AIKIDO, AQUAPONICS & ZEN BUDDHISM
Perhaps your brow wrinkles with such diverse subjects that seem incongruent. Physics, the Planet & Philosophy have always been more closely linked than our modern awareness would allow. It has only been in more “civilized” times that we have created the illusion of separate-ness. Since you are reading this, perhaps, we may now assert that we are “friends in commo
n.” We are grateful for Life’s gifts; one of which is appreciation of evolution towards Harmony – both in inner and outer space. What defines “healthy community”? Aikido, Deep Ecology and Zen teach that all phenomena are inter-related and mutually inter-dependent realities. Our mission is to live the Middle Way; a path with a heart for modern life. We borrow from Permaculture’s core values, which vow to care for our earth and people and to share the surplus in community. Our lives are indeed our poems. This, dear reader, is our poem for you. We are consciously “paying forward” a lifetime of life’s travails and triumphs with the sincere expectation that something here will enrich your life and that of your community during this earthly walkabout we call “life”. We believe and teach aquaponic gardening. The aquaponic system is a mixture involving aquaculture, as it requires growing fish in a special fish tank, and hydroponics, as it involves growing plants with water and nutrients. You, curious reader, will almost certainly wonder what role the fish play in all this. Hydroponics,which has its place, because it utilizes synthetic fertilizers and pest control, is not as healthy for people and the planet. On the other hand, Aquaponics is an ancient technology that uses only 1/10th the water of traditional agricultural farming, yet can produce more than 4 times the truly safe, ORGANIC, food output - without use of chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides or herbicides. For reasons the good reader understands, we, along with Chellis Glendinning, "foresee a sustainable future for humanity if and when Western technological societies restructure their mechanistic projections and foster the creation of machines, techniques, and social organizations that respect both human dignity and nature’s wholeness. In progressing towards such a transition, we are aware: We have nothing to lose except a way of living that leads to the destruction of all life. We have a world to gain."
