For the uninitiated, “Hinduism” is a term describing a vast web of beliefs properly known as Sanatan Dharma (eternal order). Though there are variations in practice, Sanatan Dharma defines a believer’s way of life through expansive literature containing guides to living. These include guidelines about work, family life, physical health, diet, mental wellness, and our duties to the Earth and all of Creation.
Sanatan Dharma is underpinned by five common rules, laid out in the Manusmriti: truthfulness, fairness, cleanliness, self-control, and ethical performance of duty.
Environment
According to Sanatan Dharma, everything in this world is sacred. Elements, planets, rivers, trees, mountains, and all living things are declared important in the life of a Hindu. It is every Hindu’s moral obligation to preserve and protect the environment and promote ecological balance in his/her life.
In Hindu scripture, the environment is often personified as a celestial being, encouraging believers to treat it as they would another human, allowing them to personally relate to the environment and treat creation with respect.
It is, however, clear that locally, regionally and internationally, people have seemingly abandoned their responsibility to protect the Earth. Everyday usage of single-use plastics, clear-cutting forests to build housing, and improper disposal of non-biodegradable waste into waterways are some of the biggest ways we harm the environment.
Our actions’ ramifications are felt annually during the rainy season, when widespread flooding displaces hundreds of people, destroys property and crops and increases the spread of illness and disease.
Climate change
Climate change refers to substantial changes and deviations from normal weather patterns in a specific region or globally.
Some of the main causes of climate change globally are burning fossil fuels, deforestation, intensive livestock farming, and increased nitrous oxide emissions. Though using fossil fuels seems necessary to support the world’s rapidly growing population, doing so has been linked to significant negative impacts on human, animal and environmental health.
Burning fossil fuels increases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, directly contributing to global warming and climate change. Increased emissions lead to rising temperatures, significant weather events, disruptions to ecological systems, and air pollution, all of which have been linked to human health problems.
While “climate change,” a relatively new concept, is not explicitly referenced in Hindu scripture, concepts found in the Bhagavad Gita and other books suggest an underlying awareness that life is cyclical and disruptions to the cycle have serious consequences.
Disruptions, like climate change, affect natural resources such as food and water, leading to population displacement, and potential scarcity conflicts locally, regionally, and internationally.
Impact of Hinduism on climate change
Sanatan Dharma teaches us that every time we harm Earth’s natural condition, we commit acts of “adharma” (disruption of eternal order). We are taught that the world is our family, invoking a lifetime commitment to nurturing the Earth as it nurtures us. Even the Vedas (Hindu scriptures) mandate certain prayers for forgiveness and permission to disturb the natural order of the Earth.
Sadly, these guidelines are often ignored.
For example, though Hindus are mandated to use all-natural elements in prayer and worship, today, disturbances of waterways where Hindu puja (prayer) items are submerged are common. Along the riverbanks of the Cunupia River in Felicity, and the Gulf of Paria near the Siewdass Sadhu Temple in the Sea, we see the environmental consequences of leaving non-biodegradable materials unmanaged.
Ritually submerged clay and steel sculptures remain lodged in the riverbeds, partially dissolved and polluting and disturbing the natural ecosystem and the lives that depend on it.
We should strive to resume our solemn duty to protect the Earth and preserve its natural resources by closely adhering to the Dharmic principle of ahimsa (non-violence).
Ahimsa promotes a symbiotic co-existence between man and nature. Sanatan Dharma, if practised in its purest form, could result in a world where food is only harvested sustainably, waterways, regarded as divine, would not be polluted, animal life would be treated as sacred, and natural resources would not be exploited for greed.
Unfortunately, in reality, personal desire for comfort and convenience outweighs consideration for the world at large, leading to dereliction of duty in practicing our faith. Perhaps it is because of today’s consumerist culture that people have abandoned simple and organic religious practices in favour of beautiful but unsustainable practices.
Let us protect our environment by ensuring only natural, non-toxic, and easily dissolvable items are put back into the Earth. We should strive to decrease, and eventually eliminate, our use of synthetics, actively plant trees and restore vegetation, reduce livestock consumption, and employ habits balancing convenience with preservation of our ecosystems.
It is up to faith leaders to teach and lead their congregations back to the core purpose of our practices that preserves, sustains, and protects the interconnectedness of life on Earth for current and future generations.
Tiffany A Ali is an attorney at law; office.tiffanyali@gmail.com
The foregoing was a weekly column by EarthMedic and EarthNurse NGO to help equip readers to face the climate and health crisis.
