“Sustainability begins with a person”
New Earth (UK) is part of the wave of grass roots movements in Sustainable Eco-Villages. We wholeheartedly believe in humans’ ability to live harmoniously in this earth, and offer hands-on education in sustainable living arts and architecture. As we build and create together we learn sustainable living, by active contemplation of the message that is written in the land, the air, and the phenomena of the natural world. And we respect the message of enlightened teachers for whom the earth is a living being.
Our techniques are playful and innovative, respecting the ancient traditions from which they draw, and responding to the needs of the 21st century. In the midst of the refugee crisis, related to climate and wars, we teach and promote sustainable living for sustainable villages and towns. This requires a change of thinking and orientation towards helping our fellow human beings. It also means accepting that everything we need is right here.
“Human was created from earth”, as spirituality and science tells us. By building with earth we are building both a tangible and intangible product; and just like a building having an inside and an outside, the physical architecture has a parallel in “human architecture”. For us, “building with earth” means more than picking up a handful of earth to make a building. In the language of analogy and of poetry it means living with compassion, making with generosity, and relating without greed, and loving without sense of self.
“All cultures grow from the earth. Earth is the mother that never dies” –Nader Khalili
Below is a quote from a Sufi master, with a message for sustainability:
“We will continue to destroy the earth as long as our nafs (ego/sense of separate self) are in control: Until we have fought against our nafs and have been brought to a state of being in which we are acting without greed, as true human beings, we will continue to destroy the Earth. Although it is much easier to live in peace, we continue to choose the hardest route-killing one another, hurting one another, running one another off the land. All the earth is vast and Allah has given plenty. Yet we still look at what the others have and try to get at that. It is this greed that is destroying the Earth.
A real human being acts in accordance with the qualities that Allah (God/Potential Energy) has given us in order to ensure that we can live in paradise. Allah is logic, science, reason, and health. Allah is cleanliness. In order for you to live by these attributes of Allah, you have to fight against your nafs and cleanse them. If you achieve mastery over your nafs, you will be in paradise automatically because within your own universe, which is your body, you will live happily. Ya Shakur – Thankful” – Murshid Shaykh Taner Ansari