Rooted in Nature 1) From The American Institute of Vedic Studies:
Hindu thought defines the Divine not just in human terms but also in terms of nature. The Divine is not only the father, mother, brother, sister, lord and friend, but also takes the form of sacred animals, plants, rocks, planets and stars. Hindu temples contain not only human representations but also deities with animal heads and animal bodies. They contain sacred plants, flowers, rocks, fire and water as well. This sense of the Divine in all of nature is the reason why Hindus find sacred places everywhere. The Hindus have sacred mountains and hills, sacred rivers and lakes, sacred trees and groves, sacred flowers and grasses. They can honor the Divine not only in the human form but in all the forms of nature. This Hindu devotional attitude is not mere primitive idolatry as the western religions would like to project. It is not a worship of nature externally. It is a recognition of the Divine reality within all things. Hindus honor all the forms of the Divine but also recognize the formless Divine even beyond the Creator, extending to the Absolute. Vedanta teaches us that this Absolute or Brahman is the being, self and soul of everything animate and inanimate. It says our very Self is the entire universe and the entire universe dwells within us. To honor nature is to honor ourselves. To honor ourselves, one should honor all of nature. For the Hindus the Earth is sacred as the very manifestation of the Divine Mother. She is Bhumi Devi, the Earth Goddess. One of the reasons that Hindus honor cows is that the cow represents the energies and qualities of the Earth, selfless caring, sharing and the providing of nourishment to all. Bhumi Devi, Divine Mother, Earth Goddess 2) From Sanskriti Magazine: The 330 million gods in Hinduism permeate the entire unlimited world of nature (regardless of geographical frontiers), underlining its fundamental doctrine that God exists in the heart of all beings. Hence, India has a vas t network of holy shrines – seven holy rivers, seven holy mountains, several sacred cities, sacred plants and trees – a pervasive divine presence is what Hinduism emphasizes on across its religious texts, be it Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Smriti, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana or Mahabharata. The much adored Hindu deity Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita makes various mentions of His oneness with Nature. For instance, the sloka 20 of Chapter 10 reads, “I am the Self seated in the heart of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the very end of all beings. All beings have, therefore, to be treated alike.” No other religion perhaps places as much emphasis on nature worship as Hinduism. The philosophy is designed to inculcate a very strong environmental conscience, rendering Hinduism a leading contender for being the most environment-friendly religion in the world. The basic premise of the religion is that man co-exists with other forms of beings in a system where everything is interdependent and flow of energy is cyclic. It upholds the Earth as Divine Mother and all livings beings are her “equal” offspring. 3) From Hindu Wisdom: Throughout the long history of India, Hindus have shared a fascination with, and respect for, Nature and animals. This attitude went beyond usefulness. It had to do with reverence for all of God's creation. Our ancestors worshipped trees, rivers, birds and stones and connected to the universal principle through Shiva. As we are growing more materialistic, we are losing this connection. Our ancestors saw Nature as being a manifestation of God. There was, therefore, a gratitude towards nature. The rishis of the past have always had a great respect for nature. Theirs was not a superstitious primitive theology. They perceived that all material manifestations are a shadow of the spiritual. The Bhagavad Gita advises us not to try to change the environment, improve it, or wrestle with it. If it seems hostile at times, tolerate it. Ecology is an inherent part of a spiritual worldview in Hinduism. Hindu philosophy has always had a humane and dignified view of the sacredness of all life, and that humans are but one link in the symbiotic chain of life and consciousness. Hinduism contains numerous references to the worship of the divine in nature in its Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Sutras, and its other sacred texts. Millions of Hindus recite Sanskrit mantras daily to revere their rivers, mountains, trees, animals, and the earth. K Rajaram IRS 21 2 24 On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 at 20:06, Markendeya Yeddanapudi < [email protected]> wrote: > > > -- > *Mar*From Economic Man into Robot > > > > Our Rishis strived to be part of nature, spent life to imbibe nature into > their bodily systems, and induct nature into their hormonal, nervous, > perception and understanding systems. They continuously exercised to expand > the reach of their capacity to sense and perceive, by inducting and teaming > up with nature. They strived to reach the horizon, by partnering and > componenting in and as, the flora and the fauna. They empowered themselves > by empowering nature or surrendering to nature. Their mission of life was > to serve nature, to make nature more healthy. The symbiotic relation and > interaction with nature was life for them. > > They not only achieved total control over their bodies, but extended their > capacity to actually feel and control nature in symbiosis. Nature as a > single organism made the Rishi its limb. Living in free and healthy nature > made the Rishi the Macro person. They did not need huge vocabularies as the > words they used expanded in meaning. The meaning identification of every > word enlarged. Words became the flow of meanings, which became tunes and > musics. Actually from the state of the space-less pure time to space-time > of ‘when and where address or word’, the meaning reach of the word expanded > continuously. Meanings were musics, with new tunes and new feelings. > > Actually every new birth of every organism is an addition to the flow of > meanings as feelings. Because, every organism inhaled messages and exhaled > responses. Pure time when it becomes the space-time becomes the fountain of > new musics of meanings as feelings. Life was a voyage in feelings and > meanings. It was not economic life as the machine, the economic man with no > feelings and relation to nature and ecology. > > The disaster or catastrophe, started with the dictum of Rene Descartes, > who said that every life form excepting the human is just an emotions-less > and feelings-less machine. That total perversion of the Biosphere into > collections of feelings-less and emotions-less machines, and the study of > every life form as a model of mechanical engineering, totally ignoring its > feelings and emotions and its role in the flow of nature’s emotional > symbiosis is the ultimate catastrophe mis-meaned as scientific advancement > to be viewed as progress. > > Every machine harms nature. But the air creates emotional symbiosis, not > mathematical equations and mechanical engineering. But today science needs > you to become a machine without feelings and emotions as they mean the > contamination of the scientific or mechanical approach. So we have poisoned > the air itself so that it no longer serves as medium of communication via > smells and sounds. Our communication with every life form of the Biosphere > has been cut, and indifferently and woodenly we ignore their feelings, > pains and sufferings and put them to our economic use. > > Economic life means the destruction of nature as the routine and living of > life. We have been using machines to do the work of our limbs, making the > limbs redundant and semi frozen. We have been cyborging ourselves. > > The next fall into the abyss, is giving way totally to Robots, whose > beginnings we are now seeing. We are killing nature and ourselves. After > the advent of science and technology, the destruction of nature has been > continuous. Nature stopped its creation of new mutations that create better > life forms. The very processes of nature are killed. > > When we fill our lives with Robots to live every minute of our life, can > we stop the culling of ourselves by Robots? When every single movement of > every limb needs a machine, can we control the Robot? Can we even know what > to control instead of drifting? > > Today we are culling every life form as economic activity. We evade > feelings and emotions. Can we stop the takeover by the feelings-less Robots? > > As it is more than 50% of the forests are gone and their destruction is > geometric. > > WE need Universities that dare and save nature. > > 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/CAL5XZoqE0MiTPdd%2BEc1788n2s3t%2B1w7YTtsr%3DvogigcAPx1MBg%40mail.gmail.com.
