The well-known Brazilian journalist, André Trigueiro (photo), who has a PhD in Environmental Management, gave the closing talk at a recent Spiritist event, Mednesp 2017. He spoke about the beauties and anxieties of the world we live in the face of the challenges faced by ecology. He explained how our health might be affected, in this incarnation or in future ones, unless efficient policies are put in place. He defended the importance of ethical progress and of giving priority to the community, making sure that ecology and spirituality walk side by side in the effort to preserve life and biodiversity. At the event, he also signed his two books on the environment and gave us the following interview:

Can we establish a link between health, spirituality and the environment?

That link has always been there, but perhaps we stopped making the connection at the height of a period when scientific methodology butchered knowledge and know-how. Is it possible to have physical, mental and spiritual health without an environment equally healthy and resilient and still be in accordance with the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition of health? We need clean water to drink, breathing air without pollutants and toxins and fertile land. We need good food, not laced with poison. That is only the basics. I showed during my presentation WHO studies that indicate a concerning increase in the number of deaths linked to equally concerning levels of hostile intervention in the environment. At least 100 indexed diseases became statistically relevant as the destruction of our environment accelerated. There is a clear link therefore between health and the environment. We need to think about it! As incarnates on this planet speaking about Spiritism, inner reform, charity, moral and ethical progress, we should not be neglecting our common home. It will not be possible to have a new world, in the epoch of Regeneration, which is morally and ethically developed but environmentally shattered. We need to look around and see what is happening. For the first time in the history of the Catholic Church a Pope decides to write an encyclical dealing openly with the relation between peace and the environment. Allan Kardec in the XIX Century dedicates a whole chapter of his Moral Laws to the Law of Conservation, which deals with what is essential and superfluous. That chapter also speaks about conscientious consumption and warn us about an approach that is incompatible with ethics and moral evolution… We need to be tuned in, as health, spirituality and the environment are links in the same chain. If it is not good for everyone, then it is not good for anyone.  

Are people more aware of the need to look after those three aspects as a whole?

There is no doubt about that, but we lack attitude. To be political correct does not mean exercising your rights or acting in a politically correct manner. Many people speak in public or when asked by pollsters about the importance of recycling, of looking after our water sources and conscientious consumption… We have progressed in that area, but rhetoric does not change the world. It is not enough to have an eco-friendly approach. We need to be pro-active, and in that aspect progress tends to be slower.

Is there a way of motivating everyone to take a more pro-active approach in order to protect the nature and as a result look after our spiritual well being?

Yes. We need to speak out when facing the prospect of collapse. The city of São Paulo faced in 2013 and 2014 the most severe and draconian drought. The population had to use water from the bottom of the local reservoirs to drink and bathe. The capital, Brasília, is now going through the first water rationing in its history. Some experts say the Northeast region of Brazil is suffering the worst drought perhaps in its history, and certainly in the past 100 years. I am talking about droughts in a country known as the world’s fresh water champions! If we manage well, there will be no shortages. We need to find out what role information can play in journalist, educators can play at school or university and the role of Spiritist traditions so we can open space for public talks that can raise awareness to the risk of collapse we are facing. We can leave that as a legacy for the future generations, or for ourselves in a future incarnation if we earn the right to incarnate in a more morally and ethically developed world, as it enters the new epoch of Regenerations. Pain is a more efficient teacher than love, unfortunately. If we do not learn it through love, it will have to be through pain. Somehow, we will have to learn that lesson.

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