Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

It is a rare opportunity indeed to meet someone who deeply understands the connect between ourselves and the living planet, and is taking direct action in terms of mobilising people into planting millions of trees, whilst simultaneously giving the practical tools to profoundly change one’s own inner wellbeing.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, founder of Isha Foundation talks to us in Singapore recently (Video below) about Project Green Hands, the largest tree planting effort in India in the state of Tamil Nadu, and the work that’s being carried out to enable its progress. The project received the “Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar award,” the highest environmental award in India in 2010.

Sadhguru travels around the world spreading his message of peace and the need for ‘inner engineering’ or change – from global forums such as the World Economic Forum at Davos, World Peace Congress and United Nations Millennium Peace Summit, right to villages in the heart of rural India.

On Earth Day 2012 Sadhguru had said,

“How audacious that we can even think that we will allot a day for the earth! Both day and night happen only because of the revolutions of the earth. Our very body is an extract from this planet. Everything that we are is earth. For human beings who have forgotten that they have just temporarily come out of the womb of this earth and that they will one day be sucked back into this earth, for them, this day is a reminder that you are a part of this earth. If humanity has to live for a long time, you have to think like the earth, act like the earth and be the earth, because that is what you are. 

I am often asked by people, “Why is a spiritual leader, a yogi, planting trees?”  Why? Because trees are our closest relatives. What they exhale, we inhale; what we exhale, they inhale and keep our lives going. It is just like the outer part of our lung. You cannot ignore your body if you want to live. The planet is in no way different from that. What you call “my body” is just a piece of this planet.

The video interview:

Video link here

Here is the edited transcript for the above video interview with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: 

Bhavani Prakash:  Thank you Sadhguru, for speaking to us at EWTT, it’s a real honour for me to be here with you today. At EWTT, we raise awareness about environmental issues and also share stories of positive change.  Sadhguru, you have spread peace and joy to millions of people all over the world and have specially initiated Project Green Hands, which is the largest tree planting initiative in India in the state of Tamil Nadu, with the objective of planting 114 million trees that will raise the tree cover to 33% (Sadhguru: We are not anywhere near the number!)

Bhavani Prakash: Why and how did you start the Project Green Hands? What is the progress so far?

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev:  In the year 1998, United Nations- certain agencies from the United Nations made a prediction that by 2025, 60% of Tamil Nadu will be a desert. I did not like it, I don’t like any prediction because predictions take into account only the cold facts, not human aspirations. What is beating in human heart is ignored completely. But I wanted to confirm, so I drove around Tamil Nadu to see if this is true. Then I came to the conclusion that they are wrong because in my estimate it wouldn’t go upto 2025, it would happen much faster.

Rivers which have been there for thousands of years have evaporated in the last twenty years; water table has sunk over thousand feet in many places and desertification is bound to happen very very rapidly. So I thought, what is the best thing to do? The simplest thing to do is, with global warming, temperature rise is happening. We made a calculation if there is increase in half a degree centrigrade of temperature, how many millions of tons of extra evaporation will happen to the oceans. If that many tons of water get evaporated where does it go? It all becomes cloud cover. One of the things that happens is the peninsula which is southern India, will receive excessive rain. When rain happens, without the necessary vegetative cover over it, without the green cover over it, the top soil will go away very quickly and the run off will create deserts very fast. It’s not ‘no rain’ which creates desert, it’s excessive rain without green top (that) will create. So the simple solution was to increase the green cover.

Tamil Nadu green cover on that day was 16.5%. National aspiration is 33%, so we made a barefoot calculation. If we need to make it 33% for the area of Tamil Nadu, we needed 114 million trees. So when I said 114 million trees, people thought I don’t know what the number is. We have over 62 million population. If all of us plant one tree, nurture it for 2 years and plant one more, we got the number. But such things never happen because efforts are never made in that direction. But people thought this was an impossible number.

So as a demonstration, I wanted to just give them the thrill of doing something which works.  The mountain where we are, we are at the foothills of a mountain, this particular hill which immediately behind ashram turns brown in the month of April and May. Because in this mountain, there is no single tree over 20 years of age – they have removed everything. The rest of the mountain is very thick rain forest, this particular hill is like this. Because there was illegal furniture industry taking away the timber we kind of stopped that process. It took a certain amount of social upheaval to stop it but we did. So then I devised a way of planting over this hill during rainy season.

It just took us about 22 to 23 days, about 4 to 5 thousand volunteers and I had to just provide them 2 meals a day and just had to create a song to keep the enthusiasm up and we planted up this hill.  Over 6 million seeds, we planted  in a certain way ensuring that the sprouting would be almost 100%. But because of the wildlife certain amount will die. This whole hill became green in 2 years time. Today, if you come and see, you will see in summer months, it will not turn brown.  Our temperatures have come by at least 3 degrees in summer because of this 22 days of work. So I gave them a demo that you don’t have to give up your life to do this. Making a mountain green, they thought they have to give up their life – so it was a kind of a demo and then they got enthusiastic.

Then I went about speaking to farmer groups and villages.  The simple message that I gave them is just this. As you sit here and breathe, what you exhale the trees are inhaling, what the trees exhale you are inhaling. This is a partnership. This is a relationship without which you cannot do. You can do without any other relationship but this relationship you cannot break or in other words, one half of your lung is hanging out there in the tree.  So it’s not a tree, its part of your breathing equipment. So this message went across to people. They emotionally felt that this is something they have to do because one part of the lungs is hanging out there in tree and have to take care of it. If they want to healthy, if they want to be happy, if they want to live well, if their children have to live well, this has to be done. This is something they understood.

Today, I think we have close to 17 million surviving trees which has  brought in almost over 7% green cover back to the state. This is the official figure. The google maps say it’s much more. So a big movement started and many people started planting. The awareness that this has to happen has almost reached the whole population. The media and people came out in big numbers. The call for green hands planting this year – this is our 30^th year – I told them you have to plant 30 lakh trees, that is 3 million trees, but people came back with a plan and said they will plant 6 million trees. So I said fine. This year they are planting 6 million trees, so about 1,100 nursery across the state in private lands and donated lands, no government help. Planting is not happening in government land – all on private land. We convinced the farmer that he has to convert 10% of his farming land into trees. More food should come out of trees than crops. Right now the proportion is disproportionate so that’s what we are working towards.

Bhavani Prakash:  In another interview, you had said that you spent a lot of time, many years, to work on planting trees in people’s minds…..

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: Yes, that is the most difficult terrain (laughs).

Bhavani Prakash: ….. before you got them to plant trees in soil.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: Planting trees in the soil is easy because soil likes trees and trees like soil (laughs). But planting trees in people’s minds was the big job. The first six years that’s all we did – planting trees in people’s minds. But now that it’s rooted in people’s minds,  it’ll happen on the land quite effortlessly as six million trees in not a small number.

Bhavani Prakash: How did you do that? How did you engage with communities and also what do you see the impact now on these communities?

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: As I said, it became an experiential process, people understood that their existence is not separate from the trees. We put it across in an experiential way through skits, through plays, through songs, through videos and celebrities coming and talking about it. We organised whole events across Tamil Nadu, so it became clear to people, ordinary people, village people, people who are everyday struggling for their livelihood. These are the people who did it, it’s not some big corporation or some other great sponsorship, it’s ordinary people on the street.

Bhavani Prakash: One question that is asked about tree planting initiatives is the choice of trees and the long term maintenance of the trees. So how does the program ensure this?

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: The choice of trees in not our choice, its indigenous trees. We have chosen 108 indigenous trees – only trees which are local. We don’t bring anything from outside.  The survival rate is because we don’t allow anybody to plant more than 2 trees. 2 children will plant one tree in partnership. So right now, we have taken up this in the schools is a big way, where 2 children in partnership will grow one tree – which is doable. If you make a person plant a hundred trees or a thousand trees, invariably he is not going to take care of it unless he has resources to do it. But 2 trees is something that he will take care of,  so generally give them 3 and say you must plant 2 and encourage one more person to plant one.  So this has set forth a whole culture today. You will see in Tamil Nadu in weddings people are giving away saplings instead of coconut.  People are coming and taking from us, which is a significant change. How many of this (the) wedding guest will actually plant? The thing is we don’t just give it away, we are also kind of encouraging as to how to plant, what to do and things. Even if they don’t, just the shift in culture from giving a coconut or a fruit or something else, they have shifted to give a live sapling. When a grown plant is given to you, you can’t just throw it like this and go. There is a certain involvement in that and plantings happen. So we are also making sure that they receive that and if they say ‘I don’t know where to plant,’ we take it and plant it for them.

Bhavani Prakash: We spend money in so many frivolous ways, and as you mentioned, in unwanted gifts for various occasions such as festivals and birthdays and anniversaries. How can we encourage our friends and families (to plant trees instead)?

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev : You must do it. It’s very, very important, that sensible and meaningful gifts are given, not frivolous and meaningless gifts. So we have set up a website which says “Give Isha.”  So through giveisha.org/pgh people can (donate) either for their own birthday or friend’s birthday or children’s birthday or other occasions.

Bhavani Prakash: Apart from the scientific importance of trees which are important for combating climate change, recycling air and water…..

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: No, no, we are not combating climate change -yes, that will be a consequence. We plant trees because we understand it’s deeply, deeply connected with our lives, so the science of breath for one and in many other ways is connected. So the relationship is far more than just its utility, it’s life. Without our life they can survive, without their life we cannot survive.

And as you know in the past, most people got enlightened under a tree so we are also building infrastructure for your enlightenment.  You better plant one now, just in case you are planning to get enlightened. At least you must have a decent tree to sit under. Otherwise nobody will believe….

Bhavani Prakash: I’ll do a Bodhi tree then. (Laughs)

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: (laughs) If you got enlightened in your bedroom, nobody will believe you. At least you must be sitting under a tree. (Laughs) 

Bhavani Prakash:  In Asia and in most ancient cultures of the world, we grew up with a feeling of reverence for nature and mother earth and that’s fast disappearing in this new age on consumerism and greed, fuelled by rapid economic growth. How can we regain the emotional connect, that love and respect for the earth?

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: It has to be brought forth in children, in the education systems. We are looking at the planet as a commodity.  We are not looking at it as a source of our life, which is a serious, serious mistake and an extremely crass way of existence. So, if you look at your mother as a delivery system for you, it’s a very gross way of existence. If you look at the planet as commodity, it’s a very gross way of existence. It’s time this is conveyed to the children of the planet because they are the future generations and if that has it happen, then this generation has to get it too first. It has to spread the message it’s very, very important.

Bhavani Prakash: If we continue business as usual it is estimated that by end of this century …

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: A century…you think it will last that long? (laughs)

Bhavani Prakash: (laughs and continues)…it’s expected that the planet will become warmer by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius …

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: Singapore won’t exist (then) (laughs)

Bhavani Prakash: What action needs to be taken urgently by every sector of society – by individuals, organisations, communities, policy makers? What action needs to be taken to prevent catastrophic consequences? Can we avert calamity? Is it inevitable? Do we have enough time to act?

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: One thing is (that) the way we consume the planet has to change. You can’t stop it.  It has to change for which breakthrough technologies need to happen. Another important thing is and one of the most immediate things is to plant trees. Particularly planting trees is effective only up to 33 degrees from the equator, north and south. But south of the equator there isn’t much land to plant, expect Africa and certain parts of America. Nowhere else there is land, but in the north, there is plenty of land. So southern India or large segment of India falls into that, Singapore in that range and many other countries are there. Upto 33 degrees from the equator is the most effective place to plant trees.  If you plant it in temperate climates, it will not contribute in a very big way to the climate change process. But maximum impact happens here so that is where we need to plant. These lands which are within 33 degrees on either side of the equator, this is where we must plant maximum trees. Because this where it makes the difference.

This is an immediate remedy or (rather) it’s not a  remedy, it’s a small correction. But if we don’t even make this small correction then (with) other things such as technological breakthroughs, nobody can predict the time. It may happen this year or it may happen a century later. We don’t know when it will happen. We definitely need to invest in that direction but there is no guarantee as to when it will happen. So planting trees is something we can do and see that it happens and the impact is immediately visible. Consuming less in so many ways has to be done, technologies have to be improved but those things will not happen immediately. They can take time.

Bhavani Prakash:  I suppose we must also conserve what we have?  We are losing so much forest within this tropical belt….

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: That’s what I said. You cannot reduce consumption without technological advancement, it will not happen. You can only talk about it. It’s not going to happen, because you cannot curtail human aspirations. But you can curtail human population. The tree population should increase, human population has to come down.  We have bred irresponsibly.

In the last 100 years i.e., in the beginning of the century we were just 1.5 billion. Today we are 7 billion plus. United Nations is making predictions that by 2050 we will be 9.6 billion people. 9.6 billion people means we will have to live with 40% less resource than what we are enjoying now. When I say resource, I am not talking about oil or gold or something. I am talking about food that you eat, water that you drink and air that you breathe.  This is going to be serious problem. So 9.6 billion people in another 40 years, not even 40, in 36 years,  is a dangerous bomb sitting in front of us. Either we curtail this consciously or Nature is going to do it to us in a very cruel manner.  If we do it consciously we can call ourselves human beings. If Nature does it us, we are just creatures on this planet.

Bhavani Prakash: Sadhguru, what is true happiness and joy…..?

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev:  No, no this is not ecological. (Smiles)

Bhavani Prakash: (Smiles) No, I am going to link it…

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev:  How can you sit on a tree and be happy? You have to be a monkey. (Laughs)

Bhavani Prakash: How can we connect this notion of individual happiness and joy to the wellbeing of all fellow human beings, the wellbeing of all species on this planet, the health of all ecosystems?

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: Don’t worry about the happiness of other beings, if you keep this one being happy (pointing to himself), no really…. If you are in a certain state of pleasantness within you, you will be pleasant to everything around you, invariably isn’t it?  When you are happy, are you not nice to people around you? But when you are unhappy are you very nice?   So people are too concerned about fixing the world. No, you fix this (pointing to himself), if this is feeling pleasant, it will naturally be pleasant to everything. So the problem is always – we want to fix the world and then fix this (oneself). It won’t happen, it’s only going to be talk.

Bhavani Prakash: Finally, there is saying that goes like this:  ”Hope without action is just wishful thinking.” Conversely, action without hope is impossible to sustain. So how can those who are really passionate about doing better for the world, encourage others to take action, impactful action, without losing hope.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: The thing is, your action should not be based on hope. Your action should be based on your clarity of vision. You know this needs to be done, so you do it. Is it going to happen or not going to happen, that’s not your business. Your business is that you did everything possible that needs to be done. Is it going to happen or is it not going to happen? If you calculate that now,  you will give it up tomorrow morning.

That’s not necessary. (Whether) It is going to happen or not going to happen is subject to many things, but did you do what you could do or not,  is the basic thing. So every human being has to look at this. “Oh it’s ok, if I plant a tree, is the world going to change?” Whether it changes or not, it’s just that out your concern you have done everything that you can do. You have not left anything undone. Always this is so in one’s life. In every human being’s life,  if you do not do what you cannot do, that’s not the issue. If you do not what you can do, that’s a disastrous life. So my wish is that no human being should become a disaster.  Every human being should do what he can do. What he cannot do….nobody can do what he cannot do. (laughs)

Bhavani Prakash:  Thank you Sadhguru for your wonderful words of wisdom and guidance.

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If you wish to plant a tree via Project Green Hands (PGH) : Donate via www.giveisha.org/pgh
Visit Project Green Hands‘ website and join PGH on Facebook

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Further links you may be interested in:

EWTT: World Environment Day 2012: Support Project Green Hands

About the interviewer:

Bhavani Prakash is the Founder of Eco WALK the Talk .com.  She is a sustainability speaker, trainer and writer can be contacted at bhavani[at]ecowalkthetalk.com. Follow Eco WALK the Talk on Facebook, Twitter, Linked IN and YouTube

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Photo by Shaw Thacher

The aim of the Power Shift Conferences is to build the youth climate movement in their respective nations, which is achieved through workshops, expert panel discussions, keynote speakers, and a lobby day or a “Day of Action” as it is alternatively known.” [Source: Wikipedia]

On April 18th 2011 about 10,000 youth leaders gathered at the White House, and rallied across Washington, DC, to kick off the next wave of grassroots action. The various speeches call for radical action on climate change.

Here’s a video compilation.

Van Jones who talks about shifting the Power, Shifting the Conversation to change America towards renewables for the poor, towards green jobs.

Bill McKibben ” We understand the physics and chemistry of political power. In this case, it’s not carbon dioxide that rules the day: it’s money. ”

The full transcript of the speech is here

Tim DeChristopher who was imprisoned for saving public lands from oil and gas companies. He’s featured in Grist.org in the article: As the climate crisis continues, who are we sending to jail? and the interview on his guilty verdict.

Video link here

Al Gore does an introduction to the event by saying:

“If you want to go quickly, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.
Let’s start this movement and get it into high gear.”

Here is the transcription on this link

Photo by Shaw Thacher

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Zeitgeist roughly translates from German into “spirit of the times.”  The movie Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, directed by Peter Joseph was released globally on January 25th, 2011 as a sequel to “Zeitgeist“(2007) and is available to everyone free for non-commercial use as a public commons.

I haven’t watched the 2007 movie at the time of writing, which I understand puts forth some radical theories on religion, the 9/11 event, and government and corporate propoganda. So I guess I got to view this one with a relatively unbiased mind.

The first half makes a cohesive analysis of the psychological, economic, social, political and environmental morass that we have created, and links all of these very effectively – this is where the strength of the movie lies.

Joseph connects the psychological imprints we get from our surroundings to various societal problems including drug addiction, aggression and consumerism. He strikes at the heart of the problem, namely the functionings of the market economy which rewards cost effectiveness and economic growth – a process that conflicts with human and planetary wellbeing.

Our current economic model is headed towards disaster on all fronts. It is also highly inequitable with poverty being the worst form of violence against humanity. Joseph also calls the monetary system a ponzi scheme, because the dollar is nothing but debt, and eventually a point will come when the Federal Government is unable to service the interest on the debt, leading to a systemic collapse.

The latter half of the movie, however, is less convincing. As an activist myself, I’m constantly looking for solutions to various issues, and these solutions need to be viable and practical – unless of course some kind of swift and dramatic revolution like the film proposes at the end happens.

Joseph doesn’t like the word ‘utopian’ but his vision of how we can overcome the problems is radical to say the least.  He asserts we can do away with currency and markets with a centralised resource allocation ‘machine’ which can scientifically calculate all of human needs and decide how much to produce and what resources to use and conserve.  Sound communist?  The movie spends a good few minutes to refute this.

Who’d control such a supercomputing machine that Joseph suggests? The political path to this isn’t clear, and though I don’t agree with the computing idea, we could benefit from some kind of ‘supragovernment’ or a federation of nations, which can make decisions to the best interests of the planet as a whole and all its citizens, especially those with less access to resources. There are many, who support such a holistic view as espoused at the Bolivian Climate Change Conference on the Rights of Mother Earth held at Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2010.

I also prefer a more practical model like Contraction & Convergence that allocates emission targets to nations on an equitable basis, using the markets to penalise or reward those who are on either sides of this target.  We also have ways to incorporate environmental and social costs into the market based system – such as removing incentives for and taxing fossil fuel intensive as well as socially destructive activities. We can also redefine laws that can penalise persons who hide behind the ‘corporate persona’ by making environmental crimes or ecocide a crime against humanity.

However there are some very plausible ideas in the narrative such as green transport, vertical farming and cradle-to-cradle design which could well become mainstream in the coming decades. I would have really liked the movie to touch upon one avant-garde idea that Jacques Fresco, the founder of The Venus Project (the ideological basis for the movie) has researched about which could break our dependence on fossil fuels – namely Zero Point Energy from vacuum. This is touted as the ” Forbidden Energy Science” that ‘energy cartels would rather you not know.’

We do have as a society, all the techonological and policy solutions for a sustainable world without necessarily having to go to the extreme of giving up markets or currencies – how we create political will and change is the moot question.

It’s a long and slow movie – 2 hours and 41 minutes, but do watch it, it has lots to tickle your brains with.

Video link here

Further links that may be of interest:

1. The Venus Project is the ideological basis for “Zeitgeist: Moving Forward” It was founded by Jacques Fresco, considered by many as “Leonardo da Vinci’ whose ideas are often ahead of our times. The project strives to create ” a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture.”

2. The Venus Project Video with Jacques Fresco, the Founder of the Venus Project.

3. Free Energy – Zero-Point Energy Extraction from the Quantum Vacuum Video

4. EWTT: Why We Need A Law On Ecocide

5. EWTT: Bolivia Climate Change Conference and The Rights of Mother Earth

6. EWTT: Contraction & Convergence: An Urgent Global Imperative to Tackle Climate Change

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Annie Leonard, creator of a series of informative animations, The Story of Stuff, The Story of Bottled Water, The Story of Cosmetics and The Story of Cap & Trade has just released the latest one taking the electronics industry to task:  The Story of Electronics. It shows the negative impact of the “designing for the dump” mentionality that exposes workers to toxic inputs, and people in developing countries like Nigeria and India to toxic e-waste.

Good Magazine came out with an interesting infographic recently.  E-waste is piling up at an incredible 40 million tons a year. You may click here for a larger picture.

According to the book written by Annie Leonard “The Story of Stuff” “e-waste is increasing three times faster than other municipal waste and is packed with hazardous metals and chemicals.  The Electronics Take Back Coalition says the 5 common sources and reasons for e-waste are cell phone upgrades, digital TV conversions, software upgrades, batteries and disposable printers.

Annie Leonard’s fervent plea in the Huffington Post is for the Electronics Industry to “Make ‘Em Safe, Make ‘Em Last, Take ‘Em Back. She says:

“In the U.S. we throw away about 400 million electronic gadgets each year — more than one per person. Only about 20 percent of e-waste in the U.S. is collected for recycling; the rest goes to landfills and incinerators where the toxics leach out to contaminate our air, water and communities.

Investigations have found that 50 to 80 percent of this stuff is shipped overseas to Asia and Africa where it is broken apart by workers to extract the small bits of valuable metals. In addition to those pieces of gold and copper, today’s electronics routinely contain toxic chemicals like lead, mercury, PVC, chlorine, and bromines that end up poisoning workers and their communities in the importing country.”

She makes a call for “a green ‘race to the top’ where designers compete to make long-lasting, toxic-free products that are fully and easily recyclable.”  Manufacturers should design for disassembly right at the outset, so they can put in quality materials, which will come back to them at the end-of-life of a product.

This is increasingly important with the impending materials crisis which has provoked countries like China to impose restrictions on exports of rare earths, used heavily in the electronics industry. The mining of some metals like Coltan is deeply intertwined with civil conflict in the Congo Basin.  With that kind of far reaching impact that mining of metals for electronic products has, the electronics industry should take greater responsibility towards recycling and conserving of scarce resources.

We don’t have to be silent consumers. There are a lot of suggestions on the “What You Can Do” section of the Story of Electronics website, but most of the agencies mentioned relate to the US.

If you’re buying electronics, support manufacturers who are rated higher in Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics.

We can stick with our gadgets a little longer without rushing out for the latest designs.

Further links you may be interested in:

EWTT:  Michael Braungart: Do Good, Not Less Bad (On Cradle-to-Cradle design)
EWTT:  Janet Unruh: Recycle Everything : Why We Must, How We Can
Urban Mining: China considering rare earths strategic reserves

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SONGS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

By Asha Edmund

Asha Edmund

Combing the internet for environmental songs showed me just how many artists feel the same way as I do. Any effort we make has a ripple effect and does not fall on deaf ears. As the message travels through time and changes hands, it leaves me wondering how many more songs it will take for order to be restored. Each song is a voice and is necessary; the more voices we hear, the closer we get to hearing one call.

Since last year, I have abstained from writing about failed relationships and focused on issues that truly matter, hoping to take my contribution to an awakening planet, to the dance club. My single ‘Oblivion‘ is my first attempt at deepening the gambolling.  To me, a club is the best place to relay the news as walls come down and minds are open to listening to the stories. These videos prove that so many of us are trying to set it right and I am thrilled to be in good company.

1. BIG YELLOW TAXI – JONI MITCHELL

What will 2050 look like? Peering out of a hotel window in Hawaii only to have a giant carpark consume her vision forty years ago, may have made Joni Mitchell ask the same question about 2010.

Lyrics to Big Yellow Taxi:
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot
Don’t it always seem to go

That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

They took all the trees and put ‘em in a tree museum
And then they charged all the people twenty-five bucks just to see ‘em
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT now
Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees, please
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Late last night I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi carried off my old man
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

2. FLAMES NOT FLOWERS- STUDENTS FOR BHOPAL

On December 2nd 1984, the world experienced the worst industrial disaster at a Dow/Union pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. This video lends a voice to the many who remain victims of the disheartening negligence.

3. DRAGONFLY – ZIGGY MARLEY

Having to protect Methuselah, an ancient tree rooted in California from possible vandals says a lot about the type of creature Man is. I wonder what he would have to say about our behaviour, having witnessed it for nearly 5000 years.  Here’s Ziggy Marley, the Jamaican reggae musician:

Lyrics to Dragonfly :
Everybody’s worried about time
But I just keep that shit off my mind
People living on twenty four hour clocks
But we’re on a ride that never stops

Hey mister bee the world change but you remain the same
And I wonder how you’ll survive with the environment going down the drain
Hey miss dragonfly I see you look at me with your beautiful eyes
You must be wondering what type of creature am I

A dog looked at me and said Ziggy why can’t we trust man
Puss and me get together why can’t you all just understand
An old tree stood there silently listening to every word we said
As a tear fell he cried what type of creature is man

I said hey mister tree the world change but you remain the same
And I wonder how you survive with the environment going down the drain
Hey miss butterfly I see you look at me with your beautiful eyes
You must be wondering what kind of creature am I
You must be wondering what kind of creature am I

Everybody’s worried about time
But i just keep that shit off my mind
People living on twenty four hour clocks
But we’re on a ride yes we’re on a ride we’re on a ride that never stops

Hey mister bee the world change but you remain the same
And I hope you’ll survive with the environment going down the drain
Hey miss butterfly i see you look at me with your beautiful eyes
You must be wondering what type of creature am I
You must be wondering what type of creature is man

4. THE SONG OF THE EARTH SPINNING – DEAN OMORI

An award winning song writer and short film maker, Omori utters words of angst about the state of the world against a contrasting backdrop of  music.

In conversation with a Swiss Astro particle physicist he said that in our galaxy alone there are approximately 200 million stars. The universe is, in his humble estimation a collection of several hundred billion galaxies both high and wide. The idea that we are alone is little more than the furthest reach of human arrogance.

Do you hear it?
We have evolved too fast; our purpose cannot keep up with our greed. Our devastation, our non-compliance to nature, our failure to be what we represent. We cannot find our own evolution; we are defined only by history. And we will be remembered in tears.

Do you hear it?
When our children die in a war it’s a tragedy, when their children die in a war it’s a victory. Violence is a human characteristic. The pro-lifers are killing the abortionists.
Tell me is the earth unpopular. Chinese whispers of love.

At the end of another street the corporate supermarket puts out of business the local butcher, baker and greengrocer. Its inferior products are cheap and flown in from exploited under developed countries leaving behind a massive carbon footprint and an imbalance in the ecology of life. Its customers say it’s so convenient.

There are too many people poor and in need. Can you hear it?

Mankind’s greatest marketing achievement is convincing us that it’s all right, we’re in safe hands. That life will be sustained. We are the masters of our destiny. Money is our number one objective and the sole heir to our moment of dominance. Money succeeds us as the number one priority over life.

In another corner of the world, lawyers sue governments on behalf of clients who have tripped over a tree root lifting the pavement. In response to the many lawsuits the local government has cut down all the trees on an leafy boulevard a meter above the ground. Lawyers.

Do you hear it?
As a race we are unable to accept change as a rational concept. Extinction waits for those without the ability to adapt. For the smallest moment in time extinction happens only to other animals.
Society is becoming more and more suspicious of those of us who value silence.

I am not a great man because Beethoven wrote his ninth symphony, or because of Shakespeare or Da Vinci, or Einstein. We are not them. Although we wear the same skin.
Statistics delivers us fact from fiction.
Life is constructed of miscellaneous things, I grant you my presumption.

In an AIDS clinic the businessman said he was foolish to have unprotected sex with a Nigerian prostitute. He hoped his wife didn’t find out the hard way.
We dwell in the womb of our mothers when the world can no longer be bared.
Love, enables you to experience loss in detail.

We spent the day together; it was to be the last day before we were to become parents. We let out all our lifeboats. Her eyes were loaded

This is the sound of the Earth spinning.

5. EARTH SONG – MICHAEL JACKSON

Though Michael Jackson had been writting socially conscious songs, this was his first overtly environment oriented number. It received a Grammy nomination in 1997.

Lyrics to Earth Song
What about sunrise?
What about rain?
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain?
What about killing fields?
Is there a time?
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine?
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we’ve shed before?
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth, its weeping shores?

What have we done to the world?

Look what we’ve done!
What about all the peace
That you pledged your only son?
What about flowering fields?
Is there a time?
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine?
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war?
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth, its weeping shores?

I used to dream…

I used to glance beyond the stars…
Now I don’t know where we are,
Although I know we’ve drifted far…

Hey, what about yesterday?(What about us)

What about the seas?(What about us)
The heavens are falling down…(What about us)
I can’t even breathe! (What about us)
What about apathy? (What about us)
Can’t we feel its wounds? (What about us)
What about nature’s worth?(Ooo, ooo)
It’s our planet’s womb! (What about us)
What about animals? (What about it)
We’ve turned their kingdoms to dust…(What about us)
What about elephants? (What about us)
Have we lost their trust? (What about us)
What about crying whales? (What about us)
We’re ravaging the seas…(What about us)
What about forest trails? (Ooo, ooo)
Burnt despite our pleas… (What about us)
What about the holy land? (What about us)
Torn apart by creed… (What about us)
What about the common man? (What about us)
Can’t we set them free? (What about us)
What about children dying? (What about us)
Can’t you hear them cry? (What about us)
Where did we go wrong? (Ooo, ooo)
Someone tell me why! (What about us)
What about baby boys? (What about it)
What about the days? (What about us)
What about all their joy? (What about us)
What about the man? (What about us)
What about the crying man? (What about us)
What about Abraham? (What about us)
What about death again? (Ooo, ooo)
Do we give a damn?

6. CALYPSO – JOHN DENVER

A tribute  to the legendary underwater explorer and activist, Jacques Cousteau by the famous country musician, John Denver

To sail on a dream, on a crystal clear ocean,
To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm;
To work in the service of life and the living
In search of the answers to questions unknown;
To be part of the movement and part of the growing,
Part of beginning to understand . . .

Aye, Calypso, the places you’ve been to,
The things that you’ve shown us,
The stories you tell;
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit,
The men who have served you
So long and so well.

Like the dolphin who guides you,
You bring us beside you
To light up the darkness and show us the way;
For, though we are strangers in your silent world,
To live on the land we must learn from the sea;
To be true as the tide and free as the wind-swell,
Joyful and loving in letting it be . . .

Aye, Calypso, the places you’ve been to,
The things that you’ve shown us,
The stories you tell;
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit,
The men who have served you
So long and so well.

ABOUT OUR GUEST WRITER:

With a Radio Music Award (DJ’s CHOICE – ‘Best Local Act’), Compass Award (‘Top Local Pop Song’ for her song, ‘Dorian Bay’), recording contract with CreAsian Records and multiple radio hits under her belt, Asha Edmund was recognised as one of Singapore’s Top Ten Talents in the Arts Magazine.  Asha’s third single is slated for release in December this year. Her fourth album will see her taking her experiences and observations as a vegan and humanitarian straight to the clubs. – “Believe it or not, the best place to move people is on the dancefloor”. Her songs are available for purchase here.  She may be contacted through her MySpace or YouTube pages.

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