Want to save the planet, it all begins and ends with "awareness". Watch the 3 minute movie which explores the role of consciousness and climate change. Click on this url http://youtu.be/3S4XkPnURSc
The Brahma Kumaris Environment Initiative explores the interdependent relationship between two living systems, mind & matter, and introduces ways in which individuals and organizations can contribute to sustainable and harmonious living by taking realistic and attainable steps. These include SIMPLE LIVING, MEDITATION & VEGETARIAN DIET. http://environment.brahmakumaris.org
A Spiritual Interpretation of the Environmental Crisis
To understand the environmental crisis in spiritual terms, it is helpful to consider two factors: the quality of thought energy or awareness sustained by the various actors in the world, and how it affects subsequent actions undertaken in relation to society, economy, and nature. The quality of awareness is variable and, for the sake of clarity, can be given three distinct designations: Pure (and holistic), mixed (and changeable), and impure (and fragmented).
When one maintains a pure and holistic level of awareness s/he will move through the world considering the self and the natural world as part of one deeply connected system. S/he will hold an attitude of trusteeship and be moved by nature’s self‐ renewing cycles, living easily in a way that supports these. S/he will move through the world with a feeling of benevolence, care and gratitude.
Someone with a mixed or fluctuating level of awareness will be easily influenced by others and find it difficult to maintain a stable inner state and clarity. In one minute s/he will see with a unified vision, sensing a loving connection with all things, and in the next s/he will be influenced by attachment and desire, using the natural world for personal gain.
When someone has an impure awareness and attitude, s/he will be isolated from feeling unity with the natural world, and be absorbed by her/his own wants and desires, and influenced by feelings of righteousness, want, and frustration around her/him. Upon entering a forest, for example, s/he would see the trees as an instant commodity to be cut, used and sold for personal gain. S/he would not see the great long‐term social, environmental and economic value of a tree left in its rightful place.
These different levels of awareness are aligned with the quality of thought. Certain kinds of thoughts produce these levels of awareness, and these levels of awareness in turn produce a certain quality of thinking. The highest level of awareness is aligned with the notion of purity. A “pure” thought flows from the highest principles, from a unified awareness, from universal virtues such as love and peace. It is unadulterated by greed, anger, or blame. It is unsullied and imbued with deep dignity and virtue.
Seen through a spiritual lens, the current environmental crisis is the result of a loss of pure and unified awareness. It is the inevitable result of a widespread degradation in thought, a dilution of the original integrity of human awareness, and so the natural world. This is why metaphors of separate pillars and solutions that negotiate among these ostensibly separate domains fail us. They don’t address the prime mover of these phenomena; the life‐force of awareness that moves subtly, in energetic currents through the world.
Caring For The Environment
We are guardians of the Earth’s resources. We can help each other to grow in terms of our awareness of the natural world as a living system that needs our care, and deepen our concern for cultures living in environmentally fragile lands. By becoming more mindful of these issues and more compassionate in our attitudes we can make environmental choices that can be felt in all spheres of our lives.
The four main attitudes that will empower our environmental approach are
1. Living Simply – Lets ask ourselves for the Earth’s sake as well for the sake of economy, before we buy anything ‘Is this purchase really necessary?
2. Buying Compassionately – where purchases are necessary, and local budgets allow, environmentally-kind choices are sought out and considered.
3. Using economically – using resources carefully, from a place of respect and gratitude for the people who produced them and the resources that were used to create them.
4. Sharing generously - spreading best environmental practices with others
Living in Harmony with Our Natural Resources
Solar Energy
For more than 15 years the Brahma Kumaris has been actively involved in the research and demonstration of alternative renewable energy concepts. Currently, we are constructing “India One“, an innovative 1 Mw solar thermal power plant at the Shantivan Campus of the Brahma Kumaris spiritual headquarters, Abu Road, Rajasthan, India.
This ambitious project uses 770 newly developed 60m2 parabolic dishes and features thermal storage for continuous operation. The plant will generate enough heat and power for the campus of 20,000 people and provides a sustainable model for decentralized solar energy generation in India.
“India One” is executed by the World Renewal Spiritual Trust (a sister organization of the Brahma Kumaris) and partly funded by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources (MNRE), India and the German Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). For more details, visit www.india-one.net