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"The color of Yoga is green!"—Georg and Brenda Feuerstein
Today, as we face the threat of environmental collapse, only a truly green spirituality makes sense.
Yoga practitioners everywhere urgently need to reorient their practice and lifestyle.
Contemporary Yoga is not green enough. . .
Ultimately, humanity is one and this small planet is our only home. If we are truly to help one another and protect this home of ours, each of us needs to experience a vivid sense of compassion and responsibility.—H.H. The Dalai Lama XIV
Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its life style. In many parts of the world society is given to instant gratification and consumerism while remaining indifferent to the damage which these cause.—H.H. Pope John Paul II
We’re in a giant car heading towards a brick-wall and everyone’s arguing where they’re going to sit.—Dr. David Suzuki, award-winning scientist, environmentalist and host of The Nature of Things
We are a daring civilization. An adventurous civilization. But we are also a stupid civilization, afflicted with a death wish. We are destroying (not just using, but destroying) natural resources and habitats that are the very tissue from which society is made . . . We are destroying life at large.—Prof. Henryk Skolimowski, author of A Sacred Place to Dwell: Living With Reverence Upon the Earth
Green Yoga Initiative — Purpose
Green Yoga Initiative (GYI), an independent Canadian company operated under the auspices of Traditional Yoga Studies, has the purpose of promoting awareness about the present environmental crisis, especially to the contemporary community of Yoga practitioners, and of providing practical information about a sustainable lifestyle that will help preserve Planet Earth for our children and theirs . . . along with numerous other life forms.
Green Yoga — The Context
Since the 1960s, biologists and other scientists have repeatedly warned us about the long-term consequences of pollution, the widespread use of toxic pesticides and other chemicals, both for human health and the environment at large, overconsumption, and the population explosion. Most people ignored these warnings as exaggerations and took refuge in the thought that the Earth is so large and its resources so vast that there could never possibly be a problem.
They were wrong. Today we are facing precisely those consequences that early environmentalists like Rachel Carson, Barry Commoner, Hazel Henderson, Lynn White, Paul Ehrlich, and others had foreseen. We are now in the throes of a severe environmental crisis! Hardcore scientists, who live in a world of facts and figures, are scared by what they see.
The present-day crisis is epitomized in the undeniable fact of accelerating global warning. The polar ice caps and glaciers are melting at a more rapid rate than any scientist had predicted. The ocean is badly polluted and has become so toxic that it is no longer safe to eat certain kinds of fish. Also, ninety percent (!) of large fish are gone from the ocean as a result of overfishing.
Lakes and rivers and even groundwater are polluted. Over 1 billion people have only inadequate or no access to safe drinking water. Some experts think that the next world war will be fought over water.
Equally alarming is that c. 25 billion (!) tons of fertile topsoil are lost every year, reducing humanity’s ability to produce much-needed food for its expanding population.
Our forests, which generate nearly 30 percent of Earth’s oxygen, are disappearing at the alarming rate of 40 million acres per year. The air has become so polluted in some regions of the planet (notably in and around cities) that it is causing lung disease, cancer, and premature death.
Yet, every year, we are adding 90 million people to our human population and many millions of automobiles (further accelerating global warming). Most importantly, developed nations absurdly continue to overconsume as if there were no tomorrow.
Scientists are now saying that, indeed, there may be no tomorrow for the human race and most other species, because our biosphere is seriously threatened with collapse. They are talking in terms of decades rather than centuries.
We are in the midst of what many biologists refer to as the “Sixth Mass Extinction.” Biologists fear that it will exceed the previous mass extinction, which wiped out the dinosaurs and 75% of all other species. Every day, an estimated 150 species are becoming extinct, which is 1000 times more than in any preceding era. This already high extinction rate is predicted to accelerate exponentially in the years to come.
We have mismanaged the stupendous resources of the Earth and have effectively sabotaged the subtle mechanisms that for hundreds of millions of years have kept the biosphere in a state of dynamic balance.
Many scientists now believe that it is already too late to avert calamity for our own generation. However, we must do everything we can for future generations—our children and theirs.
As Yoga practitioners—people who are firmly committed to a conscious and responsible lifestyle—we must NOW extend our efforts to work toward not only our own healing and wholeness but the healing and wholeness of our planetary environment.
The same material elements and forces that make up our bodies also make up our environment. If our environment is polluted, so are we. It is our conviction that we cannot become truly whole and healthy without also caring for Earth’s well-being and that of every creature inhabiting it.
The time has come for all yogis and yoginis to feel the plight of our planet and then take wise and heroic action for the benefit of all beings and Earth as a whole.
Before long, everyone will come to experience the consequences of biosphere stress in terms of drastic climate change, scarcity of safe drinking water, large-scale migrations because of rising sea levels, diminishing natural resources, and so on.
Green Yoga — The Book
The book Green Yoga by Georg and Brenda Feuerstein is intended as a last-minute wake-up call specifically for the contemporary Yoga community.
For over four decades, Georg Feuerstein has sought to introduce Western Yoga practitioners to the deeper, spiritual concerns and moral teachings of traditional Yoga. In 2004, he shelved his research into Yoga’s scriptural tradition in order to turn his attention to the urgent environmental and social issues of today. Green Yoga is a first fruit of these deliberations. The book is coauthored with Brenda Feuerstein, Georg’s wife, who for many years was involved in tree-planting projects and in the alternative housing and energy field.
Green Yoga is realistic about the current state of affairs and the enormous danger we are facing. At the same time, it provides all the necessary practical insights to enable you to become a green Yoga practitioner—a virya, or yogic hero championing the welfare of all species on this planet and making the Earth a safe place for future generations.
To order this book, please click here.
Endorsements for Green Yoga:
"Green Yoga is a hopeful gift of keen intelligence and deep insight that calls us to a green lifestyle that can heal our world and the divisions between inner and outer, personal and collective transformation."—Duane Elgin, author of Voluntary Simplicity and Promise Ahead; www.awakeningearth.org/
"I believe that taking our yoga beyond the mat is the essence of our practice. Whatever your starting point, Green Yoga will provide you with the tools to live a more mindful and world-centric life. It is the perfect tool for individual growth and for yoga teacher trainings. I began making changes the first day and look forward to joining the green initiative group."—Sylvie Gouin, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; www.core-elation.com
"What could the ancient philosophy of Yoga possibly have to offer modern environmentalist thinking? If Georg and Brenda Feuerstein have anything to say about it, plenty. This slim volume has probably more practical wisdom packed into its pages concerning how spiritually minded individuals today can approach the greatest crisis facing humanity than any book I've read in years—maybe ever. Whether you're a Yoga practitioner or not, you owe it to yourself—and your planet—to read this book."—Ray Grasse, author of The Waking Dream and Signs of the Times
"This is one of those books that the mind does not want to read. Georg and Brenda pose the punch-you-in-the-gut question 'How realistic is it to expect to attain individual serenity in a troubled sociocultural and natural environment?' Then they go on to explain how we do this through a process they call '“sattvification,' which is a purifying that involves mindfulness and activism in relation to both the mind and the world. This book is a powerhouse. It is essential reading for Yogis and Yoginis who want to be part of the solution rather than a blind part of the problem. It is a challenge to act—Karma Yoga—not just sit on your butt in meditation."—Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati
Green Yoga Initiative E-Newsletter
We invite you to take advantage of our offer of a FREE subscription to our e-newsletter, which will
• update you on what is happening and what people are doing about the current crisis
• provide practical advice on what you can do to help create a better future for everyone.
If you wish to subscribe to Green Yoga Initiative E-Newsletter, please click here.
Green Yoga — Action Groups
We encourage you to form your own local Action Group based on the information and insights provided in our book Green Yoga and our e-newsletter.
As we envision them, t he purpose of these Action Groups is
(a) to generate appropriate social support from like-minded Yoga practitioners in your area for your efforts in generating and maintaining a sustainable lifestyle using the green principles of traditional Yoga and
(b) to express your commitment to a green lifestyle in the political arena by lobbying for sustainability among local and national politicians as well as leaders of the corporate world, and so forth.
No particular formality is involved in creating an Action Group, though we would appreciate it if you could let us know that you are doing so (greenyogainitiative@gmail.com), so that we can announce your group in an upcoming e-newsletter.
For reasons of legal liability, we cannot grant permission to any Action Group to use the name "Green Yoga Initiative" or its abbreviation "GYI." Green Yoga Initiative is registered as a company in Canada. We suggest you use a name like "Vancouver Green Yogis and Yoginis" or "Vancouver Green Yoga Action Group," etc.
Because of time and energy, we are simply unable to commit to answering letters or emails individually. We will, however, be interested in hearing from you and receiving relevant information or news for our Green Yoga Initiative E-Newsletter, where we will also respond to queries that we feel are pertinent to other readers. But please bear in mind that we will publish this e-newsletter only if there is sufficient interest.
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