Ecology-The Modern Confusion-IV

Swami Chinmayananda

oi-Staff

By Staff

Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 15:48

Charles river in Boston! a beautiful river; but every 10 yards there is a board' don't touch the water". It is so poisoned. The fishes are floating;' seeing them the birds come and eat them. A week later they drop down from the trees. A river is pure water flowing down from the mountains, but enroute by way of refuse from factories and various other ways we are pouring poison into it. Then you complain that the river is polluted. So it is the greatest confusion today that something is wrong with the outside world" something wrong with the Creator.

The Creator is supplying you with the best possible things, it is your unintelligent behaviour which is spoiling it. In the West this vision has not come. In their scriptures or in their science they think only in terms of physical anatomical activity or psychological activities or emotions. They have never expanded to think of the macrocosm, the totality of the universe due to the extreme ego and selfishness. Our vision is limited to our country, our community. Look at the chaos in Eastern Europe,Afghanistan-politically they fought so much and now they are themselves fighting.

Who is to be the leader you or me? As a consequence, the country goes to the background, but that doesn't matter. That is the arrogant ego, utter selfishness. These dangerous features in each one of us together becomes the cause for the entire disturbance in the world. You are not free to think as you like. Free thinking is a stupid idea of the democratic concept. Do you know that it is the thought that becomes the action? And if everybody is allowed to think as he likes, what would be your action?You create something and my thoughts are to destroy it.

A king in India when he was travelling, stopped at a particular place. He was very insistent that he must have early morning dip bath in the tank. So when he was going to the bedroom he ordered the commander, "See that the tank is made tomorrow for my early bath." "Yes Sir". The commander split the men into 2 groups and ordered everybody. One group to dig from 8 p.m to midnight and the other group will relieve you and complete it. The first batch came, started and they retired. The second batch came - they did not know exactly what they had to do. They saw a big hole there so they started filling it. Early morning when the king came there was a beautiful land, ready for cultivation!All of them were working hard, honestly and loyally, but they had no knowledge. Thought is to be aligned with a certain system, a certain scheme, a certain pattern which will be creative, useful to all others and to yourself.

Destructive thoughts are accepted in all religions as sin. It is not that somebody has written out that these are sins. - no. Those kind of thoughts which will ultimately create destructive actions are called sin.

You have to reject them and live a nobler life, meritorious life. Try to pursue punya and not pappa. You think that these are all stampeding upon freedom. Freedom is not freedom to do what you like. Freedom is not to do what is dangerous to me and to other social members of the community. These spiritual values are not at all recognised in the western world and they cry out that there is pollution in nature and it is almost threatening us. I am not saying that industry must end in the world. Let them be there, but un-curbed freedom to have, endless greed, is to be ended. These spiritual values will lead man to anew way of life - a concern for the macrocosm - not thinking just of me, my wife and children's happiness; what happens to others, who cares!

In the scam, a Musalman got 3crores. When asked why he did this, he said,"I am a Muslim and we Muslims came to this country to loot; so it is our dharma to loot. Hindus should not do it." What I mean is-even. When they do such an act of criminality they do not feel anything. So long as this is the attitude - purely materialistic and secular with no touch of spirituality, nature will continue to be disturbed by our actions. It is an echo.