We all know that the sun’s energy is vital for proper health as it provides our minds and bodies with pure energy and vitamins such as Vitamin D through our skin. Professor Michael Holick, of Boston University School of Medicine and author of The UV Advantage (I-Books, #6.99), says: “We get about 90 to 95 per cent of our Vitamin D from the sun. It is essential for absorbing calcium, keeping our bones healthy, and for protecting against serious chronic diseases later in life such as osteoporosis, Type II diabetes, multiple sclerosis and many common cancers.”
As Hindus, we worship Lord Surya daily and we can all attest to the powerful benefits of Soorya Vrat and worship, (http://www.swahainternational.org/articles/benefits-soorya-fast/). There is no doubt therefore that the sun, the main source of energy in our solar system, is not only important for life on earth, but it can in fact be the sole source of electricity to power the entire earth!
Did you know that more power from the sun hits the Earth in a single hour than humanity uses in an entire year, yet solar only provides a tiny fraction of the energy used in the world? With the current leaps of progress being made globally, it is predicted that solar will become the biggest energy source by 2031! With finite natural resources such as oil and gas becoming more difficult and expensive to obtain, coupled with the fact that burning of these hydrocarbons are one of the largest contributors to man-made Climate Change, we know for a fact that renewable, clean energy is the way forward and the future!
A wise man once said, “There is no energy crisis, the only crisis is an ignorance crisis”, and saw that wind (Vayu) and solar (Soorya) power would emerge the best energy sources. This man was Buckminster Fuller, born in the USA in 1895. He was a world renowned half-blind, near-deaf inventor, mathematician, historian, planetary architect, visionary and one of the few souls on the earth who talked with Albert Einstein. Hindus who dialogued with him personally, such as architect Vyom Akhil, happily welcomed the sagely octogenarian as an “honorary Hindu.” Fuller, to them, was one of the few great science minds that unequivocally insisted on the Vedic view that God, creation and energy are one. He felt a deep affinity with Asia and visited India several times, befriended Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi and relished the esoteric teachings of yogic seer Sri Aurobindo. He even named his sailing boat Naga after the Indian snake god. He believed that all form is pure energy(Shakti)particles dancing at various speeds and said that rocks are slow dancers, gasses faster and God the fastest. His God-in-furious-motion universe clearly resonates the image of Shiva Nataraja, the Cosmic Dancer who pulsates all form from inside the atomic core of form.[“Hinduism Today”: Magazine October 1991].
Buckminster Fuller went on to inspire many Architects in his years preceding his death such as Mr. Jason McLennan, one of the most influential individuals in the Green Building movement today who developed the Living Building Challenge- the world’s most progressive, holistic and rigorous Green Building Standard. Anyone who knows the Living Building Challenge can truly understand the unique connection between a western developed program and the wisdom of ancient Vedic teachings; which is truly remarkable! More about the Living Building Challenge and its contribution to the creation of communities which are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative coming soon.
Lydia Singh
BSc. Eng., PMP, LFA
Living Building Challenge Ambassador, Renewable Energy Lead
