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Gaia Symphony No.4
For the Children Who Will Be Born and Grow in the 21st Century

I believe the 21st century would be an age when "gentle spirituality" will be needed in all aspects of the life of mankind. It will be our critical task to nurture it, not only in education, culture and art, but in those fields that have traditionally been far removed from spirituality, such as politics, economics or science. Because each one of us is beginning to realize that this lack of spirituality and man's actions as a result of it are putting the future of all lives on the earth in peril.

Spirituality, simply put, is the ability to feel within ourselves in the course of our daily life that we are indeed being kept alive, here and now, as a part of this singular, greater life of the Mother Earth, Gaia.

When we become awakened to the spirituality within, we become humble. We can face the events of our lives with a sense of gratitude. We would be able to seriously think about, act for, and pray for lives other than our own. Our power to envision the future and to feel the distant past would be stronger. We may even regain our ability to see the invisible and hear the inaudible. And we truly begin to recognize that this is precisely what makes us the happiest. Awakening to the spirituality within, I believe, does not always require existing religions.

For the children who will be born and grow in the 21st century, there will be infinite ways of awakening to the spirituality. Science, art, sports, education, economics, politic... In the future, if there are 100 people, there will be 100 different ways.

But there are some important things we need to know. First, we need the unshakable faith that there is a seed of spirituality in each and every one of us. Only with this faith, the infinite ways that lead to spiritual awakening will be opened to us.

Yet, another is our awareness that this seed of spirituality will not grow and blossom unless we nurture it. Spirituality and ego are two sides of a coin, they both are the greatest qualities endowed to human beings. It is a force, if left alone and uncared for, will take us to the road of "everything is okay as long as I am happy." That is why we need to "nurture" our Awareness. But there are no easy manuals to follow. Spirituality, ultimately, is something each of us is to nurture and let blossom on our own and in our own way.

If so, what can we do for the children of the 21st century now? What I would like to do is to continuously present the philosophy and the way of life of a few extraordinary individuals around the world, through the Gaia Symphony series.

Whether the way they live would help nurture the spirituality of children is not certain. What is certain, though, is that I will continue to make these films with my strong wish to encourage the growth of inner spirituality, which is always present inside each child. I would not necessarily speak to the children directly. For, what nurtures their spirituality is the spirituality within each of us adults, who are in daily contact with the lives of these children.

With this vision, I am proposing to include the following four individuals for Gaia Symphony No. 4, the first one of the series in the 21st century.


Gaia Symphony No.4 (2001)
 
James Lovelock (ENGLAND) - Biophysicist

"Be an individual."

Founder of "Gaia Theory". Sparked by his theory, the Gaia Symphony film series started in 1989, and this section finally features Lovelock himself. His theory has not only galvanized other scholars of geophysics and bioscience, but also became the theoretical pillar of the environmental movement in the 20th century, contributing greatly to the spiritual awakening of the public.

Lovelock has continued his study as a freelance scientist, using as his laboratory what had originally been a water mill in the English countryside. Such a lifestyle itself shows us the ideal relationship between Gaia and human beings.

In the deep forest of Cornwall, in a superb scenery of countryside, in a shore where wild waves of the Atlantic break, in an eight thousand year old stone circle, he has shared with us his view on "why is the Earth (Gaia) single giant organism," "How should the relationship between the Earth (Gaia) and human race be" and "does the Earth (Gaia) have a mind of its own."
   
Gerry Lopez (USA) - "Big Wave" Surfer

"Keep Paddling."

Gerry Lopez was born in 1948 on the island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. He started surfing at the age of 10 and won the renowned "Pipe Masters" competition at the age of 23. He was nicknamed "the pipeline king" as he could ride the huge tsunami-like 20-foot winter waves of the North Shore dexterously. Besides being a king of surfing, Lopez has long been a serious yoga practitioner. His style of "soft" surfing, being in harmony with the state of the sea, is largely attributed to his yoga training. Lopez also acted in several films, including "Big Wednesday" (1978), "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), and "North Shore" (1987).

Today, Lopez lives in Bend, Oregon, where he manufactures surfboards. He also enjoys snowboarding during the winter, and is now applying his talents as a craftsman to making snowboards as well.
   
Jane Goodall (ENGLAND)
- Chimpanzee Researcher, Environmentalist, Educator

"Hope, love, and understanding"

In 1961, when she was 26, Jane Goodall was given advice by the famous archeologist, Dr. Louis Leakey, to go to the jungle of Tanzania, where she started research on chimpanzees. Her gentle approach toward life and her research, done with a broad outlook, have brought about an enormous change in primatology. She shares her experience of soulful communication with Tanzanian chimpanzees, who, according to Dr. Goodall, not only have complex feelings like humans such as sadness, love, and compassion, but also feel a kind of awe and wonder at something great. She now concentrates on the preservation of wildlife and rainforests, together with educational projects for children. In 2001, Goodall published her autobiography, "Reason for Hope," which contains a beautiful portrait of her in black and white, taken by the late Michio Hoshino, who was featured in Gaia Symphony No. 3.
   
Bokunen Naka (JAPAN)
- Woodblock Print Artist

"Happiness is unlimited."

Bokunen Naka was born (1953) and raised on the island of Izena, Okinawa, where the relationship to nature is still an important part of human life. To communicate with the Mother Earth, Naka has been opening "passages" which we who live in the modern world usually close in the process of our development. One day, he came to realize that he had become an artist. His dynamic and yet delicate art works emit the energy of great nature and the voices of all the living things - from words of small flowers, calls of insects and birds, to even messages of the sun and the moon.

Naka's art has been used on a poster for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Kyoto in 1997, and postcards for the Year 2000 Okinawa Summit.

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