Invest In Our Planet
Sacred Earth: How 18,000 Red-Clad Devotees Transformed Earth Day into a Spiritual Awakening
May 31, 2023
In honor of the 53rd Anniversary of Earth Day this past year, the faith group the Red Brigade hosted several special nature worship sessions across the globe. More than 18,000 Red Clad-devotees of the Spiritual Guru Bangaru Adigalar Amma participated, paying obeyance to Planet Earth. In these workshops, individuals learned about practices to live in harmony with nature and ways to conserve, protect, and respect our shared planet.
These nature worship sessions provided the opportunity for people to spiritually align themselves with nature yet also learn to preserve and conserve our environment. In addition to holding morning prayer sessions, Red Clad-devotees organized several tree planting events and cleanups at beaches, lakes, riverfronts, and educational institutions in ten different countries.
The teachings of Spiritual Guru Bangaru Adigalar Amma recognize the importance of the relationship between spirituality and nature. Amma’s teachings encourage people to find the presence of the divine in nature and explains that nature causes growth. Due to this interconnected relationship, it is important to create a relationship between humans and nature based on mutual respect and cooperation in order to create a harmonious atmosphere where individuals can grow spiritually.
The connection between the body and the Earth remains an important one today, in which there is a dependent symbiotic relationship between ourselves and our environment. We each need and rely on one another for care and survival. This relationship is one that is considered sacred and necessary in which humans must recognize their role to give back rather than just take. A spiritual understanding of this relationship is seen as an important aspect in order to properly derive sustenance from the Earth, dedicate oneself to conservation, and to apply smart and sustainable use of shared resources.
The actions we have seen taken by Spiritual Guru Bangaru Adigalar Amma’s Red-Clad devotees exemplifies the importance of this relationship and the ability for a group of people to have a real impact. Their actions this past Earth Day illustrate another example of the work and effort put into the environmental movement by faith leaders and communities. Since the very first Earth Day, the voices of people of faith have played a crucial role in achieving environmental endeavors.
The interconnectedness between spirituality and environmental stewardship illustrate yet another way in which we can all Invest in Our Planet moving forward. Here at EARTHDAY.ORG, we have a variety of resources about ways to engage and incorporate faith into the environmental movement in our Faith and the Environment Campaign. Using these tools, you too can drive environmental change through faith, just as Spiritual Guru Bangaru Adigalar Amma and his Red-Clad devotees did this Earth Day. Together, change is possible.
