Reply #82: Learning from Ladakh

[Jcrowley]

Robert: I just got back from the Soviet Union, where I was involved in a small way in doing a number of the things that you were just describing there, and that's a place, too, where there's a great interest and hunger for the kind of information that doesn't show up on the TV that much. But it is remarkable how rapidly that information has been getting to Gorbachev and the Central Committee. That's one of the things that's helping to drive the changes that are going on there. It's definitely worth putting energy into, whether it's in Ladakh or in Novosibirsk or in Beijing. Do you feel that there's more leverage for change than people recognize?

Helena: Yes, very definitely. And the change could be very rapid in the right direction, as long as there were the critical mass of people who were willing it that way. Another thing I want to say which is very unpopular and difficult, especially in America, is that we do have to look very carefully at our energy choices and technologies, and that we can't overlook the impact of certain technological options in terms of the terrible centralization. People don't want large nuclear energy plants or large rubbish dumps or incinerators near themselves, and yet they are not clearly saying politically. "We don't want them at all." I think sometimes with the New Age and the emphasis on the spiritual connections, we can forget some of those realities which we do have to deal with.

From my experience in Ladakh, I can say with great assurance that it's not an increased consumption of energy that makes us happier. On the contrary, with a lower consumption of energy, we develop our own energies much more, and I attribute the vitality and the joy that I feel in Ladakh to that. You get a lot more exercise as part of your daily life, and you're also using your psychic and creative powers much more. And almost all their activities are participatory, whether it's entertainment or whatever. There is no question that they have at least as much to teach us as we have to teach them.

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