Report on the UN Climate Change Conference COP25
Madrid, Spain ( Europe ): Workshop on tracking progress 2020-23
BK Julia and BK Maria attended a meeting which was part of a two-day CAMDA workshop on data collection and climate action. This workshop was attended by high-level delegates, who stressed the importance of proper data analysis and tracking developments to take the right decisions in time.
Inner Dimension of Climate Change
Global Peace Initiative hosted an evening event aimed at mobilizing young people in Spain for climate action. BK Sister Jayanti, BK Sonja, BK Sanjay and BK Shantanau were invited on behalf of the BKs.
“With the permission of the Father Sky and Mother Earth, I have come to deliver a message,” was the opening statement by an indigenous community leader from Mexico. He continued saying that we were indigenous people 5,000 years ago, and that the present crisis is a sign of a diseased human heart and head.
BK Sister Jayanti shared her experience of God being the Protector in these times of emptiness and fear and that our primary task is to stay steady and calm. She conducted a deep meditation taking the group into an experience of closeness to God and healing the earth.
Reception for Friends
A Reception was hosted at the Madrid BK center, which was beautifully decorated. BK Bill and BK Enrique welcomed everybody on behalf of the Spanish family. Everyone introduced himself and shared a point of inspiration. Afterwards, BK Jayanti guided a powerful meditation, followed by delicious vegan snacks. Bill and Marc took up the guitars, and everyone sang songs from Elton John, Simon Garfunkel, and ended with a Christmas carol.
Later 15 people from the South American Indigenous Community joined the reception. Part of the group was a medicine woman from Equator and a community wise elder from Panama. The leader of the group, Juan Calfin from the Mapuche tribe, is a friend of the BKs in Chile. Everyone felt a special significance that people from the rain forest visited the BK centre. Their presence brought a different colour and atmosphere. They expressed appreciation for BK’s engagement for world peace.
Carolin and Thomas Bruun facilitated a workshop on “How do we relate to future generations” organised by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam, Germany. IASS works as a bridge builder between science and politics, which includes the contribution of mindfulness and compassion towards sustainability. The Brahma Kumaris helped IASS with the design and logistics for the Co-Creative Reflection & Dialogue Space. In this workshop, which was also attended by BK Julia, an interesting process was used where you met a “7th Generation person,” 200 years in the future. Sharing with that one the present situation, the efforts being made to change things, and the person from the future then responded to the efforts.
