Monday, December 28, 2009

Mother Nature : The embodiment of God

In India, the sun is not considered some inert ball of gas, but Surya Deva—the Sun God. The earth is Bhumi Devi—the Earth Goddess. Similarly named are the rivers, mountains and trees. India’s culture is one wherein everything one sees serves as a reminder of the all-pervasive nature of the Divine. At its heart, this perspective is not polytheistic, but an acknowledgement that all names and forms are but various manifestations of the one all-pervasive consciousness that serves as the substratum of creation.

When we come to see a river as God, how will we dump toxic waste into it? When we see trees as manifestations of the Lord, how will we disseminate our forests? When we see the very air itself as Vayu Deva, how will we allow poisonous fumes from factories to fill it?
When we see Mother Nature as the embodiment of God, we will automatically serve and protect her.