Recognizing our intimate dependence on the natural environment allows us to see its true value and treasure it. One reason that people living in cities nowadays need to be told so much about the importance of caring for the earth is because they did not grow up feeling direct, unmediated connections to it. For them, nature is something that one visits in city parks or on excursions out into the countryside. When we are raised in urban environments, our sense for the natural environment is more remote because we rarely witness our fundamental reliance upon it. Nature seems like a pretty backdrop to our lives, something that adds to the scenery but is basically optional. We are obstructed from seeing how the natural environment is the very stage on which our lives play out. Without the conditions that arise from our environment, nothing whatsoever can take place.

17th Karmapa

from the book Interconnected: Embracing Life in Our Global Society

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Further quotes from the book Interconnected:

• Individualism or interdependence
• A genuine sense of affection
• The power of our senses
• Gratitude
• Self-discipline
• The full vividness of direct contact
• Dismantling the walls that separate us
• Inner conditions of interdependence
• You exist in connection with others
• Extend yourself and connect
• The opportunity to love
• Remaining indifferent to the suffering of animals
• Time to act
• Our life is like a vast net
• The air we breathe
• Extending gratitude in all directions
• The imagination to see the other as free and happy
• An important source of closeness and love
• Knowing more is not a substitute for feeling more
• Self-reliance