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Man and the wilderness have coexisted for ages. A subtle cycle of ecological balance has maintained stability through coexistence of all beings. There is a deep sense of self-imbued in the awareness of one’s environment. A sense of identity is entrenched in the present environment of human being, as there exists a connection between man and the world. World here means the complete ecological dimensions, the nonhuman others.
Consequently, man is bounded to and within the nonhuman world from which man essentially derives his ecological identity. The co-existence of humans with other beings has been an important aspect of retaining that balance (Leopold; Lopez; Macy). Macy has termed the co-existence of humans with the environment as “the greening of the self” (53). The human world has realized a deep interconnectedness between the ecology, life, and economics (Halifax 20).
This awareness of oneself in tandem with the other world has fundamental implications for man’s awareness of society, culture, and self. This paper studies how the ecology creates a deep-seated sense of identity among men and the way it changes the whole concept of identity.
Identity in the post structural term has become a complex issue, especially when seen in an interconnected world. Identity communicates what ‘we think we are’. In other words, what man perceives of himself. Identity of a man varies in context of time and space.
Therefore, the understanding of a self that is continually in interaction with the environment may present a more consistent understanding of human identity. Lopez point out that there exists a interconnectedness between the inner self and the environment that cannot be named, which creates the “natural order” of the universe: “Art, architecture, vocabulary, and costume, as well as ritual, are derived from the perceived natural order of the universe” (Lopez 144).
Seen from a different point of view, the understanding of deep ecology arises out of the teachings of religious philosophies like Buddhism and Shamanism. It is believed that when there is an interaction between two bodies, a third body is formed that according to the understanding of Buddhism and Shamanism create the third body that may be described as the philosophy of nature or “deep ecology” that creates the idea of “ecological self” (Halifax 21). The traditional religious philosophical understanding of the self is interconnected within the ecological net of the universe.
Contemporary science also postulates that there is a close interconnectedness between the environment and the self and that man cannot be identified as “a distinct, separate, continuous self” (Macy 58). Thus, man realizes his identity in relation to his immediate environment in terms of nature. Local geography, therefore, has a deep impact on the creation of identity of man. Therefore, human identity takes the shape of bioregional identity.
The discourse of deep ecology has radical implications for understanding of identity. Man has identified himself on basis of race, gender, region, religion, etc. but a more profound understanding of man rests in his interconnectedness with the environment – the immediate biology and geographical enclosure where he live and dwells.
Ralph Waldo Emerson believes that “The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable,” and “in a harmony of both” can the realization of the identity of man can occur (Emerson). This discourse of deep ecology shapes the identity of man through a net of ecological interconnectedness.
Works Cited
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. 1836. Web.
Halifax, Joan. “The Third Body: Budhism, Shamanism, and Deep Ecology.” Badiner, Allan Hunt. Dharma Gaia: a harvest of essays in Buddhism and ecology. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 1990. 20-38. Print.
Leopold, Aldo. “Thinking Like A Mountain.” NA. Wolves and Deforestation. Web.
Lopez, Barry. “Landscape and Narrative.” NA. Web.
Macy, Joanna. “The Greening of Self.” Badiner, Allan Hunt. Dharma Gaia: a harvest of essays in Buddhism and ecology. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 1990. 53-63. Print.
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