All of a sudden everything seems ripe in life and the past few weeks I’ve spent studying at Schumacher College, an International Center for Ecological Studies, with the founders of The Forum on Religion and Ecology, Professors John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker, while living in the magical town of Totnes have been absolutely mind blowing!

I've felt inspired before but never like this! My teachers, John and Mary, are the most brilliant, thoughtful and simply remarkable couple I have ever come across. We should all be so blessed to find partnership that is such a beautiful blend of the spirit and an engagement with ideas that matter. The two of them challenged my notions of "heart" in academia and the work they are doing at Yale (they both hold joint appointments at the Divinity School and the School of Forestry and Environmental Science) is something I didn't expect to be happening in the Ivy League and it has reminded me of the dangers in making generalizations. They were married thirty years ago by their "Guru," cultural historian/eco-theologian, Father Thomas Berry. They gifted me a copy of his book, The Great Work and Berry's writing spoke to me like prophetic poetry. I can't believe I never heard of him before! Mary is an exceptionally inquiring, fierce academic and John is a special combination of sharpness and sensitivity producing an unparalleled educational experience that both touched and transformed my mind, heart and soul. The entire Schumacher community shares in the belief that there is a sacredness to all life and being with fellow enthusiasts that get excited about ideas that have the potential to transform our world for the better created one of the most deeply profound, intellectually stimulating and truly magical experiences of my life. Wow!

Yes, our world is facing multiple crises but in the past weeks I've realized that these crises present an opportunity for us to really evolve and make changes that will enable us to be more creative, inventive and connected. What an exciting time to be alive! I believe that last week Al Gore called for the US to end its use of fossil fuels for electricity by 2018. Whether we want to believe it or not, climate change is going to really change things. The good news is that it will force us to become more community oriented (especially when it comes to our food consumption and the necessity to buy local) and all of my experiences have shown me that the lack of community and connection to our environment, fellow humans and non humans contribute to unhappiness and at the end of the day we all just want to be happy. So, instead of being depressed about the crises we face I'm actually very hopeful about us moving towards a new consciousness where we shift from an anthropocentric world-view towards an anthropocosmic way of being. Especially since there are so many amazing people out there that are really making a difference in the world and it is just so very inspiring.

Gosh, I can't believe how much I've learned and been exposed to in the past weeks—permaculture, appreciative inquiry, green faith, transition towns, community supported agriculture, gaia theory, holistic science and so, so much more. I've been introduced and have reconnected with the works of so many brilliant thinkers (James Lovelock, David Abram, Arne Ness and Pierre Tielhard de Chardin are just a few) and have met some of the most special change agents in the world including Helena Norberg-Hodge whose book on Ladakh had a strong influence on me! Even amidst the precarious state of our planet my heart remains filled with so much hope, my eyes are filled with tears of joy and I am just so very grateful to feel this unique sense of empowerment as we face the "great work" we have ahead of us.

Schumacher College was founded in the early 1990s by one of my mentors, Satish Kumar. The college runs numerous courses relating to the environment and sustainability and those who attend courses participate in cooking meals for all members of the college community, cleaning and gardening which gives the educational institution a Gandhian feel. I first heard of the college after I met Satish-ji in November of 2006 in Delhi and I never thought that less than two years later I'd get a scholarship to study here. After meeting Satish-ji I read Schumacher's essay "Buddhist Economics" right away and it really resonated with me and I discovered Resurgence magazine which embodies all I believe in. I couldn't believe I never heard of Schumacher during my time in college! Well, the college was named after EF Schumacher because he encompasses the ideals and values of the institution.

My time here has been so very special and I hope to return to Schumacher some day. I'm just now remembering that Professor Gandhi once told me that he thought I would teach at Schumacher at some point in the future, crazy! Well, I've never been in an environment with so many like-minded people and even though we all come from different backgrounds it was like I found "my people"! I was the same age as the children of most of my course participants but we shared in a cross-generational bond that was so very special. Wow! It is like I found my tribe! It was so powerful to be in a space of individuals that simultaneously intellectualize and empathize with the goal of taking real action. The other members of the course are some of the most brilliant, interesting, compassionate individuals I ever met. Some of my classmates included one of the world's leading etymologists and butterfly experts, a pioneer in Costa Rica's eco-tourism, a South African Bishop, a Zoologist, the Head of an Australian Catholic Environmental Center, and one of the organizers of Ukraine's Orange Revolution. My classmates taught me so much and moved my heart in so many ways. In fact, one of my classmates introduced me to Genesis Farm an Ecological learning center in New Jersey! This 63-year-old British woman wrote her dissertation on the Farm and Community Supported Agriculture. I can't believe I never heard of the farm while I was growing up in New Jersey and look forward to visiting when I come the United States . I've visited so many ashrams, houses of dharma and spiritual communities in the world but at Schumacher I really felt at home. They have the most amazing library and DVD/VHS collection—I really felt like a kid in a candy store! Some regard Schumacher as a place where academic types come to be awakened but I am VERY FAR from being an academic. I'm just a simple school teacher that loves learning and wants to make the most out of my time on earth and everyone else I met at Schumacher felt the same way—we don't want to waste our lives. We all shared in feeling the sacredness of all life, this feeling has called us to action and this is why we all felt like soul mates regardless of age, nationality and spiritual/religious orientation. The staff at Schumacher instantly became part of my global spiritual family. I especially connected with the head chef. Aside from Pilot Baba, he is the only person I know to have actually camped out in a cave near Badri Nath in order to meet Babaji (those of you that have read Autobiography of a Yogi know who Babaji is). I just loved spending time with him having satsang as we cooked in the kitchen. The food at Schumacher is all vegetarian and it is the tastiest, most delicious food I've eaten in my entire life! I definitely indulged a little too much…especially after a week in Turkey and Greece with my family where my main activity seemed to be eating!

Schumacher College is based in the Dartington Hall Estate which is owned by the Dartington Hall Trust. The Trust was founded in 1925 by Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst. The couple was inspired by the work of the Indian poet, educationalist and social reformer, Rabindranath Tagore, and they bought the Estate in order to revitalize this rural area by providing quality education, employment and cultural activities. While I was at Schumacher Dartington was hosting the annual "Way With Words Literature Festival." Karen Armstrong was among the many noted authors at the event! The Elmhirsts established the Dartington Hall School, one of the first progressive schools in the country, in which local children and children from a wide variety of countries and backgrounds were educated in an atmosphere of free inquiry. The school was closed in 1989 and at that time the Trust began plans to set up Schumacher College in the Old Postern. An absolutely amazing woman, Mary Bartlett, who has lived on the estate for more than 40 years gave us a tour of the gorgeous Dartington Hall gardens. Mary is a total renaissance woman—she authors children's books, hosts a television show about biodynamic gardening, is a historian and at 62 she might be the most active, energetic, lively older woman I've ever met. I can only hope to have a similar zest for life when I am her age!

The closest major town is Totnes which has a fascinating alternative culture. Totnes is the UK's first transition town. Transition towns are communities that work together to actively address the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. Schumacher has bikes for its students. It felt so wonderful to be able to cycle all around town since after I almost got hit by a bus when I was cycling home from school in Delhi last fall I haven't ridden my bicycle! Shops in Totnes include organic clothing, vegetarian cuisine, many tea shops and a great market. They even have their own local currency, the Totnes Pound, to help promote the local economy!

A three-hour walk from Schumacher there is a Center for Contemporary Buddhist Enquiry on a gorgeous vineyard in an area called Sharpham. When I was in Ladakh I met a Swiss woman that told me I had to try and track down John Peacock, a very well known Buddhist teacher, while I was in Totnes. Peacock often teaches at the Sharpham Centre for Contemporary Buddhist Enquiry but he actually lives in Birmingham. I managed to attend the Sharpham Trust's annual picnic, met with the lead tutor there, Steve Palmer and attended a meditation session he led. Steve was a Tibetan Buddhist Monk for 17 years (he is now married) and we had such an unbelievably special discussion about "being happy with being more, not having more" and the relationship between sunyata and ahimsa. He also gave me some great advice about my interest in crafting an ethical, ecological, spiritual approach to education. On my way to Sharpham I met two women also on their way to the picnic. One of the women was a blind devout Christian and we had such a beautiful chat about prayer (Professor Gandhi often said, "praying deeply and with sincerity is not to play it safe, rather I think it helps us accept what is happening with greater insight") and it was one of those moments where I was able to really understand an individual's faith, but not necessarily their religion if that makes any sense.

When I arrived at Schumacher College the first person I saw was Satish-ji who greeted me with a warm hug. I was able to spend a lot of time with him which was very important to me since after Ramu Mama's passing Satish-ji is the only person who I feel a strong connection to that really embodies everything I believe in. We talked about education and meaningful curriculum and I got to ask him some questions I had about grace, faith and peace as it relates to activism. I feel so blessed to know him. Satish-ji is in the process of trying to establish a Tagore Center at Schumacher. He had many incredibly interesting visitors during my time at the college. I got to meet a close friend of his that now works at the Ford Foundation that actually used to teach Indian Studies at the American Embassy School more than 20 years ago!!!! We just couldn't believe it when Satish-ji introduced us! I also met a dear friend of Satshi-ji's, Bunker Roy. Bunker founded the Barefoot College a unique institution that encourages practical knowledge and the value of the village community. I am hoping to visit the college outside of Jaipur soon! The Delhi based artist whom many of you know, Shakti Maira, also gave a lovely talk about "beauty." I found his talk especially interesting because "What is beauty?" is one of the essential questions of the 10th grade history course I teach.

During my third night at Schumacher I attended a talk that was open to the town of Totnes given by Starhawk, one of the pioneers in contemporary earth-based spirituality and earth activist training. Before the talk began I said to myself I had to try and meet Helena Norberg-Hodge the author of Ancient Futures, Learning from Ladakh while I was in Totnes because the organization she founded, The International Society for Ecology and Culture is in Totnes. Towards the end of the talk the woman sitting behind me asked a question. When I turned around I noticed that the woman sitting next to her was Helena Norberg-Hodge!!! Can you believe it? She was sitting right behind me! When the talk ended I turned to Helena and said "Jullay." We had a great chat about Ladakh, sustainability and education after Starhawk's talk over chai and cookies. She was not supposed to be at the talk that night she was supposed to already be in Ladakh but her husband was having visa issues so her departure was delayed. She is also rarely in Totnes so it is quite a "coincidence" (Lex, the blind, devout Christian woman I met as I was walking to Sharpham would call coincidences "god-incidences") that I met her while I was in the UK and I may see her again at the Gross National Happiness conference in Bhutan. The universe does seem to work in mysterious ways. The course I took was called "Sacred Activism." In January not even a week after I returned from Bali I was having dinner with my dear friend Swati and she urged me to take a look at the courses being offered at Schumacher. That very night I went home and checked out the course offerings and when I looked at the title "Sacred Activism" I just knew I had to take this course. I don't think I chose to be a teacher, teaching chose me if that makes any sense and to me teaching is not a job, it is a sacred task and I was in desperate need of a language to be able to articulate what this means and what I feel in my heart. The first week of my course was initially supposed to be taught by Andrew Harvey who I am dying to meet but at the last minute he pulled out and Starhawk stepped in. I came to the first week with an open mind and no expectations and had never heard of Starhawk before but she taught me so much and I've been so steeped in Buddhist thought and nondual philosophy that it was good to be exposed to something new but at the same time complementary. I never heard of permaculture before and Starhawk primarily teaches permaculture courses. I found the whole concept of permaculture absolutely fascinating. She also gave me guidance on how to launch a direct action campaign which is something I haven't done since I started a movement to get rid of styrofoam lunch trays from our school cafeteria when I was in the fifth grade.

I also connected with a very special scientist and deep ecology educator, Dr. Stephan Harding. Stephan helped me re-discover my love for Gaia (the name the Ancient Greeks gave the Greek Goddess that personified the Earth). He has recently published a beautiful book, Animate Earth where he discusses the fact that the earth is alive and a self-regulating system. (See this lecture given by James Lovelock for more background on Gaia Theory http://www.unu.edu/unupress/lecture1.html) This probably isn't anything new to many of us who regularly commune with nature but I had no idea there was a whole school of thought devoted to the idea that the Earth, Gaia is alive! Stephan has guest taught at the Rishi Valley (Krishnamurti inspired) school in India many times and I think our meeting is just another sign that I have to visit Rishi Valley! Well, I realized that like many of you I have most certainly been "Gaia-ed" (awakened to the fact that the Earth is alive) and this is why the deep ecology movement resonates with me. Meeting Stephan and being introduced to Gaia theory has helped me have courage to be more vocal about "feeling" Gaia and all of her love. Only when we have deep affection and love for the Earth will we do our best to protect her and not look at nature in a utilitarian fashion. I have a LONG way to go—His Holiness the Dalai Lama reminds us to try our best to do as much as we can and I need to try A LOT harder.

Stephan writes, "If you have been trained, as I have been, to see the world as a machine and to see yourself as not much more than a thinking, emotionally detached data-collecting robot, then to personify the world in this way takes a great deal of courage. As I wrote his book, the unspoken scientific taboo against speaking of the world as a psyche exerted its influence on me and tried its best to make me write nothing more than straightforward popular science. A strange vulnerability, an insecurity, sometimes plagues me as I attempted to speak of the Earth and of the living beings that inhabit her not merely as objects, but as subjects, as feelingful beings, but in the end a still, small voice persuaded me of the urgency of the task. In quiet moments in my study, or outdoors, this deeper voice convinced me that the prospects are bleak unless we can once again relate to the Earth not as a thing or as a machine, but as a strange creature that improvises its own unfolding in the cosmos through the ongoing creativity of evolution and self-transformation. As you notice the tension between these different voices, I ask you to remember the difficulty of the task and to consider yourself a conspirator in the effort to find a new language for breathing life back into our experience of the Earth, who for the last 400 years has been treated as if she were a dead lump of rock with a few insignificant and rather irksome life forms and traditional cultures clinging to her ragged surface. And now the title of the book reveals its double meaning, for 'animate' is both an adjective and a verb. The adjective tells us that the Earth is animate—alive; the verb urges us to find ways of speaking and acting that allows us to continuously re-animate the Earth so that we bring her back to life as a sensitive and sentient Being—even, if you will, as a person in the widest and wildest sense of the word. It is time to rediscover Gaia, for Gaia is Earth personified." (Animate Earth, Science, Intuition and Gaia, p. 39)

We are moving towards mass extinction. I don't know if we realize just how serious climate change and the ecological crisis we face is. Science alone is not changing people. I'm not a Marxist but our economic growth model and capitalism is driving us to the edge. Until Martin Luther King's prophetic, spiritual voice the civil rights movement did not have fire but he had a dream that things could be different. I'm not a scholar but economics, science and policy are not going to save us from our destructive selves. We need a different approach and it is crucial that we all have the courage to rediscover Gaia and breathe life back into our beautiful, blessed, beloved Mother Earth. I have hope that more of us will become awakened to the special, spiritual voice of nature. I dream that we move towards a new consciousness that births a greater sensibility about how we treat all of nature's creations.

Thomas Berry writes that the "glory of the human has brought the desolation of the earth and the desolation of the earth is the destiny of the human." This destiny, our "great work" is to "carry out the transition from a period of human devastation of the Earth to a period when humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner." I believe that educational institutions must play a crucial role in carrying out this "great work" and we must guide our students toward an intimate relationship with the Earth. We must teach our children that "the universe is a communion of subjects not a collection of objects." If we do not at least make an earnest attempt to do this then I believe we have failed as educators.

In our final circle as I stood up to speak when it was my turn to give my closing remarks I was overcome with emotion and felt so grateful for being in the space of such special people. I tried to speak but I couldn't say much more than "thank you." I started to cry and lost all composure. I was literally paralyzed and this has never happened to me in public before. But as I cried something magical happened. One by one, every single person in the room silently stood up, gathered around and held me. As I stood in the center of this sacred circle, crying like a child, the Bishop placed his hand on my head and we all prayed for strength to carry out this "great work" of protecting all of the Earth's children:

To the children

To all the children

To the children who swim beneath

The waves of the sea, to those who live in

The soils of the Earth, to the children of the flowers

In the meadows and the trees in the forest, to

All those children who roam over the land

And the winged ones who fly with the winds,

To the human children too, that all the children

May go together into the future in the full

Diversity of their regional communities.

As I was being held by Christians, Agnostics, Atheists and those like myself that like to subscribe to "I just am" from all over the world as we sincerely prayed for everyone to realize the sacredness of all life Gaia "spoke." She said, "I love you. Together we are going to make it."

I think Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once wrote something along the lines of: "If I lose my faith in God, if I lose my faith in Jesus, I will never lose my faith in the world." Berry drew a lot of inspiration from the work of Teilhard de Chardin and writes, "We cannot doubt that we too have been given the intellectual vision, the spiritual insight, and even the physical resources we need for carrying out the transition that is demanded of these times." We are entering a "moment of grace" and such moments "are privileged moments."

How can we not have hope?

With Love,

Meena