It is Christmas AD 2200. The polar ice melted long ago. Everyone had been forced to move back from the oceans 200 years ago. All species of animals have disappeared. We join our story in New York State in the early morning after a snowfall of 12 inches… 西元2200年，极地的冰山早已融化，人类被迫撤离200年前就开始仰赖的海洋资源，全部的动物物种皆已消失灭绝。清晨一场积雪高达12英吋高的大降雪，使得纽约州也跟着加入这故事。
The snow covered the ground, trees, and huts. It was pure and clean, falling steadily since last night. I reached down and scooped up a hand full and held it to my bleeding lips and gums. Before I slipped on the ice and fell, my smile beamed with the solid continuity of youth. Now, with front teeth missing, the big dark mouth had an aura of agedness and imbecility. It’s ok, there were not many reasons to smile anymore and there are plenty of reasons to keep my mouth shut. It was my own fault that I fell. I just stopped paying attention for a second. Here at the cusp of the 24th century, everything seemed to be falling apart, just because we stopped paying attention. I was humming to myself that ancient child’s song “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, my two front teeth.” The only dentists we have now just pull teeth out, so St. Nick is my only hope. 纯净的白雪从昨晚就开始不停的降下，地上、树上、小屋的屋顶都被覆盖着，我弯下身用双手捧起了雪，放在正在流血的嘴唇和牙龈上。在我滑倒摔在结冰的路面之前，我才正在青春不摧地开心大笑，现在咧，门牙没了，黑压压的嘴里只笼罩着衰老与愚蠢的氛围。没关系的，这世上也没有多少让人可散发微笑的理由，倒是让我能闭上嘴的因素挺多的。是我自己摔倒的，只是没留意才一秒钟而已，在这24世纪的分界点上似乎所有事情的分崩离析，也都仅是因为我们没有留心注意。我内心哼着那首大家都知道的儿歌” 耶诞佳节我只想要两颗大门牙，我的两颗大门牙，我的两颗大门牙。“这时间里唯一有上班的牙医生帮我把牙齿拔了出来，所以耶诞老人（St. Nick）成了我唯一的希望。
All the old big cities were submerged and decaying now. Most of Manhattan’s tall buildings had collapsed into the flooded streets. There was nothing left alive in the oceans. They had been empty for centuries, covered in floating plastic trash. Nothing except plastic lasted very long anymore, not skyscrapers, not teeth. All of the old people died quickly in the heat. Another half died from diseases carried in the little water that remained. The animals were the first to go. Wild animals, farm animals, dogs, cats , birds and rats, all were scavenged and consumed quickly by people fleeing the inundated urban environment. The humans really didn’t know how to survive without a market or a carcass. Then the humans began to eat each other, and life became untenable for a while. Humans died of terrible sicknesses when they ate each other. They went mad. 较为老旧的城市已经浸泡、腐烂在融雪里，整个曼哈顿的高楼也大多沦陷在淹水的街道中。海洋内已无任何生命存在，就这样空荡荡的长达了几个世纪，只有四处漂浮的塑胶垃圾遍布在海面，完完全全的空无一物，除了那些即便过了很久，都还是不会消失的塑胶垃圾以外，没有摩天大楼，也没有任何的牙齿。老年人们因敌不过热浪而加速死亡，剩下的生命也因为少量仅存的水资源所挟带的疾病而致死。动物们的性命首当其冲，野生动物、畜牧农场内的动物、狗、猫、鸟与老鼠，全都被逃离淹水状态的城市人类们迅速寻觅和消费食用。没有了生鲜超市或是动物们的畜体，人类实在不知道该如何存活，接着人类开始啃食彼此，成了生命难以维持的局面。人吃人的情景，也为人类招来可怕的致死疾病，人类疯了。
But that was a long time ago, and things are better now. There are new tribes and a barter economy. People work hard to scavenge what little remains of the old days to trade—a piece of cloth or length of wire, for a handful of beans or an apple. The farmers raise simple food and have to patrol their fields day and night to protect from thievery. They are happy to trade you an armload of potatoes for an old shovel or hoe. Eventually, the old knowledge has come back and the ability to find a meal in the forest is commonplace now. People make broth from roots, mushrooms, moss and bark, and salad from wild leaves. They say that in the old times people were actually fat. Nobody is fat anymore. 但是刚刚说的那些，都是很久以前的事了，现在状况好转许多。新的群聚部落以及以物易物的易货经济型态出现后，人们开始努力去寻觅旧时代遗留下来的物品，拿去做交易，像是：一块布料、一条电线、或是一把豆子、一颗苹果。农民们种植一些性质较为简单的作物，为了防范偷窃，还得不分日夜的巡视农地，所以他们十分开心能捧着一堆马铃薯来交换二手的铲子或锄头。最终，人们又开始运用过去旧有的生活知识，现在能够拥有踏进森林找食物饱餐一顿的能力也司空见惯，用根茎类蔬菜和蘑菇、苔癣、树皮制作汤汁，用野外的树叶做成沙拉，据说从前那时的人们都是肥胖的，倒是现在都没有人是胖的啊。
The winter came back 20 or 30 years ago. Winter is only one month long, but it comes twice each year. Our tradition is to pursue the arts during the dark cold days. We make music and dance together, and people give speeches and recite poetry about all subjects. My favorite subject is history. Things grow fast and thick in the torrential summer rainstorms and hard sun, and that makes life easier. They say the level of CO2 in the atmosphere is helpful for growing things. Sometimes I wonder what it’s like in other parts of the Earth since the late 2000’s, but something tells me that I should be grateful for the life I have, and pray to achieve the essence of Self in this very life. 20、30年前开始恢复了冬天，一年有两次，每次的冬天会持续一整个月，暗黑又冷的日子里，从事艺术活动已成了我们的传统。我们编曲、跳舞，演说以及吟诵不同种类的诗歌，历史类的尤其是我的最爱，纵使在夏天的烈日与暴雨之下，上述那些大量的活动也让生活过得轻松不少。有一说，大气中的二氧化碳（CO2）浓度高低是有助于一切事物增长的，有时我会好奇，自从西元2000年以后，地球的其他区域到底是成了什么样子，但有些事物告诉了我，我该做的应该是感激我所拥有的生活，并在这样的人生中，实现神性大我的真理。
There is a change in the atmosphere. There is a change in the climate. Change is the nature of life. Fighting change is not a viable alternative. People are born, grow old, and die. Planets are also born, grow old, and die. Even gods are born, grow old, and die. If we accept that death and change are facts of life, then our response should be to treasure the fleeting moments in each day and to direct change toward an artful positive end. We should strive to discover the essence of self-knowledge, that force of Cosmic Self that is not subject to birth or death. 大气层结构在改变，气候型态在改变，变化其实就是一切生命的本质，试图去抵抗变化根本是行不通的。人类出生、成长、衰老然后死亡，宇宙中的行星们也是，即使是崇高的神性也是经历出生、成长、衰老与死亡。我们应当接受死亡与改变这二者是必然会发生的，珍惜每日稍纵即逝的每一刻，将每次的改变都巧妙转化为正面乐观的结局，致力于自身的了解与实现，感受那股超脱生死影响的神性大我力量。
Sarasvati is the goddess who can lead us to the essence of self-knowledge. Sara means “essence”, and sva means “one self.” Sarasvati is the “essence of one self” or the “one who leads to the essence of self -knowledge.” She appears in the Rg Veda as both a sacred river and a goddess. She embodies knowledge, arts, music, muse, language, and virtue. Some of her names mean the “power of Brahma,” “goddess of sciences ,” history, music/song, speech, and the “one who dwells on the tongue of poets.” She is action embodied and her vehicle is hamsa, the migrating white swan. 萨拉斯瓦蒂女神（Sarasvati）能够引领我们迈向自知自觉。 Sara 的梵文解释为“ 纯粹本质 ”，sva则为 “ 唯一真我 “，Sarasvati 指的就是 “ 唯一真我的本质 “ 或是 ” 引导迈向自我实现的神性 ”。萨拉斯瓦蒂女神在梨俱吠陀（Rg Veda）里，同时代表着神圣的河流与河川女神的意义，祂囊括体现了知识、艺术、音乐、缪斯、语言和美德。有时祂的圣名指的是 “ 梵天（Brahma）的力量 “、”科学、历史、音乐/乐曲、演说的守护者 ”，或是 ” 栖身在诗人舌上的语言之神 ”。祂具体实践行动，迁徙移动的白天鹅（hamsa）正是祂的坐骑。
The pursuit of Self-knowledge can be described as artful living. For art to be significant—meaning important, universal, and enduring—it must transcend the medium, the moment, and the artist, and continue to inform everyone who experiences it. Art that spoils in the gutter of self-consciousness and stupidity do not live past the expiration date stamped ingloriously on the wrapping. Sarasvati, through her insistence on perfection, gives immortality to art by directing it past the moment of creation into the horizon of the future. 追求自我理解与实现，可以是一种巧妙的生活方式。艺术若是要达到具有长远显著的意义，是必须越过中间的媒介、时机、和艺术家，并持续的散播给所有经历过的人。如果受到自我意识与愚蠢无知的糟蹋，艺术并不是印着有效期限包装好的物品，它会继续留着，不会过期的。所以希望能凭借着萨拉斯瓦蒂女神（Sarasvati）对圆满美好的坚持，引领人们越过当初的创造时刻，进入未来的开始视野，赋予艺术永存不朽的精神。
Climate change is a fact. Where it will lead is still to be revealed, but it will lead us to some unknown future. The future has always been unknown, but, in leading artless lives now, we dare to abandon the underlying righteousness that could make any future a worthwhile adventure in being. Artful living is actually the way to make climate change into a better day. We cannot turn back the onward destruction of Kala (time), but we can make timeless history today. Artful living is streamlined, ecological, vegan, wisdom-filled, diverse, meditative, prayerful, independent, multi-lingual, world-centered, Cosmic, devoted, futuristic and historic, life-affirming, and packed with the goddess force of creation. 气候变迁是既定事实，变迁的状况也持续在揭露中，最终人类的走向至今未卜。未来本是无法预测的，在这朴实单纯的生活里，我们勇于抛开根本正义，让未来的生活成为一场有价值的冒险。充满艺术气息的精巧生活，实际上也算是个让气候变化转为美好一天的生活方式，我们没法逆转大黑天神 （Kala ，意为时间）的持续摧毁，但是我们能创造永恒的今日经历。环绕艺术气息的生活是：精简流畅的、生态环保的、严守纯素主义的、充满智慧的、多元性的、沉思冥想的、感恩祈祷的、独立的、多种语言的、以世界为中心的、广大宇宙的、忠诚的，富有前瞻未来的、和具有历史性的，肯定生命意义的、与充满萨拉斯瓦蒂女神（Sarasvati）神性创造力量的。
