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Marina’s explains this to us using Roger Dados definition of Ecology; “Ecology is the science that studies the conditions of existence of living beings and the interactions f all kinds that exist between these living beings on the one hand and between these living beings and their environment on the other hand. “(Nary up. 25) This helps us in realizing that the science of ecology does not put the domain of the beings found in nature under ourselves, this definition includes humans in the same categorization as all other living beings on the Earth.
This idea of neutrality among living beings is essential when trying to understand the ecological “crisis” that we are in today as well as in how to aid and fix the problems that we have caused. In the Hindu view of Ecology, religion plays a crucial role. It “helps to make human beings aware that there are limits to their control over the animate and inanimate world and that their arrogance and manipulative power over nature can backfire. ” Nary argues many reasons for our ecological position that we find ourselves in today.
Nary argues that “Today’s ecological problem consists in the deterioration of man’s environment through industrialization and arbitration of his mode of life, exhaustion of traditional energy and raw material resources, constant growth of demographic pressure on nature, disturbance of natural ecological equilibrium…. ” (Nary up. 6) and as a result of our scientific and technical present civilization we are “menacing everything living on Earth with Death. ” (Nary up. 27) Narrate refers to this as our “crisis of science” (Nary up. 7) and that we are ruthlessly exploiting nature with our Western view of science and technology with the consequence of destroying planet Earth as well as deeming our Western views onto the Third world while destroying their traditional cultures. What we can take from Nirvana’s views on Western science and technology as well as the Western view of thinking is that the West is ultimately responsible for the low destruction of our planet giving little thought about the actions taken, and the future consequences that they might hold.
Nary uses a variety of strong, bold language to make his thoughts known as well as placing a generalization of the West as a greedy, selfish society that’s only goal is improving the material lives of our own people while having no regard for the communities of living beings in our natural world. Nary continuously throughout his article uses vocabulary that refers to our ecological position and our ways of going about it in a very negative tone. He mutinously refers to our ecological position as a “crisis” (Nary up. 26), with having “devastating ramifications” (Nary up. 6), as well as using words such as Hinduism & Ecology: Critique of Ecological Crisis and Hindu Thought By reciprocally up. 31) when referring to how we as human beings treat the world that we live in. Nary gives reference to North Africa and West Asia for their Islamic science. He gives the Eastern world the credit for deriving our foundations of Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry, as well as the Asian societies for their original work on medicine. His main point of this is that they were all developed and practiced within a clearly ethical matrix and metaphysical framework with promotion of certain norms and values. The Indian Subcontinent has been known for its technologies of agriculture, metallurgy, textiles, ship-buildings, architecture, and medicine. ” (Nary up. 28) These practices were known for their simplicity as well as their complication. These were practiced under Hindu religious thought that did not coincide with the exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources, but were used respectively for survival rather than luxury. Nary argues that our change from these Indigenous practices to our modern science and technology and lifestyle “have been adversely affecting the harmony between our life and nature. (Nary up. 30) Our western world-view has allowed us to continually separate ourselves from nature, as well as our thirst for the bigger and better, consumerism has played a key role. We want items that will not only improve our day to day lives but items that are also lavish and non- necessities. The greed and want for these items are what is causing our ecological imbalance. Nary makes some very valid points when contrasting the Hindu thought and says of science and technology when comparing them to our Western thoughts and views on science and technology.
We can find proof of this by looking out of our windows. The proof is not found in books or websites but in our own experiences with the natural world that we are a part of. We witness others and ourselves exploiting nature in the view that it is to serve us every day. We realize that it really is unnatural for us to be removed from nature the way we have been but why then do we still do it? Nary argues that it is our “scientific method of dividing and controlling of the nature for its own objective quest” (Nary up. ) that is the problem as well as our moral and spiritual views according to Mary Evelyn Tucker and that the solution is “the fundamental and radical change in our relationship with nature” (Nary up. 31). Hinduism is the main solution for our ecological crisis that is viewed in Marina’s article. Nary gives reference to Proof. Christopher Key Chapel’s view that “Hinduism offers unique resources for the creation of an Earth ethic. The variegated theologies of Hinduism suggest that the earth can be seen as a manifestation of the Almighty. ” (Nary up. 2) He also suggests “the Hindu way of simple living might revere as a model for the development of sustainable economies and the concept of Dharma can be reinterpreted from the earth-friendly perspective. ” (Nary up. 32) This view of the world through the eyes of Hinduism is something that can most definitely be imagined. The Hindus recognition that divinity is found in all living beings keeps an even and shared ground between nature and man which views us as Just another animal. This is seen in the classification of animals by Traveled which is the fourth Veda of Hindu tradition. The Threaded classifies animals into two main groups.
The one being Grammar-pass meaning tame animals which includes the pass but still an animal nevertheless. The second grouping of animals is the Rainy- pass meaning wild animals. These animals follow the paragraphed. The Hindu tradition also classifies the divine being present in all of our natural elements, air, fire, earth, water, and space. These elements are the basic necessities for our existence and survival not only as humans but as Just plain animals. The air keeps us breathing, the fire keeps us warm, the earth nourishes our bodies, the water is our life source, and space is there for the creatures of Earth to utilize.
All of this in summary is the basic Hindu idea that the entire earth we co-exist with is a forest, and the entire universe being one giant living organism. The Hindu scriptures provide us with an organic cosmology. They also provide us with a sense of feeling indebted to the natural world. In the eyes of Hindu religion we must be thankful for every aspect of our life because the divinity lives within it all and is providing us with this nourishment. “Therefore, all lives, human and non-human, are of equal value and all have the same right to existence. ” (Narrate up. 37)