David Suzuki explores the latest scientific findings that amplify the…
The Sacred Balance - Coming Home
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Meeting basic physical needs is just a beginning for human well being. Beyond these we have yet another — one that is just as vital to our long-term health and happiness. It is a need that encompasses all the rest; an aspect of human life that is so mysterious it is often disregarded or denied. Though we sometimes call it love, it is in fact more than that. Like air and water, fire and earth, we need spiritual connection; we need to understand where we belong.
David Suzuki begins his search for answers in the high Arctic, along the northern tip of Baffin Island, eleven hours by snowmobile from the tiny community of Pond Inlet. Here, traveling on their annual Spring hunt, the Inuit community must band together to survive. These people are intuitively connected to their surroundings, sharing knowledge, food and love.
With E.O. Wilson, ethnobotanist Wade Davis, and Harvard psychologist, Sarah Conn.
'THE SACRED BALANCE is a spiritual, holistic and almost poetic take on the science of the planet...it launch[es] the viewer's mind into a different space.' Liane Faulder, The Edmonton Journal
'Suzuki's talent has always been to take broad scientific topics and decipher and deliver them to viewers in plain, accessible terms. He's very good at it...while there's much to digest in this series, his tone is always patient and pragmatic' Andrew Ryan, The Globe and Mail
'The Sacred Balance is a challenge to all who watch it, a cornucopia of amazing comments and predictions. It's designed to make you think.' Jim Bawden, Toronto Star, Starweek Magazine
'Stunning cinematography and state of the art computer graphics' Andrea Nemetz, Halifax Chronicle Herald
'An enthralling, beautifully shot series...It's one of the most important and engrossing programs you'll see all year... [it] might very well go down as the crowning achievement in the career of David Suzuki.' Basem Boshra, The Montreal Gazette
'A timeless piece, brilliantly conceived and executed, and an example of science and environment exposition at its best.' E.O.Wilson, Harvard University
'Strikingly beautiful and sometimes even profound...[it] becomes increasingly affecting as it piles up scientific research with remarkable dexterity.' Tony Atherston, The Ottawa Citizen
'Recommended' Educational Media Reviews Online
'[A] captivating examination of how the Earth's systems interact and depend on one another...Approaching the subject from a wide variety of cultural and philisophical viewpoints, Suzuki makes the point that we are a vital part of this 'web of life, ' and challenges viewers to feel that connection and then change the way we act towards our planet.' Teacher Librarian
'Features stunning visuals and is unique in providing a multicultural perspective and philosophical points of view not usually studied with science.' School Library Journal
Citation
Main credits
Greenwald, Barry (film director)
McConnell, Amanda (screenwriter)
Other credits
Directors of photography, Brian Rougeau [and 5 others]; editor, Steve Weslak; music composed by John Welsman.
Distributor subjects
African Studies; Anthropology; Arctic Studies; Biology; Ecology; Environmental Ethics; Humanities; Indigenous Peoples; Philosophy; Religion; Science, Technology, Society; Social PsychologyKeywords
WEBVTT
00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:17.544
It\'s not
00:00:17.545 --> 00:00:20.059
always easy to survive on Earth.
00:00:20.060 --> 00:00:24.019
And yet we humans live in
every part of the planet.
00:00:24.020 --> 00:00:29.359
How do we do it how do we play our
part in the sacred balance of
00:00:29.360 --> 00:00:37.360
life I began my search for answers in the
Arctic and discovered one thing right away.
00:00:38.300 --> 00:00:41.460
We can\'t do it alone.
00:01:33.670 --> 00:01:41.370
8888
00:01:42.100 --> 00:01:47.160
It\'s early June spring in the high Arctic.
00:01:48.520 --> 00:01:52.050
Ice is starting to break up.
00:01:52.750 --> 00:01:56.659
We\'re traveling to the
northern tip of Baffin Island
00:01:56.660 --> 00:02:01.864
11 hours by sled from the remote
community of pond inland.
00:02:01.865 --> 00:02:07.200
It\'s a place where people have
to band together to survive.
00:02:10.270 --> 00:02:13.699
Right now it\'s time for
the spring migration.
00:02:13.700 --> 00:02:18.090
When the Inuit travel onto
the ice to camp and hunt.
00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:23.160
I\'ve been invited to
join a family expedition
00:02:26.140 --> 00:02:33.090
Well it was with them I saw how close
they are to one another and this place.
00:02:36.490 --> 00:02:41.824
They can put the fishing lake was
already set up when I arrived.
00:02:41.825 --> 00:02:47.284
Wi new assignment work is
sack made the introductions.
00:02:47.285 --> 00:02:51.079
I met the elders and the
whole extended family.
00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:54.150
Let\'s hope there\'s something there.
00:02:57.010 --> 00:03:03.570
There\'s fish Yeah unfortunately. Yes
00:03:09.340 --> 00:03:15.600
Wherever we stopped the first
priority was a cup of hot tea.
00:03:16.630 --> 00:03:20.460
Next with shelter and food.
00:03:29.860 --> 00:03:35.520
Here comes on. Rice wine.
00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:44.340
Dinner was waiting for us a
magnificent Arctic char.
00:03:58.480 --> 00:04:05.989
Crystal. Thank you Shibuya launch.
00:04:05.990 --> 00:04:07.159
So if the skin
00:04:07.160 --> 00:04:15.160
to the people I
00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:22.710
spoke to him told me they\'ve always lived
here sharing knowledge food and love.
00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:31.069
Are categorical.
00:04:31.070 --> 00:04:39.070
The work done no more warming.
00:04:45.130 --> 00:04:50.520
At midnight the hunters decided to move on.
00:04:52.030 --> 00:04:57.540
We set out for the edge
device and drove for hours.
00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:31.729
Elijah punny per COO CIO told me.
00:05:31.730 --> 00:05:34.609
He has been hunting here for decades.
00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:42.570
This year is brought to younger hunters with
him to lead a crooner and David Stokes Law
00:05:59.530 --> 00:06:03.439
Marine mammals are also moving northward to
00:06:03.440 --> 00:06:07.399
their summer grazing in the rich
waters of the Arctic Ocean.
00:06:07.400 --> 00:06:11.460
They\'re part of a great
convergence of life.
00:06:12.940 --> 00:06:20.940
We spent two days waiting the hunters
listening and looking out across the water.
00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:31.560
A lot depends on their skill much of their
family\'s food comes from this spring and hunt
00:06:39.270 --> 00:06:41.960
Very good.
00:06:49.890 --> 00:06:51.279
I was
00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:52.869
amazed at the sharpness of
00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:58.610
their senses their intuitive
connection with the world around them.
00:07:02.640 --> 00:07:06.459
Long minutes before I heard anything
00:07:06.460 --> 00:07:10.850
David six locker in the sense
that coming pulse of light.
00:07:16.980 --> 00:07:20.489
He knew the narwhal were on their way.
00:07:20.490 --> 00:07:23.880
If the animal these Hunters value most.
00:07:34.570 --> 00:07:38.449
They told me you have to
shoot it just when it\'s
00:07:38.450 --> 00:07:42.630
taking a breath or it will
sink out of reach forever.
00:07:44.440 --> 00:07:47.449
Every narwhal is precious.
00:07:47.450 --> 00:07:50.190
Not one must be wasted.
00:07:56.770 --> 00:08:02.404
Every hunter within earshot came
to help and to share the MAC duck
00:08:02.405 --> 00:08:10.405
The skin and the fact beneath Rahm MC ducks
keeps them strong the hunters told me.
00:08:11.495 --> 00:08:14.190
It\'s their favorite food.
00:08:15.280 --> 00:08:20.379
David six luck shock the Norwalk
but he didn\'t seem to own it.
00:08:20.380 --> 00:08:24.990
He took that first taste and
then the rest was shared
00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:38.299
over thousands of years.
00:08:38.300 --> 00:08:41.119
They\'ve learned how to
find the food they need.
00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:45.554
And they\'ve also learned a
deep respect for their prey
00:08:45.555 --> 00:08:52.790
According to the old stories a disrespectful
Hunter and his family will go hungry.
00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:09.189
The truth of all life is
starkly clear in the Arctic.
00:09:09.190 --> 00:09:14.784
We can\'t survive alone
were born to be connected.
00:09:14.785 --> 00:09:19.640
And science is beginning
to tell us how and why.
00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:09.934
As a baby is born she\'s not
separated from her mother
00:10:09.935 --> 00:10:13.759
Tied to her by sight and sound and
00:10:13.760 --> 00:10:20.160
touch caught in a web of chemical
connections a beam of attention.
00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:27.810
Her parents are caught in the same web.
00:10:38.560 --> 00:10:42.184
There\'s a force that shapes us into humans.
00:10:42.185 --> 00:10:45.600
Binds us together all lifelong.
00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.519
We call it love.
00:10:49.520 --> 00:10:51.919
But it\'s more than a feeling
00:10:51.920 --> 00:10:59.920
Physical fact without loved
children whether even die.
00:11:11.140 --> 00:11:17.640
Secretly zebra live in Africa.
00:11:17.980 --> 00:11:24.210
Whereas Maria left three units in Canada.
00:11:28.330 --> 00:11:34.624
Marina hasn\'t always lived in Victoria
British Columbia. And two years ago
00:11:34.625 --> 00:11:41.790
Martha McDougall and L Hoffman went to Bucharest
in Romania together from an orphanage.
00:11:50.800 --> 00:11:54.679
Maria is part of the legacy of dictator
00:11:54.680 --> 00:11:59.779
Nicolae Ceausescu bent on
increasing Romania as population.
00:11:59.780 --> 00:12:04.189
He forced families to have more
children than they could support.
00:12:04.190 --> 00:12:11.404
After his death tens of thousands of
children were found in grim institutions.
00:12:11.405 --> 00:12:16.399
Hungry and sick jam together yet isolated.
00:12:16.400 --> 00:12:19.984
They were cut off from loving human care.
00:12:19.985 --> 00:12:27.604
Like some terrible scientific experiment it
has revealed the basis of normal development.
00:12:27.605 --> 00:12:32.089
Exiled from the human family denied love.
00:12:32.090 --> 00:12:39.060
These children were severely affected
physically as well as mentally and emotionally.
00:12:39.700 --> 00:12:46.740
Over the past decade many of them have
been adopted into North American families.
00:12:46.930 --> 00:12:51.994
Was proposed to us by our facilitator
00:12:51.995 --> 00:12:55.039
and what we heard
additionally over the phone
00:12:55.040 --> 00:12:58.539
was just that she was a
little girl in an orphanage
00:12:58.540 --> 00:13:02.254
Young and wasn\'t able to care for her.
00:13:02.255 --> 00:13:08.029
And then we went a long time without much
more information and then we did get a video.
00:13:08.030 --> 00:13:13.249
And the video is actually kinda
heartbreaking because you know she\'s
00:13:13.250 --> 00:13:18.664
22 months old and she\'s not
talking and she\'s not walking.
00:13:18.665 --> 00:13:21.409
And she has a lot of difficulty with
00:13:21.410 --> 00:13:24.349
her hands and to actually
manipulate or hold objects.
00:13:24.350 --> 00:13:27.529
And I think knowing what
00:13:27.530 --> 00:13:31.759
a 22 month old child should look
like it\'s it\'s really heartbreaking.
00:13:31.760 --> 00:13:37.260
But again there\'s a point in the video where
you just know that there\'s something there
00:13:45.340 --> 00:13:53.340
Children connect they seem to do it naturally
but it\'s a lesson they learn from love.
00:13:55.210 --> 00:13:58.399
Interacting with those around us.
00:13:58.400 --> 00:14:03.390
We learn who we are and how
we connect with our world.
00:14:04.630 --> 00:14:10.429
What happens if we\'re denied
that lesson can love repair.
00:14:10.430 --> 00:14:13.669
What lack of love has caused.
00:14:13.670 --> 00:14:18.829
I met psychologist Lucy
Lumiere in Victoria over
00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:23.284
the past decade she and her
colleagues at Simon Fraser University
00:14:23.285 --> 00:14:26.929
I\'ve been studying children
adopted from Romania.
00:14:26.930 --> 00:14:32.089
The goal of the study was
really to take advantage
00:14:32.090 --> 00:14:37.039
of a very tragic situation that
allowed us to take a look at
00:14:37.040 --> 00:14:43.189
the impact of early deprivation
on children\'s development and
00:14:43.190 --> 00:14:46.669
their early lives they\'d
never had that face to
00:14:46.670 --> 00:14:53.434
face interaction with a
supportive caregiver.
00:14:53.435 --> 00:14:59.644
For example they\'re hungry and
they\'ll cry and cry and cry.
00:14:59.645 --> 00:15:01.024
And nothing happens.
00:15:01.025 --> 00:15:02.509
There needs aren\'t met.
00:15:02.510 --> 00:15:05.554
So they develop
00:15:05.555 --> 00:15:09.034
A set of expectations and understandings
00:15:09.035 --> 00:15:13.684
that their needs when they
have them will not be met.
00:15:13.685 --> 00:15:20.119
The kid whose needs are not met has no
sense of there being any security or
00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:22.639
any safety and they continue to seek
00:15:22.640 --> 00:15:27.139
that safety but they don\'t get
it and they don\'t find it.
00:15:27.140 --> 00:15:34.309
Maria do you want to put on your
lamb suit got baby babies in
00:15:34.310 --> 00:15:37.099
a carriage little by little over
00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:42.754
the past two years Maria has been
learning what it means to be connected.
00:15:42.755 --> 00:15:48.720
Yet when you\'re a baby I used to put you in
that you know I used to ride in that carry.
00:15:49.830 --> 00:15:54.320
Anyway just teeny teeny teeny.
00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:01.509
Initially you know the things
that really mattered for her
00:16:01.510 --> 00:16:05.349
that she had food shed a place to
sleep and that she had a home.
00:16:05.350 --> 00:16:07.599
And that was really very
clear that those sort of
00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.224
basic needs she needed to know were met.
00:16:10.225 --> 00:16:12.789
And then you could watch her.
00:16:12.790 --> 00:16:19.464
Then we became important and then we became a
family and we weren\'t just the providers of
00:16:19.465 --> 00:16:23.334
the third diapers isn\'t that bad
00:16:23.335 --> 00:16:30.254
but that we were always there we weren\'t gonna
go away and we loved her no matter what
00:16:30.255 --> 00:16:33.919
And then she started to
reciprocate that and
00:16:33.920 --> 00:16:38.070
that was pretty amazing
to watch that happen.
00:16:58.870 --> 00:17:04.440
Do I try on your Z pursue know.
00:17:04.990 --> 00:17:11.760
Maria and her family are getting ready for
the Christmas pageant at their church
00:17:11.800 --> 00:17:19.624
If I had to put your head up the
whole backwards There we go.
00:17:19.625 --> 00:17:24.079
Yeah alligator that when you consider where
00:17:24.080 --> 00:17:28.279
these kids came from and
what their lives were like.
00:17:28.280 --> 00:17:36.280
And you\'d look at them now it\'s it\'s an amazing
story of resilience of family commitment.
00:17:37.115 --> 00:17:39.274
We can turn to that as well and say that
00:17:39.275 --> 00:17:42.499
this terrible terrible experiment which was
00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:45.769
never a deliberate experiment
has provided us with
00:17:45.770 --> 00:17:50.179
information about the incredibly
important role of Love Well I
00:17:50.180 --> 00:17:54.784
think that it tells us that when
you take a child out of these
00:17:54.785 --> 00:18:02.785
Horrific conditions and put that child into
a warm and caring and supportive family.
00:18:03.035 --> 00:18:08.820
That child has the capacity to
flourish and grow in that environment.
00:18:11.530 --> 00:18:18.814
I have no idea what she
may want to do or become.
00:18:18.815 --> 00:18:24.979
But I do think made an impression
on a lot of people who sort
00:18:24.980 --> 00:18:31.204
of watched her develop already into a
blossom into a beautiful young girl.
00:18:31.205 --> 00:18:34.549
He\'s really quite interested
in talking to people.
00:18:34.550 --> 00:18:37.459
I\'m going up a plane with them.
00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:42.469
I\'ve just been overwhelmed by
the resilience of her spirit.
00:18:42.470 --> 00:18:45.169
And through all that she\'s been
00:18:45.170 --> 00:18:51.229
through and spending a year and
a half and and institutions.
00:18:51.230 --> 00:18:57.559
And all those losses that she\'s experienced
before in her life and the way that
00:18:57.560 --> 00:19:04.470
she\'s rebounded in her own way and to become
this such a beautiful act a little girl.
00:19:44.320 --> 00:19:51.484
The power of love holds families
friends communities together.
00:19:51.485 --> 00:19:56.070
And it also ties us into
a much wider world.
00:19:56.980 --> 00:20:01.609
That\'s what I found when my
grandson tomboy and I go
00:20:01.610 --> 00:20:03.420
together.
00:20:12.070 --> 00:20:13.459
And when you
00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:19.279
throw it and you whip it don\'t call it
with this pulled it down here like this.
00:20:19.280 --> 00:20:21.840
And then going back.
00:20:23.260 --> 00:20:25.999
I knew that was going to happen here.
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:34.000
Let me. Okay and you
caught it you get T that
00:20:34.250 --> 00:20:42.250
first pretty bony. Good
00:20:43.335 --> 00:20:47.289
Is it good because you caught it
or is it just because it\'s fresh
00:20:47.290 --> 00:20:54.459
and here\'s a kid that has grown up
with all of the modern accoutrements.
00:20:54.460 --> 00:20:55.509
I mean he\'s got a computer.
00:20:55.510 --> 00:20:58.569
He serves in that. He\'s
emailing me all the time.
00:20:58.570 --> 00:21:03.624
And yet to take him out into
nature my great touched on
00:21:03.625 --> 00:21:09.669
and see that the magic is still there for
him is an incredible reaffirmation to me.
00:21:09.670 --> 00:21:15.920
That that contact with nature is very
very profound and it hasn\'t been lost.
00:21:17.970 --> 00:21:21.140
You love dinosaurs
00:21:28.710 --> 00:21:32.574
Meat was maddening Yeah.
00:21:32.575 --> 00:21:36.009
Yeah I think we\'ve said that we
often teach kids to be afraid
00:21:36.010 --> 00:21:38.979
of things that it might
bite you and then they get
00:21:38.980 --> 00:21:42.819
scared but then they find out
that it\'s not that scary
00:21:42.820 --> 00:21:50.820
black beyond the human family binds
us to the rest of the living world.
00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:06.294
The great American naturalist
Henry David Thoreau wrote.
00:22:06.295 --> 00:22:09.029
A lake is Earth\'s. Ie
00:22:09.030 --> 00:22:14.794
Looking into it the beholder measures
the depth of his own nature.
00:22:14.795 --> 00:22:22.770
He wrote those lines about Walden Pond
the place he fled from the city in 1845.
00:22:26.350 --> 00:22:34.264
Walden Pond near Boston is a special
place for my old friend EO Wilson.
00:22:34.265 --> 00:22:38.809
Like Thoreau he comes
here to escape the city.
00:22:38.810 --> 00:22:44.760
He\'s a Harvard biologist and
international authority on ends.
00:22:45.820 --> 00:22:51.840
He believes places like this
answer a deep human need
00:22:55.180 --> 00:22:58.669
He brought me here to show me why.
00:22:58.670 --> 00:23:02.134
Well Walden Pond.
00:23:02.135 --> 00:23:07.114
And this particular inlet is call throws
00:23:07.115 --> 00:23:12.334
cold because Henry David Thoreau
had his cabin just up that slope
00:23:12.335 --> 00:23:19.339
the pond itself goes around the
circumference of about two mile Arole
00:23:19.340 --> 00:23:22.639
realized in his time of reflection
but there was a great deal
00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:27.964
more than just economic
welfare but there is nature.
00:23:27.965 --> 00:23:33.840
As important for the human
spirit as almost anything else.
00:23:34.290 --> 00:23:39.879
Let\'s move from hunting here of who I am.
00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:42.339
What kind of little things are.
00:23:42.340 --> 00:23:50.019
I\'m a little organisms which means I\'ve got
filled much material right at the feet.
00:23:50.020 --> 00:23:53.229
And I walked with a couple of feet
into the would it stay there all
00:23:53.230 --> 00:23:56.379
day and got to give a
feeling for that trial
00:23:56.380 --> 00:24:01.899
find some organisms like me Ed fell in love
00:24:01.900 --> 00:24:08.199
with the natural world as a child combing
the beaches in swamps of rural Alabama.
00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:12.219
Right we always was always interesting
to see what\'s underneath.
00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:15.974
Now most people would probably say
all creepy qualities underneath
00:24:15.975 --> 00:24:20.599
But listen what I see under these
log there\'s a whole world.
00:24:20.600 --> 00:24:26.029
Here is one of the an unlimited number
of fighters species you have here.
00:24:26.030 --> 00:24:29.569
And now what I want to emphasize
here is that although these are
00:24:29.570 --> 00:24:35.794
tiny creatures for you and me they
are the giants of the system.
00:24:35.795 --> 00:24:39.739
Head Wilson believes that
the love we share for
00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:43.669
exploring the living world
is part of human nature.
00:24:43.670 --> 00:24:46.249
In the most profound way.
00:24:46.250 --> 00:24:49.114
You\'re saying is it\'s genetic.
00:24:49.115 --> 00:24:53.119
We\'re born with that kind
of instinct to haul. Yes.
00:24:53.120 --> 00:24:58.879
Part of what I call biophilia a word
that has gotten to get foreign currency.
00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:02.194
The love of life not
just a love of life but
00:25:02.195 --> 00:25:06.589
the innate hereditary
tendency to affiliate with
00:25:06.590 --> 00:25:10.249
light to be attracted to it to
00:25:10.250 --> 00:25:16.369
leakage variety to enjoy and
prefer certain qualities of it.
00:25:16.370 --> 00:25:20.580
Something that I think most
of us share very strongly.
00:25:23.170 --> 00:25:29.479
That\'s not to say of course that all
of us love every kind of living thing.
00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:35.329
This is a milk snake.
00:25:35.330 --> 00:25:39.829
Are they poisonous No this is a beauty.
00:25:39.830 --> 00:25:41.449
I have this terrible confession.
00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:44.539
I\'ve always had this guilt feeling
when I was ten years old.
00:25:44.540 --> 00:25:48.469
I was fishing with my dad and I was going
through the bush and i never heard
00:25:48.470 --> 00:25:53.299
a rattlesnake but I heard this buzz and I
knew what it was and totally unconsciously.
00:25:53.300 --> 00:25:55.729
I killed it and ran away.
00:25:55.730 --> 00:26:00.064
And I felt guilty about it because
it was unnecessary to reflect.
00:26:00.065 --> 00:26:04.669
David please give your shelf absolution.
00:26:04.670 --> 00:26:08.209
Actually that kind of fear for
00:26:08.210 --> 00:26:12.829
just a few creatures like snakes
and that was fighters is natural.
00:26:12.830 --> 00:26:17.464
In fact it\'s shared with other
primate species you know monkeys and
00:26:17.465 --> 00:26:21.694
H without any training on their part
you know they have the reaction
00:26:21.695 --> 00:26:25.849
of fear and exactly what I had.
00:26:25.850 --> 00:26:27.724
It was instant reaction.
00:26:27.725 --> 00:26:31.639
This was this was deepen our
thought through much of science
00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:35.434
in our gene but one q become
familiar with a clicker.
00:26:35.435 --> 00:26:38.149
And this really is an
exquisitely beautiful.
00:26:38.150 --> 00:26:39.900
It is beautiful.
00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:48.469
So rho
00:26:48.470 --> 00:26:52.219
wrote I came to the woods
because I wished to live
00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:57.259
deliberately and see if I could
learn what it had to teach.
00:26:57.260 --> 00:27:00.094
And not when I came to die
00:27:00.095 --> 00:27:03.480
discover that I had not lived.
00:27:06.820 --> 00:27:14.820
You can see it at work everywhere are deep
inborn connection with the living world.
00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:27.619
That\'s what celebrated each year
in many Christian churches on
00:27:27.620 --> 00:27:32.550
the feast of Saint Francis
the patron saint of animals.
00:27:35.170 --> 00:27:40.499
This is Saint Paul\'s Anglican
Church in London Ontario
00:27:58.300 --> 00:28:02.329
Dean Terry dance gave the homily St.
00:28:02.330 --> 00:28:06.694
Francis didn\'t simply preach
to the birds and the animals.
00:28:06.695 --> 00:28:09.949
Because he was a little bit crazy.
00:28:09.950 --> 00:28:17.149
His preaching to the animals grew
out of a spirituality in which he
00:28:17.150 --> 00:28:25.150
believed that as God\'s creatures we are
connected to all of God\'s creation.
00:28:25.355 --> 00:28:31.024
As God creatures We do not
exist apart from Creation.
00:28:31.025 --> 00:28:36.619
We are a part of creation
gracious God we thank you
00:28:36.620 --> 00:28:39.349
for the gift to these creatures
if you\'re making and we bless
00:28:39.350 --> 00:28:43.170
them in the name of the
father son and Holy Spirit.
00:28:55.930 --> 00:29:01.099
Gracious God we thank you for this creature
of your making and we bless it in the name of
00:29:01.100 --> 00:29:06.420
the father and the son and you
can take it that way. Okay
00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:14.239
After the service we spoke to bishop how
for Christians when animals are brought
00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:16.759
up from the Garden of Eden non there\'s
00:29:16.760 --> 00:29:20.134
a context that animals can
be a relationship with God.
00:29:20.135 --> 00:29:24.469
And so therefore an animal is not just
a material thing like a rock that has
00:29:24.470 --> 00:29:28.789
no feelings and no emotions
and no spirit when you are
00:29:28.790 --> 00:29:34.699
capable of being in a relationship then you
have a part of you which is non-material
00:29:34.700 --> 00:29:37.879
which we may call a spirit
or soul and that spirit
00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:41.179
of soul may be different than
my spirit or soul. But it is
00:29:41.180 --> 00:29:45.360
Same purpose it brings
us into relationships.
00:29:51.100 --> 00:29:56.719
This service is one way of saying to
the world that our relationship with
00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:02.430
the animal kingdom is essential
for the future of the human race.
00:30:23.170 --> 00:30:27.289
Most of us know we liked the living world.
00:30:27.290 --> 00:30:33.484
But it\'s hard to grasp how much we need
it and how much we need to keep it safe.
00:30:33.485 --> 00:30:36.289
As you know most of us now especially in
00:30:36.290 --> 00:30:39.619
the developed world live in
places like this in cities.
00:30:39.620 --> 00:30:43.429
And it\'s very easy for people
to say well who needs nature.
00:30:43.430 --> 00:30:47.599
We\'ve got our cities. What what
does a biologist answer to
00:30:47.600 --> 00:30:52.219
that well a biologist
city like that and and
00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:57.499
and eager to remind people
that that land that
00:30:57.500 --> 00:31:03.139
they\'re on does not support them no
matter how comfortable and how a Fisher.
00:31:03.140 --> 00:31:05.419
A city might be
00:31:05.420 --> 00:31:11.929
Ah it\'s a structure on top of
00:31:11.930 --> 00:31:15.049
a very fragile foundation which was
00:31:15.050 --> 00:31:20.944
the natural world we would have a
tremendous psychological deficit.
00:31:20.945 --> 00:31:24.814
If we got rid of most of
it we would enter what
00:31:24.815 --> 00:31:30.019
I like to call if comes after
the Mesozoic Asia repower than
00:31:30.020 --> 00:31:34.489
one were in the synagogue Asia
it\'s now I think we would come
00:31:34.490 --> 00:31:40.320
into what could be called the Remote
joy which means the age of loneliness.
00:31:40.540 --> 00:31:43.099
And we\'d never get it back.
00:31:43.100 --> 00:31:47.839
And we would have missed something
that really should be thought.
00:31:47.840 --> 00:31:53.670
And that is our relation to the rest
of life and all other reversible.
00:32:03.220 --> 00:32:08.059
According to some psychologists
were already in the age of
00:32:08.060 --> 00:32:13.699
loneliness separated from the
earth and suffering as a result.
00:32:13.700 --> 00:32:19.444
Harvard psychologists Seroquel took
me into central Boston at rush hour.
00:32:19.445 --> 00:32:21.754
To show me the symptoms.
00:32:21.755 --> 00:32:25.844
Here we are in that part
of a major urban area.
00:32:25.845 --> 00:32:28.294
The noise is all around this.
00:32:28.295 --> 00:32:30.184
How does one relate to
00:32:30.185 --> 00:32:33.409
A world well most people
as you notice don\'t
00:32:33.410 --> 00:32:36.544
and they are sort of head
down straight ahead walking
00:32:36.545 --> 00:32:43.954
fast from one place to another and never
notice that the natural world even exists.
00:32:43.955 --> 00:32:47.059
And I never noticed that there are plants
00:32:47.060 --> 00:32:52.879
around that they could spend a
little bit of time with and
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:58.039
calm themselves down and
relate to most people who
00:32:58.040 --> 00:33:03.184
have no experience of that no. Inclination
00:33:03.185 --> 00:33:06.829
To even think of that as they
go about their daily lives.
00:33:06.830 --> 00:33:11.850
So most people spend their time totally
disconnected from the natural world.
00:33:22.360 --> 00:33:26.839
Eco psychology is a new
discipline that sees
00:33:26.840 --> 00:33:32.280
our interstate as a reflection of
the state of the world around us.
00:33:34.390 --> 00:33:41.239
Sarah con helps her students and patients
to reconnect with their natural home.
00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:45.930
She prescribes a few minutes
a day in the company
00:33:47.590 --> 00:33:54.139
Another kind of therapy involves a
guided meditation in a natural area.
00:33:54.140 --> 00:33:58.864
I have to admit I was a little
uncomfortable at first.
00:33:58.865 --> 00:34:06.499
But we\'re here today to
invite you to go into
00:34:06.500 --> 00:34:14.500
a meditative state and opening sensory
opening state to see what calls to you.
00:34:14.675 --> 00:34:16.744
It\'s called Soul tracking.
00:34:16.745 --> 00:34:24.184
And it\'s really following a fascination
or something that draws you.
00:34:24.185 --> 00:34:27.574
So in order to do that we\'ll start with
00:34:27.575 --> 00:34:35.575
Just feeling your feet on the ground and if
it feels comfortable you can close your eyes.
00:34:37.510 --> 00:34:41.854
Are there ever people
it doesn\'t work on what
00:34:41.855 --> 00:34:46.474
they don\'t get into it that they don\'t
well some people it takes longer.
00:34:46.475 --> 00:34:53.509
People who are nervous more uptight or
yeah or being in the in the natural world.
00:34:53.510 --> 00:34:57.769
It\'s harder for them to to
close their eyes for instance.
00:34:57.770 --> 00:35:00.319
So that\'s fine if they
want to leave them open.
00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:08.320
Okay so close your eyes and
feel your breath coming in
00:35:09.500 --> 00:35:14.209
As a way of connecting him to
00:35:14.210 --> 00:35:20.149
the earth to the atmosphere I\'m
one of those Mr rationality.
00:35:20.150 --> 00:35:23.719
So letting my hair down is not easy.
00:35:23.720 --> 00:35:31.720
But the one exercise that I really loved was
closing your eyes trying to feel your body.
00:35:32.195 --> 00:35:36.210
And you become aware that
you\'re standing on the Earth.
00:35:38.080 --> 00:35:42.484
Immediately you become aware
of the sounds around.
00:35:42.485 --> 00:35:46.729
Because when we live in a city where we tried
to do is shut down most of our senses.
00:35:46.730 --> 00:35:49.290
So continue the breathing
00:35:51.160 --> 00:35:59.160
Located for yourself the center
of intuition in your body.
00:36:00.100 --> 00:36:06.139
When you\'re ready you
can open your eyes and
00:36:06.140 --> 00:36:14.140
let the Earth surrounding you presented
itself to just let it come to you.
00:36:17.650 --> 00:36:24.949
And if not part of it draws your attention
and invite you to approach it. And do so.
00:36:24.950 --> 00:36:27.990
First thing that hit me was the leaves.
00:36:28.600 --> 00:36:33.900
The leaves of all things
for me to be attracted to
00:36:48.280 --> 00:36:56.280
I didn\'t notice it\'s the decay that\'s comes
with age death and just hit 65 issues.
00:36:57.215 --> 00:37:01.399
I\'ve thought a lot about coming to an end.
00:37:01.400 --> 00:37:05.659
But when my father died he
always believed that he would
00:37:05.660 --> 00:37:10.110
return to the earth can be reborn
through the trees and fish.
00:37:10.840 --> 00:37:16.399
And of course that\'s that\'s
what these leaves are doing.
00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:17.910
Yeah.
00:37:34.930 --> 00:37:38.029
Psychology traditional psychology
00:37:38.030 --> 00:37:39.799
is really kind of seen.
00:37:39.800 --> 00:37:44.239
You study an animal or
you study a person in
00:37:44.240 --> 00:37:48.469
isolation like you wanna see what\'s in their
brain and expressed it in their behavior.
00:37:48.470 --> 00:37:53.554
Yeah we\'ve never really considered
the surroundings as part of it.
00:37:53.555 --> 00:37:58.399
We have created what some people
call pathological individualism
00:37:58.400 --> 00:38:02.734
Bounded masterful
self-contained individual.
00:38:02.735 --> 00:38:10.470
And so that were cut off from
the ground on which we live.
00:38:29.740 --> 00:38:35.629
The ground in which we live
building that relationship is how
00:38:35.630 --> 00:38:41.640
we humans have survived even in
harsh places like the high end
00:38:43.680 --> 00:38:46.089
I\'ve come to Peru to meet
00:38:46.090 --> 00:38:51.530
a longtime friend and learn about
that crucial human relationship.
00:38:57.810 --> 00:39:00.279
This is Cuzco.
00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:02.319
The valley of the sun.
00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:09.050
It was the center of the Incan empire
which stretched from Chile to Colombia.
00:39:15.420 --> 00:39:20.514
The Incan empire was destroyed
more than 400 years ago.
00:39:20.515 --> 00:39:23.384
But 8 million people still
00:39:23.385 --> 00:39:31.385
The language of the Inca Inca faces
Inca ways still going strong.
00:39:33.730 --> 00:39:39.570
It may be because they
live among the gods and
00:39:56.500 --> 00:40:00.529
human beings are connected
to this landscape in
00:40:00.530 --> 00:40:05.104
a very special way according
to my friend Wade Davis
00:40:05.105 --> 00:40:09.079
He\'s an ethno botanist who has
been working with the people and
00:40:09.080 --> 00:40:13.654
the plants of the high-end Ds for
many years. And this is precisely.
00:40:13.655 --> 00:40:17.719
This is one of the most mysterious
sort of fortresses of the Inca clearly
00:40:17.720 --> 00:40:21.979
built a huge effort to guard
the way first saw this view of
00:40:21.980 --> 00:40:25.939
the Incas sacred valley almost
30 years ago way this is
00:40:25.940 --> 00:40:31.864
an absolutely spectacular sentence then
this area has become his second home.
00:40:31.865 --> 00:40:35.269
And I think what impressed me
most when I first began to read
00:40:35.270 --> 00:40:38.569
the anthropological literature
and to meet some of
00:40:38.570 --> 00:40:42.169
the local people was the idea that
this really was a sacred place.
00:40:42.170 --> 00:40:44.044
They weren\'t speaking in terms of metaphor.
00:40:44.045 --> 00:40:47.959
And often when we think of sacred
landscapes it\'s almost metaphorical. Here
00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:50.284
they really believe the Earth was alive.
00:40:50.285 --> 00:40:52.549
I mean that river is not
just a sacred river.
00:40:52.550 --> 00:40:54.649
It is a Veins of Pachamama.
00:40:54.650 --> 00:40:58.909
The Milky Way as his heavenly
counterpart shooting
00:40:58.910 --> 00:41:03.769
star flies and so Bolt of silver
and silver is tiers of the moon.
00:41:03.770 --> 00:41:09.154
That mountain is an apple that doesn\'t
just mean as a symbol of God is a God.
00:41:09.155 --> 00:41:13.860
And as long as you\'re in the shadow of
that apple it will direct your destiny.
00:41:16.600 --> 00:41:20.119
And this is something that people
I think don\'t understand about
00:41:20.120 --> 00:41:23.119
the relationship of indigenous
people in general to landscapes
00:41:23.120 --> 00:41:28.189
They have forged through time and through
ritual traditional mystique of the earth that
00:41:28.190 --> 00:41:30.589
is based not on the idea
of being self-consciously
00:41:30.590 --> 00:41:33.139
close to it but are far subtler intuition.
00:41:33.140 --> 00:41:35.989
And that is the idea that
the Earth itself can only
00:41:35.990 --> 00:41:40.110
exist because his breathing the
beam by human consciousness.
00:41:43.030 --> 00:41:49.819
And what that means is that a young Rune
Akuna lad from the village of concerto were
00:41:49.820 --> 00:41:52.699
from the sacred value who
believes that mountain has
00:41:52.700 --> 00:41:56.119
an opera will have a profoundly
different relationship to it.
00:41:56.120 --> 00:41:58.099
Then a Canadian kid was
raised to believe that
00:41:58.100 --> 00:42:01.230
that mountain is a pile
of or ready to be mined.
00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:05.404
Traditional life his still
00:42:05.405 --> 00:42:11.160
Jin cero a small town about
an hour\'s drive from Cuzco.
00:42:17.530 --> 00:42:21.019
Everything works in terms
of reciprocal bonds that
00:42:21.020 --> 00:42:23.704
are never spoken about and never forgotten.
00:42:23.705 --> 00:42:30.844
And reciprocity takes a spiritual turn in
terms of the reverence for the earth itself.
00:42:30.845 --> 00:42:34.579
The idea that you can\'t simply plant a field
you must give a blessing to the Earth.
00:42:34.580 --> 00:42:36.409
You can\'t simply harvest a field.
00:42:36.410 --> 00:42:37.549
You must bless the tools.
00:42:37.550 --> 00:42:39.889
You can\'t simply chew the coca leaves.
00:42:39.890 --> 00:42:43.579
You must bless the OPP who\'s and
bless your colleagues and everything
00:42:43.580 --> 00:42:48.630
is wrapped up in this relationship
of community spirit in the landscape
00:42:52.480 --> 00:42:56.569
This is one of gin
Cheryl\'s community fields.
00:42:56.570 --> 00:43:01.080
Everyone\'s here to mount
the potatoes together.
00:43:02.710 --> 00:43:08.970
Every activity begins with a
ritual sharing of coca leaves.
00:43:10.750 --> 00:43:13.204
Wait brought a bag of them.
00:43:13.205 --> 00:43:16.369
So we could join in the blessing from
00:43:16.370 --> 00:43:24.370
Mr.. Mit isn\'t omega near that it is done.
00:43:29.200 --> 00:43:33.870
He says The community is
yours glasses glasses.
00:43:38.740 --> 00:43:42.660
Glasses glasses glasses.
00:43:50.110 --> 00:43:57.949
So what happens when they give you those
three and it\'s called it\'s called.
00:43:57.950 --> 00:44:02.989
It\'s called akin to and that\'s
accelerating gestures reciprocity to you.
00:44:02.990 --> 00:44:06.079
And then when you blow the
essence Back to the optimizer
00:44:06.080 --> 00:44:10.114
to walk as if you\'re blowing
essence and lays back down here.
00:44:10.115 --> 00:44:16.920
For instance reforms no cloud the
essence of the me the names eternal.
00:44:21.700 --> 00:44:25.140
Then it was time for work.
00:44:26.140 --> 00:44:31.879
They told me humans and nature work
together for the best results.
00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:35.449
Potatoes become toxic
if light reaches them.
00:44:35.450 --> 00:44:40.710
So the soil is piled up around the
plants several times in the season.
00:44:48.040 --> 00:44:52.904
The women started work yesterday
making the teacher beer
00:44:52.905 --> 00:44:58.940
They\'ve been cooking all morning and now
they\'re bringing the food out to the field.
00:45:06.420 --> 00:45:10.059
I\'ve never been offered guinea pig before.
00:45:10.060 --> 00:45:14.510
But that\'s what you get when you
celebrate in the high Andes.
00:45:21.090 --> 00:45:25.580
Appearance I feel so much part
of this community you know.
00:45:30.910 --> 00:45:35.219
My my my constraint
00:45:35.220 --> 00:45:42.079
as is the women offered
flowers to the field.
00:45:42.080 --> 00:45:44.929
Then they decorated the men and themselves.
00:45:44.930 --> 00:45:47.550
And the Dancing began.
00:46:01.600 --> 00:46:09.600
People potatoes the Earth\'s fertility the
drifting rain even the lake and the mountains.
00:46:10.655 --> 00:46:14.370
They all seem to be part of the dance.
00:46:27.610 --> 00:46:30.574
Meeting the people of Chin cero.
00:46:30.575 --> 00:46:34.639
I saw how ceremony reconnects
them to the sources of
00:46:34.640 --> 00:46:39.900
life to the awesome powers
that inhabit their landscape.
00:46:40.270 --> 00:46:43.459
To my mind the real kind of revelation of
00:46:43.460 --> 00:46:46.504
anthropology the idea that the
world in which we live in
00:46:46.505 --> 00:46:49.159
our particular culture doesn\'t exist in
00:46:49.160 --> 00:46:51.889
some absolute sense but
it\'s one model of reality.
00:46:51.890 --> 00:46:55.950
Just one possibility one facet
of the human imagination
00:46:59.250 --> 00:47:02.544
And that\'s an idea that
normally fills you with hope.
00:47:02.545 --> 00:47:07.509
It shows you the absolute
importance of cultural diversity.
00:47:07.510 --> 00:47:10.149
All of these myriad cultures form
00:47:10.150 --> 00:47:14.229
a kinda intellectual and spiritual
and cultural web of life that
00:47:14.230 --> 00:47:16.779
envelops the planet and is as important to
00:47:16.780 --> 00:47:21.264
the sustenance of the planet as is the
biosphere the biological level of life.
00:47:21.265 --> 00:47:27.249
And you might think of that web of cultural
life as the ethno sphere the sum total of
00:47:27.250 --> 00:47:30.309
all thoughts dreams ideas myths beliefs
00:47:30.310 --> 00:47:34.850
brought into being by the human imagination
since the dawn of consciousness
00:47:41.620 --> 00:47:49.620
They asked though Sphere wade made me
understand where I\'ve been for almost a year.
00:47:49.955 --> 00:47:56.370
I\'ve been traveling through the world
imagined into existence by human beings.
00:48:00.910 --> 00:48:08.910
Not darker everywhere on earth.
00:48:09.005 --> 00:48:13.399
We bind ourselves together
weaving the web of meaning that
00:48:13.400 --> 00:48:18.690
tells us how to live that\'s
the genius of our species.
00:48:21.820 --> 00:48:24.649
So many versions of the human
00:48:24.650 --> 00:48:32.650
And story each one describes how the
world works and where we fit in.
00:48:33.740 --> 00:48:41.539
In every place we evolved a different story
creating the rituals of interconnection.
00:48:41.540 --> 00:48:46.230
Here our path back to the living earth.
00:48:50.530 --> 00:48:54.960
Now it\'s time to take this story home.
00:48:55.120 --> 00:48:58.864
Airports look the same the world over.
00:48:58.865 --> 00:49:05.670
It\'s hard to see beyond the bland surface
of technology to what it all depends on
00:49:11.280 --> 00:49:18.950
But walking home through Vancouver after
my long journey the city looks different.
00:49:19.380 --> 00:49:25.160
Everywhere. I could see the
natural world that work.
00:49:28.830 --> 00:49:34.310
The air that moves through
us moves around the planet.
00:49:37.290 --> 00:49:39.804
The fountain of life.
00:49:39.805 --> 00:49:42.474
That\'s where we all begin.
00:49:42.475 --> 00:49:46.430
Born from water into air
00:49:48.520 --> 00:49:56.520
Every living thing we can see the fire of
creation the power of sunlight and soil.
00:50:05.410 --> 00:50:10.684
In the heart of the city were
at home in the natural world.
00:50:10.685 --> 00:50:13.380
We are the IRR.
00:50:14.560 --> 00:50:22.560
If we can see and feel the web we\'re part
we can change the way we act towards it.
00:50:23.170 --> 00:50:26.719
Star magnolia tree.
00:50:26.720 --> 00:50:29.734
We all know where home is.
00:50:29.735 --> 00:50:31.564
It\'s with our family
00:50:31.565 --> 00:50:35.329
the Living and the Dead Sea.
00:50:35.330 --> 00:50:37.384
This is a chromate is planned here.
00:50:37.385 --> 00:50:41.779
If you ever seen that beautiful
purple flower when grandma Sue died I
00:50:41.780 --> 00:50:47.070
put her ashes on there so that every
time it blossoms I think of my mom.
00:50:47.350 --> 00:50:54.724
Let\'s go down the beach.
Well lots of seaweed.
00:50:54.725 --> 00:50:59.940
But our family is far
larger than we realize.
00:51:00.010 --> 00:51:04.954
Whereas home with one another
in the whole human community.
00:51:04.955 --> 00:51:11.419
And in the biosphere close relatives
of every living thing there.
00:51:11.420 --> 00:51:13.369
But look what\'s that
00:51:13.370 --> 00:51:17.569
oh right was the sticky.
00:51:17.570 --> 00:51:24.139
That\'s great. There\'s a bunch
of shelves over there.
00:51:24.140 --> 00:51:28.114
You see this one here. The
ever seen one like that.
00:51:28.115 --> 00:51:31.159
It doesn\'t belong here and
it\'s going to slowly move up
00:51:31.160 --> 00:51:34.729
the beach and push all these
other ones out of existence.
00:51:34.730 --> 00:51:39.210
I know they\'re really
strong and some reason.
00:51:44.680 --> 00:51:49.099
So look at that. We\'re not alone.
00:51:49.100 --> 00:51:52.020
Nothing exists alone.
00:51:52.660 --> 00:51:56.239
We\'re all creatures of the living earth
00:51:56.240 --> 00:52:00.720
Held together in the sacred balance.
00:52:37.660 --> 00:52:39.930
Okay
00:53:19.870 --> 00:53:22.410
okay
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 53 minutes
Date: 2003
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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