In search of authentic communication

''Seeding Spirit in Action'' conference comes to Eckerd College with the intent of letting people share their dreams of change.

By JEANNE MALMGREN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 4, 2002

His name is Ocean, he's 28 and he lives in a solar-powered house in California with his mom, dad, wife and twin sons named River Dharma and Bodhi Sattva.

Probably not surprising, then, that he's into something he calls "spirit in action."

Let Ocean Robbins explain what that means: "It's building bridges between the dreams and intentions we carry and the actions we want to manifest in our lives and our communities."

Robbins, the son of vegetarian activist John Robbins, will bring this idea to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg on July 19 as part of a weekend conference called "Seeding Spirit in Action." It's sponsored by the Florida Institute of Noetic Sciences, a group devoted to exploring the intersection of science and consciousness. Organizers say they intend to "create a village" for the weekend where people can talk about ideas for a saner world. Part of the conference will focus on members of Robbins' generation who are working for social change.

"IONS has made a commitment to reach more young people," Robbins said last week. "So we have a teaching partnership with them."

When he was 16, Robbins founded a nonprofit organization called Youth for Environmental Sanity (known as YES!). Thousands of school students and young adults worldwide have heard the message of YES!: democracy, human rights, peace, social justice and environmental concerns. The organization sponsors annual youth jams, in which young activists from several countries come together for a week of troubleshooting. Two "alumni" from those programs will join Robbins in his Eckerd presentation. They are Nadja Halibegovich, who has been called "the Anne Frank of Sarajevo," and Aqeela Sherrills, who negotiates "peace treaties" among rival gangs in the Watts section of Los Angeles.

"We work with a lot of young people," Robbins said. "And many more are becoming engaged in working on the problems we face. The average high school student volunteers 31/2 hours a week."

Born in a log cabin in Canada, Robbins was reared in a family of privilege and social conscience. His father turned his back on the inheritance from the Baskin-Robbins ice cream fortune and launched a campaign to change the way Americans eat. His first book, Diet for a New America, was one of the first to reveal the environmental affects of a meat-centered diet.

The younger Robbins inherited his father's activist streak and set about to change the world by starting his own organic bakery at age 10. He says the workshops he leads are designed to help people communicate authentically.

"Our society is expert at coming up with ways to distract us from what's going on. Huge portions of the media are focused on trivial things. And a lot of people are wearing what we sometimes call a mask. They say and do the things they think they need to say and do, to fit in with the world around them. We find tremendous power in creating environments where people can take off the mask and talk about what's really important for them."

The Seeding Spirit in Action conference also includes workshops on a variety of New Age disciplines: sacred geometry, yoga and reality management. Musical entertainment will be presented by Tibetan "singing" bowls, a 22-string guitar, drumming and "vocal sculpture."

Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973 after his return from the moon, will deliver a speech titled "What is the Global Crisis Teaching Us?"

If you go

"Seeding Spirit in Action" takes place July 19-22 on the campus of Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave. S, St. Petersburg. It is sponsored by the Florida Institute of Noetic Sciences. Conference fees for Saturday-Sunday are $175 for IONS members and $200 for nonmembers (meals are extra). The pre-conference workshops, on July 19, one of which is Robbins', cost $85. That evening's opening program, featuring Dances of Universal Peace, is $10 or a donation of dry/canned goods for the St. Petersburg Free Clinic. For more information visit http://www.fl-ions.org/registration/tour_intro.html or contact Sharon Joy Kleitsch at (727) 550-9660 or kleitsch@verizon.net.

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