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Re: 161_Masanuba_Fukoukas_Natural_ (fwd)



london@mercury.interpath.com (Lawrence London - Personal Account)
wrote:


>I remember how offensive I first found Fukuoka when I first encountered his
>ideas.  It went against everything I had learned and seemed very arrogant.
>He seemed to be giving up and seemed completely unrealistic.  After ten
>years of wasting my energy fighting nature, I find his ideas much more
>palatable.  Now, how can I get a copy of his book?  More to the point,
>where can I visit rice farms using his methods?  Does anyone know the
>whereabouts of the organic rice farm of Khun Boonchand of Northeast
>Thailand, referred to in the magazine "Turning Wheel" of the Buddhist Peace
>Fellowship?  Khun Boonchand apparently had some success converting a whole
>village to Fukokoka's methods of farming, but has apparently gone off to
>Italy with an Italian wife.  How far are the Lundgren brothers in Northern
>California from the "one-straw revolution?" I tend to be in the San
>Francisco Bay Area or Thailand, but could easily stop over in Hawaii or
>(more expensively, I suppose) Japan.
>
>Is Fukuoka alive and receiving visitors? From the tone of his writing I
>imagined him like the Taoist sages that hurled rocks at visitors to
>preserve their solitude.  I guess this ties into the Privacy, Peace, and
>Permaculture issue that I confess I did not see the relevance of until just
>now!  Perhaps I've missed learning the protocols required to keep one's
>teeth in one's head when visiting permaculture demonstration sites?  The
>old Hindu sages were always approached with branches of wood in hand,
>ostensibly to offer on the altar fire, but possibly also useful to fend off
>projectiles hurled by the irritated rishis!  Perhaps nowadays, sheets of
>cardboard might be a more ecologically correct offering and defense!  A
>little awkward to carry in a high wind, however!
>
>Regards,  William Thornton (wjta@mail.hooked.net)
>
>
Hi, I remember an article in the Mother Earth News, interviewing
Fukuoka.  It described how the Japanese government built
a 8-lane superhighway right thru his farm in Japan.

The author indicated that Fukuaka had " a tear running down his
cheek", and that he seemed to understand his way would not 
withstand the onslaught of modern civilization.

I would have loved to lived a simple life of ox-farming and
permaculture, but as we sit here typing on our computers,
we are the "unwitting enemies".

Fukuoka's way of life requires a "slow, peaceful earth".
There would be very little manufacturing , and the war-machine
would be karate, spears, clubs, and rocks.

The very infrastructure, which make this communication possible,
sets up a tax structure and military-industrial complex which dosn't
allow Fukuoka's lifestyle--- except in a monastic setting. Those
monastic settings are usually dependent on outside income and
the members are always tempted to leave for the modern trappings.

So----  even though I love Fukuoka's ideas, the full realization of
his way will probably be on another planet, Earth is heading for
the "Cosmic Ratrace".  

Any Comments?

Joe




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