THE PRINCIPLE OF THE CYCLES
This is our last lesson. We are now familiar with the other timeless principles: ONENESS, DIVERSITY, INTERDEPENDENCE, GEOMETRY, ADAPTATION and HEALTH.
The principle of the cycles will help us understand the dynamics and repletion of activities within the whole. Cycles is a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order. Nature’s cycles, or natural cycles are all terms that refer to the key life-sustaining processes in Nature, that work in cycles. Cycles mean that there is a constant and ongoing exchange of elements between air, earth, water, plants and animals. Nutrients in soils are recycled, rain is generated by forests, and life is sustained by the annual cycles of death and rebirth. Every dead animal becomes food for other organisms. Rotting and decaying twigs and leaves enrich soils and enable plants to grow, while animal waste is processed by microbes and fungi that transform it into yet more vital nutrients. And so Nature replaces and replenishes herself in a completely efficient manner, all without creating great piles of waste. This entire magical process is achieved through cycles.
We all know that day follows night, seasons follow one another, but there are many more cycles within those broader ones and so many of them are interrelated so that the life cycles of many animals and plants link with one another to keep the bigger cycles moving. Built into these many cycles are self-correcting checks
and balances (adaptation) whereby the relationships between predators and prey, the rate of tree growth, and the replenishment of soil fertility are all subject to factors that facilitate orderly change and progress through the seasons and keep everything in balance. No single aspect of the natural world runs out of proportion with the others – or at least not for long.
Learning and practicing these principles will help us put Nature back in her rightful place – that is, at the centre of everything! This includes our own imagination as well as in the way we do things. Fashions may change, ideologies may come and go, but what remains certain is that Nature works as she has always done, according to these natural principles.
We must rethink our perception of the world in a straight line and shift toward seeing it in terms of cycles, loops and systems. Our intention must not be to master Nature and control her, rather we must act in partnership with her and this requires a broader or ‘whole- istic’ view.
Let us look at a few examples of cycles in Nature we can see that they all have to do with how the earth renews itself. The living things within an ecosystem interact with each other and also with their non-living environment to form an ecological unit that is largely self-contained. Sometimes this renewal process is gradual and gentle. Sometimes it is violent and destructive. Nevertheless, ecosystems contain within themselves the resources to regenerate themselves.
1.WATER CYCLES
All of the water that is on the earth has always been here. Earth never gets water added to it - nor does water disappear from the earth. Water is constantly recycled in a process known as the hydrologic or water cycle. Fresh water is more scarce than you might think. 97% of all the water on the earth is in the oceans, and so only 3% is fresh water. About 2.4% of the water on earth is permanently frozen in glaciers and at the polar ice caps. About 1/2 of 1% of the water on earth is groundwater. Only about 1/100 of 1% of the water on earth is in the rivers and lakes. Water is essential to life on earth, so it is important that we protect our water resources.
Nature has a way of keeping the amount of water on the earth relatively constant. A large amount of water evaporates from the surfaces of oceans, rivers, and lakes every day. It forms water vapour that rises into the air until it cools, condenses, and forms water droplets. Millions of these droplets come together to form clouds. When clouds get heavy enough, gravity tugs on the droplets, and the clouds release their water as rain or snow. This precipitation falls into streams and rivers, which flow back to the oceans, seas, and lakes, where the water cycle can begin again.
It is obviously clear that Water Cycle and the Life Cycle are one!
2. ENERGY CYCLES
The sun is the source of all life on our earth. Every form of energy, except for atomic energy, can be traced back to the sun. Happily, the earth is at the best possible distance from the sun for the sun’s heat to provide this energy for life.
Energy from sunlight is used by plants to make food from air, water, and the minerals in the soil. This energy is stored by plants who are the primary producers in ecosystems. Energy sources such as the fossil fuels of coal, petroleum, and natural gas are really just ancient stockpiles of the sun’s energy stored in plants and the animals that ate those plants that are thousands or millions of years old. These fuels came from plants that used sunlight when they lived long ago. When these plants died, they fell to the ground where their remains piled up over thousands or millions of years. As this pile grew large, the remains at the very bottom became pressed together. Over time, these remains changed. Some became a gas - natural gas. Some became a liquid - petroleum. Some became a solid or a rock - coal. We use these forms of energy to power vehicles, heat homes, and run industries. Fossil fuels are considered non-renewable sources of energy because they cannot be replaced once they are used up.
3. LIFE CYCLE OF ANIMALS
The life cycle of an organism refers to the sequence of developmental stages that it passes through on its way to adulthood. Mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, insects and other invertebrates - they each have their own unique way of reproducing life. There is an amazing variety of life cycles within the animal world. Surprisingly, only about 3% of all animal species give birth to live young as part of their life cycle. Most animals lay eggs. All animals need to eat, to grow, to be safe, and to reproduce. This is all part of the life cycle. Their bodies are adapted in a wonderful range of ways to solve these problems of survival.
In our Booklet you can read more about 4-LIFE CYCLE OF PLANTS 5-SEASONAL CYCLES 6-PLANETARY CYCLES 7-OXYGEN CYCLE 8-CARBON CYCLE and 9-NITROGEN CYCLE
The Principles of Harmony are reminders that Nature is ordered and that the laws that maintain balance are timeless.
King Charles III summarises this brilliantly:
“Fashions may change, ideologies may come and go, but what remains certain is that Nature works as she has always done, according to these natural principles. If we work against the principles, nature will rid herself of us. She has done so with other life forms five times.”
Values for THE CYCLES:
HOPE: A feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.
Responsibility: The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something.
Competency for THE CYCLES:
Adaptability:
Maintaining effectiveness in different situations, environments and cultures. This competency relates to the ability to interact effectively with people from varying backgrounds, environments, and cultures to operate effectively under systems and procedures that vary from one culture to another: and to modify behaviour as culture and environments change through time. Adaptability differs from Flexibility in that it focuses on a person’s ability to change behaviour in DIFFERENT cultures and changing environments. Flexibility relates to the ability to change behaviour within the SAME culture or environment.
For further explanation and understanding, please read our handbook from page 58 to 64 on www.tukosawa.com
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