Yes and no. It obviously makes practical sense to deal with objects in an appropriate way - when a car approaches I get out of the way - I don't walk straight into a tree and I don't jump off a building to find out if I can fly.
The same is true for the body - I don't cut off my arms and legs just because they are not what defines me. I am quite happy to use them.
Problems arise as soon as we only see and value the objective side of existence and neglect reality. The practicality angle if disconnected from truth turns from a happy dream into a nightmare - we can see the ego-centric results at every corner and our addiction to practicality is increasing as we speak.
It would survive very well if all of humanity had the same values/understanding - I agree that it might not survive as long as we have waring nations that believe it is better to conquer than to share.
Yes, unfortunately. And why? Because people see themselves as separate beings that can benefit from exploiting others. A grand illusion that has not made anyone happy. How often do we have to make the same mistakes before we finally understand that in a war there are no winners.
Agree - and now we have plastic chocking our beaches, chemicals polluting water and soil etc etc... we are on a highway to self destruction.
No separation doesn't mean there are no illusions (wrong beliefs). We are not doing the planets bidding but act on the illusory belief that we can personally benefit from our actions. As long as we walk a path that we have invented and drawn on a map based on wrong information, there is no chance we will ever reach a goal that is worth reaching. Yes, we may achieve temporary things, power, social status or money, but lasting peace and happiness is impossible to reach - the road we travel simply doesn't lead there.