The Environment : Comodity or Sacred Trust?

The thing about the environment is this: not many people see the urgency about it's preservation and rehabilitation. But the truth is, the situation is DIRE.

I just went to a conference called the Inter-civilizational Youth Engagement Program 2 (IYEP2). This is a conference in which Youth from all over meet to discuss and take action on the issues of the world. This time, the theme of the conference was "Green vs. Greed: Youths Reflect on the Environmental Challenge". I met a lot of people there but, most importantly, issues pertaining to the environment were discussed from 5 different aspects: Lifestyle, Education, Government, Business and Spirituality.... Yes, I said Spirituality. Amazing rite? They finally realize the need of a spiritual view of things. Love it!

Truth be told, it was an amazing learning experience for me. When the Universal House of Justice said that there were events in one's life that would increase receptivity, I never imagined it could be as simple as opening your eyes in a conference. I am still amazed by it, the fact that the people there were so open to everything! We could openly discuss religion amongst other issues. Seriously, the people there were magnificent!

We discussed all sorts of things like the Water Crisis etc. There were good and bad. But seriously, some of the speakers were really political or really pessimistic...and this coming from me....who according to Temily, is one of the most pessimistic people around! The pessimism was amazingly depressing! When we're there we want a solution, a sense of hope; not some person telling us we have to kill half the worlds population to actually save the world!

Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá have talked about sustainable development in which there is a mutual relationship between nature and man. In my opinion,we were created more intelligent, more capable and more distinguished from nature so that we could exploit the potentialities in it. But it doesn't mean that we forget that we have to sustain it. Nature, in its essence is a reflection of the majesty, grace, loftiness and sovereignity of God. If you look at things that way then by destroying nature, we have in turn destroy the only thing in the universe that is supposed to help us by reminding us of His qualities. Not only that, if we keep going the way we are, sooner or later, the Earth is going to end up like many of the other uninhabitable planets out there. For now, we live on the only inhabitable planet and we are so blind as to exploit it without replenishing it. It's a cycle, and if we don't replenish and keep using sooner or later, there will be nothing left.

Even finding cures for diseases and new sources of nutrients etc. comes from nature. In fact, the very fundamentals of Biotechnology depend on the biodiversity of the earth! With such a dire situation in our hands, how can we not do our part? The start of anything begins with 1, not 0. We have to do our parts as individuals. Don't Sit around and wait....it's time to act.

The Vision....

"Heroes are they, O my Lord, lead them to the field of battle. Guides are they, make them to speak out with arguments and proofs. Ministering servants are they, cause them to pass round the cup that brimmeth with the wine of certitude. O my God, make them to be songsters that carol in fair gardens, make them lions that couch in the thickets, whales that plunge in the vasty deep."

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

I just got back a while ago from a meeting with the Counselor and a very knowledgeable Bahá'i from India. The session we had tonite was really uplifting. It set a clear goal for us to work to.

The discussions made it so clear and what we learned from Aunty Zeena was worth every minute of the planning and excecution that we need to do to achieve everything. With a clear vision now set to turn the Malaysian Bahá'i community ablaze, I'm sure the youth will arise. But one thing Aunty Zeena said that struck me was that we should take the elder generations as a warning. A warning of what's to come when we fail in our Divinely ordained task. She said that in a talk by the beloved Master, He asked them to teach one person a year. If they had did what He asked at that time, a community with only 500 hundred Bahá'is would have in in 2 years 2000 Bahá'is and today most probably we would be living in a peaceful world. But she said that they FAILED. Though I think it may not be 100% true. They actually paved the way for us.

Now, it falls to us. But we have a daunting task infront of us. Most probably the biggest step in achieving our goals. If the Universal House of Justice has faith in us and believes that we can do it.....the question now is.... "Will we?" .... the Divine Body has said we can... "Do we believe we can?" I do. The only thing left to do is to walk the talk and and live the life. Book 7 tells us that there are 2 parts to teaching. The "being" and the "doing".... sadly, I think it's time that we realize that it has to go hand in hand and one without the other is just a waste of time. Bottom line.... WE HAVE TO CHANGE!

I'm taking my first step.... prayers everyday at least in the mornings. It's my first step. Then I'll move on to bigger things. And I also have the Book 1 session to do with the 4 i promised by the end of this month. My plan is to take it one stage at a time. Systematically, once we have the resources then probably I'll move on to getting myself and them into the "battlefield" to ensure we move.