Keynote 2: Spirituality and Ecology

Abstract

Spirituality is about understanding our inner self and connecting with treasures of peace, love, happiness, truth and power within. This enables us to view and interact with the outside world more positively and respectfully. The word ‘ecology’ comes from the Greek oikos (home). Human beings belong to each other and share one home. Individually we have many ‘homes’ –our mind, our body, the family home, the Earth and the universe. But today’s world is fragmented and in chaos. Our apparent disconnections from other people and the environment stem from our disconnection with our spiritual selves. Identifying with our physical form –the body –has led to a materialistic, ‘consumer’, attitude towards the world. External initiatives, whilst valuable, will not bring order and cohesion from chaos and fragmentation. Transforming our inner consciousness and cultivating inner contentment will enable us to simplify our lives and reduce our needs. The inner world of thought and the outer world of physical phenomena are not separate worlds but part of the same ‘causal continuum’. Outer, physical phenomena began as inner, subtle phenomena –impressions, thoughts, feelings. The divide between our conscience and our actions, our emotions and our reason, has led to the fragmentation we see in the world. Only when we spend time in silence and connect with the being, the spirit, inside, can the self be healed –become whole –again. Then we are able to start creating a wholeness in the world around us, to rise above the current fragmentation and do constructive things for the world.