10:30pm Thursday night I sit down on the couch to watch some TV. I am flipping channels to see if I prefer watching Jay Leno, David Letterman or Nightline. I make my decision, but I still have 5 minutes until the show starts, so I flip over to the Planet Green channel, and low and behold there is Leila Connors on Supper Club with Tom Bergeron. I only caught the last half hour of the show, but I watched the show in its entirety on Friday afternoon.

I have seen all the previous Supper Club shows and have enjoyed some more than others mostly due to the topic of conversation. I really enjoyed this show the most because of just one particular point that was addressed that has had me thinking a lot over the last several months.

The point was brought up during dinner that some people don’t want to be inconvenienced with doing a simple ‘green’ thing like carry cloth grocery bags with them to the store. Host Tom Bergeron commented that these people are not so much lazy, but just struggling to get through the day. Actress Aisha Tyler added that it’s not that people don’t care, it is just not as important to them as compared to their everyday pressures. I totally agree with both of them, and saw this first hand last year when confronted in a grocery store.

I was grocery shopping and I brought in with me as I always do my reusable grocery bags. I only brought in 3 reusable bags and the grocery bagger had filled them up and started to put the few remaining items I still had left in a plastic bag. I immediately told him, please don’t put those few items in a plastic bag, just place them in the shopping cart and I will put them in a reusable bag when I get to my car. I always have a lot more bags in my car.

The woman behind me in line who was about my age, said, “Oh PLEASE! Do you really think that one plastic bag is going to ruin the world?”

I replied, “It’s one plastic bag here, and another there, and it all adds up. It’s no big deal to just bag these few items myself when I get to my car in order to help ensure we leave a healthy and livable planet for future generations. It’s a small sacrifice.”

She boldly replied, “I sacrifice plenty, in fact all I do is sacrifice, my whole life has been one big sacrifice.”

WOW! Bad choice of words on my part, I used the word…SACRIFICE. I didn’t mean to, but I obviously hit a nerve, or what Eckhart Tolle calls in his book A New Earth, a ‘Pain Body.’ You didn’t have to be a psychologist to know that this woman has a lot of unhappiness, pain and negativity inside her. So trying to have a discussion with this woman about the environmental importance of bringing your own grocery bags would have been futile.

The part of The 11th Hour that resonated with me the most was said by Wes Jackson at the end of the film, he says, “The deterioration of the environment, of our planet, is an outward mirror of an inner condition. Like inside, like outside, and that‘s the part of the great work.” I couldn’t agree more.

I was happy that The 11th Hour DVD included in the Special Features Section the Religious Perspective. I completely agree with what Rabbi Michael Lerner says, “The environmental movement has to develop a spiritual consciousness and a spiritual approach…The environmental movement not only has to teach the scientific fact, but about the new spiritual vision.”

The biggest disease on our planet is unhappiness because people perceive they are drowning in either debt, poor relationships, family pressures, job/career stresses, or poor health. They feel they are drowning victims always in survival mode. They have forgotten that they already know how to swim. They just need to be reminded of who they are…they ARE swimmers.

So I was thrilled to hear Leila talk about the premise of her next film which continues on the theme of - What’s going on in the world is a reflection of an inner condition. The film will address the questions…Why are we here? Who are we? What is God?...in relationship to the environment and our survival. I can’t wait for this one to come out.

Yes Leila, you can pull this off.


You can still see this episode of Supper Club on Sunday August 10th, and on Monday August 11th. See schedule HERE.

 We have have over 1000 Environmental based Experiments, labs and lesson plans 

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On the right of that you will see the black which states "switch to eco lesson plans" Click It, then you will see it change to the ECO LESSON PLANS, type in your search and learn!!! 

The first Flash Search Engine is an Environmental Search Engine!! http://www.greenplanetsearch.com is now live!

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Salut !

 J'aime bien ce site, c'est trop cool ce que vous faites pour mamma, je trouve. Mamma, c'est la nature. Moi, je l'appelle ES d'habitude. Elle est cool, sauf quand elle décide d'agir. Ses actions personnelles font froid dans le dos. Le problème principal que les gens, surtout les croyants, ont du mal à comprendre, c'est que quand on demande aux forces supérieures de ce monde d'agir (par exemple les dieux), elles agissent d'une façon quelque peu radicale, ce pourquoi il vaut mieux favoriser les actions humaines, un peu plus douces et diplomates...

Aujourd'hui, j'ai effectué ma mission 004. J'ai souvent des missions à faire dans ma vie, pour évoluer dans mon chemin spirituel. Elles se présentent comme ça. Je vais quelque part, et... En fait, certains lieux ont des ondes particulières. Je ressens comme un malaise, et les messages apparaissent, me disant de faire quelque chose. J'accepte pas toujours, parce que je supporte pas d'être vue. J'agis toujours en sous-marin, comme un agent secret. Lol. Cette fois, mes pas m'ont guidée vers une église. Je ne supporte pas les églises. Mais je les visite souvent, parce que dans les églises, il y a Jésus. Actuellement, j'essaie de l'approcher. C'est l'entité la plus difficile à avoir.

Bon, que je m'explique bien... Comme Emily Rose (il serait intelligent de se procurer le DVD pour capter ce que je raconte, ça s'appelle "l'exorcisme d'Emily Rose", que j'aurais plutôt intitulé "le meurtre d'Emily Rose"...), j'ai plusieurs esprits en moi qui me font faire des choses que je ne ferais pas de moi-même. Ce n'est pas de la schizophrénie, enfin je ne crois pas. Je veux dire que je m'en rends compte et j'ai tout à fait conscience de leur présence, et lors d'une manifestation (ou possession), mes yeux ne sont plus du tout les mêmes. Ils sont bizarres, ils sont pas noirs comme dans le film, mais deviennent plus clairs et très profonds. J'aime bien quand ils sont comme ça, ils sont étranges. Mais à partir du moment où je les remarque dans le miroir, je sais tout de suite que je dois me mettre sur mes gardes, et ce à un degré majeur, parce que quelque chose d'important va m'arriver. Une "possession" peut être extrêmement dangereuse. D'une part, je ne sais jamais d'avance quelle entité va s'exprimer, ni comment elle va s'exprimer. Je stresse de tomber sur Ante. Ante, c'est Marie. Elle est là depuis un an environ. D'habitude, les gens l'imaginent comme un esprit aimant et protecteur qui fait le bien. Lol. La Marie que je connais, moi, s'appelle Ante Christ et elle est pas très sympa. En fait, si elle est sympa, je l'aime beaucoup, et c'est l'une des entités les plus puissantes en moi. Le souci avec elle, c'est qu'elle se fait entendre d'une façon plutôt violente. Elle est pas là pour me faire du bien. Le deal avec elle, c'est que si je suis triste, je suis en danger de mort. Si je ressens de la haine, je suis en danger de mort. Et comme je suis très souvent triste, et que je me prends pas mal de coups au coeur dans ce monde que je déteste, je suis sans cesse en danger de mort et je stresse sans cesse. Heureusement pour moi, il y a les autres entités qui tentent de calmer le jeu. Donc pour l'instant, pas d'Ante en vue. Pour l'instant, j'ai 9 entités. Il m'en manque 3, d'après ce que j'ai compris. C'est comme une collecte. Je récolte les esprits. Lol.

Donc en ce moment, je tente d'approcher Jésus. Il est déjà venu plusieurs fois, mais il ne peut pas rester longtemps. Il est dangereux pour moi. La dernière fois qu'il est venu, c'était en avril, durant la période de Pâques. C'est un souvenir extrêmement fort pour moi. Je sais pas, j'écrivais ma vie sur mon blog, et puis il y a eu une énorme énergie qui est survenue en moi. C'était franchement bizarre. Il y a eu un compte à rebours, et j'avais 9 jours pour expliquer les chiffres et les lettres, en suivant les directives des génies. C'était très difficile, mais Arthur et Léo m'aidaient, ils étaient toujours là. Arthur, c'est Arthur Rimbaud, un poète français que j'aime et qui me protège. Et Léo, c'est Léonard de Vinci, mais je vais l'appeler Léon ici pour qu'il y ait pas de confusion avec Léo. Chaque jour, j'avais un plan à suivre. C'était assez complexe, je devais suivre les lettres en fonction de leur place dans l'alphabet. Chaque lettre correspondait à un chiffre, et avait une signification symbolique. C'était comme si chaque jour, j'avais un dossier à traiter. J'étais épuisée parce que les entités m'harcelaient. Je me réveillais à des heures précises la nuit pour me préparer pour le lendemain. J'avais une tactique à suivre que je ne connaissais pas à l'avance, je devais faire attention à chaque mot employé, chaque expression, sans prendre de retard par rapport au rebours. A la fin, j'étais épuisée. J'en pouvais plus. Je ne me souviens pas vraiment de tout ce que j'ai écrit. Je sais que j'ai dit des choses importantes, mais aussi des mensonges. Il y a des secrets que Léon ne désire pas révéler, et que par conséquent je ne révèlerai pas sans son accord. C'est son génie, pas le mien. C'est lui qui décide. Après ça, j'ai dut prendre des vacances. J'avais le coeur en miettes, j'étais épuisée physiquement, et j'avais subit un traumatisme violent. Ce que j'entends par traumatisme, ce sont toutes ces expériences peu communes que je vis. Il y a les petites possessions, qui ne durent pas longtemps et ne me choquent pas spécialement. Et il y a les traumatismes, qui sont des possessions plus directes (où je ne suis pas vraiment moi-même) et qui durent pas mal de temps. Là, c'est dur parce que je dois faire un immense effort pour garder le contrôle de mon corps et le protéger de la casse, tout en cachant mon état à mon entourage. A Pâques, la possession a duré plus de 9 jours, c'est énorme.

Du coup, ça fait un mois que je tente de m'en remettre. La meilleure technique, c'est le voyage, qui me permet de voir d'autres endroits, rencontrer d'autres gens et me calmer. En ce moment, je suis au Portugal. Je pense que je vais y rester et m'installer à Lisbonne. J'en ai assez de la France. En fait, j'en ai surtout assez de ma famille, que je passe mon temps à fuir. Elle me croit dingue et me menace toujours de me mettre à l'hôpital. Je ne supporte pas les médicaments, ils empirent mon état. Bref.

On revient à Jésus. J'aime beaucoup Jésus. Ma première réaction face à Ante (Ante a été la première entité à me posséder violemment, me faisant comprendre qu'il y avait un truc pas normal chez-moi) a éte la même que celle d'Emily : je me suis immédiatement rendue en panique à l'église pour aller voir Jésus. Je pense que comme elle, c'était un réflexe. Et comme elle, Jésus m'a chassée. Si on regarde attentivement les gestes corporels d'Emily dans le film, on remarquera que lorsqu'elle se trouve à l'église, devant la croix, elle tend la main vers le Christ, mais son corps se tord vers l'arrière, comme si une force invisible tentait de la repousser. J'ai aussi eut ça. En fait, j'ai dit à Jésus de venir avec moi, de ne pas rester là, mais il ne peut pas venir, et ça m'a fait très mal. Je ne peux pas approcher une croix. C'est le symbole de la haine des êres humains, par excellence. Quand je vois une croix, j'ai des flashs horribles dans la tête, avec du sang partout, des épines, et des clous plantés dans les poignets, c'est insupportable. J'ai l'impression de revivre la mort de Jésus. C'est très douloureux, parce qu'il est le premier génie, le premier soldat de notre armée, mon frère. Le voir cloué sur une croix le crucifie sans arrêt, ce pourquoi je ne peux pas l'approcher, et aucun d'entre nous ne le peut. C'est bizarre ce que je vais dire, mais c'est un peu comme Superman et la cryptonite. Lol. C'est l'effet que me fait une croix. Mon but est de sortir Jésus de sa croix. J'ai déjà réussit à persuader ma mère de ne plus jamais accrocher de croix sur les murs de sa maison. Elle est chrétienne à fond... C'est déjà ça. Maintenant, il reste plus qu'à convaincre le monde entier. Lol.

Ma mission 004 d'aujourd'hui consistait à délivrer un message important à l'église d'Oliveira de Frades, une ville à côté du village natal de ma mère. C'est la mission 004 parce que le 4, pour moi, c'est le symbole de la croix. Guidée par une forte intuition inhabituelle, je suis rentrée dans l'église. Il y avait une messe pour les handicapés mentaux. Je me suis assise dans un coin et je les regardés glorifier le Christ. J'aime bien cette église parce qu'ils ont fait un effort. Jésus n'est pas représenté sur la croix, enfin pas vraiment. Au Portugal, les églises préfèrent représenter le Christ avec des images saines, en ange ou entouré de lumière. C'est mieux. J'aime bien. Une fois la messe terminée, tout le monde est sortit, sauf moi. Jésus me demandait de rester. Le prêtre est allé dans son office, l'église est devenue toute calme. C'était marrant parce que tout le matériel de la procession était resté en place. Il y avait deux bougies allumées de chaque côté de l'autel. Il y avait la coupe où les prêtres boivent le vin et la Bible ouverte. Jésus m'a demandé ce que je ne trouvais pas normal dans la vision que j'avais. J'ai observé la scène, et je lui ai expliqué que j'étais pas d'accord avec la disposition des choses. Il m'a dit que dans ce cas, je devais les remettre à leur place. Du coup, j'ai pris la coupe, et suis allée la remplir avec l'eau du bénitier. Puis je me suis dirigée vers la bougie de gauche, je l'ai éteinte et j'ai mis la coupe à la place. J'ai changé la page de la Bible, puis j'ai regardé la scène à nouveau. Là, je me sentais mieux. C'était parfait. Le feu à droite, l'eau à gauche et le livre au milieu. Et au dessus, Jésus tout beau. Il m'a demandé si j'étais satisfaite. Je lui ai dit que oui, et que j'espérais que le prêtre comprendrait que c'était mal de boire du vin, et que c'était pour ça que je l'avais changé en eau. Jésus m'a félicitée et m'a dit que je pouvais aller me détendre sur internet, que la mission était accomplie. Evidemment, personne ne m'a vue, sinon j'imagine même pas le scandale. Lol.

Voilà, c'était mon action d'aujourd'hui. C'est parce que je veux ramener Jésus avec moi, il mérite pas de rester en enfer. En fait, je trouve que personne ne le mérite.

Bon, je vais aller paresser. Lol. C'est chiant, en ce moment, je fais rien de ma peau. Fatigue passagère je pense.

A + !

PS : évitez les commentaires, merci d'avance.

Bon...

Je viens ici parce que j'aimerais bien éviter les regards indiscrets, ce pourquoi je parle aussi en français comme ça moins de gens pourront me comprendre. J'aime pas mon ancien blog. Il a des mauvaises ondes. Lol.

Pour ceux qui me comprennent malgré tout et qui se demandent ce que je fous là et qui se disent certainement que j'ai rien à foutre là, et ben je suis pas trop d'accord. Voilà tout. J'estime que lorsqu'on se dit être des "environmental warriors", il faut prendre en compte tous les aspects du fight. Physiques comme mentaux. Et aussi chercher des solutions et des idées chez tout le monde. Ainsi, si quelqu'un a une idée ou une vision différente des autres, il faut prendre le temps de l'écouter sans tout de suite juger ou critiquer ou envoyer cette personne dans les roses. 

Ce pourquoi je suis là : moi, je me bats sévère pour sauver la planète, mais à ma façon, qui est certes surprenante, mais je crois que ça peut être important. C'est juste un détail, à mon avis, qui pourrait aider pas mal de gens. En fait j'en sais rien. Tout ce que je sais, c'est que j'ai pas une vie normale, et que dans ma vie pas normale, il se passe des tas de choses pas normales, pas normales du tout, et du coup, je suis pas très rassurée de vivre cette vie pas normale.

En fait, je suis une fille qui s'occupe principalement du domaine spirituel, des mécanismes de l'esprit, la psychologie, enfin tout ce qui est mental, principalement l'inconscient, cette zone où peu de gens s'aventurent. Je crois que j'ai ouvert une porte importante parce que... Je pense que c'est important pour l'évolution mondiale. Evidemment, ça peut paraître très prétentieux de ma part de prétendre savoir des choses que les autres ne savent pas, mais le truc c'est que ces choses que je sais se vérifient, et plus j'avance, plus les doutes à ce sujet s'effacent, et plus je panique parce que je sais pas trop à qui en parler ni comment en parler sans risquer de passer pour une dingue.

Alors du coup je me cache ici parce que j'aime bien le travail de Leo, et je me sens bien ici parce que c'est orange, et j'aime bien l'orange. Lol. J'aime pas parler de moi, mais là je suis obligée parce que ça devient assez dangereux de me taire. Je vais aller doucement, et si quelqu'un me lit et me comprend, ce serait assez gentil d'éviter d'émettre des avis ou des commentaires, ou pire des critiques sur ce qui m'arrive, parce que c'est déjà assez dur comme ça pour que j'aie en plus à supporter plus de poids. Evidemment je ne mentirai pas, donc les jugements hâtifs et les doutes, c'est mieux de les garder pour soi. Moi, je veux pas savoir, je cherche juste un endroit pour pouvoir m'exprimer tranquillement sur les questions planétaires, et témoigner d'une expérience peu commune. Merci d'avance de ne pas me prendre la tête avec l'incrédulité chronique typique à tous les êtres humains.

Euh... Voilà.

Lol. Sinon, je m'appelle Sonia et j'ai 26 ans. Et puis... En fait... Euh... (désolée, je sais pas trop par où commencer...). Je suis SMF (sans métier fixe). J'adore étudier, mais je déteste l'école, je suis incapable d'obtenir un diplôme parce que ça me saoule de perdre mon temps à étudier qu'une seule matière. J'aime bien la musique, la peinture, le cinéma, j'aimerais bien apprendre à sculpter (ça ne saurait tarder - lol). Ma plus grande passion (et spécialité) c'est l'écriture. J'adore les sciences. Un peu toutes. J'aime pas les religions, mais je les étudie beaucoup aussi, pas le choix quand on fait des recherches sur le mental. Mais ce que j'aime le plus, ce sont les génies et leurs secrets. Je suis extrêmement curieuse et supporte pas de ne pas comprendre quelque chose. Du coup j'étudie tout le temps, mais dans mon coin. C'est pour ça, je pense, que personne ne me prend au sérieux dans mon entourage. Lol. J'ai pas vraiment l'apparence de quelqu'un qui s'intéresse á des gens comme Vinci, Einstein ou Darwin...

Et puis j'ai aussi une petite particularité, mais j'aime pas le dire parce que c'est généralement quand j'en parle que les gens me prennent pour une mythomane schizophrène psychotique et autres appellations sympathiques...

Pour qu'on me comprenne mieux, je vais donner un exemple. C'est l'unique personne dans ce monde dans laquelle je me reconnais un peu... Bon, elle est morte... Mais elle a vécu quand même une vie pas normale elle aussi, alors... Elle s'appelait Emily Rose. Elle avait 19 ans, et était, d'après les conclusions de l'église et ses propres dires, "possédée par 6 démons". Il y a un film là dessus assez fiable, je pense. Je n'ai pas du tout la même vision de cette histoire que celle énoncée dans le film. Ce qui m'importait de voir, c'était les gestes et les mots d'Emily. C'est pour ça que je sais que je suis pareille. Il y a quelques différences, mais bon... Je peux expliquer absolument tout ce qu'elle a vécu, et pourquoi elle l'a vécu, parce que je l'ai aussi vécu et que je le vis toujours, à un degré un peu plus important. Je ne parle pas de démons, mais d'entités. Je ne parle pas de terreur, mais de vérité et d'éclaircissements de certains mystères considérés comme paranormaux. Maintenant, pour ceux qui y croient pas, j'ai pas envie de le savoir. Ce que je sais c'est que je suis dans la merde, et que je vis constamment dans la hantise de revivre ça. Elle m'a dit que pour moi, ce serait pire. Pire qu'Emily. Alors quand on voit l'état de cette jeune fille à sa mort, je pense qu'on peut au moins tenter d'imaginer mon inquiètude. Bref.

C'est pas mal pour une intro. Je vais tenter de revenir des fois. J'ai pas accès à internet facilement. Leo dit que les blogs servent à décrire nos actions au jour le jour. Bah... Je trouve que c'est une bonne idée. Comme ça je pourrais raconter comment je me tape sévère contre les autres et moi-même tous les jours. Lol.

A + !

            William Kamkwamba

Can films change the world? No, films can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can. 


What is Pangea Day?
Pangea Day was the world’s largest global film event that took place on May 10, 2008. The cities of Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro were all linked to produce a live 4-hour program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.

Pangea Day was created as a worldwide cinema event with programming that highlighted the themes of unity, the common ties that bind us into a global culture. In a world where people are often divided, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that - to help people see themselves in others - through the power of film. Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion, uniting millions of people to build a better future. The goal is to invite the viewers of these films to join a global conversation about the issues that affect us all.

Pangea refers to the supercontinent from which all current continents eventually separated. It serves as a reminder of the "connectedness" or unitary nature of all people on Planet Earth.


I only got to watch a little over an hour of Pangea Day live on May 10th, and I have been watching the rest of the films and speakers a little each day. If you want to treat yourself to something special then take the time to watch this inspiring event on the internet.

If you only have time to watch one film, then watch the award winning and very inspiring film Moving Windmills. This is a very short film about a 14 year old boy, William Kamkwamba who lives in a remote rural village in Malawi where they have no electricity. William saw a picture of a windmill in a textbook and decided to build one to power his family's home. Using found materials and scrap yard parts such as a broken bicycle, tractor fan, melted plastic pipes, bamboo and used copper wires, he built a series of windmills which would change his and his family's life.

You can watch the full Pagean Day program HERE, or just watch the films HERE.

ABC News takes a look inside the Panea Day Festival.

Enjoy!  Be Inspired!  Be Enlightened!

ARE YOU AN ECODAREDEVIL? 11th Hour Expert, J. Nichols awards the most courageous Eco-warrior at Duke this Earth Day. Read his keynote speech here:

"In the 1970’s, I idolized Evel Knievel. He was rock star, sports hero, and folk legend in one. His death-defying jumps inspired me to launch my bicycle over puddles and many a hapless friend.

Now, I find new inspiration in my childhood hero. In 1961, before he became “Evel,” Robert Craig Knievel hitchhiked with the rack of a bull elk from Montana to our nation’s capital to protest the culling of elk in Yellowstone. The Kennedy administration responded and countless elk were saved.

READ MORE

The World—Ah!

Ah, World! It’s in your lap we do our lives and deaths—
It’s on you we play out our pleasures and pains.
You are such a very old home of ours;
We treasure and hold you dear forever.

We wish to transform you into the pure realm of our dreams,
Into an unprejudiced land where all creatures are equal.
We wish to transform you into a loving, warm, gentle goddess.
We wish so very firmly to embrace you.

To that end, be the ground which sustains us all.
Do not show us the storms of your nature’s dark side,
And we, too, will transform you, all your corners, 
Into fertile fields of peace and happiness.
May the harvest of joyfulness and freedom’s million sweet scents
Fulfill our limitless, infinite wishes, so we pray.

Used with permission 
Translated by David Karma Choephel, December 2006

Ever since the human race first appeared on this earth, we have used this earth heavily. It is said that 99% of the resources in this world come from the natural environment. We are using the earth up. The earth has given us immeasurable benefit, but what have we done for the earth in return? We always ask for something from the earth, but never give her anything back. We never have loving or protective thoughts for the earth. Whenever trees or anything else emerge from the ground, we cut them down. If there is a bit of level earth, we fight over it. To this day we perpetuate a continuous cycle of war and conflict over it. In fact, we have not done much of anything for the earth. Now the time has come when the earth is scowling at us; the time has come when the earth is giving up on us. The earth is about to treat us badly and give up on us. If she gives up on us, where can we live?  There is talk of going to other planets that could support life, but only a few rich people could go. What would happen to all of us sentient beings who could not go?

What should we do now that the situation has become so critical? The sentient beings living on the earth and the elements of the natural world need to join their hands together—the earth must not give up on sentient beings, and sentient beings must not give up on the earth. Each needs to grasp the other’s hand. So doesn’t the Monlam logo look like two hands clasping each other?
Its shape is similar to the design of the Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa’s Dream Flag of peace and serenity, which is used regularly among the Karma Kamtsang. If I were to make up everything myself, I doubt it would have any blessings, but using the previous Karmapa’s design as a model probably gives this blessings. This is a symbol of the Kagyu Monlam that we hold for the benefit of the entire world. We will not give up on the earth! May there be peace on earth! May the earth be sustained for many thousands of years! These are the prayers we make at the Kagyu Monlam, which is why this symbol is the logo of the Monlam. I also think it also might become a symbol of people having affection for the earth and wanting to protect it.

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These days, temperatures around the world have drastically changed, which has created a great danger for the world itself. In olden times, we Kagyupas would stay only in remote mountain retreats in caves or stone huts—pleasant retreats—and there was no need to do such work as excavating the ground, cutting a lot of trees, or quarrying.  But later, whether it was their increasing activity to benefit beings and the teachings, or whether it was because, as the saying goes, ‘The more you meditate on Mahamudra, the more active you become’—Mahamudra mediators got too busy.  Those who were supposed to be following the path of the Practice Lineage in the high, rocky, snowy places could not manage to do that. They came down into the valleys, and it became necessary to build many monasteries. 

Nowadays, many Kagyu monasteries say, ‘We’re making a new monastic building’ and without any compunction cut down all the trees or forests that grew naturally around the site. This can create great harm for the environment. Some monasteries are even selling timber from forests behind the monastery. When we do that, we don’t know what harm we are creating now, but it creates problems for the whole environment a few years later. When the so-called essence of the earth, the essence of the place, is harmed, this causes great harm to the environment, and then we think, “Oh, no! What did we do?” But if we only think about it later, it’s too late. It takes twenty or thirty years to grow a single tree; it doesn’t grow as soon as we plant it.

For that reason, we need to understand clearly in all our monasteries in India, Nepal, and Tibet that if we are unable to conceive of all sentient beings throughout limitless space, that’s not so important. But we live on this Earth, and everyone can see it. If our Earth is destroyed by climate change, there won’t be any of us Kagyupas left. There won’t be any Karma Kamtsang.  We’ll all be lost. It’s not the case that our Dharma protectors and Mahakala Bernakchen will save us; that the rest of the world will be destroyed and only we will be left. That won’t happen. That’s why we need to protect the environment. We should provide education in the monasteries about how to do so. We should not just always dig and build, but also do something to protect the environment. The sutras and tantras say that keeping monasteries and sacred places clean has immeasurable benefits. It is the same with the Earth: the Earth is in great danger and it needs our care, so we should try to help protect the environment for all the beings in the world. Even if we can’t do anything else, it is not too difficult to explain the basic things we need to do to protect the world. You should educate people about this and say, “This is how it is.” Whether we are members of the sangha or lay people, if we take  interest in protecting the environment every single day, it will be very good.

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Most of us gathered here today, whether we were born in Tibet or not, 
have connections to Tibetan Dharma, culture and language. Likewise, most of us gathered here come from India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim. For this reason, all of us need to give some thought to protecting the environment of Tibet in order to protect our own. This is because most of the drinking water in about eight Asian countries, including India, comes from Tibet. If Tibet's environment is damaged this presents the danger of great harm to Asia. If the water ecosystem in Tibet does not function properly, it will cause many problems like the floods downstream along the Yangtse River. When these great rivers burst their banks, there is tremendous damage, floods and other dangers. Now the Chinese government plans to plant forests in Tibet.  India and other countries are also taking a big interest in the environment of Tibet, because this is a crucial issue.

Whenever we open our mouths, we say that Tibet belongs to the Tibetans, 
but what are we Tibetans doing for Tibet? Are we protecting Tibet's 
environment or are we destroying it instead? Traditionally, Tibetans have held certain ancient beliefs. If there was an impressive mountain, we considered it the abode of some spirit—so it was a revered place no one should disturb, mine or quarry. If there was an impressive forest, or a boulder or cliff with an unusual shape, that was also a spirit's residence. This belief was quite helpful. When I was young, we did not dare go out to play on the revered mountains where local deities lived. Forget about disturbing them—we did not even dare to walk there. We also were not allowed to put our hands in the streams that provided drinking water. This was to keep from polluting them and angering the nagas. If we had to wash our hands or feet, we had to draw some water from the stream and wash elsewhere. We were not allowed to wash, bathe, do laundry, or use any chemicals in the stream itself under any circumstances. There were similar traditions more or less everywhere. Nowadays many people, especially the young, say, "That's just blind faith. That's just religious belief." The protection of the environment these traditional views provided is decreasing drastically. The traditional way of seeing things is gone, but has not been replaced by contemporary education about environmental protection.

In Tibet, the main focus now is economic development and getting rich. People wonder whether to run a factory farm, build huge houses, or buy cars. That is the prevalent mentality. Nowadays, they use an awful lot of wood to build beautiful, Tibetan-style houses—a lot more than they used to. Formerly, only monasteries would have such carving and decorations; but nowadays many ordinary people's houses have fancy carved windows, door frames and so on. It seems lovely, but it wastes a lot of wood and stone. If all the forests are used up, there is nothing to hold back or channel floodwaters; there is nothing to contain earthquakes.

Now there is also much factory farming for meat. This did not exist previously in Tibet; it was not a necessity. Nowadays factory farming is easy work—there are factory farms for hogs, chickens, ducks, and cattle. They give injections to the animals to make them fatter, and use a lot of drugs. Factory farms are getting bigger, and all this livestock produces a lot of manure and methane, which fouls the environment and the pristine air. We need to really think about all this.  Tibet, the roof of the world, is clean and pure. It is our own beautiful country. Even if others cannot protect it, we must keep from ruining it ourselves. If we take good care of it, we Tibetans will not have wasted our honour and responsibility. We have already lost so much of what we had, and if we destroy more of what have in our hands, there will be nothing left you can call Tibetan. Even if there were an agreement and we could gain freedom for Tibet, what kind of homeland would we return to? We will have ruined it. If we turn it into an ugly wasteland, gaining freedom will not help us gain happiness.

One reason all this happens—and it is our own fault—is that we do not have much interest in education. The more interest we take in learning about the environment, the more we will cherish and care for it. Tibet has a wonderful environment—encircled by snow mountains so that it is protected from external pollution. It is our responsibility that everyone becomes educated and protects the pure, clean natural environment there. We must all protect the environment of the entire world for the future; and in particular Tibet and the Himalayan range. Tibet is probably the most important source of drinking water in the entire world. We must consider this, especially within each of our monasteries. I think it would be very good for any monastery in India, Nepal, or Tibet to organize interest in environmental protection. I am not an expert on environmental issues, but there are a few points we should understand and follow. If you can practice these in your monasteries and provide education to the monastics and householders associated with your monasteries, it will bring benefit to us as communities and individuals.

The first point concerns automobiles. It often happens that as soon as a lama 
completes a 3-year retreat, he buys a truck. We had a little novice monk at Tsurphu, and someone asked him, ‘What do you want to do?’ He replied, “I want to become a lama.” “What will you do when you are a lama?”  “I'm going do a 3-year retreat, buy a truck and Karma Chakme's Toh book, and then I’ll travel.” He had seen lamas doing this. So this is what little children think lamas do. Each lama buys his own car, and has to fuel it. As world oil supply diminishes, the price is increasing continuously. So why do we need separate cars for every lama? Everyone wants a fancy car that uses a lot of fuel, or they do not feel like they have the status of a lama. I have to wonder how this accords with the lives of those earlier masters, who exemplified having few desires and being satisfied with what one has. Lamas are Dharma practitioners, whether or not they are monastics. That means they should be people with few desires who are content with what they have. They should not chase directly after the eight worldly dharmas of this life, although things might come to them naturally. These days it is not like that. There is a problem. We need to rethink whether we should buy so many cars, especially those that use a lot of fuel. We should practice restraint. It is also negative from the local people's point of view. Most of us here in India are refugees. The local people will be jealous that we drive fancier cars than they do. It does not look good. It is unnecessary.

The second point is that in remote areas of Tibet, people are using solar and wind-powered electricity. This is good. It is expensive to generate electricity, and using it without caring about environmental impacts is destructive. At Tsurphu monastery, there was no electricity, but then they installed solar panels. Solar panels are still quite expensive. It can be very expensive to provide the amount of power to cover a large building. But solar and wind power are beneficial because they do not have operating costs, and they do not harm the environment. In Tibet, the sun shines strongly—it is the roof of the world—so many people there do use solar electricity. In our monasteries, we are big groups of people, and we have large electricity bills. Since we are already paying for it, we should think about how to conserve electricity. Do not pointlessly leave lights on all the time when the sun is shining and the weather is bright.

The third point concerns growing trees. We bhikshus are not allowed to cut down trees or any other plant that has roots and bears fruit. This is the vast intent of the Lord Buddha. But not only bhikshus; all of us must keep this in mind. The oxygen for all the living creatures in this world comes from trees and plants. So if we can plant even one tree, it will probably help a great number of creatures survive. Sometimes I even think it would be better to plant a single tree than to perform a life-release for many beings.

Last year I talked about performing life-releases, giving up eating meat, and becoming vegetarian for the long lives of HH the Dalai Lama, myself, and many of our lineage lamas who have become elderly, so that they might continue to be with us for a long time. This year I think it would be good for each of our monasteries to plant a thousand trees, if not more. When I say plant, this does not mean that it absolutely has to be done right near the monastery. You can make connections with groups that plant forests or help someone who is planting trees. This is for monasteries that have the resources to do so. If you don't have the resources, that is another matter. However there are monasteries that have some wealth and want to do something for their lama's long life. My particular recommendation for this year is that it would be good for each monastery to plant at least one or two thousand trees. If monasteries cannot, the monks can plant the trees themselves. Sponsors would also be most welcome. Most monks don't say they have much money, and I don't know where they spend what money they do have. It would probably be good if we could make a beautiful green forest for the benefit of all living creatures, especially in Tibet. Tibet has a huge area, so we could plant as many trees as we want. If monasteries have to cut trees, then it would be good for them to plant more than they cut. Cutting trees without replanting is the one thing that would anger the local deities and nagas, if anything would. 

The fourth point is one that is not our responsibility as monks, since monks do not farm. But when farmers grow crops, they use various kinds of chemical fertilizers to make the crops grow quickly. When they do this, the first crop grows extremely well, but after it has grown, the soil loses fertility and becomes like sand, I have heard. The chemical fertilizers exhaust the soil. This is how it happens. There are many farms in Tibet. When we plant our crops, we should not think that this is our own field and we can do whatever we like. That is one thing to think about. The other is that the use of chemical fertilizers is exhausting the fertility of large areas of cropland.  Monks do not need to work in the fields themselves, but they have many friends and relatives who do. Unless we use our overall, collective effort, it will be difficult to protect the environment.

In brief, for the human race, there are two conditions in this world that can make us advance. The first condition is to go forward out of fear. All beings, including animals, will advance out of fear. They sense a danger to their existence, feel fear and terror, and find a way to remedy their situation. But I think moving forward because you see a benefit or profit is probably something that mainly we humans do. We humans are beings with brains and intelligence. But while we have these brains and intelligence, if we just hang out without doing anything meaningful, then there will be another mouth to feed, another person using up space, another body crowding the world. There will be no benefit at all. While living in the world, we need to demonstrate intelligence and define our vision for the future. I think that only then will our existence in the world be meaningful. We will no longer just be taking up space. We will be able to benefit the other creatures who live with us on this earth. Protecting the Earth's environment is a big issue in the world now. But that is not why I am shivering on this throne talking about it. Lord Buddha and many of the earlier learned and realized masters who followed him made prophecies a long time ago about how the times would become degenerate: the environment would degenerate, and beings living in it would also degenerate. These are things the earlier masters said, but we do not pay attention to them. People just talk about how it said this here and that there.

I want to tell you a story. During the upheavals in Tibet in the 1950s, the previous incarnation of Pawo Rinpoche was looking through the prophecies of Guru Rinpoche, and thought, "This probably is going to happen." He showed them to his steward and said, "This is going to happen. These are prophecies of Guru Rinpoche. We need to flee into exile; we cannot stay here." Whenever he showed these to his steward, the steward would say, "So it is! I go for refuge!" The steward would touch them to his forehead and put them aside.
Later the situation got worse, and even the Karmapa went to India. When 
Pawo Rinpoche heard about that, he said, "The prophecies predicted this! 
Even the Karmapa has gone. We had better go, or what will happen to us?" 
The steward replied, "How can that be? There are the three great 
monasteries of Sera, Drepung, and Ganden, and the Tibetan government 
palace of the Potala. It is not easy to leave. If you prepare to go, you will ruin any chance of staying." He absolutely refused to do anything about leaving. Either he was not educated or he was complacent because he had never faced such difficult circumstances. In the end, the steward was unable to come to India and suffered terribly. He was sent to re-education camps where he was tortured, beaten, and eventually died. It is similar with us. Lord Buddha and earlier masters said a great deal about how we need to protect the environment, the forests, and the trees. But when we hear it, we just touch the text to our foreheads and say, "I go for refuge!" Eloquent and beautiful words  often pass our lips:  “May it be so! May there be benefit for all! May it happen! May this be for all sentient beings throughout space! May that be!”  But we do not practice them in a meaningful way. We are still wandering in the ocean of samsaric suffering because our wishes and our actions go in opposite directions. If we continue in this way, we will remain in samsara forever. Please keep this in mind.