With just over three weeks to go till Future NOW at Trinity Centre, Bristol on Saturday 8th November, there’s lots of buzz and anticipation building about this innovative event to be staged in a funky converted church…so what lies in store?
With a focus on exploring how we can sustain our fragile planet for future generations and offering a spiritual response to our global ecological crisis, our line up of leading eco-spiritual speakers – Peter Owen Jones, Satish Kumar, Chloe Goodchild, Tim Freke and Joe Hoare – will each give presentations during the course of the day (10am-5pm), covering important aspects of the theme. The lowdown on these is as follows:
Peter Owen Jones – The New Humanity
The trailblazing ‘Extreme Pilgrim’, TV presenter and champion of ethics – whose passion for creating a sustainable future was a major inspiration for this conference – shares his vision for an evolved future humanity living in interconnected harmony with the Earth and with each other. He will also explore what our society’s new model of the sacred is becoming with the decline of Christianity.
“The future is being taken from us,” Peter explains. “It is in the process of being stolen by multinationals and governments who have surrendered their imagination and responsibility. Very few of us have a say in the creation of a future that we would like to bequeath, until we start this conversation and in doing so face the realities that all of us are in the process of creating, we will be held hostage to an increasingly toxic vision of progress and a denuded world.”
Satish Kumar – Sacred Nature
The celebrated ‘Earth Pilgrim’ and editor of the UK’s flagship eco-spiritual magazine, Resurgence & Ecologist, gives an impassioned talk impressing the importance of appreciating the sacredness of nature.
“The Modern materialistic world view considers nature to be there merely to serve human needs,” elucidates Satish, “the value of nature is judged only by how useful it may be to humans. But there is another world view, a holistic and ecological view which considers nature as a living and sacred reality. Humankind is an integral part of nature, what we do to nature, we do to ourselves. When nature is considered as a living and sacred reality we develop a profound sense of reverence for her. This is called Reverential Ecology, this view of life is embedded in the philosophy of Sacred Nature.”
Chloe Goodchild – Sound Evolution: Transforming Our Lives through the Power of Sound
The sensational sacred voice and sound pioneer presents a soul stirring performance, inviting participants to transform their lives via the power of sound. Through a simple process of sound awareness and sound intelligence skills, Chloe shows how we can re-discover our authentic voices again, and restore our true capacity to communicate consciously and compassionately.
“In this time of global transformation, many of us who are living in relative safety may feel that we are powerless to respond to the prevailing chaos and shocking news that assails us from the media,” Chloe says. “It is therefore essential for us to remember that we are participating in a birthing process of a newly evolving world. As we prepare for a greater shift in humanity’s collective destiny we must courageously stay awake to the responsibility that is our shared song.”
Tim Freke – Love is a Political Act
The hip modern mystic presents his revolutionary new talk, ‘Love is a Political Act’, and calls for an inner revolution, stressing that if we want to change society, we have to change ourselves.
“Love is the answer,” says Tim. “For millennia saints and sages, poets and pop stars have been telling us that harnessing the transformative power of love is the secret to creating the world we want to live in. Is this just well-meaning naiveté or could it actually be true? Love can be seen as simply fluffy and sweet, but it is also deep and strong. Love is not only a wonderful feeling of connection; it is a powerful force for social transformation. History has taught us that political change alone simply leads to the same problems with people waving a different coloured flag. What is needed is an evolution of our collective state of consciousness, so that we feel connected and act from love. This is the only practical way forward and it starts with you and me … right now.”
Joe Hoare – Time to take Laughter Seriously
‘Laughing Yogi’ Joe Hoare, co-organiser of Future NOW and leading UK Laughter therapist/author, introduces Laughter as a powerful tool for creating a happier world, which can retrain the brain and generate mindfulness and inner calm.
“Seriously, laughter is more serious than seriousness,” says Joe. “For centuries we have been imprisoned by the seriousness trap which promotes seriousness as more valuable than lightness. Intuitively we know this isn’t true. Science now agrees. If we want a better future NOW, it’s time for lightness to be recognised and properly valued.”
Throughout the conference, participants are invited to explore how we can each make a difference and take urgent action to be the change in our daily lives, with interactive breakout sessions exploring and reflecting on the question, “What can I do differently?”
“Future NOW will explore all that we need to sustain a future for all the myriad of life on this beautiful planet,” says Peter Owen Jones.
Future NOW is a call to become more mindful, more peaceful, more connected and more loving to ourselves, to each other and to the Earth. It’s an invitation to join the New Consciousness Revolution – come join us if you can!
To book tickets for Future NOW visit Eventbrite
For further information visit www.futurenow.consciousfrontiers.com