Ishavasyam idam sarvam – “This entire universe is to be looked upon as the Lord.” §
Shukla Yajur Veda, Ishavasya Upanishad - 1§ The above three words in Sanskrit and eleven in English express the essential Hindu outlook on the world. It is a reverential attitude towards all of life, from the smallest animal and tallest tree, to the longest river and mightiest mountain, and even the stars and planets. Writing in Living with Siva, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami urges: “Let’s worship the Earth. It is a being—intelligent and always giving. Our physical bodies are sustained by her abundance. When her abundance is withdrawn, our physical bodies are no more. The ecology of this planet is an intricate intelligence. Through sacrifice, which results in tapas and sadhana, we nurture Mother Earth’s goodwill, friendliness and sustenance. Instill in yourself appreciation, recognition. We should not take advantage of all this generosity, as a predator does of those he preys upon.” ¶On the Abrahamic view of man and world, Swami Dayananda Saraswati shares, “If one believes that God created the Earth with its flora and fauna for human consumption and pleasure, the attitude cannot be expected to be kind to nature.” ¶A quick glance at the headlines of the science and environment section of any major news outlet in the world today—let alone specialist publications dedicated to covering ecological issues—shows that it is the latter attitude and not the classically expressed Hindu viewpoint that holds sway in the world today, no matter the continent or nation. The Hindu Declaration on Climate Change, presented in December 2009 at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Australia, expresses clearly the state of affairs: “Our beloved Earth, so touchingly looked upon as the Universal Mother, has nurtured mankind through millions of years of growth and evolution. Now centuries of rapacious exploitation of the planet have caught up with us, and a radical change in our relationship with nature is no longer an option. It is a matter of survival. We cannot continue to destroy nature without also destroying ourselves.” ¶How far we have drifted from the reverential sentiment expressed in “My salutations to you, O Bhudevi, consort of the all-pervasive Lord, forgive me for placing my feet upon you.”§ Hindu thought envisions the Earth as divine: the body of the universe is God; the Earth is the Goddess (Bhudevi). India is a sacred land connected by thousands of pilgrimage routes leading to sacred places, considered themselves to be Gods and Goddesses. Infinite numbers of Deities represent Nature; Agni, the fire of manifestation, is central to this theme. ¶Because we humans are intricately replicated from the identical principles of the cosmic nature, the seers recognized that changes caused due to indiscreet human activities would result in imbalances in seasons, rainfall patterns, crops and atmosphere, and degrade the quality of water, air and earth resources. In so doing, the human memory and intelligence, as a self-organizing, self-generating organism, becomes dull and potentially inert. This, in turn, affects our relationship to self-wisdom and our interactions with nature’s resources. § In the Hindu conception of the cosmos and the environment, the five great elements (Pancha Mahabhutas) are central: space (akasha), air (vayu), fire (Agni), water (apas) and earth (Prithivi). All emanate from prakriti (cosmic matter). Though each element has its own form and characteristics, all are interconnected and interdependent. The Taittireeya Upanishad tells us: “From Brahman arises space, from space arises air, from air arises fire, from fire arises water, and from water arises earth.” § Akasha, space, is the most subtle of the five, and there is no place where it is not. Akasha is not nothingness, like the popular conceptions of outer space; on the contrary, akasha is absolute fullness. K.L. Seshagiri Rao explains, “Akasha represents openness, brightness, expansiveness and the fullness of blooming capacity.” § Vayu, air, manifests on Earth as the atmosphere, the protective blanket of gases that surrounds the planet, regulating temperature and preventing excessive solar radiation from reaching Earth’s surface. Air connects and affects everything, from animals breathing in and out, to plants exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide. Weather, which so defines daily life, is a function of air in collaboration with the other elements. Even rocks are subject to wind erosion. § Agni, fire, has been worshiped since ancient times. Fire purifies, fire destroys, fire inspires. From the Sun, to lightning, to fire in its mundane and sacred forms, Agni brings warmth and visibility to the world. The Vedas sing its praises: “I magnify the Lord (Agni), the divine, the priest, minister of the sacrifice, the offeror, supreme giver of treasure. To you, dispeller of the night, we come with daily prayer, offering to you our reverence” (Rig Veda 1.1.1&7). § Water, apas, is the source and sustainer of life. Its immense sacredness is rivalled only by its practical value to human agriculture, health, enjoyment and the development of civilization. In the form of Earth’s rivers, water is so vast in its life-giving and life-sustaining properties that it is worshiped as the mother of life, as Mother Ganga. § Earth, the densest of the five elements, is the ground upon which life takes place. It is the body of the Divine, a living organism, metaphysically, metaphorically and biologically. Hindus have cognized this for millennia, knowing that all creatures are intimately connected to the Earth. Without its gifts we are nothing. In the latter half of the 20th century, modern science has caught up with this truth, conceiving of Earth as a self-regulating organism called Gaia, a name for which Dharani, Bhudevi or Bhumi—Hindu names for the Goddess—could easily be substituted. § Though self-regulating and dynamically interacting, the five great elements of existence can be pushed out of balance by human action, creating conditions inhospitable to life in general. What are the imbalances confronting the Earth? § Akasha is being thrown out of balance through excessive and constant noise, as is found in modern cities and towns with never-ending motor vehicle traffic, the hum of air conditioners and computer servers, blaring music, omnipresent advertisements appealing to the lower aspects of our being, televisions and video screens shoehorned into every available space. Needless to say, repose, reflection and sattvic living become difficult in such conditions. § Unbalanced vayu is seen in air pollution, especially over cities. This is caused by industrial activity, power generation from fossil fuels, and the exhaust of internal combustion engines. Brown smog is the most visible form of air pollution, but an excess of greenhouse gases also upsets vayu, causing climate change, raising temperatures and acidifying oceans. Any disturbance to vayu can also interfere with Agni, as in its solar form agni is the energy which heats the air, powers the water cycle, and helps enable life to grow. Each of those processes is affected by pollution. § The element water has been drastically disturbed by human activity. We have dumped human sewage and industrial effluent into rivers and oceans; farmers have irrigated so aggressively that water tables have become lowered, and have allowed runoff of chemical fertilizers and pesticides into streams; we have built massive dams and diverted entire rivers at the expense of wildlife and the people who live in the watersheds; and we have disposed of non-biodegradable trash and plastics in rivers, ponds and wetlands. The same activities that unbalance vayu and Agni, causing climate change, also affect water, causing ocean acidification, coral bleaching and glacial melting. § Earth unbalanced is the most obvious. Vast tracts of forest are cleared for timber and agriculture—often for industrial monoculture farming or cattle ranching. Mining for coal, bauxite, gold and hundreds of other minerals scars mountainsides and removes mountaintops. Human demand for resources—extremely inequitable between rich and poor nations—is causing habitat loss and species extinction at a level unprecedented in the modern history of the planet. Human population is increasing at the expense of virtually every other species. To sustainably supply our current levels of resource consumption would require one- and one-half planets. By 2030, that increases to two planets. We can hope that a new balance will eventually be reached; but the vast majority of climate scientists say that in that new balance, the Earth will be less fertile than now. Earth has undergone radical changes many times. Ice ages come and go in predictable cycles. Species are decimated and new life emerges. Temperatures oscillate, oceans rise and fall. This is not the first challenge to life Earth has faced, but it is the first in which we, the human race, are playing a major role. § [world religious conference] NB: Foolish thinkers are on this earth who distinguish the mass in diffwerent sectors as dwellers of flats etc; thanks for the idiotic thinking ; that will help the flat dwellers to regulate. KR IRS 301022 On Sun, 30 Oct 2022 at 06:46, Markendeya Yeddanapudi < [email protected]> wrote: > > > -- > *Mar*As a Limb of Gaia > > > > Technology has become the frenzied addiction of mankind, to substitute the > activity of life forms as forms of living and also the functions of limbs, > with machines, so that the machines do that work and make the living things > redundant and dysfunctional. It is the slide for the lifeless machines, by > cyborging or by completely eliminating with Robots as substitutes. Nature > is being cyborged by the human fool, who has given certificate to himself > that he is God’s ultimate perfection in creation. The fool demands for the > scientific proof which means proof by machines or some chemical proof. > > Nature’s proof on the basis of breathing,smelling,sensing,perceiving, > understanding and feeling and participating in nature’s revelations, in the > flow of emotions is simply damned as bias. James Lovelock supported by Lynn > Margulies and other great stalverts failed to convince that planet earth is > living Gaia or Bhoodevi. > > There is just no alternative but to swim against this technology addicted > tsunami, and assert that the planet earth is life form, Gaia. > > As a life form, Gaia wants to be healthy. As a limb of Gaia, Gaia is > striving to make you also a healthy limb. Just like each cell in your body > performing a distinct nano function, you as a tiny component in Gaia, have > a distinct function in Gaia’s body. Gaia is exerting its total power to > make you healthy, to make her healthy. If you stop damaging Gaia, you > automatically can become very healthy with simply no disease. Create > healthy spaces of nature and you create a place for yourself in that > healthy space as healthy organism. On the other hand if you destroy nature, > which causes misery and death to many life forms and build a factory or big > building, you automatically create sickness in you. > > Today, we really do not feel happiness by being scientific or mechanical. > Hiding from nature in AC rooms, or destroying nature for doing economics, > has hidden the basic fact from you that you are a living limb of Gaia. > > It is for every University to stem the technological rot, which is making > nature redundant, and revive Gaia to health, by immediately creating parks > of free nature, where God gets freedom. As it is we have reached a stage > where we no longer can bear any emotions. We want machines that do not > question, but just obey and do not find faults in you. > > You are a limb of Gaia. Make Gaia healthy to become healthy. > > YM > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" 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/thatha_patty/CAL5XZorL3M-j%2BFfztaYzc7n0joRC8WVUrM%3D%3DJDgjwdgBnXMn4A%40mail.gmail.com.
