“Beat Plastic Pollution” Event to Honor Environment at Global Co-operation House, London

An event to honour the UN World Environment Day was organised at Global Cooperation House in London on the topic “Treading Lightly on the Earth”.
BK Maria Faundez, who had organised the event, welcomed everyone. She introduced the Brahma Kumaris Environment Initiative and how it has been encouraging green initiatives at all the Centres across the world. The afternoon was dedicated to World Environment Day, June 5th, and the focus this year is to “beat plastic pollution“. Maria mentioned that a slogan of the Brahma Kumaris is “when we change the world changes”. She hoped the afternoon would inspire each of us to make positive changes in our life. A minute’s silence to send peaceful vibrations to the world was held before BK Thiru Seelan performed a dramatic dance, demonstrating the beauty, harmony, peacefulness and coolness of nature. The dance also demonstrated the sudden unpredictability and explosive power of natural forces to create chaos, as a result of human behaviour. Thiru is an Indian, classical, and contemporary dancer who is studying for an MA in dance movement psychotherapy.

BK Nik Haddadi, a facilitator in social change, facilitated the discussion that took place between Catherine Allinson, Founder and Director of Future Earth Ltd; Dharmachari Sanghasiha, Teacher at the London Buddhist Centre and Deep Ecology retreats Leader; and  Sister Jayanti, European Director of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, who has headed the BK delegation for the UN Climate Change Conferences since 2009. Each speaker spoke for ten minutes, sharing their perspective on how we can tread lightly on the earth.

Catherine Allinson expressed that “There has been a huge increase in world population since 1970.  We are now 7.6 billion.  93,000 billion tons of resources, excluding water, enters the global economy each year to provide for our food, energy, houses, clothes, everything that we use.  Each day, I use half my weight.  We are piling up the waste in the world. Regarding use of plastic, it’s estimated that 93 billion tons of plastic have been produced since the 1950s.  Approximately 480 billion plastic bottles were sold in 2016, nearly a quarter of those by the Coca Cola company. It takes 450 years for those bottles to biodegrade.  Imagine the pollution we are creating just through the use of plastic bottles.”

Sister Jayanti gave thanks to Thiru for the amazing dance, to Catherine for the powerful statistics and information, and to Sanghasiha for the beautiful poetry he shared. The dignity of an enlightened soul is seen through its contentment. Dadi Janki, who is 102, continues to demonstrate this and show us how spirit can also harmonize matter.

Sister Jayanti said, “Dignity comes from knowing, valuing, and respecting the self. When I value myself, I am able to respect myself. To do this, I need to know myself, to come back to the inner identity rather than the external form. I need to make a connection with my spiritual identity and see the values that I carry. It works inside out. When there is self-respect, I am able to respect other humans and see them as part of my family. I am then able to respect all forms of life, all aspects of nature, and the world around me. The word ecology is the study and understanding of my home. My first home, the home of the soul, is this sacred chariot, this vehicle of mine, this home of mine, the body. As the living being, living within this home provided to me by nature, I need to be very careful how I use it and what I use it for. Within this ecology I tread lightly. Am I thumping the earth when I move or am I stepping lightly? When I am feeling light, happy, and easy, I move in a light way. The inner being is seen in the outer. Can I treat this home of mine with love and respect knowing that it offers a very important shelter? Am I able to treat this planet, which is our home, with equal love, respect, and care? It is said that no species pollutes its own nest, except the human species. All the faith traditions have taught people the value of respect, particularly respect for nature. Today we have forgotten those simple things. For example, giving a prayer before a meal or a thanksgiving after for nature’s provisions and thanking the One who has allowed that to happen. Also, we don’t need to think so much. We can create space to come back to those sacred moments of quiet at dawn, when we eat, and in the evening to come back to silence, to our own inner world. Then, we appreciate the beauty within, as well as in nature. There is a direct link between consciousness and climate. My awareness impacts my attitude, which impacts my vision, which impacts my actions, hence the culture and world that I live in. Natural resources have been reduced to their commercial value. The forest is no longer a source of beauty or a resource of nature. It has become only timber. Clearing the wood has provided grassland to feed cattle, or space for a road. Everything has been reduced to pounds and pence, yet this is not what life is about. The truth, the beauty of life, the love and happiness we experience are not commercial!”

Suggestions came up such as reducing waste and giving things a longer life, deciding to have oat milk and not buying another plastic bottle this year. The speakers then reconvened for a question and answer session.

Some of the main points were:  To those that don’t believe in climate change we would say, think not of yourself but reflect on how you would like your grandchildren to experience the earth. Although certain actions might be safeguarding jobs and growth, what is it safeguarding in terms of happiness and experience?  It is important to understand that carbon is only a measure. Carbon is natural. We use it, the birds, bees and the trees use it. It’s the pollution that is the problem, for example airplanes put carbon in
the wrong place, in the stratosphere. We need to be more considerate and mindful of our means of transportation.  How many people walk more than 15 minutes to anywhere?  The earth is always in flux and is a combination of continuous processes. The ecosystems’ cycles are constantly in flux; everything is in motion. Do we want the change to happen at such an extreme rate, which usually affects the poorest and the most vulnerable first? For example, dramatic rising sea levels, loss of livelihood, angry hurricanes. Do we want to cope with the world in that state of dramatic flux? Or do we prefer the periods of calm in between, which are also changing? I prefer to use the term climate variability because climate is always and will always change.  How can we move away from our obsession to rationalise things? We need to connect with the mystical and the archetypal, to have a sense of beauty.  Joy is gained by reconnecting with a sense of spiritual longing that’s there for my own benefit and that of others. It manifests itself in connecting with the magical, the mythical, the archetypal. For something to be spiritually true, it doesn’t have to be rationalised, tested, seen, touched, or quantified in any way.  Is it possible to quantify the beauty of a rose? There is no way we can quantify it, and that shows me that rationality doesn’t always explain everything.  For a healthy life, we need to get out into nature more, to spend time being still in nature, in silence.  Spending time in nature, silencing the mind, can increase productivity, clarity, and our ability to discern and resolve problems.  What I do see is that people go into nature to find something. Mystics have searched for God in the mountain tops and forests. Nature and the Divine are deeply connected. Nature plays an important part in all of that.  Nature is everywhere, we just have to open our eyes. It is an internal attitude we can develop.  When I get a spiritual awakening, I get a sense of liberation and feel deeply connected with who I am, while at the same time surrendering to something bigger than myself, more powerful and mysterious.  We can diminish the pull of material things by experiencing more happiness and love. Then we realise we don’t need so much.  When we appreciate our true inner nature, we can appreciate everything and everyone else.  There are swathes of people all around the world who are working to keep us consuming goods and services in unsustainable and unethical lifestyles.  The crisis the world is facing requires a spiritual response. We need to change ourselves and our awareness. It’s a question of what is going on in here, inside ourselves.  When a small minority of committed individuals come together it can create a ‘critical mass’ and there can then be a shift in consciousness.  The world of peace has to come again. We have been through a long period of darkness and what is ahead of us is a long period of light.

Maria gave thanks to everyone for a full and fascinating afternoon and Sister Jayanti closed with a powerful meditation to walk lightly on the earth. Toli (sweet) and blessing cards were given to all the attendees.