January/February 2020

Spirituality is often associated with spiritual ideals detached from material reality while ecology is associated with a scientific study of the relationships between man and nature. Etymologically, spirituality comes from ‘spirit’ ‘pneuma’ (the Divine Breath creating the universe) and ecology from ‘ekois’ (house or environment), and ‘logos’ (study).

In this article, I will try to show that ecology is a spiritual discipline and that spirituality involves an ecological approach.

Two sentences by the Master Djwhal Khul writing through Alice A Bailey relate to spirituality:

“All activity which drives the human being forward towards some form of development — physical, emotional, mental, intuitional, social — if it is in advance of his present state is essentially spiritual in nature.”

“Everything is spiritual which tends towards understanding, towards kindness, towards that which is productive of beauty and which can lead man on to a fuller expression of his divine potentialities.”

This suggests that spirituality relates to all areas of life, including ecology, science, politics and economics.

The generally accepted mainstream scientific approach suggests that 13 billion years ago an original soup of protons, neutrons and photons agglomerated into stars to form atoms of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. Then, certain stars exploding into supernovae formed the heavier atoms such as copper, zinc, gold, lead etc — all of this at random. By lucky coincidence and the law of natural selection, life and intelligence emerged. Thought would therefore be seen as the product of the brain.

However, more and more scientists question this model and wonder whether consciousness could be a prerequisite for matter, thus approaching the doctrine of esotericists: “The One Life creates, vitalizes, animates the universe”. For esotericists, Spirit brings consciousness to matter and one of the goals of the divine plan is the evolution of consciousness and the elevation of the vibrations of matter.

Russian esotericist HP Blavatsky synthetically formulated these principles, “Nature is not a fortuitous concurrence of atoms”. “Life precedes the Form and survives the last atom”.

“The ‘Great Breath’ or rather the ‘Breath of Life’ … is in every animal, in every animated particle, in every mineral atom.”; “Spirit and Matter being One … Spirit is Matter on the seventh plane; Matter is Spirit at the lowest point of his cyclical activity…” So there would only be a vibratory difference between Spirit and matter.

The materialistic conception of an Earth made of dead matter leads to a feeling of separation and the over-exploitation of resources by humans who live like parasites by neglecting the consequences of their actions.

Modern esotericists (Alice A. Bailey and Benjamin Creme) confirmed the existence of an evolution parallel to human evolution, that of devas. They are in charge of the form aspect and works through feeling. “Devas evolve through the evolution of feeling, of sensory awareness. We evolve through the development of mind. We are the sons of mind, they are the daughters of feeling. Their evolution proceeds through the ever-growing awareness of what is, here and now, what exists in life, in matter, in vibration, in everything that you could think of as creation. That is their experience; moment to moment they are sensing life and matter and growing in awareness of what they are like. We are doing the same thing through our sensory apparatus, but we go further than that. The devas, at least up to the human level, do not think about it, they do not ‘mentate’. Mentation is not part of their activity. But sensory awareness, a heightened, extreme sensitivity to the slightest alteration of vibration, becomes theirs as they evolve. Gradually they evolve to finer and finer perception of what is, now.” [Benjamin Creme, Share International January/February 1993]

The existence of a parallel line of evolution is common knowledge amongst most traditions including shamanism. We can cite the experiment of the Findhorn Gardens in Findhorn, Scotland: how working with the subtle intelligences of nature (devas) made fertile a barren land and led it to produce abundant flowers, beautiful vegetables and fruit. Many gardeners also interact with their plants; their positive effect is taken for granted to such an extent that having ‘green fingers’ is a common saying. It shows that an energetic exchange with the plant world allows plants to grow and become more beautiful.

Benjamin Creme goes further by evoking the negative role of human imbalance on the work of devas, for example on the Earth’s climate: “When we are greedy and selfish and competitive, trying to get ahead of everybody, then inevitably we create disequilibrium. Then the devas who control the weather, the oceans, rain, and so on, go out of equilibrium, and we have the most extraordinary weather patterns, like now, around the planet. It is the result, to an extent, of our own imbalance.”

On Christmas Eve 2019, listeners to BBC Radio 4 were treated to an extraordinary and moving interview with a father who had been unable to save his daughter’s life. The interview was with Nadim Ednan-Laperouse about the life and death of his 15-year old daughter Natasha who died of a severe allergic reaction to food which was not properly labelled. Nadim and his wife Tanya have since become well-known for their campaign and successful efforts to change food labelling laws in Britain. There is now a new law, known as Natasha’s Law. Nadim feels it could not have been possible without the inspiration and drive resulting from his life changing experience.

Although Natasha died three years ago, this is the first time Nadim has told his remarkable story. “I’m compelled to tell what has happened to me in the most truthful way without embellishment so that others can hear it and I think that’s what I’m called to do.”

From infancy it was clear that Natasha suffered from various food allergies and as a consequence the family had learned to be hyper-vigilant, as was Natasha, always checking carefully all ingredients. On a flight to Nice with her father and a school friend she rapidly became very ill after eating a shop-bought sandwich. Two doses of anti-histamine medication, plus several shots from an epi-pen failed to stop the allergic reaction and Natasha became unable to breathe, then unconscious and finally went into cardiac arrest. As the plane landed in Nice a team of paramedics were on hand and did all they could to resuscitate her.

Nadim describes what happened next: “I was looking at Natasha, I’d never taken my eyes off her. And these five angels just appeared. There was a strong soft yellow light — rather like candlelight. It was really intense but not so that your eyes would squint. And then [I could see] in great detail these five figures, like thin people, in perfect proportion with wings on their backs, just appeared. They were about 20 cms tall, and thin, not chubby like children or like in a Renaissance painting with feathery wings added on, like you might see in the Vatican. Actually like human beings – but there was so much micro-detail there on their wings, their bodies and face. They were all looking at me. [They were] all moving around Natasha; I was so taken aback by that. I’d never ever seen anything like that in my life. And I never expected to ever see something like that. I just lifted my arm up and I tried to shoo them away because it dawned on me that it meant she might die. I waved them away and I shouted, ‘It’s not her time!’ And with that they were gone and Natasha died. She was gone.”

Asked to describe the angels in more detail — were they like any angels he had ever seen in paintings or were they a complete surprise?

“These angels, the five of them, they were a complete surprise in their look.” Nadim had studied art early in his life and the angels he saw around Natasha were nothing at all like angels depicted in art. “What I saw very clearly were much more like you and me, like human beings in the same proportion. [They were] long and thin with added wings on their backs. And their wings were not made of feathers, they were actually much more like butterfly-shaped wings and with great detail and [there were] segments in the wings as opposed to being made up of feathers. The entirety of the vision was made up of yellow light, very bright, but actually not hard on the eyes, so you didn’t need to squint in any way. It was almost like a warm welcoming light – possibly the most soothing light, the most amazing light I have ever seen. It doesn’t really exist in the physical world. I’ve never seen anything that I could say “It’s exactly like that”. They were literally glowing and made in incredible detail. It would be like seeing a photograph where there would be so much detail, so you could say ‘high definition’, but even that doesn’t aptly describe what I saw. They’re made of one colour, so they’re monochromatic yellow and they were about 20 cms or so in size [length] in front of me. None of them were particularly male or female. They were all rather the same in that way.”

“I actually wrote down what I saw that day. In all my past, whether looking at books or talking to people about what angels might look like or what we might suppose them to look like, they would certainly be chubbier, bigger and stronger because that in itself to us exudes power and strength. But now you reflect on it, it makes sense in our world, but in another world, another place, or time, like heaven, the rules of the game here don’t mean anything. So in some ways seeing them at that small size doesn’t mean they’re always that size. But the whole supernatural part of this is that they could possibly be anything that is appropriate to that time; I don’t presuppose we have to label them as that shape and size for ever but I can tell you that’s exactly what I saw.”

“They were not naked and yet they were not wearing full clothes that you and I would look at each other and recognize that we are wearing a jumper, for example. They were made up of lots of pieces. Certainly with limbs such as we have and we would recognize but then they had these incredible wings on their back. But I can’t say more than that because I was [looking at] at five different angels all moving and looking at me but not smiling — just, I would say, relatively expressionless. But what’s so powerful is, I can still see them and I should really draw them.”

How were they moving?
“In their movement they were not flapping their wings, like a bird; actually their wings were, interestingly enough, motionless and all in a similar position, i.e. you could call it like a standing position rather than one kneeling down, or lying down in a reclining position. They were all, effectively, floating in front of me and all moving up and around, all differently, across Natasha’s body from head to toe. A sort of round and round movement, apparently randomly all with their own beat to it, or sense of movement. But they were calm; there was a complete calmness about them all. There was no fluttering, nothing manic. It’s like they had come to do a job, they knew what they were going to do: they were waiting and then they did their work which was to take Natasha away to heaven.”

“Talking with Angels”, an extraordinary book by Gitta Mallasz, is the testimony of an encounter experienced by four Hungarian friends during the Second World War with Beings of Light whom they called “Angels”.

It is also the story of Hanna Dallos, who conveyed to her friends the thoughts, inspiration and teachings given to her by the “Angels” at a dangerous and terrible period in Europe, the 1940s. Every week, for eighteen months, these “Angels” spoke through Hanna. They answered questions and provided instruction, initiating an intense process of transformation in those who received it and put it into practice.

Benjamin Creme indicated that the “Angels” were in fact the Masters Jesus, Morya and Koot Hoomi, ‘disguised’ as angels.

…

‘Words of fire’
One day, Gitta shows Hanna what she has written. Apparently, the text produced by Gitta is a string of platitudes, far below her true capacity. Hanna, suddenly feeling animated by divine anger, has just enough time to say to her friend, “It is not I who will speak to you.” She then transmits ‘words of fire’. This is how the dialogues begin.

Every week, on Friday at 3pm, from June 1943 to November 1944, those they call the Angels express themselves through Hanna. Lili joins her friends. Lili and Gitta are the transcribers, absolutely scrupulous in their note-taking. Later, Joseph, who initially preferred to stay away from the experience, decided to join in.

…

Invitation to sustained attention
This is not a theoretical body of teaching, because the messages come in response to the questions asked by Gitta and Lili. Each of the companions receives answers to their questions. Their content is directly related to the way in which the four friends integrate or internalize the teaching and put into practice the impulse they receive on a daily basis.

This teaching is universal; it is addressed to the human being who aspires to become the inspired actor of his life. No dogmas, beliefs or rituals, but an invitation to live the daily experience with the intensity allowed by sustained attention. Take a close interest in all aspects of your life and place them under the light of consciousness. “Every one of your cells must awaken.”

“Each step to the Divine is an awakening. Every existence, not only yours, is but a dream. Becoming lighter … ever more enlightened … Yet still a dream. The only awakening is in the divine.” And the Master continues: “I proclaim to you: When the One Light penetrates into deepest gloom, then there will be deliverance.

We all serve it with joy and gratitude. With thanks.

You will be transformed from ‘dreamers’ to ‘awakeners’.

Your goal is to attain the level where anyone who looks at you … awakens.”

A little later after Gitta asks the Angel/Master a question the answer is stern: “Avoid the word ‘Why’ and fulfil your task; Always without a ‘Why’!”

The world is burning. Huge wildfires are blazing across wide swaths of the Australian bush. As of January 2020, the fire season has yet to reach its peak, yet more than 12 million acres have already burned, while 100 active fires are still blazing…. But Naomi Klein’s new book On Fire: The burning case for a Green New Deal urges us to shake off the sense of inevitability that we’re ultimately doomed.

A collection of essays written over 10 years from the front lines of the evolving crisis, On Fire paints Klein’s own efforts to understand how we got here, along the way dismissing the traditional narratives — theories like: politicians are trapped by short-term electoral cycles, or climate change seems too far off or too expensive to fix. Instead, she finds answers in weaving “seemingly disparate crises (economic, social, ecological and democratic) into a common story of civilizational transformation.” At the same time, On Fire is a rallying cry for a Green New Deal, as the bold transformative approach we urgently need to solve these related crises, as well as a vision for how we can live while respecting the limits of what the planet can take.

It was only a year ago that Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg began her protests in Stockholm, igniting a movement that saw unprecedented numbers of young people take to the streets this past year, impelling us to urgent action. Klein reminds us that these young activists didn’t learn about this crisis by reading about it — many of them have experienced first-hand the severe droughts, hurricanes, flooding, the health impacts of the polluted air from industry, and the billowing black smoke of rampant wildfires. She writes, “Wherever in the world they live, this generation has something in common: they are the first for whom climate disruption on a planetary scale is not a future threat, but a lived reality. And not in a few unlucky spots but on every single continent with pretty much everything unravelling significantly faster than most scientific models had predicted.”

Pope Francis became the first Pontiff to visit Japan in 38 years, following St John Paul II in 1981. In November 2019, he visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two cities which were utterly destroyed by atomic bombs dropped by the US forces at the end of the Second World War in 1945. In those cities he gave the people all over the world powerful messages about the need to relinquish weapons and build peace in truth and justice.

…

When young, the pope wanted to work in Japan, partly because he belonged to the Society of Jesus, which brought Christianity to Japan in the person of Francis Xavier. But at the age of 21, the young Jesuit contracted pneumonia. He had to endure surgery to remove part of his right lung. This forced him to give up being sent as a missionary to Japan.

However, he did not forget the devastation and pain that Japanese people suffered from the atomic bombing, and he made an effort to convey the importance of peace in the following way: In 2018, he distributed to reporters and church workers copies of a photograph taken in Nagasaki just after the bombing. It showed a boy waiting in line to have his dead little brother on his back cremated. “Fruits of war” was on the back of each copy. The next year, the Pope’s hope to visit Japan was realized when he felt obliged to go there, among other reasons, “to recall the innocent victims of such violence”. The theme that he chose for his visit to Japan was “Protect all Life.”

In his speech in Nagasaki, where more than 74,000 were killed by the massive blast of heat and radiation 75 years ago, Pope Francis told us what is necessary for international peace. “Peace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation. They can be achieved only on the basis of a global ethic of solidarity and co-operation in the service of a future shaped by interdependence and shared responsibility in the whole human family of today and tomorrow.” He made the people’s voice heard by saying, “A world of peace, free from nuclear weapons, is the aspiration of millions of men and women everywhere.” And being conscious of the conflicts among superpowers and of the trend to neglect nuclear treaties, he warned us: “We must never grow weary of working to support the principal international legal instruments of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, including the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

Pope Francis told us that money and precious resources should be used to help millions of people living “in inhumane conditions” and that we should deal with environmental issues instead of wasting resources on the arms race. He made us aware once again: “No one can be indifferent to the pain of millions of men and women whose sufferings trouble our consciences today. No one can turn a deaf ear to the plea of our brothers and sisters in need.”

In the evening on the same day, Pope Francis moved on to Hiroshima. In that city, where at least 140,000 were killed by the nuclear attack in 1945, he met several survivors. Yoshiko Kajimoto was 14 years old when the bomb was dropped. “When I went outside, all the surrounding buildings were destroyed. It was as dark as evening and smelled like rotten fish,” she told the Pope sitting near her at the Peace Memorial Park. She described people “walking side by side like ghosts, people whose whole body was so burned that I could not tell the difference between men and women.” She added that no one in this world could imagine such a scene of hell.

In a speech he delivered there, the Pope paid homage to all the victims and to those survivors who lived through with “strength and dignity.” He expressed his “humble desire to be the voice of the voiceless, who witness with concern and anguish the growing tensions of our own time.” He stressed the criminality and immorality of nuclear weapons: “With deep conviction I wish once more to declare that the use of atomic energy for the purposes of war is today, more than ever, a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home. The use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral.”

Near the end of his speech, he urged us to cry out: “Never again war, never again the clash of arms, never again so much suffering!” And he concluded his speech with a call to Christ: “Come, Lord, Prince of Peace! Make us instruments and reflections of your peace!”