Freddy Ehlers - Ecuador

Mr. Freddy Ehlers was born in 1945 in Quito, Ecuador.

He was elected as Andean Parliamentarian by the Ecuadorian people in a national vote for the period 2003-2007.

Member of the Second Commission of the Andean Parliament in charged of Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Communications. Actually, he is working in many interesting projects such as the draft of the Andean Common Constitution and the constitution of the Andean Biodiversity Institute.

Nowadays, he is the Vice President of the Andean Parliament for the period 2003-2004.

In 1996 and 1998 he was candidate for the Presidency of Ecuador, representing different social groups with the support of Izquierda Democrática (Social Democracy) and the Socialist Party.

In 1995 he was honoured with the Global 500th granted by the United Nations for his accomplishment in favour of the Ecology.

Over the next fifteen years, he has been the Director of the most popular journalistic television programme called "La Televisión", producing and directing more that 5.000 television documentaries.

From 1980 to 1990 he was appointed as Director of the Andean Countries (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia) Television Programmes of the Andean Pact (now the Andean Community) with headquarters in Lima, Perú.

The silent revolution: The need of silence to obtain harmony with mother Nature

These days, every day people all over the world wake up with either the radio or television. We then go to our jobs listening to radio programs or music and continue at work accompanied almost always by some sort of artificial sound. After work, we go home repeating our morning ritual then play with the internet or spend several hours in front of the TV. Many times we even fall asleep with the screen continuing to emit symbols and sounds to our unconscious state. If we repeat this routine for several years, little by little we lose our sensibility to the sounds of nature and our own interior voices. We are converted into voracious consumers of cultural and informative junk. We will then become easy prey to the mass media’s agenda or to the internet, which will decide for us what to do, where to go, what to eat, what to buy, who to elect, how to be wealthy, and how to find momentary happiness whether it be sex, emotional addictions, drugs, food, or the simple pleasure of consumerism. In this manner we form part of the easily manipulated mass society and a fundamental element of the consumer system on which our world economy is based.

The only way to rescue our essential being and to reach new levels of consciousness is through silent meditation. There are many possibilities and all are valid; prayer, meditation or the simple practice of being silent and concentrating on one’s breathing. Dedicating a few minutes each day to deep silence, such as fifteen minutes in the morning and at night, can radically transform our lives. Little by little we reach a profound level of peace. This peace is a unique and indispensable source of happiness. Through direct experience, we will understand that we are much more than we previously believed. The true reality will begin to be revealed to us and we will be able to achieve a state of well-being and full awareness. Direct prayer, yoga, Taichi, Zen, transcending meditation to cite just a few examples, are techniques, that at the heart require inner silence in order to be what WE are and not what society at large would have us be.