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“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” – M.K. Gandhi
Very often I hear from friends, “I want to be one with Nature.” For most people this means visiting some remote forested place rich in wildlife, or vacationing at some scenic location like a hill station or beach. Usually, there is a hope to experience something different, return rejuvenated. And so, the aspiration of ‘being one with nature’ is reduced to getting something from her. But when visiting such places of ‘natural’ beauty can we become more conscious of the relationship between Nature, the Earth, and ourselves? Can there be more consciousness when relating to the Earth, to see the unity amongst everything on Earth, including the Earth itself? Do our actions reflect respect for the Earth? Let us examine this connection. What are we doing to Nature, and can we rectify the situation?
Philosophers and social scientists agree that human action can only be fully understood by relating it to the context in which it takes place. Nothing can be understood in isolation from its context, and nothing even exists without a context. It is always the context that gives meaning to what we think and do, and explains why we do what we do.
The world record for animal migration is held by a bird called the arctic tern; its journey, starting within weeks of hatching, will take it from northern Greenland, down the western coasts of Europe and Africa, across the Antarctic ocean to the south pole – a total of around 11,000 miles. Less than a year later, it will cover the same distance again on its return journey home.
Most scientists are convinced that living beings are a product of their genes and that we are predetermined by a genetic program inherited from our ancestors, condemned to suffer. The last 20 years of biological research have completely transformed this belief. They have shown that we can be proactive in our lives, transform ourselves, change our behaviors, and go beyond ourselves towards sometimes unsuspected horizons. The research of Dr. Bruce Lipton (1) has revealed that the environment in which the cellular membrane operates controls the behavior and physiology of the cell, activating and deactivating the genes. These discoveries are opposed to the opinion of established scientists who claim that life is controlled by the genes, highlighting epigenetic science as one of the most important fields of study today.
Modern scientific research lends credence to the notion that our universe is an inter-dependant, profoundly unified system, infused with an immense amount of energy. Quantum physicists have proven that matter at a molecular level, far from being inert, is an active agent
Modern-day living seems to center around finding as much comfort in life as possible and aspiring for some growth, usually material. As a result, we are facing the great challenge of seeing our planet’s resources declining, and a general concern about our survival on earth. The fact that ecological activism is on the rise is encouraging, but also underlines that something very wrong is happening and needs to be rectified. Though, we recognize the need to be more aligned to nature, our lifestyles are not in accord with this idea. Probably, for many of us, what it means to live in harmony with nature has become a foreign concept
“And how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?”
These lines from Bob Dylan’s song – Blowing in the Wind – flashed in my head as I put down another book written on Giordano Bruno, arguably one of the greatest philosophers from the 16th Century. The lines of the song and Giordano Bruno’s quest seem to echo each other – to urge humanity to look beyond the dark sheaths of ignorance, the petty disputes, divisions and one-upmanship, and to explore the true identity of what it means to be human, which is much more than the mode of survival that has become the focus of our ‘living’, today.
Between the Middle Ages in Europe when it was engulfed in darkness, and today where we admire the marvels of human creation, connectedness, technological advancement, and medical progress, have we really become smarter, happier, more loving and caring? Why does it feel that the last few hundred years of progress have largely been about attempts to master the everchanging outside, without ever addressing the real core of the problem? Have we even spent enough time to understand what the core is? Have we made progress towards finding out what our life is about and who we really are?
Every living being on this planet, from the mineral to plants, animals, and man, has a role to play in maintaining the fine balance of our ecosystem. If even one of these does not play its part, it will cause an imbalance that affects the whole. Today, when we look at our planet and the destruction we are causing to it, our response is usually emotional; evoking anger, frustration, despair and helplessness against some seemingly greater force that is beyond our control.
As a student of Sri V Ganapati Sthapati, and then from her association to the School of Architecture of Madras University, for over 30 years Sashikala Ananth has been investigating the classical Indian science of architecture, known as Vaastu, combining both textual knowledge and practical field application. She has distilled her experience in her books that include The Penguin Guide to Vaastu and Pocket Book of Vaastu.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, many aspects of the reality that we have been accustomed to, have changed. All at once, reality has become an unstable and inconvenient place to live in. Many of our basic needs for social gathering and human interaction became very limited. This situation had a psychological impact, and emotions such as uncertainty, confusion, anxiety and fear of the future, have been growing dramatically in our society.
The cyanotype process is a fascinating analogue photographic printing process that produces distinctive blue hued prints. It was one of the earliest non-silver processes used for creating photographs, and its invention marked a significant development in the history of photography.
Nature is a source of inspiration for humanity and has always been a mirror to humankind – where the finest works of art and architecture are inspired. The ability of nature to combine beauty, economy and functionality is incomparable and it is not a coincidence that the great inventions through history have their origins in analogous natural elements. The concept of Biomimicry, widely approached by contemporary science, consists of analyzing natural systems and reproducing its principles in solutions, and become outstanding contributions to society.
The brief time that I recently spent in Peru’s southern Amazon Forest, really opened my heart to the beauty and infinite wisdom that nature has to offer. The potent combination of heat and humidity makes the Amazon the largest rainforest on Earth, with over four hundred billion trees, 16000 different species, growing in the region1. The unpredictable murky river, and the dense tree cover that envelopes the jungle renders the forest floor almost completely dark. It gave me the impression that beyond the obvious abundance of life, the unique biosphere contained deep mysteries, revealed only to the traveler willing to embark on an inward journey.
The forest is not merely an expression or representation of sacredness, nor a place to invoke the sacred; the forest is sacredness itself. Nature is not merely created by God, nature is God. Whoever moves within the forest can partake directly of sacredness
We have made great advances in mainstream medicine, and have at our disposal more technology and research than ever before. This has enabled us to make great strides in diagnosis and treatment. This progress, however, has its pitfalls as well. Specialty and super-specialty are causing doctors to lose a holistic view of patients. Rather than see them as human beings, they are reduced to a disconnected organ that needs correcting, blind sighting its role and function as a single part of a complex body, animated by consciousness. While attention to detail is essential, we must also consider the possibility that by zooming in, we may at times lose the bigger picture.