International Journal of Research ISSN NO:2236-6124

A CRITICAL STUDY ON SPIRITUAL ECOLOGY IN INDIA

Dr. G. Srilatha Associate Professor in English, P. B. Siddhartha College of Arts & Science Vijayawada

ABSTRACT

Spiritual Ecology enlightens the awareness of the sacred within creation. In order to save our environment we must not only have belief on earth, our physical responsibilities toward the universe but also reassess our spiritual responsibilities. Spiritual Ecology means understanding the interdependence and living in unity in the ecosystem. Spiritual Ecology is not fixed to any religion but focuses on the recognition of the sacred nature of all of creation. In the recent times, Spiritual Ecology refers to the intersection between religion and spirituality and environment. In the present context of ecological imbalance there is a need to open the door to bring change in the climate and bring back the ecological balance. This paper is an attempt to study how early inhabitants in India lived in harmony with nature and believed in the sacredness of creation.

KEY WORDS: Spiritual Ecology, Spiritual Responsibilities, Ecological Imbalance.

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Ecological renewal and sustainability necessarily depends upon spiritual awareness and an attitude of responsibility. The need of the hour is to recognize and address the spiritual dynamics at the root of environmental degradation. Many identify the wisdom of indigenous cultures, for whom the physical world is still regarded as sacred, as holding a key to our current ecological predicament. Spiritual Ecology is a solution to the climate change crisis. There are various reasons that contribute to the climate change such as chemicals and toxins from Industries, pollution due to traffic and particularly carbon emissions.

The ecological imbalance can be solved by creating awareness that there is a direct relationship between our physical, ecological and sacred in creation. Over the years, our materialistic life has blinded us to the extent that man is unaware of sacred within ourselves and has created an inner wasteland. This paper primarily aims to focus on the life of the early inhabitants and their affinity to nature. Secondarily it also focuses on the life of ancients through poetry.

The tribal groups are sensitive to ecological degradation caused by Industrialization. Adivasis are the earliest inhabitants of India. Adivasis have a deep relation with the forests. Even today many tribes reside near the forests. The indigenous people of South Asia are called as Adivasi. They comprise a minority of Indian population and Nepal and a minority group of the Sri Lanka

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society. They depend on the items collected from the forests for their survival. They have good knowledge on the uncultivated forest crops. The tribal communities lived in the forested regions of India with harmony, security and faith for many years. They developed a harmonious relationship with the forest. The tribal communities get benefits from the forests like, firewood, medicines and religious items. In India, the life and economy of the tribal people are closely associated with the forests. Most of the tribal communities in India make a living out of the forest produce collected by them; mainly edible roots and tubers and by hunting small animals.

In India, due to the colonization the indigenous tribes are marginalized from their traditional forest lands. Their present impoverished condition is directly related to the history of the destruction and degradation of India’s environmental resources, as the tribal’s were heavily dependent on their immediate environment for their survival. In the past nature was worshipped as god, from such a state India has moved to a state of environmental crisis that threatens the very existence of its land, rivers, and seas, its flora and fauna, and its people. Thus it is evident that the tribal people once upon a time lived in absolute harmony with natural elements.

The environmental movement or the “green movement” has helped raise awareness of how human attitudes to nature have molded the cultural and ecological traditions that have led the world to its present ecological crisis. The environmental movement recognizes the urgent need to replace this existing paradigm of the world with an ecological paradigm, one that will ensure the sustainability of life on the planet. Ecological paradigm promotes new ideas about nature which would uphold a more bio-centric world view. It sees life on the planet as an integrated web, where everything is connected to everything else.

A study on the culture and tradition of indigenous people show that they are closely tied to their bioregions for food, and material resources for clothing, shelter and cultural activities tend to have their environmental ethics embedded in their view. Their calendars are designed according to the cycles of nature, as the appearance of the sun or the moon or the seasonal return of specific animals and plants. The tribal religious faith is based on their ancestors’ belief in malevolent and benevolent spirits. The tribal world is associated with sacredness, religiosity and reverence for nature. Nature lives in cosmos, earth, land and all that are in it are considered as sacred and that they live in consonance with nature.

The close link between human life and the natural environment have often been overlooked in the discourses of human history. Today, environmental concerns are now debating in the political and academic domain. Environmental activists across the world have underlined the need for a radical shift in human perceptions, perspectives and values in relation to the life of the earth. In the past we had a profound sacred, living and survival relationship with the natural world. The present modern society has destroyed much of this through the process of industrial labour and production. As a result man has become creatively barren.

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It is observed that since palaeolithic times, the natives have practiced rituals which indicate their sacred relationship to the earth. It is important to study how these spiritual-ecological instincts had survival value in our ancestors which is lacking in the present society. In general, we have a spontaneous affinity with the natural world. In the words of John Stanley & David Loy:

There is a link between a love of nature, deep spiritual experience and our moral sense. It is a key part of the human spirit. It can leave us lost for words. By using the words spirit and spiritual, we are not referring to a religious belief system or to anything supernatural. We are referring to the fact that we are spiritual animals. After Darwin, it is no longer possible for anyone (except religious fundamentalists) to ignore our biological evolutionary lineage. We are human primates. We are the dominant animal on Earth. We are also spiritual beings having a human experience (38).

We need to know our values. John Stanley and David Loy draw references from Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh that love and connection are the heart of spiritual ecology.

When we recognize the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection-love is born. We want to be connected. That is the meaning of love, to be at one…You would do anything for the benefit of the Earth, and the Earth will do anything for your well-being (46).

Thus the connection between a love of nature and spiritual experience and our moral sense is at the core of our Earth. Let us study the tribals worship of the hills as sacred. For example, in Odisha the Dongria Kondhs treat the hills as their god or Niyam Raja. In the name of development, the plundering of the earth has disturbed the sacred beliefs of the tribes, and the ecology. Another example to be studied is the Kaani tribal people who live in forests of Kanyakumari in the Western Ghats. They live in harmony with nature and depend on nature for their sustenance and livelihood. They show firm bond in their spiritual values and beliefs systems. Their eco-spirituality is linked with forest ecology and bio-diversity through their life style and traditional culture.

It is noteworthy to study the culture of Kaani tribe. The Kaani tribal community lived in tree top houses and caves. They lived in small huts, built up of bamboo and wild grass. The existence of nature-man and spiritual continuum is highlighted in the life of the Kaani tribe. The existence of spirits in nature has entirely different concepts from other religious communities and the Kaani tribal people are Animists. The Kaani tribes believe in the invisible spirit or supernatural powers and call the spirits as deities with different names. Animals, ponds, trees, stones, cliffs or

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mountains are the residences of spirits. It is their firm belief that the tribe lives constantly under the vigilant eyes of spirits. They believe in the presence of the divine everywhere.

The Kaani tribal people follow a tradition to grow some specific plants as sacred near their house. According to the tribes, ritual has a major role in environmental ethics. Therefore, before cutting a tree, they perform a ritual. They believe that along with the tree they are killing the spirit residing in the tree. The ritual is performed so that the spirit should not take revenge on them. Similarly, when they construct a hut they perform ritual that the spirit should allow the inmates of the hut to live in peace and harmony. In the present situation our relationship with nature has become a virtual one in which the original emotional connectedness between man and nature has been lost. Man fails to feel the same connectedness with the natural world. We no longer understand the meaning of life through experience with nature.

Mahasweta Devi, a social activist has traced the ecological history of India in relation to tribal life in her works. Through her writings she highlights that the tribals understood ecology and the environment in a way we cannot yet imagine. Mahasweta Devi’s innovative use of oral tribal traditions dramatizes the organic relationship between the ecological and the socio-cultural patterns of their lives.

Another example can be drawn from the songs sung by various bards in the collection from Sangam literature. Sangam literature, the golden age of the Tamils, exhibits heroic poetry of ancient Tamils. This classical work enables us to disentangle the strands of early Indian culture. Purananur is a collection of four hundred poems sung by various poets. The bard Kapilar sings the glory of King Pari and the bounties’ of nature is reflected in the songs. The human relationship with nature as exhibited by the poet Kapilar is exquisite.

The poet rejoices in singing the glory of the city Parampu. It is the rich life of the city that dominates to the extent that even at times of evil or unfavorable periods still the fields were full of grain and the bushes blossomed with colorful flowers. The nature is blessed even when the rains fail. The dry land bears jasmine blooms with green leaves. During the times of monsoon when rains poured down heavily the flowers of the terul vines bloomed like ornamental paint on the faces of the elephant, (that is, the flowers were used to decorate the elephant). During monsoon the red hills and the fields had abundant moisture, the poet describes the beauty of the land as:

For the first-from bamboo, with its tiny leaves, a rice springs up, and the second, with its sweet pulp, is the ripening jackfruit, and third, thickly growing, is the valli root with its luxuriant vine, and the fourth is honey, with its lovely darkness pouring out, the color overwhelming the peak of the tall mountain dense with vines! (74)

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These lines illustrate the abundance of natural food available to the people without any effort on their part. The harmonious existence between man and nature is evident. Nature and human beings blend with each another causing no harm to one another. The King rejoices in giving food. Vandana Shiva in Annadana: The Gift of Food says, “The food we eat, the food that nourishes us, is a gift from the earth, from the sun, from millions of years of evolution… Food is life. Food is not just our vital need: it is the web of life.” The food that is obtained from nature in abundance must be given to others. From the reference of Maha Ashwamedhika: The giver of the food is the giver of life, And indeed of everything else, Therefore, one who desires well-being in This world and beyond should Specially endeavour to give food…. Food id indeed the preserver of life And food is the source of procreation. (104) Ancient Indian saying goes as: “There is no dana greater than annadana and tirthadana-the giving of food to the hungry and water to the thirsty.” Thus from the culture of giving we have the conditions of abundance, and the sharing by all. In another scripture it is said:

I forsake the one that eats without giving, I am the annadevtaa (the god of food, the divine in food); I come and go according to my own discipline, I nurture the one for whom giving carries the same significance as eating, To him I reach in plenty: I remain out of reach of The other who eats without giving, Who amongst men can deter me, the annadevtaa, From my course? (105) The indigenous people have learnt to live in most hostile environment; they live in localities which are rich in biodiversity. They have played a vital role in conservation of environmental management and development process as they posse’s traditional knowledge which has been useful in Eco-restoration. It is explicit that these people live in harmony with nature. India is a country with large ethnic society and immense wealth which is rich in biodiversity. There are many species of plants, which are used as medicinal plants and as food. Apart from this a number of plants are used as timber, many species are important from moral, cultural, religious, aesthetic and social point of view. Due to the religious belief of the tribals many plants are conserved in their natural habitat. This is so because they believe that the plants are habitat of

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god and goddess. In fact the tribals worship trees and flowers as they believe that God and Goddesses exists in nature. The ethnic people of India have played a vital role in preserving bio-diversity of several virgin forests and have conserved several flora and fauna in sacred groves of tribals, otherwise these might have been disappeared from natural eco-system. The sacred groves are the natural forests located in North-East, Central and Peninsular India. The interference of all kind of human activities is prohibited in these places. These plants in the sacred groves have high nutritional value. The tribals who still live in undisturbed forest areas and practice traditional food habits are found to be more healthy and free from diseases. Over the years, in the name of projects and developments any number of sacred hills and valleys, sacred groves and forests, sacred rivers and temples of nature were destroyed with utter indifference. The non tribals or Government organizations have given little importance to the tribal sacred places and religious beliefs other than making certain ritual festivals. Thus the tribals have lost their sacred world and even their cultural heritage that was so inextricably bound up with these sites-their sacred groves and forests where they worshipped animist deities. One of the defects of this ecological imbalance is the changing of human perception of the natural world from a cyclic to a linear phenomenon. To conclude the tribal communities are largely eco-friendly and convey hidden message that they have inherent knowledge to protect and use biological resources sustainably. In India, since the ancient times the ecologically rich areas happen to be sacred places for local communities. The tribal people have religious beliefs to preserve resources critical to their people’s survival. The indigenous people have undoubtedly helped in conservation of bio-diversity. Protecting the Earth is interdisciplinary, so various disciplines like Genetics, Ecology, Botany, should work at one platform and linkages have to be established. Humanity has to rediscover its relationship with the natural world and this can only happen when it has regained its meaningful relationship with nature. It is time to experience the natural world in all its stunning beauty. Therefore the first step is to restore our relationship to nature as sacred.

Works Cited

Hart L. George and Hank Heifetz, The Purananaur. Penguin Books, 2002.

John Stanley & David Loy, “At the Edge of the Roof: The Evolutionary Crisis of the Human

Spirit” in Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth. Ed. Llewellyn Vaugham-Lee, The Golden

Sufi Center, California 2013.

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Maha Ashwamedhika, trans. Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, 2nd

English ED., Oxford University Press.

Shiva, Vandana. “Annadana: The Gift of Food” in Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth. Ed.

Llewellyn Vaugham-Lee, The Golden Sufi Center, California 2013.

Shiva, Vandana. Gift of Food, Resurgence Magazine. 11 January, 2004.

www.countercurrents.org

Taittiriya Upanishad, 2.2, trans. Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, 2nd

English Ed., Oxford University Press.

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