6th January 2009 - The Scindia School

Global Ecology
& Human Psychology
The planet is crumbling under onslaught of
ecological abuse. Can we help
When my maternal aunt came to visit me in
Mumbai last summer, we went with her kids to
the beach. "Unfortunately," she sighed upon
seeing the ocean, "soon the sea will swallow
this beautiful city."
She was referring to a report in a news
magazine whose cover showed the famous
Gateway of India monument in Mumbai half
submerged in the ocean. The magazine quoted
the findings of a UN panel on environmental
pollution.
By the year 2050, Mumbai and other coastal
cities of the world may boast only of aquatic
flora and fauna as their population. Melting ice
caps will raise the ocean level, pushing it to eat
up enormous amounts of land along its shores.
Meanwhile global warming will cause drastic
drops in agriculture yield, melt Himalayan
glaciers, and lead to devastating floods. Rivers
will dry and severe drought will hit food and
water supplies. Thirty to forty percent of the
flora and fauna we see today will eventually be
found only in history books.
Even if the governments of the world enact
and enforce strict rules for pollution control,
we won't find a permanent solution. Laws
may control some current phenomena, but
newer disruptions and sources of pollution will
emerge. To fight them we'll need new laws. And
any proposed solution, to be effective in the
long term, must also deal with the true origin of
environmental problems: subtle perversions of
the heart. The Ecology of the Heart.
The exploitation of nature disrupts
the ecology. And the cause of the
exploitative mentality is greed.
Greed leads to lack of self-control.
Driven by insatiable greed, people
become blind to the havoc their
profit may cause for others. They
don't care what legacy they will
leave for the next generation. The
contamination of the heart spills
into our surroundings.
The cure for the ills of pollution, therefore, has
to begin by cleaning the heart of the subtle
garbage of lust, greed, and ignorance. We have
to start by purifying our thoughts. Pure thoughts
lead to pure actions. Instead of contemplating
selfish pursuits for sensual pleasure, we must
contemplate God, the all-pure.
Then we have to change the way we live, make
our lives simpler. Because of intense greed
and limited resources, we exploit. But if we're
content, we can work enthusiastically without
exploitation. If we live simply, in harmony
with the will of the Lord, and stop exploiting
others, there will be no shortages. If we live
a morally responsible life in line with the will
of the Supreme Father, then Mother Nature
will provide all we need. But if we arm-twist
her to yield to our selfish desires, we stand to
receive her slap in the form of horrible natural
calamities and an unstable ecology. Human life
is meant for responsibility. We have to solve the
problem with sreyas, or long-range vision, not
preyas, the immediate promise of happiness
and profit without regard for the future. We have
to solve the problem in an ecologically, socially,
and karmically balanced way.
We suffer because, in ignorance, we don't live
in harmony with the Lord. But we can become
enlightened souls and live in accordance with
God's will. Then there can be a real balance of
ecology.
A pure internal environment means pleasing
God, which is like watering the root of a
thirsty tree: It solves the problem.
By Manik Mahajan
Ex Sh left in ’93 after class X
12 Alumni
VOL 6 | Jan 2010