This is another book in Penguin’s Green Ideas series. It is by a Japanese farmer and philosopher known for his natural farming and his theories on the revegetation of deserts. This little book is a bit of a hotchpotch, but the ideas it addresses revolve around the fact that humans and nature are one and the same and that we can only survive if nature survives. Also, there is no superior being; everyone needs everyone else, plants, animals and humans alike, and letting nature heal and thrive on its own, without interfering, is the best method. A call to reconnect with Mother Nature.
“Wishing to cultivate the earth,
I cultivate understanding.
In vain I wield my hoe
And sharpen my sickle.
The earth languishes, grasses and trees wither,
Gazing at heaven and earth and heaving a long sigh,
I am filled with despair.
When will
That Garden of Eden
Bloom again?“
“The Ultimatum of GOD NATURE” first published in Japanese in 1996. This selection has been taken from the English-language edition, “Sowing Seeds in the Desert” (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012), translated and edited by Larry Korn.