Bicycle! Bicycle!

In our college programs at Ohio University and U. of Pittsburgh, we invariably always meet up with the "Critical Mass" people. What is "Critical Mass"? It's not as dire as it sounds. Instead, it's the bi-weekly/monthly get-together of local biking enthusiasts to politely "take back the streets" from the gas-guzzling populace.

And as we can read from this interesting article, choosing to get about your life on a bicycle sends out many positive, practical vibes in today's increasingly unsustainable world.

Food is different...

"Food is different. We need to understand that people are willing to die for their right to farm, to grow what they want, to feed their families and communities. While few are inclined to make the ultimate sacrifice, we need to think about how important food really is. It is life and death. Good food, local food, food that supports the farmer, nourishes the eater and supports the community -- that is what Lee Kyung Hae died for"

Devotees know the importance of foodstuffs-we are a "kitchen religion" after all. What can we do to alleviate the corporate stranglehold on the worldwide production of food? How can we engage and enlighten the consciousness of not only our farming allies, but ourselves, so that natural, organic, and connected communities of self-sufficiency don't become a pipe dream?

For some inspiration, click here to read more about the sacrifice of Lee Kyung Hae

The Herdshare

(Photo from ISCOWP)

"Lovers of raw milk, ethical animal treatment and sustainable local industry are coming together to build on a concept called Herdshare. A herdshare is a co-operative of people who buy a herd of cows and then pay a manager to care for, board and milk their cows. In return, the cow share owners pick up their fresh dairy produce from their local farmers markets, for free."

Click here to head on over to ISKCON News to read more, or click here to head on over to the Herdshare website

This good be a great chance for responsible devotees to network and increase our own exposure as protectors of our dear mother cows.

The 10 Big Energy Myths

As devotees, we know that to remain in spiritual consciousness means to be clean internally and externally. Therefore, to pollute either ourselves or our surrounding environment is something we should never consciously consider.

As most of us are aware, there are various and usually heated debates over the seriousness of the scientific reality of climate change, and whether such alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power could ever fulfill the energy needs of the world's citizens.

It's common sense not to be a polluter, but to inform ourselves properly about these issues, as a tool for preaching and networking with allies to our cause of spiritual self-sufficiency, we should try to find out what is reality and what is myth when it comes to the issues of modern-day sustainability.

In this service to you, click here to read an article by Chris Goodall on the The Top 10 Energy Myths

Saving The Economy By Saving The Planet

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to cater and perform kirtan for a student environmental symposium on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.

It was a celebration of a global awakening that is happening, based around sustainable environmental principles and the awareness that we are all connected together as living beings, and how to put this awareness into practice.

One interesting initiative was the Global Marshall Plan, which aims to redirect and reform the global economy in order to stabilize and improve the precarious environmental and social state we find ourselves in today.

Greenpeace has also offered a similar thought-provoking article that proposes similar calls-to-action for governments and common folk alike. The key theme is the urgent call to redirect our precious financial resources to saving and preserving the environmental heritage of the human species.

Whether or not one agrees or disagrees with the science behind climate change, as spiritual and progressive personalities it behooves us to support the initiatives that will reduce the physical and mental pollution that currently engulfs this earthly planet.

With the incredible and timeless potency of Vedic wisdom at our grasp, we must connect our realizations with the realizations of the people behind this "global awakening" movement. We can provide the sturdy spiritual framework that can lift a "greener" world to even greater heights.

If we can make this connection, then the benefits can truly end up being limitless and eternal.

"Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children!"

One side-benefit of the current economic crisis may be that it becomes easier for locally grown, organic foods to find their way onto the school lunch menus of our kids.

Click here for more info and how to even get your own hometown school hooked up locally and organically.

Actual Sustainability

What is actual sustainabilty?

Is it the ability to create and sustain a consistent supply of foodstuffs locally and organically grown for your family and community?

Is it living by responsible environmental codes and practices that properly respects and doesn't denigrate the earthly planet we live on?

Is it driving your hybrid, drinking your soymilk, voting for Obama, or donating to Greenpeace or Sierra Club?

Is it all this, or is there something more?

Within the Iskcon movement...we do have the philosophical foundation to explain why and how spirituality is connected to sustainability and that there is no such thing as sustainability without spirituality. It is nothing but understanding the movement of the modes of nature, the permutation of goodness, passion and ignorance moving around. But the actual sustainability is that you are doing it for the pleasure and service of God. Therefore by Gods grace and his expansions or assistants, that arrangement makes everything co-operate with your effort to make nice devotional offerings. Thats actual sustainability.
Tapahpunja Das, 2008 Festival of Inspiration, New Vrindaban Dham