Are We To Blame For These Disasters?

Are We To Blame For These Disasters?

The opening shloka of the Shanti Sukta from the Atharva Veda is beautiful: May peace prevail in the skies May peace prevail on earth May peace prevail in vast space May peace prevail in the flowing river, and in plants and trees! Are we at one with the invocation of the rishis? Are we, today, at peace with nature? No, we are not! We can see it in the way we treat the soil; the way we have destroyed the habitat of wild animals; we can see it in the pollution of our waterways, the degradation of our envi ronment, depletion of the ozone layer and the environment, depletion of the ozone layer a complete and utter waste of Mother Nature's resources.

Although I said “Mother Nature“, I doubt if we have the right to call ourselves her children any more! We are actually a vital component of nature, and it is our sacred obligation to preserve and protect the planet that God has given to us as habitat.

I am aware that the fashionable, trendy words to use today are `ecology' or `environment'. But I choose the word nature, deliberately, because it is close to my heart. It is a term associated with peace, purity, serenity, beauty, tranquility and the transcendental spirit of the Universe. It recalls to my mind the pancha tattwa, the five elements ­ earth, water, fire, air and space ­ of which our universe is composed. It encompasses these myriad aspects of creation, hundreds of thousands of living beings and organisms, those stunningly beautiful landscapes, mountains, rivers, seas, forests, deserts, mangroves, lakes and plains that man could not have made ­ but alas, which he seems to be destroying irrationally! How can the world be at peace, when we are threatened by natural disasters ­ which are in fact, perpetuated by man's negligence and greed?

When I say that we have brought these disasters upon ourselves, some of my friends protest politely. “This is not our doing,“ they tell me. “Such natural disasters have occurred since the dawn of creation, starting with the melting of the Ice Age. How can man be held responsible for the unbridled fury of nature?“ Mother Nature cannot be blamed altogether.
The degree and level of destruction are the results of human negligence and human greed and human selfishness. Let us not forget that transgressing the laws of Nature brings these disasters upon us.

`Indiscriminate economic development and ecologically destructive policies have left us more vulnerable to natural disasters,'' says Worldwatch Institute, an environmental group in Washington.

Thus the problem of human actions, human errors cannot be over looked. Rampant, unsustainable development compounds the effect of natural disasters, making their impact far worse! Nature is truly the environment of the atman ­ the eternal soul within each human being. I remember as a young boy , I was out on a walk with my Guruji one day . On my way a midsize stone lay on the pavement, across our path. Anxious that it should not obstruct the Master's steps, I hastily kicked the stone aside.

Guruji was deeply pained ­ and I was puzzled. Why should he be hurt that I had put aside a stone? After all, it was only a stone! I got my answer, in words that I can never forget: ``If God is in the scripture, is He not in the stone?'' the Master said. God dwells in all nature ­ therefore, let us cultivate reverence for Nature!

Om Namah Shivay