The Sun is Deep

 

The Sun is Deep

By

Kenneth H. Laundra, Ph.D.

 

At rising sun

A moment in the morn

When we’re all alone

We can hear nature moan

In our flesh and bone

And in the skin that we burned

In our eyes she shows

From stardust we are born

 

I arose early this morning to watch the sun rise, and to perform my daily ritual of meditation, breathing exercises, and stretching, something I’ve come to term, “Ronnyama”, which is a variable blend of these three activities, based in lessons learned from my mom, Ronnie, who first taught me stretch yoga and meditation when I was about 10, and Pranayama yoga, which emphasizes breathing. I’ve discovered that this morning ritual helps to sharpen my brain for the upcoming day of lecturing to students on a variety of topics. On this day, the subject I was contemplating was deep ecology, for my Environmental Sociology class…

So, what exactly is “deep ecology”? This is an enduring and complex question which will require your full attention and consideration, but the epiphany it brings is worth the price of admission, which is a whole new way of looking at your life for just twenty minutes of your time spent reading and reflecting in a quiet place. Are you prepared? Then let’s go!

Deep Ecology is a term coined by Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess in 1973, in his now-famous article, “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary”, where he suggested that any meaningful connection to nature will be an emotional or spiritual one, an experience that reaches beyond the halls of scientific or academic inquiry and into the depths of a new ecophilosophy, or what he called, “ecosophy”, referring to an environmental philosophy that integrates a certain wisdom that acknowledges and appreciates the interdependent relationship between humans and their natural environments and the rights of nature. This ecosophy is founded in a practical environmental ethic of behaving conscientiously when interacting with nature and other living (and non-living) things, and in promoting the real benefits of biodiversity and cultural diversity. It is an appreciation of the benefits of living harmoniously with nature and, in fact, with the universe itself, which necessarily involves practicing what you preach by being mindful of your human footprint, your own spirituality, and humanity’s overall impact on the Earth.

That’s the academic definition. But Naess and others who advocate for the ethic and practice of deep ecology – not all of whom refer to it as deep ecology – want you to know that there’s more to it than that, much more. As Naess and Sessions described in 1984, and Seed, Macy, Naess and Fleming explain in Think Like a Mountain, there are some basic principles of deep ecology.  But the core principles these authors refer to harken back to principles advocated by the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir, and Rachel Carson in Silent Spring. Even further back we can trace these principles to the indigenous  concept of the “web of life”, or “Hozho” among Navahos. These principles, or values, include both a perceptual and actual choice to be an advocate for the Earth by actively thinking and acting in ways that honor the relationship we all have with the physical universe and all life on Earth.

One way we can do this is by reflecting on this relationship, in meditation. Yes, actual meditation, in a form that suits you. Maybe your mindful reflections are deepest while in lotus position sitting peacefully while watching the sun rise, focusing on your breath. Or maybe you prefer movement such as yoga or holotropic breathing techniques such as the Wim Hof method, or just walking in the woods engaged in Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing). or perhaps a psychedelic experience is the prescription, such as a magical dose of psilocybin mushrooms. Or maybe praying to a god is how you get there. Whatever method brings you deeper.

The energy of the universe

is a wavelength of light and energy

And the main goal in life

is to dial-in to your perfect station

To fine tune

Each day

To the sound of your joy

And groove to the beat

Of your rhythm

Dancing with those you love

 In this space, where you can actually feel the universe vibrating, talking to you in a language you can hear but only decipher with your imagination, you enter the “Council of All Beings” where the revelation that everything is connected to everything else is so blaringly apparent  that voicing it seems astonishingly superfluous. It is the experience of tapping into the multidimensional, multiuniversal energy, proposed by quantum physics and string theory, where all knowledge is created and known, where everything has always been created and known. Everything everywhere all at once.

And, as an unexpected bonus, these intense and often deeply profound experiences also improve your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being (no god required), including lowered blood pressure, reduced stress and anxiety, a stronger immune system, higher cognitive functioning, and sharper senses, as this stoic calm flows through you, leaving you in a state of peaceful vibration.  

Another way we can honor our relationship with Gaia is by acting intentionally to help the Earth heal, by reducing our consumption of natural resources, by repurposing or reusing materials we use that are products of the Earth, and by recycling those products when we can.  

Still another way is to connect to others, to form relationships, and to help and support other living things. After all, the deep epiphany of this eco-awareness is that we are all one. I am a part of you and you are a part of me. Or, as the Rastafarians exclaim, One Love. So, causing injury or harm to another is akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face. You’re only injuring yourself. This ethos also entails the rationale for helping others, including our animal brethren.

Animals are people to

Don’t laugh

It’s true

For just like you

They know the truth

That sometimes, just sometimes

Dreams can come true

 Stretching the boundaries of deep ecology even further, we can evoke concepts of interconnectedness and interdependence from religion and physics, at the point at which they intersect. For example, the branch of quantum physics known as string theory (or M theory) posits that, although we experience reality in just four dimensions, there are actually eleven dimensions, including extra dimensions of time and space. In this theory, calculated mathematically, in order to balance the equations of the quantum world (at the subatomic level) with those of the astrophysicists’ equations that explain elemental properties (at the universal level), we can only merge them by calculating for eleven dimensions, which, in most models, is sufficient to claim a “theory of everything”, which assumes these extra dimensions. String theory also suggests that there are multiple, even an infinite number of, other universes (the “multiverse”), but you can go down that rabbit hole on your own 😊I’ll chase a rabbit down a different hole today…

So what exactly would an extra dimension look and feel like to a human being? Well, it wouldn’t look or feel like anything because we are apparently restricted to experiencing just four dimensions (three of space and one of time). We can, however, imagine these other dimensions, either through theoretical math, human intuition, or both. That intuition, or spiritual sense, is often thought of as religion, which, as an expression of our imagination isn’t actually the obstacle for merging these seemingly distinct paradigms of science versus faith (well, maybe organized religion is!).

 For religion, our imaginations have run wild with this, but the core idea among the major faiths all include an afterlife, reincarnation, or heaven, which are all perceived to be located in a space we cannot go while we are alive in this world. In other words, heaven exists in another dimension. So whether you call it Jannah (Islam), Svarga (Hinduism), Nirvana (Buddhism), Zion, or Olam Ha-Ba or Gan Eden (Judaism), all religions can imagine a special dimension only accessible from outside our four-dimensional reality. This is where science and physics meet religion, and where we can better comprehend the nature of reality itself, including ideas about a creator. Although quantum/string theory and the “big bang” theory of astrophysics do not require a creator (a god) to balance their equations, whereas most religions do, this does not make these traditions unreconcilably incompatible. In one tradition, you believe that God created the universe. In the other, you believe God IS the universe. While the incompatibility surfaces in practice, the central notion that intersects both the scientific with the spiritual is the notion that we are all one. We are all a part of a larger thing. You might think of this thing as strings of vibrating energy, or as a human-like deity with thoughts and feelings, or as a matter of matter (where thought itself has atomic weight and is, thus, matter), or as a collective consciousness existing in the spirit world but, any way you slice it, we can all agree that we are all joined as one in some eternal place, merely represented by words and images in the four-dimensional space we are stuck in.

Personally, I think of this place as a big ball of white energy, or light, like the sun.

The Sun, a boundless gift

Fuels green and breath

We, Earth’s stewards

Shift its light to life or death

 

 

Works cited

 

Bennett, Iona. 2023. Quantum Physics is Everything Everywhere All at Once. The Oxford Blues Archives. The Oxford Blues Student Newspaper CIC. Retrieved 10-1-2025 from https://theoxfordblue.co.uk/quantum-physics-is-everything-everywhere-all-at-once/

 

Hodges, D. 2024. One Love: Jamaican Words Explained. Jamaican Patwah. Retrieved 10-12-2025 from https://jamaicanpatwah.com/b/one-love-jamaican-words-explained

 

Knudson, Jack. 2025. Could Earth Develop Its Own Consciousness? The Gaia Hypothesis Offers an Unorthodox Answer. Discover Magazine. Retrieved 10-22-2025 from https://www.discovermagazine.com/could-earth-develop-its-own-consciousness-the-gaia-hypothesis-offers-an-47557

 

Long, Clayton. The Meaning of Hozhu. 2024. Hozhu Speaks (podcast). Retrieved 10-12-2025 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDe4MNMbP_A. www.spagoshi.com

 

Næss, Arne (1973). "The shallow and the deep, long‐range ecology movement: a summary" (PDF). Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy. 16 (1–4): 95–100. doi:10.1080/00201747308601682. S2CID 52207763.

 

Naess, Arne and George Sessions. Basic Principles of Deep Ecology, Retrieved 10-12-2025 from https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/arne-naess-and-george-sessions-basic-principles-of-deep-ecology

 

O’Connor, Alex. 2025. String Theory, Multiverse, and Divine Design - Brian Greene. Within Reason (podcast). Retrieved 10-12-2025 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9z5il_FQUw&t=1318s

 

PBS Documentaries. Rachel Carson. 2025. American Experience. Retrieved 10-20-2025 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFDh9c34XX4

 

Seed, John. 2022. Council of All Beings. Retrieved 10-11-2025 from https://deepecology.net/posts/essays/essay-council-of-all-beings-seed/

 

Seed, Macy, Fleming and Naess. 1988. Thinking Like A Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings. New Society Publishers. Gabriola Island. Retrieved 10-12-2025 from https://deepecology.net/posts/books/book-thinking-like-a-mountain-seed-et-al-pdf/

 

Terra, Emma. 2023. How Forest Bathing Can Change Your Life: Shinrin Yoku. Retrieved 10-5-2025 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNqFn-2ZEt4

 

Wim Hof. 2025. Breathing Exercises. Wim Hof Method. Retrieved 10-12-2025 from https://www.wimhofmethod.com/breathing-exercises

 

World Science Festival. 2019. What is String Theory? . World Science Festival. Retrieved 10-15-2025 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI6sY0kCPpk