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Embracing a green spirit
Ecology guru offering qualities of life Friday at religious center
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Satish Kumar
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By Jill Moon
The Telegraph
EDWARDSVILLE - An international ecology guru will act as a guide to lead green spirituality seekers on a path to peace with
their surroundings.
Peace activist, editor and writer Satish Kumar will present "Spiritual Compass for a Green Journey" at 7 p.m. Friday, at the Religious Center at
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
"In every moment, God is there," said Kumar Monday in an interview with The Telegraph. "You have to recognize it and harmonize in it. Everywhere
the divine spirit is present. God is one but manifests in millions of forms."
Kumar, considered among Britain's leading spiritual thinkers, applies this
concept particularly to nature. Kumar meditates and renews himself by walking through his beloved Dartmoor, in the Devon region of England where he lives.
Kumar's presentation will be largely based on his recent book, "Spiritual Compass: The Three Qualities of Life," which is a guide to a more balanced
and fulfilled life in harmony with natural surroundings, neither taking too much, nor destroying unnecessarily.
With climate change theories, fear is a driving force for green conversion.
Kumar contends that fear cannot be the only factor for a harmonious coexistence with the environment.
"Fear is not good enough for a reason for environmentalism," he said. "We
must have love of the earth. Love is stronger than fear to take care of the earth. Whether it's global warming or climate change, you look after the
earth because you love your home - not because of fear, but because of love."
Kumar compares the human lifecycle to the cyclical occurrence of the four
seasons and that there is no death, only another form of life. Thereby constituting that life is eternal.
"If you fear death, then you fear new life," he said.
When he was young he searched for a death-free existence and, at age 9, joined an order of Jain monks, a religion with spiritual tenets similar to
Hinduism and Buddhism. But, at age 18, after reading a book by Mahatma Gandhi, which was forbidden by the monks, he joined a campaign led by Vinoba Bhave, Gandhi's successor as leader of India's village movement. He
ceased being a monk.
"I realized death is the continuum of life," said Kumar, 71. "Nature is what is born and what will die. I welcome death. I welcome birth. I welcome
autumn. I welcome spring."
Kumar will share these insights and expand on the ancient wisdom of the Indian Ayurvedic tradition, illustrating a spiritual compass by drawing on
three primary qualities: sattva, characterized by calmness, clarity and purity; rajas, characterized by energy and passion; and, tamas, characterized by dullness and ignorance.
Kumar wrote that, "These three qualities of life are as much external attributes as they are an internal state of being. Inner intentions and
motivations are as important as outer actions. So we are not to judge people only by their external appearance."
This statement is especially true in looking at Kumar, a spry, small-framed
pacifist, but a steady mammoth entity for the environment.
In addition to being the founder of the Small School and the director of programs at Schumacher College - the first institute of higher learning to
establish a degree in sustainability - Kumar is the editor of Resurgence, an international magazine promoting peace, non-violence, ecology, sustainability, organic agriculture and holistic philosophy.
Kumar said that genetically modified organisms defy nature. Supporters and researchers for such food technology claims it could end world hunger by
creating plants resistant to drought, parasites and other such problems.
"I think (genetically modified organisms) are a mistake because they are
looking for a technological fix," he explained. "A technological fix is not a solution. The solution is in our mindset. If we think we can change nature for our benefit, that is human arrogance."
Local non-profit the Dare to Dream Institute will bake organic artisan bread for sharing with Kumar's "Spiritual Compass" audience during an informal
question and answer period in order to experience bread baking, rather than bread buying, as a source of healing the soul and feeding the body.
Humans should approach nature with humility, he said.
"If we don't behave humbly toward nature, nature will react," he underscored. "Global warming is a reaction to our behavior for the last 200 years."
Kumar staunchly believes climate change and global warming are brought on solely by human activity.
"The consequence of our consumerism is climate change," he said. "It's
caused by human activity and greed because we want to make money. Therefore we emit carbon gasses from cheap oil, our heating, lighting, food, clothes. There is no action without consequence."
A campaigner for land reform in the Bhoodan movement with Bhave and a pilgrim for peace, Kumar walked from India to America without any money, from 1962 to 1964, with passage to New York given free by philosopher
Bertrand Russell via a voyage on the Queen Mary. In 1968, Kumar established the London School of Non-violence.
In January, BBC2 aired a documentary featuring Kumar titled "Earth Pilgrim
." The broadcast depicted Kumar's daily walk in Dartmoor, showing compassion for all living beings and his appreciation for the delicate balance
and exquisite instinct for sustainability in nature. With love, he calls on his fellow beings to share in respect for all life and to honor the practice of sustainability daily.
"Spiritual Compass for a Green Journey," sponsored by the Piasa Palisades Group of the Sierra Club and the Oblate Ecological Initiative, is free and open to the public.
This spring Kumar is the E. Desmond Lee Visiting Professor of Global Awareness at Webster University from April 17 to July 5. He will lead the
"Soil, Soul and Society" conference from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 3 at Webster University. For more information visit webster.edu.
For more information about "Spiritual Compass for a Green Journey" call the Oblate Ecological Initiative at (618) 466-5004 or the Sierra Club at (618) 462-6802.
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