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Using the metaphor of metamorphosis, Carbon Dharma calls for our occupation of the Earth as Butterflies, to undo the damage done by the human species in its present Caterpillar stage of existence. It diagnoses the reasons for our Caterpillar stage of existence as the misinterpretation of the fundamental principles that underlie our democracy and our industrial civilization.

The book is intended for the youth of this world who are facing some of the gravest challenges ever faced by any generation of human beings. It is also intended for all those who love the youth of this world, for the youth cannot solve these challenges on their own while their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts continue to pile on more grave challenges for them to solve.

While drawing upon the ancient Hindu concept of Dharma, or “right action,” the book weaves illustrative stories from the author’s life and leads up to a global call to action, action of a very specific, focused kind. Rather than listing hundreds of “change-light-bulb” type actions that a lot of us have been doing disjointly, but somewhat ineffectively, it lists three specific actions that we can begin to do concertedly to make a difference. While changing the world is about changing ourselves, effecting social change requires such concerted action.

A Climate Healers Publication

ISBN-13: 978-1467928458
ISBN-10: 1467928453

Published November 2011

Email: srao@climatehealers.org
Publisher Website: https://www.climatehealers.org
Book Website: http://www.carbondharma.org

Front Cover Photo: Courtesy, the Karech Village Forest Protection Committee of Karech village, Udaipur District, Rajasthan, India, and the Foundation for Ecological Security, Anand, Gujarat, India.

Preface: Courtesy Brian D. McLaren
All Illustrations: Courtesy Niharika Desiraju.

Sailesh Rao is the Executive Director of the US 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, Climate Healers. An Electrical Engineer by training with a Ph.D., from Stanford University in Stanford, CA, Sailesh switched careers and became deeply immersed in the various environmental crises facing humanity after some life changing events and after he watched Vice President Al Gore’s slide show on TV. Carbon Dharma is the result of his findings over the years.

Preface is by Brian D. McLaren, an author, speaker, activist and public theologian. More on Brian at http://www.brianmclaren.net

All illustrations are by Niharika Desiraju of Danville, CA, USA, who drew them in the summer between her fifth and sixth grades.

Table of Contents
Preface
Prologue
1. The Caterpillar and the Butterfly
1.1 The Population Conundrum
1.2 Civilizational Transformations
1.3 Who are We?
2. Karma
2.1 Actions and Inaction Matter
2.2 The Strange Paradox
2.3 The Axiomatic Flaws
3. Dharma
3.1 The Cosmic Fig Tree
3.2 Two Pillars of Happiness
3.3 The Addiction of Wishing
4. The Really Inconvenient Truth
4.1 The Core Problem
4.2 The Root Cause
4.3 The Way Forward
5. The Kurukshetra of our Times
5.1 The Symbolism of Idols
5.2 The Unknowability of Absolute Truth
5.3 The Battle in our Minds
6. The Caterpillar Culture
6.1 Lust, Aggression and Greed
6.2 War on Nature
6.3 Winner Takes All
7. The Butterfly Culture
7.1 Regenerating Life
7.2 Conscious Consumption
7.3 The Creation of Abundance
8. Climate Healers
8.1 The Lighting Project
8.2 The “Namaste” Solar Cook Stove
8.3 Miglets to the Rescue
9. The Metamorphosis
9.1 Miglets and the Corporations
9.2 Awakening through Awareness
9.3 Call to Action
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Interesting Facts and References
Bibliography

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