Environmental Program in Malaysia by BK Anthony Strano

Public Seminar on  ‘Awaken to New Dimension of Earth Care – Effect of Consciousness on Environment & Climate Change'

Despite being a working day, more than 90 attended the program. Mainly they were representatives from Ministry of NRE, Environmental NGOs, government agencies, United Nation, Climatologist and Meteorologist, Resident Association, businessman, solicitors, students and public at large.

The program
It was a two hours public forum. It aimed to awaken the audience and public to a new dimension of earth care ie through ethics, values education and spiritual awakening and empowerment for a positive change. It is hope that with this upstream efforts above the laws, treaties and policies, together we can change the awareness and subsequent actions of all custodians of planet earth on a massive scale to bring about a positive transformation and provide a more sustainable solution in helping to co-create and restore the imbalance of the two living systems ie thought and earth.


Opening Address by Councillor of City Council, Petaling Jaya
MBPJ graced the event with an inspirational Opening Address by its Councillor, Encik Khairul Anuar who stood on behalf of the Datuk Bandar (Mayor of MBPJ), YBhg Datuk Mohd Roslan bin Sakiman.

Encik Khairul spoke with much conviction. In welcoming everyone to such forum, he said ‘…a very meaningful and important forum to discuss the ethics and spiritual dimension of sustainable development, a highly neglected aspect in the discourse of climate change and environment preservation. In fact it is timely considering that everyone in the environment circle is discussing

RAISED BEDS

 
...on the roof of Athens BK Center

In the midst of August, with the warm participation of the fire element, the Green Angel team in Athens completed the construction of three raised beds on the roof of the neoclassical building that is housing the Brahma Kumaris Centre in Athens, Kipseli.





After a long hour of designing and a long search for the proper materials the construction of the three raised beds was successfully achieved. The beds cover a 3s/m. surface each, with a depth of 30cm. 






The beds were filled with a special blend of light earth and soon will host the winter horticulture sowing!

Warm thanks to Nikos Avgerinos - in charge of the web forum named ‘Drosostalida’ (Dewdrop)- for his contribution to the making of the beds.
 

BK EUROPEAN ECOLOGICAL RETREAT

On the 16th to 20th of June Green Angel participated in the Brahma Kumaris Green Retreat that took place in the beautiful retreat center ‘Casa Sangam’ that is situated in the green fields of Gubbio in southern Italy.

20 participants from all over Europe came together with the aim of deepening the understanding of the link between spirituality and the environment, how thought affects the world around us and how to best serve in connection with this. What’s more to deepen the connection between values and a sustainable lifestyle and be part of the creation of a team to work in the above.

During the retreat the participants shared their experiences on the field, such as the participation of the Brahma Kumaris to the UN Climate Change Conferences, sharrings of deep aspects on the evolution of the relationships with matter, money and production on the last 100 years and the effect it has on souls and matter, as an overview of how we live, relate and vibrate in our world.

Some of the participants, were professionals in fields related to environment and had an interest to deepen the spiritual aspect of it as well as an interest on how to serve best and engage others having in mind the saving energy aspects, economy and creating a pure relationship with matter based on soul consciousness and moving forward into creating a non-violent culture.

Meanwhile, there was a presentation of the overview of the solar energy project in Madhuban (the headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris in India) setting it up in the context of today’s world of energy.

Cherry picking in the fields of Gubbio

The participants were introduced to the organic work and yogic agriculture that takes place in the fields around the Casa Sangam retreat centre.









All days included silent walks in nature and meditation exercises with a deep focus on serving matter and the elements and some of the yoga allowed us to move deeper in this awareness and realisation that none wanted to get out of!

Healthy vegetarian suggestions with sunflower seed sprouts,
alfa alfa sprouts, buckwheat & millet shootings and Essene bread!

As a lot of attention is being given to the food, all meals included simple and healthy good vegetarian food while a course was held on how to create very pure, nourishing and healthy food useful in today’s world of manufactured food.



http://www.casasangam.org/pages/intro.php
http://www.yogickheti.com/
http://www.india-one.net/
http://www.storyofstuff.com/international/

The Green Angel in the city of Thessaloniki

On Wednesday 4/5, at the house and the garden of the Spiritual Center of the Brahma Kumaris, where the Green Angel is housed in Thessaloniki, a gathering took place among the members of an environmental team of a well-known organization.

From the series "Past, Present, Future,Transition"
by "little" Eirini Galani.

The meeting took place as a follow up of a Green Angel's previous event that had taken place on the 13/4 at the team's venue. This time 33 women participated at a workshop with the topic "The effect of awareness on matter". There was a presentation of how thoughts affect matter, while the experiments on water of a Japanese scientist named Masaru Emoto were mentioned as well as the "Yogic Farming", a method of cultivation of the land that is applied in India.
A visualisation followed and the meeting ended with a conversation centered on Earth as the house that was given to us temporarily to inhabit and the relationship that we should have with Mother Earth from now on so that we can bring back its beauty, happiness and peace.

GREEN ANGEL WEEK 10-17 APRIL

The Green Angel Initiative in Greece, under the umbrella of the Brahma Kumaris Environment Initiative organized programmes in Thessaloniki, Xanthi, Chios and Athens. Sonja Ohlsson from Denmark visited these places as the Green Angel coordinating retreats, seminars and talks.

Different souls play this part of the Green Angel according to request, speciality and need. They fly to different places giving the message about the eco-seeds, spirituality and its links with Mother Nature.

The project began in Greece based on the idea that the original seed of every individual, each city, each country has a unique spirit that when tapped into can release a uniqueness that enriches humanity. These eco seeds are both spiritual and physical. Each participating city in Greece has selected a plant for the year that symbolises various specialties. The cultivation and care needed for physical seeds and plants so that they grow well and fully express requires the same respect, care and understanding necessary for the cultivation of  the seeds of human thought, relationships and well-being.

Athens

The final weekend on 16 and 17 April in Athens was dedicated to how we can make our environment greener by taking into consideration the inner dimension along with the outer.

 
In the Brahma Kumaris bookshop”Silence Point” a gathering was held with a small group of people on “Ecology-Awareness…observing the self and nature”.
This gathering brought together inspirations and practices of different people from different groups who have adjusted their lives according to their ethical values and co-relation between all the living energies that Mother Nature has. All participants made a small presentation of their eco activity....

• A person from the island of Evia has created a green space based on simple organic living with a plan to make a one year self-sufficient calendar by laying down the principle of trading.

• Another from the island of Syros is experimenting with permaculture and eco-exhibits while creating programs to raise children’s eco awareness with the motto “Know-Love-Protect”.

• Two people from Action Aid are working on human rights and children’s poverty and are running campaigns to motivate children on eco-awareness.

• Another participant from Argolida is working practically on her vision”Hopeland”,
  an eco-community where the houses are made of straw balls and land is cultivated with biodynamic practices with the hope that children can relearn forgotten truths from and about nature.

• Sonja finally presented that spirituality makes the connection between the physical and non-physical by raising our awareness on the impact that consciousness has on the environment, as our way of thinking creates the world around us.

On the last day of the program, the theme of the day retreat was “The Laws of Nature…how do we tune into them?”

The plant of Athens was the olive tree, which symbolizes peace, prosperity and victory, it was the special tree of the goddess Athena, the goddess of Wisdom.

The most prevalent message that the Green Angel brought in the course of the Brahma Kumaris Organization ia that environment and spirituality are very close relatives and the link between the two can play a very complementary, unifying part in raising people awareness and bringing the shift that the world now needs. 

LINKS:           Αctionaid             Hopeland

Chios

On the island of Chios Sonja gave a talk to a small group at the Green Angel House, built on a large area of land which has been developing organic farming.

The talk centred on how scientists look and evaluate nature and the elements and how spirituality sees nature and the elements. Spirituality, especially the ancient traditions have a reverent inclusive approach whereas the modern scientific approach has fragmented the essential organic wholeness of nature with quite disastrous results.

The Green Angel room had a vase of red tulips, which grow wild in Chios. The tulip was chosen as the plant symbolizing hope, love and sacrifice.

A public lecture was held where the full cycle of life and nature was described with the emphasis on the 5th age where we go into ourselves and to the Original Seed to find the new energy to start all over again.