Climbing the high mountains of Bhutan is forbidden by law. Legislation yields to local beliefs about the nature of the mountains and spirituality. So, don’t pack your gear for a trek up Gankar Puensum. Seek some other hill to climb.
What a shame. Just when we thought we were rational about what Earth is, just when we have a good understanding of how mountains form, just after we have devised the most sophisticated climbing equipment, somebody shuts the door on climbing a virtually unexplored region of the world. And for what purpose?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Why do we want to climb the un-surmounted mount? Is it only for science? Is it for thrills? Is it for pride so we can say, “Hey, I did that.” Is it for all these reasons and a few others? Could one of those reasons be spirituality? Obviously, someone thinks that way. Otherwise, Bhutan would not have the law against climbing for the reasons stated in the law.
Think of that law. We’re talking neither environmentalism nor extreme environmentalism. This isn’t a simple “Save the Mountains” movement. A government has prohibited some action to protect something that its people deem sacred. “Keep off the grass!” “Entrance prohibited!” So, there’s a place where place is more than location and more than a part of the environment in need of protection for its aesthetic beauty and organisms.
And what do you hold sacred? What, according to your law, remains a place that you hold in reverence? You don’t have to be an animist to have such a place. You don’t have to be an environmentalist. You don’t even have to have a religion. But you do have to have some sense of “the spiritual,” a sense that outside of any practicality, any ethical sense, there is “something more.”
Your sacred ground doesn’t have to be justified as such because of any of its properties: remoteness, elevation, strangeness, mysteriousness, unique-ness. You don’t even have to articulate a reason or describe a feeling for its sacredness. You might have had an experience in the “place,” but not even experience is a necessary cause, argument, proof, or element.
Some people want to rid Earth of people. There are adherents of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. Really. No joke. There’s a website you can look up. I assume they exempt themselves. Yes, they have a point. Human population is growing rapidly. But, if we get rid of people, what consciousness will be around to know that not only are there sacred places on Earth, but also Earth itself is sacred?
Nothing was sacred before there was consciousness. Before humans saw mountains there were other mountains that rose and fell. No consciousness was there to call them special. No consciousness posted “Keep Off” signs. Humans have added something to Earth that the planet did not have for billions of years: Sacredness.
What a shame. Just when we thought we were rational about what Earth is, just when we have a good understanding of how mountains form, just after we have devised the most sophisticated climbing equipment, somebody shuts the door on climbing a virtually unexplored region of the world. And for what purpose?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Why do we want to climb the un-surmounted mount? Is it only for science? Is it for thrills? Is it for pride so we can say, “Hey, I did that.” Is it for all these reasons and a few others? Could one of those reasons be spirituality? Obviously, someone thinks that way. Otherwise, Bhutan would not have the law against climbing for the reasons stated in the law.
Think of that law. We’re talking neither environmentalism nor extreme environmentalism. This isn’t a simple “Save the Mountains” movement. A government has prohibited some action to protect something that its people deem sacred. “Keep off the grass!” “Entrance prohibited!” So, there’s a place where place is more than location and more than a part of the environment in need of protection for its aesthetic beauty and organisms.
And what do you hold sacred? What, according to your law, remains a place that you hold in reverence? You don’t have to be an animist to have such a place. You don’t have to be an environmentalist. You don’t even have to have a religion. But you do have to have some sense of “the spiritual,” a sense that outside of any practicality, any ethical sense, there is “something more.”
Your sacred ground doesn’t have to be justified as such because of any of its properties: remoteness, elevation, strangeness, mysteriousness, unique-ness. You don’t even have to articulate a reason or describe a feeling for its sacredness. You might have had an experience in the “place,” but not even experience is a necessary cause, argument, proof, or element.
Some people want to rid Earth of people. There are adherents of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. Really. No joke. There’s a website you can look up. I assume they exempt themselves. Yes, they have a point. Human population is growing rapidly. But, if we get rid of people, what consciousness will be around to know that not only are there sacred places on Earth, but also Earth itself is sacred?
Nothing was sacred before there was consciousness. Before humans saw mountains there were other mountains that rose and fell. No consciousness was there to call them special. No consciousness posted “Keep Off” signs. Humans have added something to Earth that the planet did not have for billions of years: Sacredness.
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