WHAT IS NATURE?
There is a lot of discussion about protecting environment, the wildlife, birds, whales, and dolphins, as well as cleaning up polluted waterways, lakes, farms, and other areas. Religion and belief are products of mind; nature is not. The tiger, an extraordinary animal with boundless energy and a strong feeling of dominance, is nature. Nature is that lone tree in the grove, meadow, or field; it’s that timid squirrel lurking behind a branch. The ant, the bee, and every other living creature on planet are examples of nature. Nature is the waterway, not the Ganges, the Thames, or the Mississippi in particular. Nature is those snow-covered mountains with their deep blue basins and slopes that converge at the sea. Nature includes the cosmos. One must feel for all of this in order to preserve it and avoid killing for one’s amusement or meal. We do kill the veggies we consume, like cabbages, but there has to be a limit. How are you going to survive if you don’t consume vegetables? Therefore, one must make wise judgments.
See for the first time that tree, bush or blade of grass.
Nature plays a role in our lives. We are a part of everything because we came from a seed and the ground, but we are quickly losing the perception that we are creatures just like the others. Is it possible to experience something when you gaze at, appreciate, and hear a tree? Can you pay attention to the tiny weed, the vine climbing the wall, the light on the foliage, and the numerous shadows? All of this must be understood, and one must feel a feeling of connection with the natural world around them. Despite living in a metropolis, there are still a few plants here and there. Even though the flower in the next yard may be neglected and overrun with weeds, when you gaze at it, you will still feel connected to everything else and all living things. You harm yourself if you harm the environment.
Although we are aware that all of this has been said before in various contexts, we don’t seem to give much heed. Is it true that we never glance around or notice the moon because we are so enmeshed in our own web of issues, wants, and urges for joy and pain? Observe it. Watch with all of your senses, including your hearing, sight, and nose. Watch. Act as if you are just beginning your search. If you succeed, you will be able to see that tree, shrub, or blade of grass for the first time. Then, for the first time, you can meet your instructor, your mother or father, your sibling or sister. The amazement, the oddity, and the mystery of a brand-new morning that has never been and never will be give off an exceptional sensation.
To be in harmony with nature, one must not merely orally describe it; rather, one must become a part of it, become conscious of it, experience a sense of belonging to it, and be able to adore it, admiring a deer, a lizard on a wall, or a broken branch on the ground. Instead of simply complimenting the beauty of the evening star or the new moon and then moving away to focus on something else, take a moment to observe them as if you are seeing them for the first time. If you can have such a connection with nature, you can also have such a communion with people, including the guy seated next to you, your teacher, and your parents. We no longer have any sense of a connection where there is not only a vocal expression of love and care but also a nonverbal feeling of communion. It is a feeling that we are all one and the same, that we are all human beings, not separated into groups or groups based on ethnicity or other idealistic notions, but that we are all human beings existing on this amazing, lovely planet.
To live in harmony with nature brings about a different world.
Have you ever gotten out of bed in the morning to gaze out the window or step outside onto the balcony to take in the foliage and the springtime sunrise? Accept it as is. Pay attention to every sound, including the whisper and the gentle wind rustling the foliage. View the light on that leaf and observe the sun crossing the field and slope. They are observed by the desiccated river, the grazing animal, or the livestock on the opposite slope. Look at them with love and concern, as if you don’t want to do them any harm. Such connection with nature makes relationships with others easy, lucid, and conflict-free.
Not just teaching arithmetic or how to use a computer, this is one of the duties of the instructor. The unity of those who pass in a luxurious vehicle as well as those who endure, battle, and feel tremendous pain and the sadness of poverty is far more crucial. If the teacher is worried about this, he is assisting the student in developing empathy, which includes empathy for the sorrows, difficulties, anxieties, and worries of others as well as for family conflicts. The duty of the instructor should be to prepare students for such communion with the universe. Although the globe may be too big, the place where he is in it is his universe. And as a result, thought, love for others, politeness, and behavior that is not harsh, vicious, or vulgar come naturally. The instructor should discuss all of these topics, not just orally, but also physically, by immersing himself in both the natural and human worlds. They are linked together. Man is helpless against that. He is destroying himself when he ruins environment. He murders himself when he kills someone else. The adversary is you, not the other. Living in such harmony with the environment and the world inevitably results in a distinct world.
If one really loved the earth, there would be frugality in using the things of the earth.
Similar distinctions exist between knowing our connection with environment and having the proper relationships. How do you feel about the natural world? Nature includes things like waterways, forests, swift-flying birds, fish, earth’s mineral composition, cascades, and shallow ponds. How are you connected to them? The majority of us are unaware of that connection. We never glance at trees, or if we do, it’s with the intention of using them, either for shelter or for lumber. To put it another way, we view trees with a utilitarian intent; we never see a tree without putting ourselves onto it and making use of it for our comfort. We handle the planet equally with all of its resources. There is only use of the land; there is no earthly affection. One would be frugal in using items from the earth if they truly valued it.
In other words, if we were to comprehend our connection with the planet, we would need to exercise extreme caution when using its resources. knowing one’s connection with nature can be as challenging as knowing one’s relationship with a neighbor, spouse, or other family members. However, we haven’t given it any consideration and we haven’t taken a seat to observe the sky, the moon, or the trees. We are overextended with societal and governmental obligations. These pursuits serve as distractions from ourselves, just as worshiping nature does the same. We don’t truly pause to stop and appreciate the earth or the objects of the earth; we are constantly using nature, either as a retreat or for practical purposes. Although we use the fertile fields to provide for our food and clothing, we don’t appreciate them. We are embarrassed to labor with our hands and dislike turning the soil with them. When you use your hands to work the earth, an amazing occurrence happens. However, this job is only carried out by others because we believe we are far too essential to do it ourselves.
Since we do not love nature, we do not know how to love human beings.
We no longer have a connection to environment. Though one might own a plot of land and construct a house there, it would not be “mine” or “yours” in the exclusive sense; rather, it would be more of a means of providing shelter if we once grasped that connection and its true meaning.
We are indifferent to the beauty of a waterfall and have lost the touch of life because we do not adore the land and the objects of the earth but simply use them. We don’t recline with the root of a tree in our backs. We also lack the ability to appreciate people because we do not admire nature. We no longer have that delicacy, sensitivity, or reaction to objects of beauty. The only way we can comprehend what a real connection is is through the renewal of that awareness. That sensitivity does not come in the mere hanging of a few pictures, or in painting a tree, or putting flowers in your hair; sensitivity comes only when this utilitarian outlook is put aside. It does not mean that you cannot use the earth; but you must use the earth as it is to be used. The earth is there to be loved, to be cared for, not to be divided as yours and mine. It is foolish to plant a tree and call it ‘mine’. Only when one is free of exclusiveness is there a possibility of having sensitivity, not only to nature but to human beings and to the ceaseless challenges of life.
The mind can be silently in communion with itself about everything.
So, if I may ask, please inquire within yourself and discover whether you are in contact with anything, such as a tree. Have you ever experienced a relationship with a tree? Do you understand what it means to gaze at a tree and not have any thoughts or memories obstruct your observation, emotion, sensibility, or state of concentration so that there is only the tree and not you who are gazing at the tree? Most likely, you haven’t done this because a tree has no significance to you. Given that you associate beauty with sensuality, the attractiveness of a tree has absolutely no meaning. Thus, you have blocked out the tree, the natural world, the waterway, and the humans. Even with yourself, you are not in touch with anything. Like a person in touch with remains, you are in contact with your own thoughts and words. What occurs when you come into touch with ashes, do you know? You are worn out and lifeless. For you, sexuality is beauty, so the attractiveness of a tree signifies absolutely nothing. As a result, you’ve blocked out the river, the tree, the natural world, and the people. Even with yourself, you have no interaction at all. You come into touch with your own thoughts and words, much like a person would with remains. Do you understand what occurs when you come into touch with ashes? You are exhausted and lifeless.
So there must be a total action that will not create contradiction at any level of your existence; be in communion, communion with yourself, not with the higher self, not with the Atman, God, and all that, but to be actually in contact with yourself, with your greed, envy, ambition, brutality, deception, and then from there move. Then, you will discover for yourself—discover, not be taught, which has no meaning—that there is a total action only when the mind from which there is action is completely silent. For the majority of us, the mind is noisy; it is constantly talking to itself, whether it is soliloquizing or chatting about something, or attempting to persuade itself of something. We respond to that commotion by acting. Any action motivated by noise creates additional uncertainty and disturbance. But if you have observed and learned what it means to communicate, the difficulty of communication, the non-verbalisation of the mind – that it is that which communicates and receives communication – then, as life is a movement, you will, in your action, move on naturally, freely, easily, without any effort, to that state of communion. And in that condition of communion, if you look more closely, you’ll discover that you’re also in communion with yourself as well as with nature, the universe, and everything else around you.
Complete stillness is required in order for the mind to be in silent communication with itself regarding everything in order to be in communion with oneself. There is complete activity after that. Only out of nothingness can there be a complete and original deed.
Healing gradually takes place if you are with nature.
It’s strange how little connection we have with the natural world, including the insects, jumping frogs, and owls that hoot among the hills in search of a partner. We never seem to feel the same way about every living creature on the planet. We wouldn’t hurt or vivisect a monkey, a dog, or a guinea pig for our advantage if we could forge a strong bond with nature. We wouldn’t slaughter an animal for its food. We would discover different methods to treat our injuries and our bodies. The healing of the psyche, however, is entirely distinct. If you are in nature, with that orange on the tree, that grass blade pushing through the pavement, and the hills draped in clouds, that mending happens gradually.
This is the truth of a connection with everything that exists and moves on the planet; it is not sentimental or romantic fantasy. Millions of whales have been slaughtered by man, and this practice continues. There are alternative ways to obtain everything we gain from their killing. However, it seems that man enjoys killing animals, including the elusive deer, the magnificent antelope, and the enormous elephant. We enjoy murdering one another. Over the course of man’s existence on this planet, he has continued to murder other people. We would never kill another person for any cause at all if we could, and if we must, build a strong, lasting connection with nature, with the real trees, shrubs, flowers, grass, and swiftly moving clouds. Organized homicide is a form of armed conflict, and despite our opposition to nuclear or other forms of armed conflict, we have never protested against armed conflict in general. The biggest evil in the world is not something we have ever stated to be killing another human being.
