This month newsletter bring you a wonderful article on embedded mind in nature by Italian deep ecologist Guido Dalla Casa. He demonstrates how the evolution of science allows us to see the embedded mind in all levels of existence. This also has its reflection on Ethics. Ethics should extend not only to humans but also non-human lives on the planet which have embedded mind. He declares "An ecosystem is a mind-endowed complex system."

Azolla technology is getting a good reception at Andhra Pradesh thanks to the hard work by Dr.Pillai and his team. You can read about it. And Varma System of bone setting... this mysterious system of medicine is unique to Southern Tamil Nadu. Shrouded as it is in mystery and in the verge of gradual extinction, Vivekananda Kendra - NARDEP team headed by Dr.Ganapathi has made extraordinary efforts to make awareness about this system of medicine and also to scientifically collect data about this medicine and make traditional physicians gather in one place, discuss and share their methodologies and experiences. There is a detailed report about it also. Gradening is not just a vocation. It is an art, science and a meditation as well. So In her wonderful book on gardening Sis.V.Saraswathi explains how to do gardening scientifically and cost-effectively. There is a review of this Tamil book in our publications section.

Education is a wonderful thing. How to educate is the question. Swami Chinmayananda, Sri Aurobindo and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam explore in the wisdom section of our newsletter the need for a ethical education, need for creativity and freedom in education and a demonstration of a good teacher respectively.

You can read it all by downloading our newsletter here

This month newsletter brings you an excerpt from a classic. Lady Evelyn Barbara "Eve" Balfour (1899-1990)is a legendary name in organic farming. We present excerpts from her address to International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements conference in Switzerland in 1977. The reader will find the address as relevant today as it was more than 35 years ago. And she points out that our educational system need to teach our children about the ecological problems and philosophy. "It is now urgently necessary that a still wider aspect of ecology should also form part of the regular curriculum of all schools, starting at the primary stage." The trouble is we have first to teach the teachers, and here, I think, we must be agreed on what we want to teach." The newsletter ends with the wisdom of three great souls of India - Tagore, Gandhiji and Vinoba : each calling for a change in our educational system. Thus in both these features the emphasis is on change in educational system.

In the publication section we have shared one of the important publications that we brought out almost two decades ago. 'Back to Nature' is a wonderful synthesis of science, Indian philosophy and ecological awareness. The book looks at the root cause of our ecological crisis and emphasizes a shift in our value system and way of thinking. It reveals a vision that synthesizes quantum mechanics, systems thinking and Indian philosophy. The book is a treat for your mind and leads you to proper eco-action. Read the review in this newsletter and then make sure to order the book.

As ever this month also we have been a bee hive busy with activity: workshops on sustainable agriculture, traditional bone-setting methods, workshops on Azolla technology and kitchen waste based bio-methanation plant training, installation of kitchen waste based bio-methanation plants - all these have happened. Dr. Kamalasannan Pillai and Dr.Ganapathi have given special lectures at VIT and Pondicherry respectively. Dr.Pillai received his societal innovation award at Mumbai in a grand function. There was also Green Building technology workshop attended by architects and engineers this month. A series of talks were given in All India Radio by VK-nardep staff on organic farming. So we have been spreading the green awareness in our own small steps.

You can read all about these and more by downloading our newsletter here.

Can a Caterpillar become a Zen master? What is 'inscape'? Can meditating over the ecology of the mind create a paradigm shift which can save the ecology of the planet? In this newsletter we present an excerpt from an interview of James Thornton, author and an eco-activist turned ecopsychologist. Read it in our newsletter. At VK-nardep we try to bring you various perspectives on saving the planet from across the cultures of our earth. We believe these varied tones and tunes sing the same song of love and affection to Mother Earth and help us explore and innovate our own ways of serving the planet and her countless communities of humans and non-human beings who share her womb.

We also present you a series of our activities in taking sustainable development forward in different areas: workshops on sustainable agriculture, workshop on traditional bone setting techniques, camps for training in Azolla and Bio-methanation plant technologies etc.

It is one of the earliest issues that VK-nardep took up - 'energy village' or Shakti Gram' - a village self-sufficient in its energy needs through renewable energy technologies. In this newsletter we explore how we envisioned this idea almost 25 years ago and today where do we stand?  We are sure you will also enjoy this time travel where going to the past we see how we foresaw our future possibilities.

Then in our wisdom section we have a musician and two mystics share their visions of Divinity in nature as well as future of humanity. We wish you all a very happy reading of our newsletter this month. You can download it all here.

We are also happy to announce that our Gramodaya for Right Living exhibition is now online. Have an online experience of right living by clicking here

Pasumai Vikatan is an important popular agricultural magazine aimed at green agriculture. They have a green helpline where you can here Dr. Kamalasanan Pillai of VK-nardep explain the Azolla technology. The greenline is : 044-668080300.

Pasumai Vikatan is presenting Dr. Kamalasannan Pillai of Vivekananda Kendra-nardep at the green help line for farmers. He will be explaining the Azolla technology and its benefits to farmers. Dr. Pillai has developed a stress tolerant Azolla which can be cultivated at farmer's backyard and can be fed as bio-fertilizer. Pleasse tune into Pasumai Vikatan green helpline and listen to the great green technological innovation of Dr.Pillai

Greetings from Vivekananda Kendra - nardep!

This month newsletter brings you a view on how the actual change in the society towards sustainable development takes place. Evolutionary Biologist Elisabet Sahtouris explains this through the metaphor of how a butterfly emerges from the caterpillar. This is an excerpt from her famous book "Earth Dance".

We have two happy features in this newsletter. One is the reception of 'societal innovation award' by NRDC (National Research Development Corporation) to Dr. Kamalasannan Pillai our senior scientist. He is popularly known as Dr."Azolla" Pillai because of his wonderful work in propagating Azolla as a bio-feed for cattle through the cost-effective NARDEP backyard cultivation technology. There is a brief feature on the work of Dr. Pillai in this newsletter.We take this opportunity to make this technology flower into a movement for the marginal livestock farmers of this country and hopefully those is all developing countries.

The next happy feature is the work in Murugan Kuntram - a small hillock in the southernmost part of Kanyakuamri - where VK-nardep has successully constructed a beautiful rainwater harvesting/management structure in the form of a temple tank. This has been achieved with the assistance of Sri.R.G.Keswani and the active participation of local community.Tradition, Technology and Social networking all come together for this eco-achievement. This is a replicable model for many parts of Tamil Nadu. And this can also bring a revolutionary change in the water harvesting landscape of the state. Our Siddha doctor Dr.Ganapathi is in facebook now. His facebook inputs are valuable insights into the world of Siddha healing and good living.

In the wisdom section we have a cellular biologist, a spiritual feminist and Swami Vivekananda talking about the centrality of oneness to our visions and actions. Thus we have Ursula Goodenough a cellular biologist speaking of how " the sacredness of life, of the astonishing complexity of cells and organisms, of the vast lengths of time" invoke in us "religious emotions", Swami Vivekananda speaking of how "happiness belongs to him who knows this oneness, who knows he is one with this universe" and Gangaji a spiritual feminist speaks of all life forms as "a collective cosmic story", "a teeming theater of lifeforms appearing and disappearing" while beyond this dance of names and forms Life is always there.

You can enjoy all these by clicking here... We wish you all a happy eco-spiritual experience in reading our newsletter