When you have pollution in one place, it spreads all over. It
spreads just as arthritis or cancer spreads in the body. The earth is sick
now because the earth is being mistreated, and some of the problems that
may occur, some of the natural disasters that might happen in the near future
are only the natural readjustments that have to take place to throw off sickness.
A lot of things are on this land that don't belong here. They're foreign
objects like viruses or germs. Now, we may not recognize the fact when it
happens, but a lot of the things that are going to happen in the future will
really be the earth's attempt to throw off some of these sicknesses. This
is really going to be like fever or like vomiting, what you might call a
physiological adjustment.
"It's very important for people to realize this. The earth is a living organism,
the body of a higher individual who has a will and wants to be well, who
is at times less healthy or more healthy, physically and mentally. People
should treat their own bodies with respect. It's the same thing with the
earth. Too many people don't know that when they harm the earth they harm
themselves, nor do the realize that when they harm themselves they harm the
earth...
"It's not very easy for you people to understand these things because
understanding is not knowing the kind of facts that your books and teachers
talk about. I can tell you that understanding begins with love and respect.
It begins with respect for the Great Spirit, and the Great Spirit is the
life that is in all things -- all the creatures and the plants and even the
rocks and the minerals. All things -- and I mean all things -- have their
own will and their own way, their own purpose; this is what is to be respected.
"Such respect is not a feeling or an attitude only. It's a way of life. Such
respect means that we never stop realizing and never neglect to carry out
our obligation to ourselves and our environment."
