Mollison's Permaculture Principles: Attitude

 “When you are thwarted, it is your own attitude that is out of order” –Meister Eckhart

“The Problem is the Solution” –Bill Mollison

What does Bill Mollison, the father of Permaculture, have in common with Meister Eckhart, a medieval German theologian and visionary? The answer is quite simple: they both understood that attitude is everything; that “problems,” however intractable they may seem, exist only in the mind—in wishing things were other than they are. But with a change in perspective, and a dose of creative inspiration, any given “problem” can become an opportunity.

For this reason, many of Mollison’s most profound teachings deal with adaptive vs. maladaptive attitudes toward the natural world, the real world in which we find ourselves, governed by both the laws of physics and the principles of ecology. So here they are (as summarized by Brett Prichard):

https://www.permaculturefundamentals.com/?p=59

 

And here again are the immensely useful “mind maps” that Pritchard has created to illustrate each of these six principles of adaptation to the real world:

http://www.permaculturefundamentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/13_NATURAL_FORCES.pdf

http://www.permaculturefundamentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/14_YIELD.pdf

http://www.permaculturefundamentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/15_COOPERATION.pdf

http://www.permaculturefundamentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/16_POSITIVITY.pdf

http://www.permaculturefundamentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/17_PROXIMITY.pdf

http://www.permaculturefundamentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/18_DEMONSTRATION.pdf

 

And that’s all. I hope you have enjoyed, downloaded, and started to study Brett Pritchard’s  superb and accessible summary of Bill Mollison’s luminous teachings on Permaculture. It is a Gaian curriculum, par excellence, and as with any pyramidal chart, you can, as you wish, start at the top (Ethics) or at the foundation (Attitudes) in mastering the basic principles of Permaculture.