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SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION - A NEW
BEGINNING
Speech at the Concluding Session of the Sacred Earth Gathering on May 31st 1992 at the Monastery.]
It is a privilege to be in the midst of the leading spiritual masters, philosophers and worshippers of Nature. The Sacred Earth Gathering has brought together so much wisdom, so much serenity and so much insight into the heart and soul of humanity.In these three days, our spiritual consciousness has increased and regard for planet Earth as sacred mother has crystallized as an article of faith. The most fruitful outcome of our deliberations is that we must arouse a harmonious blending of the spiritual dimension with the intellectual and the materialistic.
Humankind has made tremendous strides in recent centuries. With the help of unparalleled advances in science and technology, humanity has harnessed Nature in a remarkable manner. The fruits of humanity's ingenuity are reflected in the material progress, in the industrial, communications and information revolution. Through science, the feeling has grown that despite huge distances between continents, the world is a global village. We can reach one another with a speed undreamt of a few years ago. We can be in constant and swift touch with the most distant people by phone. Through television, we can be witness to events as they are taking place in far away regions.
And yet when we are coming to realize that the world is a small place we find that the world we live in is on the brink of an ecological catastrophe. We have recklessly exploited Nature and abused its
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