Mother Earth Day April 22nd 2013
By Balayogi- balayogiv@gmail.com
Let
us try to understand in simple terms the role of MOTHER EARTH in our life and
decide how to deal with her without either superficially sloganeering that we
need to protect her or recklessly raping her for our pleasures.
We
must do this without getting into the mode of extremism on
the one hand in the form of pro environmentalist fanaticism or jargon churning ecological experts or on the other hand extremism
in the form of promoters of development indifferent to the well being of mother
earth.
Mother
earth has a unique splendour in that she is too complex but neither complicated
nor complicating and her relationship
with us is very simple. She is a very loving, tolerant and forgiving mother.
This
simple relationship needs reciprocation in the form of primarily acknowledging the
simple facts which tell us that we need to respect MOTHER EARTH. Almost all of
us Must Obviously Take care of Her in Every Respect because Everything All of us Require we
receive Through Her.
She
gives birth to, supports and sustains multiple life forms with equal
hospitality and enthusiasm. Among the multiple life forms that she has given
birth and /or harbours human beings are the only ones who are capable of carrying out many activities which may insult
and injure her and this has happened in the past so many years.
Unfortunately
human relationship with mother earth has been one of extremes starting from
looking with ignorance and awe at many of her marvels [when men imagined the Earth as the centre of the universe] to
deifying and worshiping her [ there are many references to it in many
religions, regions and cultures, the extreme one being in Atharva Veda, where
as many as 63 mantras pertain to Prithvi-Sukta (Hymn to Earth), glorifying
Mother Earth] to damaging her, sometimes irresponsibly and irreparably as is
evident from all that is around us today.
Still like a
very tolerant and forgiving mother she has been sustaining us patiently. We
must note that nothing remains unaffected if it is over used, abused or
misused. Mother earth is no exception. At the same time as Neale Donald Walsch says “Everything that exists is
functional, adaptable, and sustainable in some form, or it would not exist”,
and mother earth is no exception to this rule as well. So there is no need to
get into doomsday preaching either.[1]
However, her health
too gets affected by the injuries and insults we inflict and the reactions are seen in
the form of uncontrollable floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, blistering hot
climates, drying up of water resources, El Nino etc. Only whenever she
manifests her fury unbearable for us, we reluctantly react by reflecting to
rectify the damages to certain extent and in many case we have not even
understood her health properly.
People
populating earth are made of different levels of concern, callousness,
involvement, indifference, ignorance etc as for as mother earth is concerned.
In the story of evolutionary biology and psychology man has surpassed other
life forms not only as a mere creature with consciousness and clever means of
communication, carrying within him many extra and extraordinary senses and
perceptions but also as the most capable of manufacturing and using many
products for making his life more comfortable, secure and pleasant.
This
process of making life more comfortable, secure and pleasant has inflicted many
injuries to the mother earth as a side effect or as an after effect.
Now
it is practically impossible to rewind life styles to few centuries back and
expect all human beings to forgo the comforts that they have been used to for
so many centuries.
We
are faced with the three proverbial problems as Adolph Monod says, “Between the great things we cannot do and the
small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing."
It
is evident over the years that we cannot draft grand global plans [though they
may make good news headlines] and ensure its implementation. Majority are both
unwilling and unable to make small life style adjustments and that too cannot
be enforced either. But it would be dangerous if we remain either as silent
spectators or indifferent idiots without doing anything about them because
ultimately we may end up losing mother earth’s bounty.
However,
after knowing the danger signals we must do what best we can to ameliorate the
situation taking into consideration the context and all relevant facts and
factors as they are in every place where we live, in whatever way we can to
protect mother earth as Clarissa
Pinkola Estés says, “Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once,
but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our
reach...”
With
this practical approach if we proceed then we can see some real results as Mother
Earth is the only planet known so for with the chemistry needed to bring to
life, build and sustain organic life as till date the Drake equation (is an
equation to organize our guesses about the potential number of alien
civilizations in the Milky Way) remains only a hunch and not a reality.
So
let us at different levels as individuals, as small social groups, as regional
states , as nations all over the world take the pledge to do whatever we can to
protect Mother Earth from further injury and damage.
April
22 as International Mother
Earth Day was established in 2009 by the UNITED
NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY under Resolution A/RES/63/278.
Mother Earth
Marvellous subterranean life meandering all over;
Oceans opulent with marine life and minerals;
Trees that help all life;
High mountains harbouring many lives;
Expanses of flora and fauna;
Rivers that reverberate with lovely life;
Every life injecting and interacting with
Atmosphere above; and all
Reciprocating in
True harmony of interdependence and interaction;
Heaven is the life you give to all and the life in You,
Mother Earth.
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