Pranam 1 To understand why environmentalism has been so vulnerable to fringe influences, we need to travel back to the 1920s and the dawn of modern environmental awareness. In some ways, our planet was much healthier. The global population had yet to reach two billion. Atmospheric carbon dioxide was around 300 ppm, compared to 410 ppm today. Nevertheless, it was a world undergoing rapid and unsettling change. Cities were expanding at unprecedented speed. Industrialization was consuming natural resources at ever-greater rates. And it was a world still ringing with the echoes of the First World War.
2 The prospect of an increasingly mechanized and inhuman society heralded by these developments concerned many who lived through them. The ways in which people acted on these concerns, however, were very different. On the one hand, biologists and agronomists, worried about the rates of soil erosion and deforestation around the world, set about developing sustainable forestry practices, improved farming methods, and higher-yield crops, thereby laying the foundations for much of modern environmental and agricultural science (Barton 2018). 3 On the other hand, many artists and intellectuals, especially in Europe, sought not to address the challenges of the modern world but to reject modernity altogether. Fueled by nostalgia for a rural era that was rapidly being lost to the slums and smokestacks of urbanization, they attempted to recapture in some form a pre-industrial way of life. They championed traditional farming methods and outdoor living as the key to healthy, meaningful lives. They searched for worldviews that celebrated a spiritual connection with the natural world, from Hinduism to transcendentalism to paganism. And they constructed a farrago of unscientific philosophies they hoped would restore humanity’s relationship with the environment. 4 Modern environmentalism is the heir to both these traditions: the scientific and pragmatic *and* the spiritual and nostalgic. However we choose to measure environmentalism’s success—laws passed, acres protected, lives improved—the former has been to its merit; the latter, ultimately, has been to its detriment. 5 A new discipline called “anthroposophy.” : Steiner was interested in improving agricultural yields without damaging the environment. What he wasn’t interested in was investigating this important cause with science or even basic logic. Anyone masochistic enough to read his lectures will find themselves swallowing an indigestible word salad. In a single sentence, Steiner appeals to astrology, radiation, ether, and the metabolism of cows to explain the workings of anthroposophy. Elsewhere, he discusses the imagined effects of cosmic forces, karma, and “moon rays” on the life force of plants and animals, which he believes are at the heart of environmental and agricultural processes. Ultimately, Steiner argues—without a shred of evidence—that the earth is home to a range of mystical and magical forces and that agriculture can be revolutionized by harnessing these forces (Steiner 2007). His teachings were called under the new name of * biodynamics*. People were attracted to it for various reasons. Those wary of modern agricultural methods were drawn to its disdain for industrialization. Those left cold by the sterility and order of the modern world found comfort in its pseudo-pagan mysticism. In truth, there was nothing venerable about biodynamic farming. Despite his frequent allusions to ancient wisdom, Steiner invented his anthroposophical worldview entirely from scratch in the 1920s. 6 So how does biodynamic farming work? Well, in short, it doesn’t. Biodynamic farmers attempt to enhance a farm’s life force by applying potions, known as “preparations,” to the soil, either directly or by mixing it into manure before spreading. These preparations are invariably concocted by subjecting natural substances to a series of bizarre, lengthy processes. One requires cow manure to be stuffed into a cow horn and then buried fifty centimetres underground for an entire winter. Another asks for a deer bladder to be bunged with yarrow blossoms and left out in the summer sun. And even if the resulting potions did somehow work, biodynamic farming guarantees its own uselessness by insisting that preparations should be applied in homeopathic amounts, with some processes asking for as little as one gram of potion per ten tons of manure (Dunning 2007). Like biodynamics before, the resulting smorgasbord of beliefs was characterized by a desire to retrieve an older, more meaningful relationship with the earth and its ecosystems. In the words of one New Ager, it was about “regaining the intimate connection and awareness of our place in nature” (qtd. in Ferguson 1981). 7 Alternatively, the ethically minded could head to their local farmers’ markets and buy locally grown produce. Even biodynamic farming achieved some mainstream acceptance: today biodynamic vineyards cover an estimated 11,000 hectares around the world. In terms of influencing contemporary environmentalism, the commercialization of fringe beliefs and practices in the 1990s was just as influential as the rise of counterculture movements some thirty years previously. At the heart of this commercialization was the desire, undimmed since the 1920s, to escape the chemicals and corporations of modernity for an older, gentler relationship with the earth. Organic farms contrasted the human scale of their enterprises with the sprawling monocultures of industrial farming. Farmers’ markets likewise peddled nostalgia for a time before sterile supermarkets and faceless production lines. It would be unfair and inaccurate to claim that organic farming or local produce are unscientific in the way that, say, biodynamics is. But their origins and subsequent success owe just as much, if not more, to the spiritual and nostalgic strain of environmentalism as they do to the scientific and pragmatic. Consequently, when environmentalists today encourage us to buy local and eat organic, they often find themselves at odds with more pragmatic and scientifically grounded approaches. 8 It’s worth remembering that the megamachine doesn’t just destroy the natural world. Indeed, as science and technology get to grips with the scale of the environmental crisis facing us, they are coming up with many ingenious solutions. Genetically modified crops have been developed that use 25 percent less water than their unmodified counterparts. State-of-the-art herbicides such as glyphosate improve crop yields while reducing costs, all without harming humans. Even nuclear power plants, once the supervillain of the environmental movement, have dramatically improved in terms of safety and reduced waste. And yet, time and time again, we have witnessed the embarrassing spectacle of hazmat-clad Greenpeace activists ripping up genetically modified crops or of countries outlawing glyphosate on the basis of unfounded environmental concerns or of environmentalists simultaneously demanding that countries dramatically cut emissions while abandoning nuclear power. We have to contend with green activists regarding organic food as a matter of principle and not privilege or insisting that the solution to the climate crisis lies in the wholesale “decommercialization” of the West’s “toxic economic system.” This is the legacy of the environmental fringe. 9 Most share a sincere concern for the natural world. But as long as they continue to advocate solutions rooted in the nostalgia and spiritualism of the environmental fringe, they are hindering their own cause. So keep the passion. Keep the compassion. But, for the earth’s sake, drop the disdain for science. 10 Now from the article above published in the international journal of science repute, what one understood is, KRISHI preserved the environments in India right through, many millenniums ago till 1800, just before the Industrial revolutions. And ALL INDIANS INCLUDING THE ADVOCATES NOW FOR NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS, FORGOT THE COW HERE; THE NATURAL AGRICULTURE SEEN FROM RIGVEDAM, HERE. SOMEONE STEALS THE IDEA FROM HERE AND PREACH IT AS A NEW FINDING; THIS IS ALSO NOT MET WITH SQUARELY BY THE AGED 80S HERE. AND WE FIGHT AFTER THE HORSES BOLTED. Nature will show the recycling forces, by soft way or the hard way, since nature has to balance. Karma is the root cause of everything. Karma is not attributed to the singularity and the earth shall take care of itself. Let’s add a feather that is enough, by OUR ACTION RIGHT FROM HOME; CAN WE ELIMINATE THE AIR CONDITIONERS, VACUUM CLEANERS, WASHING MACHINES, MIXIES AND GRINDERS, HOT PANS AND MICROWAVE OVENS? CAN WE REFRAIN FROM DETTOL, WASH POWDERS AND LIQUIDS AND GO FOR COW DUNG? LITTLE FEATHER STARTS FROM HERE. KR IRS 26222 On Sat, 26 Feb 2022 at 02:53, 'Vaidyanathan R.S.' via iyer123 < [email protected]> wrote: > Mr.Sekar, > > Well said. > R.S.Vaidyanathan > > > On Friday, February 25, 2022, 04:48:11 AM PST, 'N Sekar' via iyer123 < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > We have a saying sir, in Tamizh > > " siru thuli Peru vellam" meaning > Small trickles of water only become a big flood. > > Whether you move a feather or anything else, you ARE DOING something which > many don't. And that is commendable, the act may be small but the intention > is noble. > > Didn't Krishna say Palam, Thoyam etc. meaning whether you offer a leaf, > fruit, or just a spoon of water, HE Accepts them all, if offered with > reverence and Bhakthi. > > HE does not look into WHAT is offered but HOW it is offered, the > INTENTION, BHAKTHI. So are our acts, big or small do > not matter, what matters is the Intention. > > N Sekar > > > Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android > <https://go.onelink.me/107872968?pid=InProduct&c=Global_Internal_YGrowth_AndroidEmailSig__AndroidUsers&af_wl=ym&af_sub1=Internal&af_sub2=Global_YGrowth&af_sub3=EmailSignature> > > On Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 3:49 PM, Markendeya Yeddanapudi > <[email protected]> wrote: > Sekhar Sir, > Thank you.I am not as knowledgeable as you are,nor am I as well read.I am > a dwarf before you.Thank you very much for responding to me so elaborately. > Right or wrong I have been trying to fight the horrible all round > pollution,and I am using a small feather to move the planet earth.But I can > lift only a feather. > YM > > On Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 2:43 PM N Sekar <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear Y M Sir, > > I felt a little guilty to read that only one responds to your mails and > would like to clarify; and excuse me for this long winded observations. > > 1. I have mentioned in one of my recent mails several reasons, by no means > exhaustive, why people don't respond - Hope you read that. > > 2. In order to respond, one must have something to add / contradict the > message and your mails are, *generally*, in a field which very few have > the expertise to comment on. In this hectic world, very few have the time, > interest, inclination to appreciate anything, leave alone Nature which is > the subject matter of many of your mails, in one way or other. > > 3. Based on my interactions with my friends, Politics and sports, movies, > jokes, and to some extent music are *some of the subjects* that people > generally feel comfortable with, apart from the stock market of late. Other > topics hardly elicit any response. > > 4. I have responded to a few of your mails and also joined issues with you > on tax on interest rates and the need for updating KYC, but there also, > since we know each other's point of view (which is not exactly aligned), I > stop at a particular level. No point in continuing to disagree. > > 5. *You must know that higher the Quality, fewer will be the followers*. > While anyone can read the likes of James Hadley Chase, very few will be > interested in the Miltons, Shakespeares, Wordsworths etc. I am giving > foreign names as people are more familiar with them than our own, as ours > are in many languages. > > Anyway, how many have read the Ramayanam, Mahabharatham, Bagavat Gita, > leave alone the Upsnishads *and are ready for a discussion*? Not the > daily ritual of reading a few stanzas without even understanding the > meaning. > That does not mean people don't appreciate these Holy Books, they just > don' express an opinion, that's all. > > 7. Although I respect and revere Nature at a basic level, thanks to my > parents, *I am not as knowledgeable as you so obviously are*. When I go > to the park for a walk, I sit under a Tree and thank them and the flowers > for the enjoyment they provide, apart from the fresh air, oxygen etc. I say > a silent prayer for them to grow further and farther and seek His Grace in > that direction. Of course, I say my thanks to Him for everything, including > the opportunity to visit a park, which in this busy life many can't afford. > > That does not mean others don't feel grateful; it is just that they don't > express them, like you don't always appreciate your wife's cooking. But the > feelings are there, in silence. > > Like that, just because some of your mails don't elicit more responses, it > does not mean they are not read. Some may a silent thanks (like me), some > may appreciate silently etc. Generally, people would have discussed more > freely in a face to face meeting, than bringing themselves to write in a > forum. > > The fact nobody has contradicted you on your subject also means people are > in agreement; in Tamizh we say "Mounam is Sammadham" which means silence > means there is agreement, what more is needed? > > > N Sekar > > > On Friday, February 25, 2022, 10:04:59 AM GMT+4, Markendeya Yeddanapudi < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > Sir,99.999999...%,you are the only person that responds to my mails and > you invariably elevate it to a better level.Thank You.But I differ with you > about flowers. > YM > > On Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 10:16 AM Rajaram Krishnamurthy < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Pranam > I may differ here a little sir. Flowers are like babies delivered; babies > are beautiful inside the womb as well as outside . But baby is born to grow > according to the usage for which they landed here; also even if they are > left out where they were born, they will fall down and die ,going back to > the mother earth as only a manure. Nature is that , lets you honor the > births; if unrecognised, even then they may allow to survive there only; > all born shall die; and so flowers shall be used in reverence. Beauty is > where ever it is. The Garland long on Venkateshwara is as beautiful as it > was placed in the baskets and the trees where it grew. > 2 The temple is spoiled no doubt; there is a bondage between the idol > and the worshippers S A MUTUALITY; BUT WHY THERE IS A GOVT INTERVENTIONS > AND REGULATIONS; Tirupati, Sai temple, Mahalakshmi, Vaishnavi and many more > by restrictions and odd regulations, become the traffic jam and money > spinning industry. Leave Tirupati and others to worshippers; they will not > come in lakhs but regulate themselves according to the needs and the > seasons. > 3 What is the sanctum that prevented the TTD from showing the original > deity in camera?; why they build out of the temple funds erecting studios > at Srinivasamangapuram and holding the archakas to act ,against the hero > deity erected there, and showing in their TV daily?. Making money by > erecting Perumal in all spots but preventing the original from being > darsaned. Perumal likes the kicks of Brugus, if so would he prevent if > shown on TV the original Puja?; for that Sai is better and Vaishnavi. GOD > is the product of money for Govt, which done by Nithyananda it is a crime. > KR IRS 25222 > > On Fri, 25 Feb 2022 at 06:56, Markendeya Yeddanapudi < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > -- > *Mar**Protecting the God in a Temple* > > > > God simply is nature. God is your anatomical connection to nature. The > free, lush and thick the nature, the inspired and happy you will be. And > you join the Flora and Fauna, as a part and partisan of God, exhaling your > rapture filled messages and inhaling into you, the raptures of the flora > and fauna. God is the flow of rapture. The rapture makes you sing, create > music, dance and create dances, paint, draw pictures, sculpt and just feel > nature as the macro body, and you live by feeling as the Macro body, or > with God in you. And it will be impossible to you to feel unhappy or lose > rapture. Lovingly protecting nature as your own being, identifying nature > as you, and thus creating the mini biosphere round you, makes you > experience the automatic want satisfaction, with no unsatisfied want > creating unhappiness and restlessness. The Biosphere round you smells and > senses your needs and positive symbiotic wants, that do not harm nature, > and immediately satisfies the wants. Wants and the automatic satisfaction > of those wants, becomes the feature of the Biosphere in which you live as > the macro body. > > Today, from most big Temples God has left. The Temple bureaucracies have > created the mechanized rule manuals, which have converted the Temples into > the Temple cities where there is continuous killing of the flora and the > fauna. The belief rhetoric, the chanting of the sacred texts etc in five > star comforts in AC halls, is a horrible mimicry and revolting perversion > of the very mission of a Temple. > > Please tell everyone, that God needs free, lush and thick flora and fauna > round the Temple, for him to create the belief flow as the flow of air. God > simply is nature which is not terrorized with urbanization and the > revolting industrialization. The life forms are not mechanical forms but > only fountains of belief, through inhaling and exhaling. > > When you go to a Temple, find some spot and plant a tree. That is the real > prayer. > > Always remember that a flower is the child of a plant and when you pluck > it you are creating grief in the plant. > > Prayer must mean enriching nature, the Biosphere. The urgent need today is > the allow the God return to his Temple.God,the great abstract pleasant and > enchanting rapture can return only, when the flora and fauna are allowed > freedom to grow, and freed from the terror of commercial murder. > > Today Gods are living only in the abandoned Temples in the thick interior > forests, not in the Temple cities. There you first enjoy the freedom from > worry about getting accommodation, buying the Temple ticket, locating the > lout official that helps you jump the queue and finish off the taxing > darsan quickly and then enjoy the splendor of a five star hotel, the hotel > that really fails in taking you to the rapture which nature as God gives. > > Never pluck a flower from a plant, or use a garland of flowers. Remember > that the flowers are the children of trees, and all trees are completely > emotional only. Belief must translate into helping and saving nature. > > YM > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CACDCHCKgNY0r-paLBE09HmHhvyZsg-TmvmiFcG8ex1XQdU8qNQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CACDCHCKgNY0r-paLBE09HmHhvyZsg-TmvmiFcG8ex1XQdU8qNQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CAL5XZort%2B5LnJMEOrc8%3DtoZKY2_Vum4x3ZkC_8AW9%3DKPrccn9Q%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CAL5XZort%2B5LnJMEOrc8%3DtoZKY2_Vum4x3ZkC_8AW9%3DKPrccn9Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > > > -- > *Mar* > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CACDCHCJ11RnK%2BAxEyU93WF-S%3DtsDSFpX38Uz3Raxf7rRxF-33Q%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CACDCHCJ11RnK%2BAxEyU93WF-S%3DtsDSFpX38Uz3Raxf7rRxF-33Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > > > -- > *Mar* > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CACDCHCLDVV8QmbxBJP7V3Zo1e0dRn8%2Baa4%3DzAzu52ikf7teErA%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/CACDCHCLDVV8QmbxBJP7V3Zo1e0dRn8%2Baa4%3DzAzu52ikf7teErA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/2115963367.1667344.1645793281102%40mail.yahoo.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/2115963367.1667344.1645793281102%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/237526015.1358361.1645824244098%40mail.yahoo.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/237526015.1358361.1645824244098%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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