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Big Picture — The Earth Charter

“Earth is all the home we have!”

~~~ Satish Kumar

We left the blog last week with some realization that there are choices we must make together in order to continue to survive in this world. We gave some thought-time to the possibility that if we make the right choices we could create the type of world everyone wants. We suggested that, perhaps, the best thing to do would be to get together and have a serious conversation about how to go about this process.

Interestingly, that get-together actually did happen some time ago and I had the good fortune to participate in some of it. In fact, that experience, that “conversation” about how to bring about a sustainable world, was one of the most profound experiences of my life. Not only did it reinforce by firm belief that peace in the world was a goal worth working towards, it also brought me to a much clearer understanding of global environmental concerns. It happened while I still lived in Vermont. The occasion was the Celebration of the Earth Charter and was held at the Breeding Barn at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont on September 9, 2001.

Here’s a link to a document I found that has a great picture of the Breeding Barn at Shelburne Farms. Just scroll down a bit in the document to see it. There’s a ton of other information for any of you older building aficionados, if you’re interested. Take a look at the picture and check the other information out later — for now, let’s get on with today’s article…

http://www.icomos.org/iiwc/16/fischetti.pdf

This day in my life was an outgrowth of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. Before I get into what the Earth Charter was all about, I have to tell you about my experience that beautiful, sunny, September day in Vermont.

Early that morning, approximately 1,500 men, women and children gathered on a hill in the pastures above the Breeding Barn at Shelburne Farms in preparation for a silent pilgrimage to greet the day. Try to imagine that many people — with about 300 or 400 of those people being young children — doing a “silent” pilgrimage over a half-mile walk through beautiful pasture lands and down the hill to the Breeding Barn where the conference would be held. The hay fields had all been freshly mowed — the corn fields were fully mature — many of the pastures were spotted with cows grazing peacefully, and the morning birds were singing their songs under a clear, blue sky.

Let me tell you, it was magical!

We were led on this pilgrimage by Satish Kumar. Satish is the global peace walker who in 1962 walked from Mahatma Gandhi’s grave to John F. Kennedy’s grave to promote peace and nonproliferation. (If you want to learn more about Satish Kumar, please go this site: http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC17/Kumar.htm– where you can learn how he did this walk and the reasons for it. It’s a wonderful story and well worth reading.)

Kumar’s aura must have permeated the souls of every one of us, because as this amazing man led our pilgrimage, not one person in that multitude of adults and children uttered a word as we walked at a slow, peaceful, reverent pace down the hill.

As we began to approach the Breeding Barn, we could just begin to hear the sounds of a beautiful saxophone being played in the distance. It was the unmistakable sound of the great Paul Winter, of the famous Paul Winter Consort. I’ve included some of what that sounded like with this excerpt of the track, Wolf Eyes, from his Common Ground album #9. It’s not the actual music he was playing that day, (I couldn’t find that in the public domain) but you can get an idea of what that experience was to hear these sounds floating in the clear air that morning as we proceeded on our silent pilgrimage.

Let it play as you read on.

Here’s a link if the video doesn’t play for some reason.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3JQF2NSlB0

As we continued our pilgrimage, we began to see these amazing tree dancers doing their fascinating dances in the branches of the trees. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this performed in your life, but these are young people, dressed in flowing gossamer-like costumes, their faces painted in fascinating patterns, who maneuver themselves in the branches of the trees like silent, mystical, floating fairies. It was beautiful to watch.

As we grew closer to the Breeding Barn, we could see Paul Winter playing his saxophone in one of the open balconies as his haunting music beckoned us all into the Barn.

This was an extremely moving experience — and it was just the beginning of a day I’ll never forget.

To close out this blog post, I’d like to share with you the…

Preamble to the Earth Charter

“We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.”

Yes, folks. The Earth Charter was adopted in 1991. Here we are, 17 years later, and look where we’ve come. That critical moment in time mentioned in the Preamble above, has now grown into an extremely critical moment in time in today’s world. Yes, we did start the conversation many years ago, but it’s looking like not enough people were listening.

As stated in the Earth Charter in 1991, the challenge was that we had to make a choice. We could either form a global partnership to care for Mother Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. The challenge continues to exist today, because up to now, we’ve been making the wrong choice. We need to make fundamental changes in our values, our institutions, and our ways of living. We must come to realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more.

Come back next week when this important discussion will continue. Invite your friends. We need many more people to be listening and sharing.
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“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

I’d love to hear your comments on this. At the very end of this post (after the commercials and the tags) you should see a place where you can leave your comment. It will be a link that says “No Comments” — or “Comments”. Let me hear from you. Thanks.
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I know, this blog has always been aimed at a more spiritual discussion, and I will eventually get back to it, although I believe this post is aimed in that direction. I believe that those of us who are working for more spiritual growth in our world have to be a part of The New Earth, and these latest posts do relate to that. (See Eckhart Tolle links below.)

I meditate to help keep me reasonably sane in this crazy world of today. Those glimpses we get of peace, love, acceptance and happiness when we’re meditating will soon grow into more than glimpses if we keep practicing. Keep those feelings alive. A meditation can be as simple as one, deep, conscious breath. When something happens in one of your moments to cause you to suffer, just stop and take one of those breaths and remember, “This too shall pass!” Another thing that is wonderful, especially at this time of year, is to have a fresh flower where you work. Just stop from time-to-time and look at it — don’t label it — don’t judge it — just be with it for a couple of moments. It really does work. I’m looking at mine as I write this.

“Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature”

~~~ Gerard de Nerva

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If you’re new to us here, I’ve written a series of articles about meditation. If you look on the upper left of the sidebar, you’ll see a list of the categories. Click the one called “Meditation” and you’ll be able to read the articles you missed. They start with the January 24, 2008 post. The video meditations that I included with the earlier articles may no longer function. I’m sorry about that, but those are out of my control. Hopefully, they’ll all still be working.

Do include meditation in your daily life. If you’re just starting out, make it a 10 or 15 minute meditation. If you’ve been doing this for a while, try to do a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes. The longer you can maintain your focus on just your breath, the better. And, remember, anytime you take a deep, conscious breath — that’s a breath where you’re putting your focus on that breath — that’s a meditation. Do it often every day — especially when you’re feeling stressed. I guarantee, you’ll find more peace and happiness in your life if you’ll do this.

“Those who really seek the path to Enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed with strong determination.”

~~~ Buddha

Namaste!

I have share these words for you in closing — remember these words …

“Be happy now, my dear friends. Today is all we have. Be good to one another. Take comfort in whatever spirituality you are so inclined (or not), and learn to be happy despite your circumstances. Follow your path; pursue your dreams. Work hard, love your family be generous and forgiving. Do it today, while you still have the flicker of life, for one day your own candle will dim.”

You are special — and you are loved. You are the greatest gift you can be.

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

~~~ Ron
http://www.theleaderinside.com
http://www.wecould2.com

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Even though the live webcasts of the Eckhart Tolle New Earth classes are now concluded, you can still download the entire course. It’s being called “The Best Summer School Course Ever!” That’s the truth and I highly recommend it. It’s completely free. All you really have to do is get the book, “A New Earth — Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” by Eckhart Tolle. You can access the course online at:

http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/webcast/archive/archive_download.jsp.

You’ll find everything you need there — all 10 classes. If you happen to have iTunes on your computer, you can also access the course by subscribing to it through the podcast link in iTunes. Check it out. Several million people around the globe took part in this amazing spiritual teaching. I hope you’ll soon be one of them. This is how we can create a new consciousness on the New Earth.

“Feeling will get you closer to the truth of who you are than thinking. ”

~~~ Eckhardt Tolle —

Also, Oprah now has her Soul Series of Webcasts started. There is a series with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and more from Eckhart Tolle. You can get these from this site for downloading:

http://www2.oprah.com/spiritself/oss/ss_oss_archive.jhtml

This is also available as an iTunes subscription. I’ve listened/watched all of these so far, and I highly recommend them.
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In my meditation I often use what I believe is a powerful aide to deep meditation. It’s the The Holosync Solution. I knew that meditation was a vital element to nurturing my soul — to opening myself to the universe — and this tool has allowed me to achieve and receive the benefits of deep, long-term meditation — and to achieve it much more quickly. If you’re having trouble “getting meditation to work for you” - then the The Holosync Solution is what you’re looking for.

Regular, daily meditation can give you …

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(2) Lower stress levels — and with that — increased ability to handle whatever the world tosses your way.
(3) New levels of self-awareness and inner peace.
(4) The healing of emotional issues at the deepest levels.
(5) It is the proven path to finding the peace, love and compassion within all of us –

— it’s definitely worth taking the time for this powerful practice every day.

With a One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can now do so with no risk whatsoever — just click any of the links that say … The Holosync Solution

— The Holosync Solution
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