Happy Earth Day!!

Happy Mother Earth Day!

What a beautiful and exquisite opportunity to celebrate the glory and miraculous majesty of this planet. Her mountains, oceans, rivers, trees, flowers, sunrises and sunsets, the nearly innumerable variety of species each so special in its own right, our beautiful human race…. Unfortunately, it feels in my heart like our Mother Earth is suffering.

I flew back from Delhi to Rishikesh earlier this week and from the sky I could see the dry river beds, like empty veins and arteries devoid of lifegiving blood, weaving through the body. Mother Earth’s ability to nurture and sustain us is drying up. Imagine how a Mother must feel when she can no longer provide for Her children and She sees them suffering hunger, thirst, disasters and so much more.

While we celebrate all of the beauty of Mother Earth on this Earth Day, let us remember that the celebration can’t be and isn’t in a vacuum. We must realize the peril that Mother Earth is in, and also pledge that we will preserve her and protect her.

One powerful way we can do that is by becoming vegetarian. One vegetarian meal will save enough grain to feed 15 people, and will preserve thousands of gallons of water. That same meal helps to reduce the need for grazing lands that lead to deforestation. The same is true with our clothes. The fashion industry is one of the greatest causes of polluted water in the world!

Each time you sit to a meal or go shopping, ask yourself: Do I really need that hamburger or steak? Do I really need this new shirt? Can I do with less? Can I live simply, so that others may simply live?

We need to find a way to live in balance, harmony, and love for our beautiful Mother. I pray deeply every day, and especially on Earth Day, that we really can move from the old “normal” of abusing, consuming and exploiting Mother Earth and our sisters and brothers with whom we share this sacred planet, into a New Normal of embodied Oneness, wholeness and health together, for all. Instead of Earth Day, it really should be Us Day – because we truly are all One! We are Mother Earth’s family, and whatever we do to her we do to ourselves. Let us pledge to bring peace to her and to all of the Divine Creation.

Happy Earth Day! Happy Us Day!!