years. After the big bang, all the physical-chemical elements were forged over more than three billion years, in the heart of the big red stars. On exploding, they launched in every direction the elements that formed the galaxies, the stars like the Sun, the planets and the Earth.

The Earth is teeming with life that began some 3.8 billion years ago, a continuously self creating and self organizing systemic super-organism. In an advanced moment of her complexity, some 8-10 million years ago, a part of the Earth began to feel, to think, to love and to worship. The human being emerged, man and woman. They are Earth, conscious and intelligent, that’s why they are called homo, made of humus.

This cosmovision changes our conception of the Earth. The UN, on April 22, 2009, officially recognized her as Mother Earth, because she creates and gives us everything. This is why the Earthcharter calls us: “To respect the Earth and life in all its diversity and to take care of the community of life with understanding, compassion and love” (Earthcharter 1 and 2). We can buy and sell the Earth as land. However, as Suquamish-Duwamish Grandfather Sealth, a.k.a., Seattle, stated, “we neither buy nor sell our Mother; we love and venerate her”. This attitude must be restored to the Earth, our Mother. This is the new mindset that we must make our own.

“It requires a change of heart”. The heart is the dimension of profound feelings (pathos), of sensibility, love, compassion and the values that guide our life. Especially in the heart is found caring, the friendly and affectionate form of relating with nature and her beings. It has to do with the sensible or cordial reason, with the limbic brain, that arose some 220 million years ago when mammals emerged in evolution. All of them, like the human being, have feelings, they love and care for their offspring. That is pathos, the capacity of affecting and of being affected, the human beings’ most profound dimension.

Reason (logos), the mind we have referred before, appeared only some 8-10 million years ago, with the neo-cortical brain, and in an advanced form as homo sapiens (present day humans) about a hundred thousand years ago. In modern times, it has developed exponentially, dominating our societies and creating techno-science, the great instruments of domination and the transformation of the face of the Earth, including a death machine in the form of nuclear weapons and other things that can end human life and the life of nature

The elevation of reason, rationalism, has created a kind of lobotomy: the human being has difficulty feeling the other and its suffering. We need to complete the rational intelligence, necessary to solve the needs of survival of our life, but we must to complement it with emotional and sensible intelligence. so that we may be more complete and we undertake with passion the defense of the Earth and of life.

We need the heart to make us hear both the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, and to forge, as the Prime Minister of China, Xi Jinping, says: “a society moderately supplied” or as we say: a society with sober, frugal and solidarian consumption. (to be continued).

*Leonardo Boff is an ecotheologian and philosopher that has written: The Human Being, Satan or the Good Angel. Record,Rio 2008.

Meditazione della Luce: il cammino della semplicità

Leonardo Boff2 Comentários

La stragrande maggioranza delle persone si conforma alle raccomandazioni ufficiali relative alle riunioni sociali, impedendo così la diffusione della Covid-19.

Molte cose possono essere fatte in questo ritiro forzato: una revisione della vita; quali lezioni trarre per il futuro; come cambiare in meglio; come guardare un film ecc. Ci offre anche l’opportunità di fare qualche esercizio di meditazione. Non solo per le persone religiose ma anche per coloro che, senza essere legati ad una religione, coltivano valori come l’amore, la cooperazione, l’empatia e la compassione.

Offro qui un metodo che chiamo “Meditazione della Luce: il cammino della semplicità”, che è molto antico in Oriente e in Occidente. Ha a che fare con lo spirito e con tutto il corpo umano, ma in particolare con il cervello, sede della nostra coscienza e della nostra intelligenza.

Non è questo il luogo per discutere le tre sovrapposizioni del cervello: il rettile che si riferisce ai nostri movimenti istintivi; il limbico, ai sentimenti, e il neocorticale, alla ragione, alla logica e al linguaggio.

Il cervello umano e i suoi due emisferi

Parliamo brevemente del cervello, che ha la forma di una conchiglia con due emisferi:

L’emisfero sinistro che è responsabile dell’analisi, del discorso logico, dei concetti, dei numeri e delle connessioni causali.

L’emisfero destro che è responsabile della sintesi, della creatività, dell’intuizione, del lato simbolico delle cose e dei fatti e della percezione complessiva.

Al centro c’è il corpo calloso che separa e allo stesso tempo unisce i due emisferi.

Un altro punto importante del cervello è il lobo frontale, sede della mente umana. Ci sono molte teorie sul rapporto tra cervello e mente. Diversi neuroscienziati sostengono che la mente è il nome che diamo alle realtà immateriali, elaborate nel cervello, come la vita affettiva, l’amore, l’onestà, l’arte, la fede, la religione, il rispetto e l’esperienza del divino e del sacro.

             La mente spirituale e il “punto Dio” nel cervello

Un altro punto da menzionare è la mente spirituale. L’antropologia culturale si è resa conto che in tutte le culture emergono sempre due costanti: la legge morale della coscienza e la percezione di una Realtà che trascende il mondo spazio-temporale e riguarda l’universo e il senso della vita. Si appoggiano su qualche struttura neuronale, ma non sono neuroni. Sono di natura diversa, finora inspiegabile. Molti neuroscienziati la chiamano la mente mistica. Preferisco un’espressione più modesta: mente spirituale.

Approfondendo la mente spirituale, altri neuroscienziati e neurolinguisti sono arrivati a identificare quello che hanno chiamato il punto Dio nel cervello. Hanno osservato che ogni volta che l’essere umano viene interrogato esistenzialmente sul significato del Tutto, dell’universo, della sua vita, e pensa seriamente ad una Realtà Ultima, si produce un’enorme accelerazione dei neuroni del lobo frontale. Punta verso un organo interno di qualità speciale. Hanno detto che così come abbiamo organi esterni, occhi, orecchie, tatto, abbiamo anche un organo interno, una conquista della nostra evoluzione umana. Lo hanno chiamato il punto di Dio nel cervello. Attraverso quel punto-organo afferriamo quella Realtà che unifica e sostiene tutto, dall’universo stellato alla nostra Terra e a noi stessi: la Sorgente che è tutto ciò che è. Ogni cultura le ha dato un nome: il Grande Spirito degli indigeni, Allah, Shiva, Tao, Jahvé, Olorum dei nagô e noi lo chiamiamo semplicemente Dio (che in sanscrito significa il Generatore della luce, da cui deriva anche la parola dia (giorno in portoghese).

                  La natura misteriosa della luce

Prima di focalizzarci sulla Meditazione della Luce, è opportuno dire una parola sulla natura della luce. Questa è considerata ad oggi come un fenomeno unico per la scienza, in particolare per la fisica quantistica e l’astrofisica, al punto che si è preferito dire: la comprendiamo meglio se la consideriamo come una particella materiale (che può essere bloccata da una piastra di piombo) e, contemporaneamente, come un’onda di energia che viaggia attraverso l’universo ad una velocità di 300 mila km al secondo. I biologi sono riusciti a comprendere che tutti gli organismi viventi emettono luce, i biofotoni, invisibili ai nostri occhi ma rilevabili da dispositivi sofisticati. La sede di questa bio-luce sarebbe nelle cellule del nostro DNA. Pertanto, siamo esseri di luce. Inoltre, la luce è uno dei più grandi simboli umani ed è anche il nome dato alla Divinità o a Dio come Luce infinita ed eterna.

          Meditazione della Luce: via orientale e occidentale

Andiamo infine al tema: com’è questa meditazione della luce? Fondamentalmente sia l’Oriente che l’Occidente concordano sulla stessa intuizione: dall’Infinito proviene un raggio di Luce sacro che colpisce la nostra testa (corpo calloso), penetra tutto il nostro essere (i chakra), attiva i biofotoni, guarisce le nostre ferite, ci solleva e ci trasforma anche in esseri di luce.

È noto il metodo buddista in tre passi: davanti a una candela accesa si concentra e dice: Io sono nella luce, la luce è in me; io sono luce. Questa luce si diffonde dal corpo a tutto ciò che lo circonda, alla Terra, alle galassie più lontane. Permette un’esperienza di non dualità: tutto è uno e io sono nel Tutto.

La via occidentale assomiglia a quella orientale. Fu praticata dai primi cristiani ad Alessandria d’Egitto che professavano che Dio era luce, Gesù, luce del mondo e lo Spirito Santo, la “Lux Beatissima”.

Seguimi con i seguenti passaggi: mettiti in un luogo confortevole, ad esempio ai piedi del letto quando ti alzi o prima di coricarti, o in un angolo più appartato. Concentrati sull’apertura del corpo calloso e invoca il raggio della Luce Beatissima che viene dall’infinito del cielo.

Questo raggio di Luce sacra, colpendo, consente l’unione dei due emisferi del cervello, producendo un grande equilibrio tra ragione e sentimento. Poi, lascia che quella Luce divina cominci lentamente a penetrare in tutto il tuo corpo: il cervello, le vie respiratorie, i polmoni, il cuore, l’apparato digerente, gli organi genitali, le gambe e i piedi. Fermala soprattutto nelle parti che sono malate e che causano dolore. Una volta che la Luce è scesa, falla tornare indietro, penetrando di nuovo tutto il tuo essere e gli organi dal basso.

                Benefici della meditazione della Luce

In primo luogo, inizia a sentire che questa Luce divina migliora le tue energie, porta leggerezza a tutto il tuo essere fisico e spirituale. Concediti un po’ di tempo per goderti quell’energia divina che ti dà piena energia. Infine, ringrazia lo Spirito di Luce che è lo Spirito Santo.

Lentamente il tuo corpo calloso si chiude e la persona diventa più spiritualizzata, più umanizzata e con più coraggio per affrontare il peso della vita.

Questo esercizio può essere fatto mentalmente sull’autobus, quando si ferma al semaforo, in fabbrica, in ufficio o in qualsiasi momento del giorno.

Tutte le persone che si abituano a fare questo tipo di meditazione – il cammino della semplicità – dicono che la loro salute diventa più resistente, ottengono maggiore chiarezza in questioni complicate e le idee fisse e i pregiudizi diventano più sopportabili. In breve, diventi un essere migliore e la tua luce si irradia sugli altri. Prova a fare questa semplice meditazione e vedrai il suo valore fisico e spirituale.

*Leonardo Boff è teologo e ha scritto Meditação da Luz: o caminho da simplicidade, Vozes, 2009 (Meditazione della Luce: il cammino della semplicità); e Tempo de Transcendência, Vozes 2009 (Tempo di trascendenza).

 

Per ordinarlo in portoghese: vendas@vozes.com.br

Traduzione a cura di Maria Gavito e Stefano Toppi

Meditación de la luz: el camino de la sencillez

Leonardo BoffDeixe um comentário

La gran mayoría está cumpliendo las recomendaciones oficiales acerca de las reuniones sociales, evitando así la difusión de la Covid-19.

Se pueden hacer muchas cosas en este recogimiento forzado: una revisión de vida; qué lecciones sacar para el futuro; cómo cambiar para mejor; ver una película, etc.

Nos ofrece también la oportunidad de hacer algún ejercicio de meditación. No solamente a las personas religiosas sino también a aquellas que, sin estar ligadas a una religión, cultivan valores como el amor, la cooperación, la empatía y la compasión.

Ofrezco aquí un método que yo llamo “Meditación de la Luz: el camino de la sencillez”, que tiene gran antigüedad en Oriente y en Occidente. Tiene que ver con el espíritu y con todo el cuerpo humano, pero en particular con el cerebro, la sede de nuestra conciencia e inteligencia.

No es este el lugar para discutir las tres superposiciones del cerebro: el reptil que se refiere a nuestros movimientos instintivos; el límbico, a los sentimientos, y el neocortical, al raciocinio, la lógica y el lenguaje.

             El cerebro humano y sus dos hemisferios

Tratemos sucintamente del cerebro, que tiene forma de concha con dos hemisferios:

El hemisferio izquierdo que responde del análisis, el discurso lógico, los conceptos, los números y las conexiones causales.

El hemisferio derecho responde de la síntesis, la creatividad, la intuición, el lado simbólico de las cosas y de los hechos y la percepción de una totalidad.

En el centro está el cuerpo calloso que separa y al mismo tiempo une los dos hemisferios.

Otro punto importante del cerebro es el lóbulo frontal, sede de la mente humana. Hay muchas teorías sobre la relación entre cerebro y mente. Varios neurocientíficos sostienen que la mente es el nombre que damos a realidades intangibles, elaboradas en el cerebro, tales como la vida afectiva, el amor, la honestidad, el arte, la fe, la religión, la reverencia y la experiencia de lo numinoso y de lo sagrado.

               La mente espiritual y el Punto Dios en el cerebro

Otro punto a ser mencionado es la mente espiritual. La antropología cultural se ha dado cuenta de que en todas las culturas surgen siempre dos constantes: la ley moral en la conciencia y la percepción de una Realidad que transciende el mundo espaciotemporal y que concierne al universo y al sentido de la vida. Descansan en alguna estructura neuronal, pero no son neuronas. Son de otra naturaleza hasta ahora inexplicable. Varios neurocientíficos la llaman la mente mística (mystical mind). Prefiero una expresión más modesta: mente espiritual.

Profundizando en la mente espiritual otros neurocientíficos y neurolingüistas llegaron a identificar lo que llamaron el punto Dios en el cerebro. Constataron que siempre que el ser humano se interroga existencialmente sobre el sentido del Todo, del universo, de su vida y piensa seriamente sobre una Última Realidad, se produce una aceleración descomunal de las neuronas del lóbulo frontal. Apunta hacia un órgano interior de cualidad especial. Dijeron que así como tenemos órganos externos, los ojos, los oídos, el tacto, tenemos también un órgano interno, un logro de nuestra evolución humana. Lo llamaron el punto Dios en el cerebro. Mediante ese órgano-punto captamos Aquella Realidad que unifica y sustenta todo, desde el universo estrellado, a nuestra Tierra y a nosotros mismos: la Fuente que hace ser todo lo que es. Cada cultura le ha dado un nombre; el Gran Espíritu de los indígenas, Alá, Shiva, Tao, Javé, Olorum de los nagô y nosotros simplemente lo llamamos Dios (que en sánscrito significa el Generador de la luz, de donde viene también la palabra día).

La naturaleza misteriosa de la luz

Antes de centrarnos en la Meditación de la Luz, conviene una palabra sobre la naturaleza de la luz. Esta es considerada hasta hoy día como un fenómeno tan singular para la ciencia, en particular la física cuántica y la astrofísica, que se ha preferido decir: la entendemos mejor si la consideramos una partícula material (que puede ser bloqueada por una placa de plomo) y simultáneamente una onda energética que recorre el universo a una velocidad de 300 mil km por segundo. Biólogos llegaron a discernir que todos los organismos vivos emiten luz, los biofotones, invisibles a nuestros ojos pero detectables mediante aparatos sofisticados. La sede de esta bioluz estaría en las células de nuestro ADN. Por lo tanto, somos seres de luz. Además la luz es uno de los mayores símbolos humanos y el nombre que se da a la Divinidad o a Dios como Luz infinita y eterna.

Meditación de la luz: camino oriental y occidental

Vamos finalmente al tema: ¿Cómo es esa meditación de la luz? Fundamentalmente tanto Oriente como Occidente coinciden en la misma intuición: del Infinito nos viene un rayo sagrado de Luz que incide en nuestra cabeza (cuerpo calloso), penetra todo nuestro ser (los chacras), activa los biofotones, sana nuestras heridas, nos eleva y nos transforma también en seres de luz.

Es conocido el método budista en tres pasos: delante de una vela encendida se concentra y dice yo estoy en la luz, la luz está en mi; yo soy luz. Esa luz se extiende desde el cuerpo a todo lo que está alrededor, a la Tierra, a las galaxias más distantes. Permite una experiencia de no dualidad: todo es uno y yo estoy en el Todo.

El camino occidental se parece al oriental. Era practicado por los primeros cristianos en Alejandría, en Egipto, que profesaban que Dios era luz, Jesús, luz del mundo y el Espíritu Santo, la “Lux Beatissima”.

Sigan conmigo los siguientes pasos: colóquese en un sitio cómodo, como al pie de la cama al levantarse o al acostarse, o en un rincón más recogido. Concéntrese en abrir el cuerpo calloso e invocar el rayo de la Luz Beatíssima que proviene del infinito del cielo.

Ese rayo de Luz sagrada, al incidir, permite la unión de los dos hemisferios del cerebro, produciendo un gran equilibrio entre razón y sentimiento. Luego, deje que esa Luz divina comience lentamente a penetrar por todo su cuerpo: el cerebro, las vías respiratorias, los pulmones, el corazón, el aparato digestivo, los órganos genitales, las piernas y los pies. Deténgala especialmente en la partes que están mal y producen dolor. Ya que la Luz descendió, hágala volver, penetrando desde abajo nuevamente todo su ser y sus órganos.

Beneficios de la meditación de la luz

En primer lugar, comienza a sentir que esa Luz divina potencia sus energías, trae ligereza a todo su ser corporal y espiritual. Dese un poco de tiempo para disfrutar esa Energía divina que lo energiza totalmente. Por fin, agradezca al Espíritu de Luz que es el Espíritu Santo. Lentamente su cuerpo calloso se cierra y la persona queda más espiritualizada, más humanizada y con más valor para enfrentar el peso de la vida.

Este ejercicio puede hacerse mentalmente en el autobús, al parar en el semáforo, en la fábrica, en la oficina o en cualquier tiempo libre que se tenga en el día.

Todas las personas que se acostumbran a hacer este tipo de meditación –vía de la sencillez– afirman que su salud se vuelve más resistente, consiguen más claridad en las cuestiones complicadas y las ideas fijas y los prejuicios se hacen más superables. En fin, te vuelves un ser mejor y tu luz se irradia sobre otros. Intenta hacer esta meditación sencilla y verás su valor corporal y espiritual.

*Leonardo Boff es teólogo y ha escrito Meditación de la Luz: el camino de la sencillez, Vozes, 2009; Tiempo de Transcendencia (Vozes 2009). Para adquirir: vendas@vozes.com.br

Traducción de Mª José Gavito Milano

Post-covid-19: how should cosmology and ethics respond? (I)

Leonardo BoffDeixe um comentário

There is something terrible, nature’s systemic attack on humanity, through a microscopic and invisible virus that is causing great concern and killing thousands of people. Faced with this true human tragedy we need to understand our reaction to the pandemic. What is the pandemic’s effect on us? What lesson does it teach us? What cosmology (vision of the world) and what type of ethics (values and principles) does it call on us to develop? Surely we now must learn everything that we should have learned but didn’t learn before. We should have learned that we are part of nature and not its “lords and owners” (Descartes). There is an umbilical connection between the human being and nature. We come from the same cosmic dust, as all other beings did. We are the conscious link of the chain of life.

                   The erosion of the image, “little god of the Earth”

The modern myth has been destroyed that we are “the little god” of Earth and that we can dispose of her at our whim because she is an inert object without purpose. One of the fathers of the modern scientific method, Francis Bacon, said that we must treat nature as the henchmen of the inquisition treated their victims, torturing them until they gave up all their secrets.

Through techno science we have carried this method to the extreme, reaching the heart of matter and of life. This has been done with unprecedented furor, to the point of destroying the sustainability of nature and consequently of the planet and of life. We have broken the natural pact that exists with the living Earth: she gives all everything we need to live, and in exchange we must care for her, preserving her goods and services and affording her rest, in order to replenish what we have taken for our lives and progress.  We have done none of this.

For failing to observe the Biblical precept of “protecting and caring for the Garden of Eden, The Earth (Genesis 2,15)” and for threatening the ecological bases that sustain all life, she has counterattacked with a powerful weapon, the corona virus 19. Facing it, we have returned to the methodology of the Middle Ages, that overcame its pandemics with strict social isolation. So that the frightened people would get out of the streets, an ingenious clock was built in the Munich municipal council (Marienplatz), with dancers and cuckoos so that everyone would come to appreciate it, something that is still being done today.

The pandemic, that more than than a crisis is a demand for a change of cosmology (the vision  of the world) and of the incorporation of an ethics with new values, posits us this question: do we really want to avoid nature sending us even more lethal viruses that could even decimate the human species? We would be one of the ten species that disappear forever each day. Do we want to run that risk?

                   Generalized lack of awareness of the ecological factor

Already in 1962, North American biologist and writer Rachel Carson, author of The Silent Spring,  warned: “It is not likely that future generations will forgive our lack of prudent concern for the integrity of the natural world that sustains all life… The question is whether any civilization can continue a relentless war against life without destroying itself and without losing the right to be called a civilization“.

It seems like a prophesy of the situation we are experiencing all around the world. It appears that the majority of humanity, including the political leaders, do not show enough awareness of the dangers we face with global warming, with the excessive density of our cities and, especially, of the massive agro-business that advances over the virgin lands into the jungles that are being deforested. We are destroying the habitats of millions of viruses and bacteria that wind up being transferred to human beings. According to serious scientists, the corona virus did not have to come though a bat from a market in China, but, simply, from nature.

In the best hypothesis, corona virus will force us to re-invent ourselves as humanity, and to remodel in a sustainable and inclusive form the unique Common Home that we share. If what dominated before prevails, exacerbated to the extreme, then we must prepare for the worst.

Many are predicting a new, destructive, austerity in the post-corona virus era. The vultures of the past are already gathering to return to the same perspective of the past, and to impede significant change. The interests of financial capital and the lack of consciousness on the part of those in power, and even in much of academia, about the gravity of the degradation of nature, does not allow them learn anything from the thousands and thousands of dead human beings all over the world, caused by the corona vírus.

They want to return to the austerity that is the politics of opportunists, carried out by opportunists, for the benefit of opportunists. CEPAL has calculated that because of covid-19, the politics of austerity, worse than before, will leave 215 million new poor people in Latin America. (cf. Carta Maior 13/05/2020) However, it is worth remembering that the life system has gone though several major extinctions (we are in the sixth) but it has always survived.

Life seems like –allow me a singular metaphor– a “plague” that no one until now has managed to exterminate. That is because life is a blessed “plague”, linked to the mystery of the cosmogenesis and to that mysterious and loving Basic Energy that presides over all the cosmic processes and also over ours.

ThIs is imperative that we abandon the old paradigm of the will to power and domination over everything (the closed fist). in favor of a paradigm of caring for everything that exists and lives  (the extended hand) and of the collective co-responsibility.

Eric Hobsbawn wrote in the last paragraph of his 1995 book, The Era of the Extremes: “One thing is clear. If humanity wants to have a recognizable future, it cannot be prolonging the past or the present. We will fail if we try to build the third millennia on that basis. In other words, the price of failure, the alternative to the change of society, is obscurity.” (p.506).

That means we cannot simply return to the situation before corona virus. Nor we can think of returning to the pre-enlightenment past, as the present Brazilian government and others of the extreme right want.

(To be continued).

Leonardo Boff is an ecotheologian and philosopher who has written Option Earth: the solution for the Earth does not come from heaven, Record 2009.