My Plea to You on the 250th Birthday of the Poet of Nature, The First Eco-Warrior
Time to reflect…Time for soul searching
How to Make the World a Better Place
Every move you make, every breath you take leaves its mark on our world
'Heaven is my father and earth is my mother,
and I, a small child, find myself placed intimately between them.
What fills the universe I regard as my body;
what directs the universe I regard as my nature.
All people are my brothers and sisters; all things are my companions.’- Zhang Zai (1020–1077)
"You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.
"Teach your children what we have taught our children -- that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
"This we know. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.
"Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself ..."-- Chief Seattle
Tarn Reflection, Mt Taranaki/Egmont, Egmont National Park, NZ.-Dave Young, Creative Commons
Out of the coronavirus crisis, a new kinder and better world must be born
The Wisdom of Mother Nature belongs to all Life.
Let be guided and inspired by Her and Save the Web of Life
'Be like the sun for grace and mercy.
Be like the night to cover others’ faults.
Be like running water for generosity.
Be like death for rage and anger.
Be like the Earth for modesty.
Appear as you are.
Be as you appear.'- Rumi
Dear Colleagues,
Firstly, I am writing to you with the sincere hope that you, your loved ones are all keeping well and staying safe. I thank all those friends and colleagues who have responded to my previous communications, telling me that they are weathering ok and also wishing me and my family well.
We are a GCGI Family and as such it will make me very happy to hear from all of you. Please consider sending me an email, letting us know you are fine.
Secondly, as today (7 April) is the 250th birthday of William Wordsworth, I want to share a personal and heartfelt message with you.
In all my academic life, spanning over four decades, I have been dismayed, frustrated and overwhelmed with pain to notice that our education model has not embraced the beauty and the wisdom of our mother nature and our sacred earth, corporating them into the teaching curriculum.
This, to my mind, has seriously deprived the students, our future leaders, or indeed, our current leaders, to get a wholesome, values-led education, and thus, has prevented them, to vision and implement policies to heal our world, to better our lives.
Given the tragedy of our current Coronavirus crisis, the time is now to rethink this matter. To enable us to do just that, I have put some ideas together in the link below:
The Sweetness of Being Human: ‘We have all of us one human heart.’
You will feel me with joy, if you join me, and include nature in your teachings, and furthermore, by sharing the link below with your colleagues and students.
The time is now to be a campaigner for the common good, by embracing and protecting nature, and by recalling the wise words of the poet of nature, William Wordsworth: 'Let Nature to be Your Teacher'
Thanking you,
Stay well,
Kamran
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