Backbone > Life in the Balance

The Personal is Planetary
By Susan Piperato

Satish Kumar renounced the world at age nine and joined the wandering brotherhood of Jain monks. At 18, an inner voice told him to leave the Jain and become a land reform campaigner, working to turn Gandhi’s vision of a peaceful India and world into reality. After undertaking an 8,000-mile peace pilgrimage, walking to America from India alone with no money to deliver “peace tea” to the leaders of the four nuclear powers, Kumar settled in England in 1973.

Since then, he has edited Resurgence magazine, promoting peace, non-violence, sustainability, appropriate technology, and holistic philosophy. In 1991 Kumar helped found Schumacher College, an international center for the study of ecological and spiritual values, of which he is director. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Plymouth and the University of Lancaster, and was presented with the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award for Promoting Gandhian Values Abroad in 2001. He has published an autobiography, Path Without Destination (William Morrow, 1999), and You Are, Therefore I Am: A Declaration of Independence (Green Books, 2002).
From May 10 to 13, Satish Kumar will visit the Hudson Valley to host the seminar “Soil, Soul & Society: Reverential Ecology,” sponsored by Miriam’s Well, at the Garrison Institute. For more information, visit www.miriamswell.org, or call (845) 246-5805.

Chronogram: What is reverential ecology?

Satish Kumar: The word ‘sustainability’ has become popular, even fashionable. Governments, business leaders, and academics use it, and put their own gloss and meaning to it. Even the environmentalists use the word in a utilitarian way. Often people look at nature as a resource for human use. They think we must make use of nature in a sustainable way, but that nature is there for us. We are in charge of the Earth, we are the master species. This attitude suffers from a superiority complex and human arrogance.
In response to such utilitarian ecology I have proposed an alternative, which is reverential ecology. This is a view with humility to nature; we pay gratitude to the Earth and its bounty. We celebrate its beauty, we pay homage to its gifts, and this is what I call reverential ecology. We, human beings, are part of the web of life—Earth serves us and in return we should serve the Earth and have a deep reverence for all animate and inanimate life. As William Blake said, the whole universe is holy. It is with a sense of the sacred that we tread lightly on the Earth. It is the law of reciprocity and mutuality which holds the Earth together. This is a fundamental shift of attitude that we need to make if sustainability is to have proper meaning. Reverential ecology gives us a way of relating to the natural world, which maintains harmony and balance.

C: Why is spirituality necessary to ecology and social justice activism?

SK: Some people work hard to pursue personal growth and personal development. They take care of their body, mind, and spirit; they meditate, practice yoga, eat good food, go to spiritual retreats. They believe ‘If I can look after myself and if everybody can look after themselves, the world will be a fine place.’ This is self-centered spirituality. Then there are others who work day and night to save the Earth, to make political change, to bring about social justice, and so on. They say that they have no time for themselves. They say, ‘In fact, time is running out, it already may be too late, so let us work hard to save the Earth.’ In the meantime, they suffer from personal stress, breakdown of relationships, ill health, and lack of self-fulfilment. In my view, personal and planetary are intimately connected. Fragmentation of personal and planetary brings peril to both. We need an integrated approach, a holistic approach.

C: How do we maintain a trinity of spirituality, ecological sustainability, and social justice?

SK: Spirituality is necessary in the ecology and social justice movements because it brings a sense of meaning, purpose, and celebration. But social and ecological dimensions are necessary to make spirituality become truly spiritual. Action without spirit becomes burdensome, and spirit without action becomes woolly and flaky; therefore, we need to stand on the stool with three legs: soil, soul, and society. There is no fragmentation, no separation, no division between the three; while we take care of the soul we also take care of the soil and society.

The only way to go about creating this trinity is to develop a holistic worldview. Under the influence of Rene Descartes we have been suffering from the dualistic mindset. We have separated matter and spirit, God and world, work and leisure, home and office. All these dualistic attitudes need to be healed. We need a new mindset, which looks at the world and sees it whole. All is connected, interrelated, and interdependent. Everything exists in relation to each other.

C: Is this what you mean by “joined-up thinking”?

SK: We live in the age of specialization—we know more and more about less and less. For example, in our medicine there are heart specialists, brain specialists, bone specialists, eye specialists, hearing specialists, and so on, but no one looks at the whole body properly. In society we have economists who do not want to know about philosophy, scientists who do not want to know about theology, one government department promoting nuclear energy and another renewable energy, cancelling each other out. I can go on giving you examples of the lack of joined-up thinking, which means keeping the big picture in mind when you are working on a detail.

C: In a speech at Hunter College in 2001, you won a standing ovation by saying your prescription to the American people would be to take naps and bake bread. What did you mean?

SK: Great transformations take place with many, many small right actions. Spirituality and social justice, ecology, and imagination are nourished through simple acts of compassion and kindness. It is in cultivating the garden, baking the bread, talking to your neighbor where big transformations can take place. We need to restore respect for the small, the simple and the slow. We need to cultivate a sense of beauty and generosity; it is not the quantity that matters, it is the quality of life, of words, of food which will determine whether our actions bring joy and fulfilment.

We need to rediscover the importance of living in the here and now. There is only one thing we have to do at any given moment—let us put our total attention and focus on that one activity. If we can perform that one activity well, lovingly, and imaginatively, then we will be able to perform all the other activities which will follow in the same spirit and same manner. As William Blake said, the whole universe is encapsulated in a grain of sand; the whole eternity is in this moment. Our body is a microcosm of macrocosm. The theory of Gaia explains it beautifully in scientific language—one butterfly fluttering in one place affects the whole universe—so our smallest action and most minute thoughts will impact in however subtle ways, the whole Gaia. Therefore, we have a responsibility not to waste our time on destructive thoughts or actions.

C: At Resurgence’s water conference at Omega Institute last September, much of what was presented about the pollution and privatization of water throughout the world was gloomy. Yet you seemed to remain optimistic.

SK: My optimism comes from a deep trust in the process of the universe. I am part of that great process; I act with a sense of detachment, and I do what is the right thing to do without expecting results or outcomes. I am not interested in achievements, I am not seeking success. I offer my actions as a gift to serve the Earth and people. In giving the gift of your self, there is no disappointment.

Even though the world is facing catastrophic problems, the human spirit is more resilient than any crisis—you can never kill the spirit. While there are many things wrong in the world, there are also many good people engaged in positive and constructive activities, people like Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Wendell Berry, Julia Butterfly Hill—the list is long—who give us great strength, confidence, and hope. These selfless individuals and groups set the example for us to follow. I am always inspired.

C: You’ve edited Resurgence magazine for 30 years. What are the biggest changes you’ve seen?
SK: In the past 30 years consciousness about environmental issues has become a great deal clearer. When I was invited for dinner 30 years ago and said I was a vegetarian my hosts always wondered how to feed me. But now increasing numbers of people are vegetarians. Thirty years ago the idea of renewable energy and windmills was a minority interest; now it is part of government policy.

In the past 30 years much has changed for the better. The Berlin Wall has come down, apartheid has ended. There are millions of people joining environmental and social justice organizations, practicing yoga and meditation. All this proves a better world is possible.

The next 30 years are going to prove that wars are futile. No one can win them. In the next 30 years non-violent ways of resolving conflicts will become more prevalent. People are going to move closer to organic food and complementary medicine. People are going to realise that without spiritual well-being material progress and economic growth are hollow.