6th and 7th Day – Climate Change Conference – Saturday and Sunday, 4th and 5th December
Saturday 4th December
Climate Change Village
A group of us accompanied Sister Jayanti, Golo Pilz and Patricia Itergurri for a presentation on Consciousness and Climate: A Confluence of Two Living Systems at the Climate change Village – this is the NGO Forum sponsored by the Mexican Federal Government. The area is a converted go-cart sports arena with large pavilions and huge stages that had been set up for evening entertainment. Our workshop was within one of these pavilions in a large sports arena.
We were first the audience to a presentation by a Mexican filmmaker called Juan Carlos Rulfo, La Medi a Luna Productions SA.C.V. It was very interesting what he had to say and it was a perfect lead into our workshop. He had made a film about the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the families of Mexican people who had gone to other countries such as the US to earn money so that they could send it home. Many of these families felt they had been abandoned and felt very sad In making this film he discovered people need to be heard – today if want to be heard you have to do something extreme but the small things in individuals lives make up the reality of what is really going on.
He felt that commercial media today was focused on the wrong things, things they want us to see but that are not to do with our real selves; our daily lives and what is important to us – the details of our inner worlds; our thoughts and feelings. We need to notice our feelings, our values, and the things that are important to us as human beings. His question to the audience was: "When do we stay silent and what is happening in that silence, in the small things of life?" He felt that this was part of the same syndrome of the causes of Climate Change, in that there is so much focus on the outside.
When things are reported such as floods etc. we are told what is happening, but we are not doing anything to solve them, to prevent them, to work on the remedies because we are disconnected from reality, disconnected from the small things in life which are universal and so important to the spirit. We will only be able to re-connect when we start with the self. Change will only come when we change our attitude and give value to people.
When it came time for our presentation a large group of school had joined the audience. The audience was Spanish speaking and so Golo and Sister Jayanti were translated by Patricia who was the moderator and Valerianne. Golo Pilz gave a presentation on solar energy, and explained how by copying the cycle of nature we could live a very comfortable life on this planet. The Brahma Kumaris in India have made great strides in this direction by using solar energy to cook 38,000 meals per day at their headquarters. They have also adopted the eco friendly concept of large scale tree planting around India and have already planted 3 million.
Solar energy is not new it was discovered at the beginning the last century, however it is the energy resource for the future. Sister Jayanti then spoke of our inner resources. She said that we already had the technology to make the changes needed to put a hold to global warming but what was lacking was political will. As a result we are not only seeing what will happen in terms of natural disasters but we are seeing that is has happened already. It is not so easy to get governments to change, there are so many factors involved, but we don't have to wait for governments to make the policies we can to something today!
Just as we can decide if we want to lead a life of peace and non-violence we can also decide if we want to live a life based on values – this is our choice. I need to see the benefit this can bring, having a life based on values; a life of peace, cooperation and happiness. Sister Jayanti said "If I were to ask each of you what it is you want in life, I am sure 99% of you would say that you want happiness". To get this you have to go inside, this is very different from what the world is asking you to do. The world would tell you that you want more, more, and more and this is exactly how we have found ourselves in the situation we are now – we are already consuming one and a half times the resources we have. When I eat more, drink more, consume more – do I become happy? No.
It is time to challenge the messages we are receiving from the advertisers – money cannot buy happiness, money cannot buy love! Sister Jayanti mentioned that she was very happy to see the young people in the audience – and asked them to think about what she had said, to reflect on what really brought them happiness, to discover the treasures of dignity, freedom, and confidence, which come from their inner world.
This would naturally make then want to consume less. Reducing our needs naturally means that we are making a positive contribution to Climate Change. Our actions have a direct impact on the environment and the world – but it is also important to realize that our actions have an impact on us. When we do something for ourselves in this way we naturally do something for the world.
- For more news and resources,
please visit: www.environment.brahmakumaris.org
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