Looking After Planet Earth And Its Occupants
Dear Reader,
“The nature has enough resources for everybody’s needs, but not for everybody’s greed”.(Mahatma Gandhi)
Yes, the modern world today - at least that part influenced by Western thought - certainly rests on an attitude of primarily "Me, me" and licence to go for whatever is attainable. I know - in my ignorance I've done it! But I came to rue my actions and I know, after several further decades, that there is a much better route to follow.
In the 1970s I came to see the folly of the materialistic life as it was developing and which got worse, particularly from the 1980s. There was enough knowledge available by the 1970s to reverse the materialistic trend, but the Western powers-that-be were not interested, using their ostensible drive against Communism as the basis. By the time Communism had collapsed (by 1990), materialism had taken solid root. Economies were starting to thrive - "Why change this trend?", people thought.
The United Nations’ Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) was eventually created as a recognition that our way of life was unsustainable, that attitudes must change, and that the world must find a way of living as if the future mattered. Its main outcome, however, was to invigorate the role of education in sustainable development, rather than being the outright leader in action for change, but at the time of its foundation, it did bring some needed focus towards the issue.
But there is nothing modern about the idea of the need for sustainability. The wisdom of this approach was recognised in societies in ancient times and can be seen in Zarathustra's Persia before, yet including, the Vedic era of India.
It could be said that man's departure from wisdom teaching - nay, man's shear ignorance of it in the West, having been cut off by religious dogma and having a belief in a God 'out there' for so long - has been allowed to throttle our thinking this past few hundred years. Man's pride in his accomplishments took over having forgotten that we once knew wisdom. We have tried to re-find it by coining words such as 'sustainability' as an aid to re-framing the lost knowledge of long ago.
This after conquering nations and annihilating indigenous peoples who were judged to be ignorant but were in fact endeavouring to live in harmony with their environment.
It is interesting that Prophet Zarathustra's era left little way by of a record of religious rites in comparison to the volumes on ethical teaching and the importance of Truth. All of this is attested to within the Vedic scripture, with the Bhagavad Gita being a summary, yet the essential teaching manual, of truly righteous behaviour.
NOTE: It should be noted here that the mission of the Buddha and then Jesus was of a very specific spiritual nature and the function of the later Prophet Muhammed was to bring a social and spiritual message to lighten a dark age that man was entering, especially in the Middle East. Their teachings have to be carefully examined but they are not in opposition to the ancient wisdom of Persia and India. They are all monotheistic teachings but taught according to place and time - i.e. different circumstances that existed at the time.
Professor Carl Jung (the founder of analytical psychology) summarised the modern situation as having largely lost its link to wisdom. He said: "The people of this world will never find true peace until they can come into a harmonious relationship with and cultivate deeper feelings of reverence for the Earth, which is the cradle and identity of human culture and civilisation since time immemorial".
Jung's statement was paraphrased by the spiritual philosopher Walter Starcke as follows:
We will find peace and harmony when, despite all appearances, treaties, and boundaries, the Spirit of Love permeates our hearts and until how we relate to each other becomes more important than the results of individual gain.
His Highness the Dalai Lama has stated:
The Earth is home to living beings;
Equal and impartial to the moving and unmoving.
Thus, spoke the Buddha in truthful voice,
With the great earth for witness.
As a noble being recognises the kindness
Of a sentient mother.
And makes recompense for it,
So the Earth, the universal mother,
Which nurtures all equally,
Should be regarded with affection and care.
So, what is the perspective that is needed before we start down the road of action? Oh, wait, they have already decided that electric cars and wind farms are key solutions. But, nevertheless, free thinkers must still penetrate down to the real truth behind the matter, especially to decide what is right for them rather than follow what political leaders tell us based on dubious science. For such is the focus in science and by politicians on the CO2 issue, the morality of government has not been questioned, and this is not only to do with the lack of honesty that was perceived in the UK's prime minister.
It would appear that only last week the UK ‘caretaker’ government introduced a piece of legislation which has been described as a speculator’s charter. Rishi Sunak, the author of the bill before he resigned as chancellor, said he wanted to unleash a second ‘Big Bang’, recalling Margaret Thatcher’s 1986 deregulation package which ‘set the City of London free’, fuelling a wave of speculation and financialisation, instability and unrestrained greed.
If passed, the Financial Services and Markets Bill could well - in this time of lost real values - unleash a wave of dangerous financial trading, fuelling volatility in the economy and driving up the prices of basic commodities. In the middle of a cost of living crisis, with people across the world struggling to pay for food and energy, it is a perverse move.
Do we not remember 2007-08 when the financial crash showed up the global economy as a giant casino – and we discovered that when the chips are down the poorest pay the highest price. While one bank, Barclays, was making up to £340 million a year from betting on food, many of the poorest struggled to pay their regular bills - including food. The story of food banks since then is well known.
So western governments in particular seem to show little capacity for understanding the needs of by far the major portion of the population, pretending only to fuel individual ambition. And such governments work hand-in-hand with scientists where, even where science is agreed that a new direction is needed, there is a lack of agreement.
Technologically, for years now, protesters against nuclear power stations have mostly succeeded in convincing governments and the people at large that nuclear is not safe. Not everywhere in the West: France is a distinct exception. That is not to say that I suggest that nuclear energy is (de facto) 'safe', but the argument has been raised on the basis of uranium-fueled nuclear stations. "Is there an alternative?", you ask; yes there most certainly is! The main alternative is thorium!
Thorium is much safer and has other good factors, too. In fact, I understand that until the late 1950s it would appear that thorium would have been the choice for power stations until it was realised that uranium was much better for the production of nuclear weapons. That, therefore, became the main criteria for the choice of uranium. But thorium is making a comeback, led particularly by India.
The principle argument for thorium power stations is that they appear to be not just safer and cheaper than uranium stations but that energy would be much more effectively produced when compared to wind farms and solar farms, which take up enormous amounts of land space that might be better used - for food, for example, the supply of which is becoming a cause for concern. Even offshore wind farms do not provide huge benefits. Oh, and the blades on those turbines kill a lot of birds, onshore and offshore; not a good idea if we are also worrying about the depletion of the species.
A big change in scientific perspective rather changed when the Gaia Hypothesis was proposed by the chemist James Lovelock (as long ago as 1972). He suggested that living organisms on the planet interact with their surrounding inorganic environment to form a synergetic and self-regulating system that created, and now maintains, the climate and biochemical conditions that make life on Earth possible.
Very interestingly, Lovelock’s theory of Gaia, referring to Earth as the living organism, has its roots in the Vedic literature of India. This ancient Hindu thought proclaims the need for the sustenance and uplift of human society as an integral part of environmental healing. Hinduism with its multiple doctrines, varieties of deities, and different types of people from various levels, all lead to a sensibility of deep ecology where the Earth is symbolised as a mother.
According to the Vedas, therefore, man was and is part of a natural and inter-dependent eco-system and as such should have respect for the system that he is part of, not take the route of abusing its bounty.
Lovelock raised the question:
How did we reach our present secular humanist world? In times that are ancient by human measure, as far back as the earliest artefacts can be found, it seems that the Earth was worshipped as a goddess and believed to be alive. The myth of the great Mother is part of most early religions. The Mother is a compassionate, feminine figure; spring of all life, of fecundity, of gentleness. She is also the stern and unforgiving bringer of death.
As early as the Indian Atharva Veda the Earth, as mother goddess, is vividly worshipped, as these verses reveal:
1: Truth, greatness, Universal Order (rita), strength, consecration, creative fervour (tapas), spiritual exaltation (brahmn), the sacrifice, support the earth. May this Earth, the mistress of that which was and shall be, prepare for us a broad domain!
22: Upon the Earth men give to the gods the sacrifice, the prepared oblation: upon the Earth mortal men live pleasantly by food. May this earth give us breath and life, may she cause me to reach old age!
63: O mother Earth, kindly set me down upon a well-founded place! With (father) heaven cooperating, O thou wise one, do thou place me into happiness and prosperity!
These verses indicate that the Earth is not just a miscellaneous heap of resources but a self-maintaining system which acts as a whole. It can therefore be injured; it is vulnerable, capable of health or sickness.
Despite this spiritual perspective, there has tended to be a fragmented approach to the great study. They study the physiology of the Earth’s biosphere and atmosphere – also known as “Earth Systems Science” – and pay little attention to the origin of life or to other terrestrial planets, nor, more importantly, the interaction with the source of it all, whatever name you call 'God' by.
The planet Earth, home to so many, many organisms, is itself a large organism. It is not just a place for living beings; it is a living organism as a whole and is part of the infinite terrestrial universe. This is what the Gaia theory says. Materialism considers everything as objects; but spirituality, on the other hand, discovers life in everything – the essence of ecological cosmology.
The moral ethics and religious values provoked in almost all the religions agree that there is one true religion, which is to do justice, love and mercy and to walk humbly with the Earth spirit – ultimately to get peace. This approach contains four main components:
- Reverence – the deeper vision of the sanctity of life,
- Responsibility – the connecting link between ethics and rationality,
- Frugality – grace without waste, and
- Ecojustice – equitable sharing of nature, all form the minimal core of peace and ecological harmony promoting sustainability.
But in all this, there must surely be a greater reference point, the logical recognition and acceptance of what science has begun to say, that the Universe is based on some form of intelligence, that there seems to be a purpose in its design. What or who could be the designer? It couldn't be an entity that we commonly call 'God' could it?! Well, going back to the spiritual traditions of Zoroaster and the Vedic period - whose traditions are still followed today, even though perhaps through other teachings such as Buddhism and Islam - a creator of some description appears to be calling us to reason it all out. Spiritual reason must, surely, be our salvation.
The ancient scriptures define what is required to attain peace and that is primarily through the fact that 'All is One' and that everything is inter-linked and has its place. Human beings, despite their cleverness, are still only created beings subject to the same Creator that every other entity is also subject to. To be saved from extinction we must rediscover a sense of humility and obey the laws of the Universe.
Despite his great insight into the nature of Gaia, James Lovelock takes a nihilist stance: he believes that we cannot escape annihilation due to our mismanagement. I say that view is a negative one, but still possible unless we rediscover our humility and bow down to something far greater than we, not just in prayer but in our attitude and how we behave to what is around us. There must also be genuine consistency between thought, word and deed.
All is One: we must start to make that our reality. This for the sake of our children if nothing else.
Thank you for reading this.
Supporting sources:
The Religion Of Man, Tagore (1930)
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