The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

If you look across the country you might notice that quite a fewcommunes have been springing up recently. If they are called gatheringsof hippies, well, they could be viewed that way too, I suppose. But inliving and working together, finding the way back to nature, they are themodel of the "new farmer." They understand that to become firmlyrooted means to live from the yields of their own land. A community thatcannot manage to produce its own food will not last long.Many of these young people travel to India, or to France's GandhiVillage, spend time on a kibbutz in Israel, or visit communes in themountains and deserts of the American West. There are those like thegroup on Suwanose Island in the Tokara Island chain of Southern Japan,who try new forms of family living and experience the closeness of tribalways. I think that the movement of this handful of people is leading theway to a better time. It is among these people that natural farming is nowrapidly taking hold and gaining momentum.In addition, various religious groups have come to take up naturalfarming. In seeking the essential nature of man, no matter how you goabout it, you must begin with the consideration of health. The path whichleads to right awareness involves living each day straightforwardly andgrowing and eating wholesome, natural food. It follows that naturalfarming has been for many people the best place to begin.I do not belong to any religious group myself and will freely discussmy views with anyone at all. I do not care much for snaking distinctionsamong Christianity, Buddhism, Shinto, and the other religions, but itdoes intrigue me that people of deep religious conviction are attracted tomy farm. I think this is because natural farming, unlike other types offarming, is based on a philosophy which penetrates beyond116