Alka Nigam Published: July 27th, 2021; Speaking Tree, The Times of India https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/planet-earth-has-a-key-to-our-spiritual-growth/?source=app&frmapp=yes
Enchantingly beautiful as well as superbly managed by its creator, our planet earth is hanging in the cosmos as a part of only one known solar system consisting of nine planets . As a wheel within the cosmic wheel, the planet earth has woven a one big, intricate web of life on one platform presenting a one – grand- spectacle . Here Nature includes all living and non -living things – vegetation, micro-organisms, rocks, minerals, five elements, animals, birds and God’s supreme creation Man. It appears as if the master creator, like a juggler is lovingly managing the various rings in a measured rhythm. It is fascinating to think of just one perfect pattern of five elements in a cyclical motion. The water of the gurgling rivers and roaring oceans, transformed in vapours by the heat of the sun is carried to the sky by the wind and sent back to the earth as rain. This ring sets many inter -connecting rings into action. The earth soaks the rain in its womb and with the help of air and warmth nurtures food for the mankind and animals. Even its barren patches procure food from its belly by sending forth thorny shrubs and trees with scanty but sufficient enough leaves for the cows and goats to give milk in return and the whole hamlet thrives. It is not for nothing that earth is revered as Mother earth creating various habitats for even micro-organisms to beam with life and knits myriad networks buzzing in an amazing harmony in their inter- relationship. The sight of a heron feeding itself by picking food from the sharp teeth in the open jaw of an alligator is puzzling– a prey comfortable in the mouth of a predator, both benefitting mutually!! Reliance on one another for survival is the mantra of our planet. Even degeneration, phoenix like emerges to life in new form. It is said that in forest a big tree never dies. When it falls, very soon parasites like creepers, algae, moss, lichen cover it with new green providing food to a host of other organisms, its holes made shelters by small animals, and hefty trunks a new colony by birds . Once again the tree bursts with life. The biota of rivers, oceans, volcanos, forests all flourish together making their own ecosystem. The wonder is that nothing exists in isolation, not even fire and water. The burning lava thrown out from the crater of an erupted volcano on the shore of an ocean, cools itself in the water and makes new fertile rock that eventually invites a new life to settle. To adopt, adapt, and adept is intrinsic to Nature for its ever-new look of the never -dying life. Story of kiwi- now the national bird of New Zealand – is a perfect example. Once its ancestors lived thousands of kilometres away in Madagascar or Australia. They might have used stepping stones or traversed small islands or came by boat with the sailing natives to make this continent their home. Gradually adapting with the new ethos of their new companions these birds over the centuries, with no fear from predators, forgot their ability to fly and snugly appeared before the world in a new avatar of flightless birds. In nature life flows freely supporting all life to evolve.
The secret of the fascinating cocoon woven by the planet earth depends on team work where the extinction of one can snap a long chain of fertility, prosperity and well being of others. Our ancestors in their wisdom linked their lives with the priceless treasure of Nature for their physical and spiritual needs with reverence. They knew that mankind has to live on this planet together with all other living and non- living organisms. In Vedic scriptures the earth is presented with a whole spiritual spectrum consolidated in the phrase – Vasudhev Kutumubkam. Kutumb means an extended family. The base of a family is honour for all, love for all, caring and sharing for all. The idea of VASUDHEV KUTUMBKAM admits that an amicable relationship between man and man, and man and nature is always needed for the survival of all life calling planet earth their home. These days the world has been rudely awakened by the fury and the destruction created by Nature. We have used it in our necessity, we have abused it in our arrogance and ignorance, and when wounded it lost its balance. We have to return to God’s pattern of life as one entity. True spirituality is the uplifting of the heart to a belief that all life is a part of a greater whole. Nothing lives in isolation. Mutual reliance emanates positive energy of love, respect, and compassion. Flowing in all directions this energy becomes an all inclusive spirituality that helps us elevate our higher self as a part of the universal system. As said “God is an infinite circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.” The following shanti mantra from Upanishads explains this ‘holographic’ aspect of the universe created by God in which each particle of it contains the whole.
Om Purnamadah Purnamidam
Purnat Purnamudachyate
Purnasya Purnamadaya
Purnameva Vashishyate
Our planet earth is a one -perfect example !!
Leave a Reply