Dear Friends,
Let us critically / rationally reflect on the following Maha Mantra for our Environmental Rejuvenation and Preservation, and its importance in the context of our present very grave global environmental crises.
Reuse and Recycle eco-friendly our waste, Rejuvenate and preserve our great river mothers and their sources our great mountains and forests which are in the process of slow death, promoting reforestation wherever possible with zero deforestation as far as possible, Reduce our population growth ethically, and Reduce our desires for luxuries, regulating our way of life ethically through critical character-building ethics education based on the fundamental ethics of our great living ancient civilization as well as of various great religions, which are essentially the same (5Rs).
It is important to note that the IPCC scientists of the UNO are warning that their claim about the impending catastrophic consequences of global warming and climate change for the masses, future generations, and the dumb and deaf life-world is essentially true. The scientists are claiming that if global warming continues to increase in the present rate, then we are bound to face its irreversible catastrophic consequences such as deadly heat waves, wildfires, storms, erratic rains, floods, droughts, reduced agriculture yields, etc., burying of costal villages, towns and cities due to the rise of sea level caused by the melting of Antarctica and Arctic ice sheet and physical expansion of the ocean water, the Himalayan rivers turning seasonal rivers leading to substantial reduction of food yields, etc., vanishing of a great many living species of land, water and sky, etc. It worth noting that only 30 percent Earth's surface is land out of which only 1/3 of is agricultural land, but due to anthropogenic soil-hostile activities / soil-depleting agricultural activities only 5 percent is now productive and only 1 percentage of Earth' surface will be productive by 2050 and hence will create very grave food crisis for masses when the world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion. 97 percent of Earth's water is oceans and out of the remaining 3 percentage of fresh water about 2 percent of fresh water is in glaciers and ice caps, mountain snows, and only one percentage of fresh water is available for the use of humans and animals on land, which we are polluting more and more to satisfy our desires based on mainly our base passions lust for pleasures and greed for wealth. A WHO report released in October 2021 says air pollution due to fossil fuels causes the death of more than 18,500 people globally every day. According to the Living Planet Report 2022 of WWF, about 69 percent of monitored wildlife species have declined since 1970, and many more wildlife species will disappear from our planet, Mother Earth, in the near future if global warming continues at the present rate. According to the Living Planet Report 2024 of WWF about 73 percent of monitored wildlife species has declined since 1970, 4 percentage more increase in 2 years between 2022 and 2024. According to the latest report of Copernicus Climate Change Services in January, 2024 has become the hottest year on record with temperatures soaring 1.6 degree Celsius above the average pre-industrial level, for the first time crossing 1.5C above the average pre-industrial level (1850-1900). Unfortunately under the spell of the glamour of the present culture of development of modern civilization, which Mahatma Gandhi rightly considers to be fundamentally unethical, Satanic and a nine days wonder only, leaders world over are showing great apathy to take any substantial step in the right direction to avoid the impending catastrophic consequences of global warming and climate change, although the scientists of IPCC of UNO are unanimously claiming that their warming about the impending catastrophic consequences of global warming and climate change is essentially true. Stephen Hawking rightly claims that modern civilisation doesn't know how to avoid the unethical use of science and technology based on human selfishness or stupidity based on base passions like lust for pleasures, greed for wealth, etc.
We must know that:
(1) Pure air, pure water and pure food are absolutely necessary for good health, and the culture of creating more and more concrete forests to satisfy our greed for wealth and lust for luxuries is bound to create less and less natural forests, which is bound to create less and less pure air, pure water and pure food for the masses which is essential for our health, and health is necessary for the pursuit of all the four purusharthas, i.e. Dharma, Aartha, Kama and Moksha.
(2)The present culture of development of modern civilization is not sustainable. It produces wealth in some ways which causes greater and greater harm to our invaluable life-and-health sustaining natural Eco-systems of mother Earth, and consumes her limited natural resources substantially more than what mother Earth can regenerate. It is important to note there is fourfold increase in its population from about 35 crore in 1947 to about 144 crore at present, although our limited natural resources are decreasing continuosly.
(3) Mahatma Gandhi rightly considers Modern Civilization's present culture of having unlimited desires mainly based on our lust for pleasure and greed for wealth and going to the ends of Earth with the help of science and technology to satisfy them knowingly causing greater and greater harm to the life and health sustaining natural eco-systems of mother Earth to be fundamentally unethical, Satanic, suicidal and nine days wonder only. We humans have become the most dangerous species of our planet mother Earth due to the unethical use of the massive power of science and technology of our age mainly to satisfy our desires based on our lust for pleasure and greed for wealth, although every human being has the potentially to become a divine person by exercising one's free will and reason within one's journey between birth and death. Any person of any social class and gender servicing the society ethically in the best possible way according to one's abilities without any desire to the fruits of one's actions and making constant efforts to grow spiritually ethically higher and higher towards perfection, as described in mother Bhagavad Gita, can realise spiritual ethical perfection / Truth / Moksha / Nirvana.
(4) The fundamentally spiritually as well as non-spiritually ethically enlightened / rational ethics based, Eco-friendly, village-and- agro friendly-&-centric, sustainable, equitable / just, decentralised industrialisation and urbanization Gandhian loving and caring non-violent culture of development, which is based on the fundamental ethical values of various great religions in the context of our present technological age, is the only surest lasting rational solution available to us for avoiding the impending catastrophic consequences of the present very grave global environmental crises in general and the crisis of global warming and climate change in particular, along with the present all-pervasive deep-rooted global spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical crises.
Let us sincerely try to rejuvenate and preserve our great living ancient civilization of Truth and non-violence and establish a spiritually as well as non-spiritually ethically enlightened / rational secular kingdom ethical righteousness / goodness / of justice, liberty and love (Rama Rajya / Kingdom of God), and save India and through it the world at large from the impending catastrophic consequences of the present very grave global ecological crises in general and the crisis of global warming and climate change in particular, along with the present all pervasive deep rooted global spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical crises. Introduction of critical / rational character-building ethics education with spiritual ethics, i.e the ethics of selfless / desireless / renounced ethical love, as its core and the problem of the ultimate meaning / goal of life as its central problem, based on the fundamental ethics of various great religions, from the beginning of our education system / systems and giving it the due importance it deserves in the education system / systems, will certainly be a major step in the right direction for the creation of a kingdom of God / Rama Rajya. We must know that without providing such character-building ethics education, it is not possible to avoid the unethical use of science and technology based on selfishness or base passions such as lust for pleasures, greed for wealth, etc. which are internal enemies and more dangerous and stronger than external enemies. To begin with, let us transform some of our major educational institutes into centres of critical / rational spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical teaching and research for the world, which show spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical lights / knowledge / rational thoughts for this great noble cause for our country as well as for the world at large. Our traditional Indian civilization has the necessary spiritual as well as non-spiritual ethical resources for this profoundly noble cause.
Let us remember always the invaluable message of the Bhagavad Gita, the supreme scripture of Yoga: "Lust for pleasures, anger and greed are the triple gates of hell and brings the downfall of one's soul. Hence one must abandon these three." (The Bhagavad Gita,16.21) Let us also always remember the following profoundly valuable environmental messages of the two great noble scientists of the world: Albert Einstein - "If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years to live." "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything."
Stephen Hawking - "Life on planet Earth is at risk from a sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, global warming and climate change, or some other reasons humans have not thought yet."
With goodwill, love, and prayers,
Smt. Rama Rauta
Founder, Save Ganga Movement
Website: savegangamovement.org
President, National Women's Organization, Pune
