Human survival vs inner and outer Dialogue

Human survival vs inner and outer Dialogue

                                     Prof.N.Radhakrishnan

The symbiotic relationship between man and nature          

          Man always lived in harmony with Nature and what sustained him in all the crisis he faced in his profound, courageous and determined march towards unraveling  the mysteries of various kinds is his respect for all forms of life around him. What has guided him in this long, very often distressing and disappointing and at the same time lively search for identify, is the realization of how everything in nature is dependent on one another. This is the core of the ancient wisdom.

          The oriental traditions have been credited with established norms of determining Man’s behavior towards Nature and its resources. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism and Confucianism have all treated nature with respect and considered it as the source of Man’s happiness. The Vedas which were considered to be the bedrock of Hindu religion and philosophy provide a world view with regard to what is now generally called the ecological situation. The Hindu religion’s concern for peace and harmony in the environment is well reflected in the famous hymn to the Earth in the Yajurved:

          May there be peace in the celestial region

            May there be peace in the atmosphere

            May peace reign on earth

            May the waters be soothing

            May the herbs be soothing

            May the plants be source of peace to all

         

In Rigveda, the sky is called father and the earth mother. The emphasis has been laid in many hymns in the other Vedas and epics which for part of the Hindu literary tradition. When the sky and earth are treated like the father and mother it is meant to establish a symbolic relationship with the other objects of Nature thereby constituting what can be called the Universal family of animals and plants. From this, a theory of not only interdependence but respect for each other and the need to protect everything in nature has been developed over the years thought this emphasis got diluted later leading to not only exploitation but even utter neglect of nature. Mahabharata advocated the protection of trees with utmost priority. Bhishma’s advice to the Pandava brothers is:

“Although trees are solid, they have the properties of the sky. They have life, they flower and bear fruit. They feel warmth and get dry when the sun is too hot and water is scarce. It shows that they have a sense of touch. Fruits and flowers of the tree fall down under the effect of thunder, air and fire…. The bad smell of pollution makes them suffer as it changes their colour and flavor. It shows that they can smell. They have sensory nerves. They take water from the roots. If they have any disease the sprinkling of medicine cures them. On cutting them they feel sorrow and when new branches appear they feel happy. This shows that they have sense to feel happiness and sorrow and have sensory nerves”.

          Worshipping of trees became a tradition and most of the villages in India had Vriksha Devta (Goddes of tree) and Sacred Groves. Tradition has it that in tribal belts there were instances of women marrying trees.                                                                                                                           

Where did the drift begin?

          The votaries of modernism, while they scoff at the ancient way of living describing it barbaric or jungle life, seem to have forgotten the fact that it is this very system that gave them all the tools that they are using now to decry the worth of the foundation on which they stand. The problem with modern man is that he now thinks that he is the conqueror of the universe and that he has the proprietary rights over whatever he has conquered and this attitude appears to be guiding him in most of his endeavours.

          This self-centered philosophy, and the systems he has developed on the basis of this outlook- the hallmark of which is the belief that nature has unlimited resources for all time to come-govern modern man’s style of functioning. All of us who were lulled into the newly acquired instruments of liberation which science and technology put in our hands are rudely awakened by the alarm bells ringing all around now. From the Himalayan heights of materialistic comforts and beliefs we are being led to the abyss of all round environmental pollution, ecological devastation, ozone depletion, green house effect and so on, creating waves of shock in all thinking men and women.

The need for developing a nonviolent ecology

          The importance of the ecosystem which was uppermost in the minds of our forefathers, in maintaining the quiet rhythm and symphony of life ( not in the musical sense) has become a thing of past. We had a sustainable ecosystem which was rooted in a nonviolent ecology. Thus nonviolent ecology refers to a society which is economically and socially just, ecologically sustainable, non-killing and compassionate in relating to its environment.

                                                                                                                         

          Many people argue that since violence is part of life, we need not worry about it. They find it to be inherent and pervasive in nature and in human nature. One major point is that violence and nonviolence are relative rather than absolute conditions. Some regions are prone to violent forces in nature such as hurricanes or earthquakes, however, there are other regions in which such violent forces are negligible or even absent. Competitions and predation between animal species can be violent, however, there are also nonviolent relations between species such as mutualism.

Ecocentric rather than anthropocentric

          Buddhism is ecocentric rather than anthropocentric since it views humans as an integral part of nature. Buddhism focuses on the interaction of mind and nature through the three practices of direct knowing, discriminating awareness and deep compassion:

          By cultivating these three practices, one’s actions in relation to the environment come to be based in relationship and interconnectedness, rather than in dualistic subject-object modes of separation. Through this approach, one’s orientation to the world is fundamentally altered from dominant species to member of a community, from part to process.

           While environmentalism emphasizes that natural resources are limited, Buddhism is more direct in encouraging individuals to limit their resources consumption to the optimal satisfaction of the four basic needs of food, clothing, shelter and medicine. This vantage point renders ecology a very concrete and personal matter.                                                                                                          

           We should deal with nature the way we should deal with ourselves! We should not harm ourselves, we should not harm nature. Harming nature is harming ourselves, and vice-versa. If we knew how to deal with our self and with our fellow human beings, we should know how to deal with nature. Human beings and nature are inseparable. Therefore, by not caring property for any one of these, we harm them all.

The Buddhist ethics and its relevance today

             The key to Buddhist ethics is the primacy of the mind. The Dhammapada begins with the words: “ All we are is the result of what we have thought” (Smith 1958: 121). From positive thoughts flow positive actions and positive consequences, whereas from negative thoughts flow negative actions and negative consequences. Furthermore, the actions of an individual in the present life can influence the next one as well. The source of suffering is in the individual, and likewise the source of happiness is in the individual. Enlightenment derives from the understanding of this elemental reality (Saddhatissa 1970:33).Wisdom and morality are mutually reinforcing (Saddhatissa 1970: 123-124). Accordingly, Buddhism would encourage the cultivation of environmental understanding through education as well as the practice of environmental ethics as basis for a nonviolent ecology.

Since the first negative precept extends to all life, it includes forms such as insects which are not usually includes forms such as insects which are not usually identified as a concern of environmentalists. Also because of this precept normally Buddhism would not be involved in the kind of violence which is sometimes practiced by radical environmentalists (Manes 1990)                                                                                                                    

A nonviolent ecology would realize its ideals through its actions toward all life forms, even those which are violent towards humans or nature. Education and persuasion rather than violent confrontation would be used to reach those humans who degrade or threaten other humans and / or nature.

             It also depends on following the Middle Way of detachment and moderation, while satisfying basic needs and avoiding greed. Meditation on nature is an important part of this process of reaching nirvana-the union with nature through the extinction of ego and of all mortal cravings. Thus Buddhism would not blame the ecocrisis of science, technology, industry, business, advertising, government, or some other amorphous scapegoat. Rather it would view the ecocrisis as the product of the collective behaviour of individuals who are driven by circumstance, ignorance, and/or greed instead of by wisdom, need, moderation, compassion and nonviolence.

               All of us are quite familiar with what has been happening within and outside us – in the troposphere in the cosmic world, in the planetary positions where exists the fight between spirit and matter. From the 18^th century, science has established a greater hold on the pace at which humanity has been interpreting itself through physical developments. That was when science and technology revealed their tremendous power to alter the rhythm of human life.

 Need to foster the inner and outer dialogue

                 While science and technology have  offered  us tremendous material advancement, the problem remains as to where humanity is heading for. What is happening to the individual, to the inner dialogue, the perpetual debate between the inner and outer dialogue, the inner man and outer man, the inner woman and the

                                                                                                                          

outer woman, the inner human being and the outer human being? The best example is of what happened in Gujarat in India in 2000 when nature which has been protecting us with all its power to recreate, sustain, develop, shape and control, all along, turned its fury on man.

                 The manner in which things are happening – earthquakes, floods and droughts, changes in the troposphere, atmosphere and in other areas, force us to ask few questions. Questions, which are disturbing, those which we don’t want to ask, and are afraid of asking Where do we go from here? What is in store for humanity? We hear people talking about the role of religion, particularly those who call themselves intellectuals, who take pride in asserting that religion is dead, that it has no role in present day society which is essentially based on science and technology. The world is proud of its IT achievements but what about this world itselt?  Let us not be fooled into believing that IT is going to solve all our problems.

The oneness of the Living being and its Environment?

 When do we realize the oneness of  the Living Being and its Environment? Unless and until we move away from our obsession with material growth and restructure our priorities on the basis of basic moral considerations all our talks, all the international agreements and covenants would remain as scraps of paper exchanged between suave diplomats. Environmental conservation has to become a central issue concerning the very survival of not only human race but the entire universe itself.

                                                                                                                                   

 Is there anything more frightening than to be told that the earth’s forest covers are fast disappearing, the blue waters of the oceans that surround the earth are getting more and more polluted thereby the marine products which cater more than a half of humanity’s food requirements are either getting repleted or threatened, earth’s canopy, namely the sky is developing holes which would increase several folds the temperature of the earth? To put more fright we are now told that there are signs of ice melting in the polar regions which would eventually increase the level of seas which in turn would spell disaster of an unimaginable scale. The tragedy is, still the humanity, is unmoved and unconcerned, notwithstanding the much-hyped Earth Summits and other international gatherings on Sustainable Development. While whatever is happening to highlight the danger looming large on humanity is to be appreciated, they suffer from a basic lacuna : they highlight only the material and physical aspects while the spiritual relationship of all creations and their organic relationship with Nature are either ignored or side-tracked. People are to be encouraged to take environmental issues as their personal concern. In order to drive home the importance of our common future, all efforts are to be harmonized keeping in view of the holistic nature of the problem. The spiritual and cultural aspects of survival cannot be under-estimated or ignored in the din of economic progress our obsession with money and material progress.

The lessons forgotten by modern planners

The law of growth presupposes that any growth will be subject to the innumerable constant factors which govern human life. Modern planners seem to have forgotten the simple truth that while something ought to be growing others ought to be diminishing. Unlimited material consumption in a finite world is an impossibility, as Schumacher points out. Gandhi demonstrated convincingly the need to live a life in harmony with nature. The efforts of the Soka Gakkai International  under the leadership of Dr Daisaku Ikeda reinforces in contemporary times the validity of the Gandhian assertion of this essential truth.

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