THE STAGES OF EARTH PEOPLE.-

By Roberto Dansie

In a world where one is often lost in data and details, our liberation may come faster if we just get in touch with our senses. Hans Christian Anderson illustrated this point quite well when he created his story of the Emperor's clothes. In the story, it is the kid who trusts his senses who says, “But the emperor has no clothes!” Just apply that to any political discourse, or to the bombardment of the television propaganda; or to the created wants; or to the set of priorities in the world; or to the food for our bodies; or to the chat of a friend. Just see. Listen to yourself. And, above all, don’t betray your self.

In terms of our chronological development, we can find ourselves in four main stages of development: childhood, youth, adulthood, and elderhood. The earth element has specific challenges at each one of these stages.
Earth in childhood, is exclusively the experience of physical sensations centered on the self. We lean towards comfort and avoid discomfort. In extreme cases, we may have little or no tolerance of discomfort, which make us prom candidates to delay growth and risk taking. We may decide to stay a child for the rest of our lives. And we have all seen this individual. It is the man at the store who has no sense of others. Only his senses matter. So in touch with himself, and so out of touch with others. “Me” is his favorite word. And whatever he cannot experience is not happening in the world. When they talk, it is all about them. If you are in their world, it is because what you mean to them, and to be part of “their” story. Without them –they are sure- there is no world.
With earth children, we must emphasize, their ability to put themselves in the place of the other person. At the same time, we must encourage them to remain in touch with themselves without loosing touch of the others. In terms of their relations, we can encourage them to share with others the sensual clarity with which they see the world, telling them the wonderful words of Thomas Paine who said, “common sense is not so common.” And not just common sense: just sense, your ability to use your senses.
Earth people can talk sense into people. It is basic clarity, simple but essential factors of life.
Earth children may experience challenges in motivation, for they will have a tendency to try to store energy and make the less effort with the highest impact. Wise as this can be, we must not hesitate to give discipline to earth children, often taking a pro-active role in helping them discover new talents in themselves.
When earth people reach adolescence, their preference for stability can give them fear towards the changes that come with youth. Making peace with imperfection can render wonderful results, and this is as good a time to do it with earth-teens. In order to minimize the intensity of self-criticism for imperfection, it will be good to have a range of activities, so that the attention can be shift from one to the other, staying ahead of the criticism that remains in one single area of life. Insight into the temporal condition of adolescence can be a powerful ally for earth-teens who happen to be experiencing fluctuating and often conflicting sensations. “And this too shall pass.” Those were the words that a wise man put into a ring that gave a king equanimity during all of the years of his rulership, for which he was given the title of “the wise one.” Well, these words are to be kept constant and near to earth-teens, for they can provide perspective to them particularly in times of fluctuations.
Given the tendency for quality rather than quantity in earth people, earth-teens will tend to have few but close friends. That will work well, as long as the friends that they have chosen have positive qualities. If they don’t, then we must intervene to expose them to new acquaintances, often taking them to new settings where this interaction can be made possible.
Earth adults will have a tendency to seek their comfort zone and to be particularly defensive of their sense of order and environment. If you are in a relationship with one, be sure to take into consideration their opinion every time that you foresee a change. If you can talk about it first, then there will be little or no problem later. And since they are sense oriented, don’t expect them to verbalize what is going on with them, particularly at the time that this is happening. Pay attention to their senses, their physical expressions, their movements, their poses, their breathing patterns, and to their habits. By letting them know how you are translating their senses into your words, your empathy will render extraordinary results, particularly during resolution of serious or grave matters: the fact that you can find words for their senses brings light to them, and this light reduces the gravity of alienation that otherwise earth people tend to experience when they don’t feel understood by others.
Earth elders are keenly in touch with the limitations of their body and the loss of sensations along the years. Their world can be experience as “less sensational”. But that is only if they limit themselves to seeing themselves as material. Experience by them, will also provide them with the awareness that they are energy and consciousness. They can then decide to shift their sensation to the place of energy, where they can discover new sensations that are extended to their loved ones, and to rise their sensations to their field of consciousness, where they can direct their attention at will to any part of their living experience: what ever they choose to re-live they can infuse with new energy. And they can also tune themselves in the direction of the earth body and cultivate a deeper integration of their being by living and resting in the earth itself. They will cross the veil of death by staying conscious of their sensation of the earth; they will transcend their personal sensations, dying into the sensations of the earth itself: their own senses will give them the experience that there is, at the sensual level, no death indeed.
In terms of spiritual paradigms, even while avatars of all traditions have acknowledge the Earth as an essential factor for their realization, the fact remains that Earth has not been viewed in many spiritual practices, as sacred. This has been painfully so for western civilization. The growing ecological consciousness has done something to alleviate part of this predicament, but nothing can be so powerful enough to turn consciousness and behavior as the experience of unity and identity with the Earth. The spirituality of our time is being articulated by the earth people and all of the indigenous communities of our planet. We, as human beings, can benefit from the ceremonies and insights of those who have experience the earth as self, the ones who did so ahead of science and technology, those who did it by the path of the heart and acted accordingly.