Echoes in the Mist

Who are we?

Hindus themselves are confused. They don’t know what their dharma teaches. If only they knew what the glory of sanatana dharma is, nobody would EVER look at others. The depth, the scientific thoroughness, the perfection, –nowhere.

There are FOUR states or avasthas according to Sanatana dharma.

1. The PHYSICAL: This gross state we all know. It is made of Consciousness + five elements [earth, fire, air, water, space]. Here, there is variety, name and form, etc. This is your first covering. This is not YOU. One religion thinks only this is true. Demons [Rakshasas] concentrated only on this. Only physical enjoyment. Even after death.

2. THE SUBTLE: This subtle state is where your mind,memory, intellect, sense organs, organs of action, everything is located. What you call ghost, etc, are this subtle body. This also not YOU. This is made of Consciousness + five subtle elements like sound…

This 18 August 2019 video says about itself:

Fracking Is A Bigger Problem Than We Thought

We are going full speed ahead towards irreversible climate change. Cenk Uygur, Maz Jobrani, and John Iadarola, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.

“As greenhouse gases go, methane gets less attention than carbon dioxide, but it is a key contributor to climate change.

Methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere as long as CO2 and is reabsorbed into terrestrial cycles via chemical reactions within 12 years or so. But while it’s up there, it’s much more potent, trapping heat at roughly 84 times the rate of CO2. Scientists estimate that around 25 percent of current global warming traces to methane.

When it comes to reducing CO2 emissions, the chain between cause and effect is frustratingly long and diffuse. Reduced emissions today won’t show up as reduced climate impacts for decades.

But…

This picture is a 1690 engraving by Johann Ulrich Krauß. It shows a story much older than 1690. It is an illustration to the long poem Metamorphoses by Roman poet Ovid.

In book V of Metamorphoses, Ovid writes about a minor god in Greek polytheism, Ascalaphus. He was the custodian of the orchard of Hades, the god of the underworld. Hades had abducted Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. The supreme god Zeus decided that Persephone had the right to return to her mother, if she had not eaten anything in the underworld. Persephone had just eaten a few pomegranate anils. The only one who has seen that was Ascalaphus. He told the other gods. That meant that Persephone had to stay in the underworld, at least for six months of the year.

Persephone was so angry that she changed Ascalaphus into an…

This video is about a toco toucan in Brazil.

This November 2017 video says about itself:

Climatic cooling during the Ordovician caused explosion of marine diversity

Read more here.

From Ohio University in the USA:

Early species developed much faster than previously thought

Landmark review of Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event

When Earth’s species were rapidly diversifying nearly 500 million years ago, that evolution was driven by complex factors including global cooling, more oxygen in the atmosphere, and more nutrients in the oceans. But it took a combination of many global environmental and tectonic changes occurring simultaneously and combining like building blocks to produce rapid diversification into new species, according to a new study by Dr. Alycia Stigall, Professor of Geological Sciences at Ohio University.

She and fellow researchers have narrowed in a specific time during an era known as the Ordovician Radiation, showing that new species actually developed rapidly during a much shorter time frame than previously thought…

Getty Images

These days, when there is some new assault on Nature occurring almost daily, I find it difficult to locate stories about the environment that can give hope. More and more, I’m seeing that it’s up to those who, like we all did in the 1960s, see problems that are urgent, and are willing to not just speak truth to Power, but to put their bodies on the line.

So my first story is about the group called “Extinction Rebellion.” They are an international “non-violent civil disobedience activist movement.” Their co-founder, Gail Bradbrook, says that the the future of the planet depends upon actions such as theirs.

They believe that governments must declare a climate “emergency,” that nations like the U.K. must legally commit to reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2025, and that a citizens’ assembly must be formed to “oversee the changes.” (Sounds like…

This 30 July 2019 video says about itself:

How Earth’s First, Unkillable Animals Saved the World

They have survived every catastrophe and every mass extinction event that nature has thrown at them. And by being the little, filter-feeding, water-cleaning creatures that they are, sponges may have saved the world.

Thanks to Franz Anthony and Julio Lacerda for their wonderful illustrations of sponges and snowball earth and other things. You can find more of their work here.

This video shows red-breasted geese. Sometimes in the company of white-fronted geese, brent geese or barnacle geese.

Sri Rama Temple, Stone Cairns and a View-point

Up in the hills, temples are sturdy landmarks in the lush surroundings, quite often built in chosen locations.

Sri Rama temple at Pagoda Point in Thalai cholai village is just such a place.

Sri Rama Temple, Pagoda Point 

Sri Rama and Sita, Pagoda point

Hanuman

At four in the afternoon, it is cold up here. The temple is open, the oil lamps are lit but there is no priest. The idols of Rama and Sita are beautiful. There is a small idol of Hanuman in front facing the sanctum. The outer structure is modern and very clean.

The woman in the shop next to the temple says the temple is quite old, no one knows how old. It is one of many Rama temples in the Shevaroy hills. Her kula-deivamon her father’s side is Sri Rama she says, waving a hand…

Prairie meadow with black-eyed Susan wildflowers, Wisconsin

Pronghorn, California

Bison, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming

The prairies of North America, unique to the continent’s central region, have intrigued and enlightened residents for centuries. Born and raised in America’s prairies, I continue to take great pleasure in our grassland expanses.

The history of the continent’s grasslands has been interesting, you can read about it below in the two links. Today we are in the fortunate period of a resurgence of prairie restoration.

Carrizo Plains, California

Red-winged blackbird, Horicon Marsh, WI

With the experience of previous generations, we have discovered that natural ecosystems, like grasslands, provide profound balance and abundant sustainable activity.

Prairie Ecology and History

Prairie Wikipedia

The deep roots of the grasses absorb rain and nutrients, preventing erosion and run-off. The grassland absorption of nutrients and minerals creates rich soil and productive farming. The grasses and forbs also capture carbon, an important process with…