God, Man and Our Environment

There is no shortage of anything in this world, other than God Consciousness, and proper management of God given resources.

There is no shortage of anything in this world, other than God Consciousness,

and proper management of God given resources.

Occasionally there;s a natural disaster that creates suffering for the peoples

of a particular place and time, but in the most disasters are being caused by

man;s attempt to play God.

We often see that with man;s greed for power over the people, control of

material resources (gold, and other precious metals, diamonds, and other gems,

oil and its by-products, timber, cotton, silks, spices, rubber, the air, the

sea, electricity, etc.), which comes in various ways, entangles him further

beyond his conception or perception. Man so blinded in lust for such dominion

unfortunately does not see the consequences of his plan.

There are so many resources of the kindness of Mother Earth, who provides us

with all our needs, both man and beast. When we take what we need and leave the

rest, there;s more for others, and replenishment of the same in the course of

time.

The example is given of if an animal or a bird sees a bag of rice spilled for

the taking, he will take what he needs for his family for a few days and go on

with his life. But man, in his so called wisdom will take the entire bag of

rice, put a price on it making sure he makes at least 100% profit, but usually

more and then resell that to others, who by God;s law had a right to it in the

first place.

Please don;t think that we have a gripe against economics, for commerce must go

on, but based on honesty and sustainability and not on thievery.

What comes to us freely or of little endeavour can be redistributed under the

same principle, allowing others to benefit. For some honest work and honest pay

is given. Principles and concepts that you think are too obvious.

Alas what we see today, in the raping of millions of acres of forest (Amazon

region), the lungs of the planet, merely for timber or for raising cattle for

slaughter is a form of foolishness that is well known as man;s.

To burn off thousands of acres of forest (Indonesia) just to clear the land,

without taking into consideration what such resultant smoke and other debris

caused to neighbouring countries is a form of ignorance reserved for those

covered with a lust only for money.

The vast imbalances in climates, changes of environment for local wild-life, who

are then blamed for coming to towns and villages to feed/hunt result in numerous

compound effects than man, playing God has created in his ignorance.

One such incident came about by the fashion some years ago when some people made

the eating of frogs-legs very in vogue. So many frogs were collected to satisfy

the market need that the frog;s natural food, the mosquitoes began to flourish

in an unseen before manner. So many people were being bitten and diseases known

to be carried by the mosquitoes were becoming a serious problem.

In another incident, just as ridiculous in 1987 in India there was a problem

because of the way man had interfered with the natural environment, taking out

one element, but which caused further and more problems to resolve.

The local Hindus of Southern Karnataka and Kerela lived among the inland

waterways. They fished there, grew crops there, and disposed of their dead in

the waterways too, the Turtles eating the dead bodies.

When the British, French and Portuguese came to India they had taught the local

people that they could eat the Turtles too. They even opened a cannery to catch,

process and can the Turtles and make big business of Turtle Soup, which they

would export. After some time of doing this, to make a good profit most of the

Turtles were cleaned up in the waterways. This not only finished the business of

the cannery which the town had become reliant on for work, but now they had no

method for disposal of the dead ; and it was common for decomposing bodies to

remain in the water for sometimes washing in and out on the tides.

Some genius in the Ministry of the Environment or similar govt. Dept. came up

with an idea befitting a cartoon, rather than real life. He proposed the

introduction of crocodiles into the waterways to dispose of the dead bodies, as

they are known to like them. The challenge came when some time later as the

crocodiles breed that it was not only dead bodies they liked, but also live

ones, and many people going to collect water, doing their washing etc., were not

seen again.

Someone devised another piece of genius ; to bring in the army. So there we

have it today. Periodic attacks upon the crocs; by the army; the crocs; eat the

villagers; villagers eat the turtles; who should have been eating the dead

bodies ; because man interfered and thought he could profit from the prolific

amount of turtles and the innocence of the people.

What to speak of numerous plagues, infestations, and swarm attacks that have had

man to thank in the initial offset, although he carefully as usual emphasised

the result rather than the root cause ; him. These are not even beginning to

mention Landslides caused from piling up masses of ;waste; removed from coal

mines that slip onto villages and cover them, killing hundreds of people; or the

mining accidents that claim so many lives each year; or toxic releases that

poison entire areas killing (immediately or over generations) thousands of

living entities in all species, and creating disabilities or mutations in others

(caused by Nuclear power stations ; bombs, testing and in wars; pollution by

companies into waterways; air pollution by companies, farmers, chemical

weaponry, etc; soil pollution and burning through over chemical induction,

spraying, defoliation, etc.)

With modern society;s emphasis on careers and making money to facilitate

independence and sense gratification for women, another artificial imposition on

a local, individual environment is created. The menstrual periods these days

that women are experiencing with pronounced PMS was unheard of in natural

environments before artificial contraception and career centred childless

families became in vogue. Formerly when women were old enough to marry and

reproduce they spent many years in either child bearing, childbirth or lactating

without periods. Modern women;s rights activists, feminists; etc., seeing it

their right to do whatever they want, deny nature and are against this ancient

and scientific fact of social practice. Instead they see it as their right to

kill the child through contraception, or in the womb through abortion, thus

achieving the same menstrual periodless time.

Hormonal studies in recent times again identify such a life-style as unnatural

and potentially harmful in the long term to individuals and society in general,

as symptoms of interference in nature;s plan. The ;24 hour society;, the

pressures and stress upon women to perform as equal to or independent of their

men-folk, ;working unsociable hours;, etc., is now accredited to much of the PMS

and conflict between the two genders. Women;s activists are now, as

predicted/expected, suggesting that by adding the required hormones as they

naturally decrease due to stress and an unnatural way of living, all will be

okay.

Does anyone recognise a trend here? Is it another monster in the making, or is

it already made? As usual, you can guarantee, you and I will have to pick up the

pieces when the reactions to the dysfunctional development of such a society

finally hits the fan. Look at the nervous break-down statistics; look at

marriage break-up statistics; look at the avenues of relief they seek out

through addictions to habit forming drugs, like alcohol, amphetamines,

barbiturates, heroin, tobacco and marijuana usage statistics; look at suicide

rates, none of which shows signs of a natural way of sustainable healthy life.

We cannot seriously hope to mention all of the ridiculous things that man-kind

has done; funny, sorry, sick and sad as they be ; for a being who dares to think

that he can govern himself bereft of the natural laws of God.

In these pages, and their links hopefully you will find enough information to

influence you to join with us, and help the inhabitants of this Earth to again

act like civilised humans and not money hungry animals dressed in the refinery

of uncivlised ignorant, insensitive garb.

In my calling these perpetrators of the Earth we all share animals I mean no

offence to our four legged friends ; for you we have respect for, natures; laws

you strictly follow. The two-legged animals do things that no animal would ever

do, with no conscience or remorse, as long as the money is in the bank.

As devotees of Lord Krishna the proprietor of everything and everyone, we

recognise and accept His dominion. Simply by that one humble action, it changes

one;s entire life.

When we know who the owner is, and where we all fit in as servants under His

scheme, we can work in harmony.

BBT International 1972. Used with permission.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3. Karma-yoga

TEXT 12

istan bhogan hi vo deva

dasyante yajna-bhavitah

tair dattan apradayaibhyo

yo bhunkte stena eva sah

SYNONYMS

istan--desired; bhogan--necessities of life; hi--certainly; vah--unto you;

devah--the demigods; dasyante--award; yajna-bhavitah--being satisfied by the

performance of sacrifices; taih--by them; dattan--things given;

apradaya--without offering; ebhyah--to the demigods; yah--he who;

bhunkte--enjoys; stenah--thief; eva--certainly; sah--is he.

TRANSLATION

"In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied

by the performance of yajna [sacrifice], supply all necessities to man. But he

who enjoys these gifts, without offering them to the demigods in return, is

certainly a thief. "

PURPORT

The demigods are authorized supplying agents on behalf of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, Vishnu. Therefore, they must be satisfied by the

performance of prescribed yajnas. In the Vedas, there are different kinds of

yajnas prescribed for different kinds of demigods, but all are ultimately

offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For one who cannot understand

what the Personality of Godhead is, sacrifice to the demigods is recommended.

According to the different material qualities of the persons concerned,

different types of yajnas are recommended in the Vedas. Worship of different

demigods is also on the same basis--namely, according to different qualities.

For example, the meat-eaters are recommended to worship the goddess Kali, the

ghastly form of material nature, and before the goddess the sacrifice of animals

is recommended. But for those who are in the mode of goodness, the

transcendental worship of Vishnu is recommended. But ultimately, all yajnas are

meant for gradual promotion to the transcendental position. For ordinary men, at

least five yajnas, known as pancha-maha-yajna, are necessary.

One should know, however, that all the necessities of life that the human

society requires are supplied by the demigod agents of the Lord. No one can

manufacture anything. Take, for example, all the eatables of human society.

These eatables include grains, fruits, vegetables, milk, sugar, etc., for the

persons in the mode of goodness, and also eatables for the non-vegetarians, like

meats, etc., none of which can be manufactured by men. Then again, take for

example heat, light, water, air, etc., which are also necessities of life--none

of them can be manufactured by the human society. Without the Supreme Lord,

there can be no profuse sunlight, moonlight, rainfall, breeze, etc., without

which no one can live. Obviously, our life is dependent on supplies from the

Lord. Even for our manufacturing enterprises, we require so many raw materials

like metal, sulphur, mercury, manganese, and so many essentials--all of which

are supplied by the agents of the Lord, with the purpose that we should make

proper use of them to keep ourselves fit and healthy for the purpose of

self-realization, leading to the ultimate goal of life, namely, liberation from

the material struggle for existence. This aim of life is attained by performance

of yajnas. If we forget the purpose of human life and simply take supplies from

the agents of the Lord for sense gratification and become more and more

entangled in material existence, which is not the purpose of creation, certainly

we become thieves, and therefore we are punished by the laws of material nature.

A society of thieves can never be happy because they have no aim in life. The

gross materialist thieves have no ultimate goal of life.

They are simply directed to sense gratification; nor do they have knowledge of

how to perform yajnas. Lord Chaitanya, however, inaugurated the easiest

performance of yajna, namely the sankirtana-yajna, which can be performed by

anyone in the world who accepts the principles of Krsna consciousness. (Srila

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Bhagavad Gita As It Is. BG 3:12. purport.)

"In Bhagavad-gétä (7.10) the Lord also says, béjaà mäà sama-bhütänäm: ;I am the

seed of all living entities.; A particular type of seed is sown within the

earth, and then a particular type of tree or plant comes out. The mother

resembles the earth, and when a particular type of seed is sown by the father, a

particular type of body takes birth." (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada. Srimad Bhagavatam 9:20:21. Purport.)

yadvämba te bhüri-bharävatära-

kåtävatärasya harer dharitri

antarhitasya smaraté visåñöä

karmäëi nirväëa-vilambitäni

SYNONYMS

yadvä—that may be; amba—O mother; te—your; bhüri—heavy; bhara—load;

avatära—decreasing the load; kåta—done; avatärasya—one who incarnated; hareù—of

Lord Çré Kåñëa; dharitri—O earth; antarhitasya—of Him who is now out of sight;

smaraté—while thinking of; visåñöä—all that were performed; karmäëi—activities;

nirväëa—salvation; vilambitäni—that which entails.

TRANSLATION

"O mother earth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, incarnated Himself as

Lord Çré Kåñëa just to unload your heavy burden. All His activities here are

transcendental, and they cement the path of liberation. You are now bereft of

His presence. You are probably now thinking of those activities and feeling

sorry in their absence."

(Srimad Bhagavatam 1:16:23.)

"The asuras (selfish demons) want to enjoy a life of sense gratification, even

at the cost of others; happiness. In order to fulfill this ambition, the asuras,

especially atheistic kings or state executive heads, try to equip themselves

with all kinds of deadly weapons to bring about a war in a peaceful society.

They have no ambition other than personal aggrandizement, and thus mother Earth

feels overburdened by such undue increases of military strength. By increase of

the asuric population, those who follow the principles of religion become

unhappy, especially the devotees, or devas.

In such a situation, the Personality of Godhead incarnates to vanquish the

unwanted asuras and to reestablish the true principles of religion. This was the

mission of Lord Çré Kåñëa, and He fulfilled it." (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada. Srimad Bhagavatam 1:16:34. Purport.)

"The kñatriya, or the man who is qualified to protect the sufferers, is meant to

rule the state. Untrained lower-class men, or men without ambition to protect

the sufferers, cannot be placed on the seat of an administrator. Unfortunately,

in the age of Kali the lower-class men, without training, occupy the post of a

ruler by strength of popular votes, and instead of protecting the sufferers,

such men create a situation quite intolerable for everyone. Such rulers

illegally gratify themselves at the cost of all comforts of the citizens, and

thus the chaste mother earth cries to see the pitiable condition of her sons,

both men and animals. That is the future of the world in the age of Kali, when

irreligiosity prevails most prominently. And in the absence of a suitable king

to curb irreligious tendencies, educating the people systematically in the

teaching of Çrémad-Bhägavatam will clear up the hazy atmosphere of corruption,

bribery, blackmail, etc." (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Srimad

Bhagavatam 1:17:27. Purport.)

"I am speaking, because amongst the living entities, human being is considered

to be the highest. So the mother earth was lamenting that people have lost their

good qualification. They cannot be lost, but it is, by the influence of

Kali-yuga, it is now covered. Satyam, çaucam, dayä, that twenty-six nice

qualifications. We have discussed all these things. Here (reads):

satyaà çaucaà dayä kñäntis

tyägaù santoña ärjavam

çamo damas tapaù sämyaà

titikñoparatiù çrutam

jïänaà viraktir aiçvaryaà

çauryaà tejo balaà småtiù

svätantryaà kauçalaà käntir

dhairyaà märdavam eva ca

So, on account of this Kali-yuga, the good qualification of human society will

be lost. Thinking this future of the present age, Mother Earth was lamenting and

talking with Dharmaräja. At that time Mahäräja Yudhiñöhira, er, Mahäräja

Parékñit arrived on that spot. This is the verse.

Tayor evaà kathayatoù: while the Dharmaräja and the earthly planet was

talking between themselves, påthivé... Påthivé. Tayor evaà kathayatoù, påthivé,

the earthly planet and dharmayos tadä. Tadä: ;that time,; parékñin näma

räjarñiù. Parékñin näma räjarñiù. There were many räjarñis. Räjarñi means

although they;re occupying the royal position... Räja. Räja and prajä. Räja

means king or the ruler. Here is also regulative principle. Why a king is

accepted? Why a governor is accepted? Why a president is...? Even in this day of

democracy—we have abolished the system of monarchy—but still, they select

somebody to become a monarch, a king, or to occupy the post of the king. That is

called president. Why? Because unless there is one head, or on the head of the

government, who can actually control... Control means whether citizens are

following, executing the rules and regulation, the law of the state. Therefore a

certain man, qualified man, who is, who enjoys the confidence of the people, he

is accepted as the king. This is the position. So such president, king, or the

executive head, must be a saintly person. Therefore here it is said, parékñin

näma räjarñiù. Räjarñi means those who are on the top of the government, he must

be åñi, saintly person. Just like this, our Kåñëa consciousness movement, the

head of the institution must be a saintly person. Otherwise how he can become a

controller? Controller there must be. That what is the qualification of the

controller? He must be a saintly person. He must know what is the principle of

life, what is the value of life, why one should be controlled by somebody else.

These things are required to become qualified.

(Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. January 30th 1974. Srimad Bhagavatam

1:16:36. Lecture Purport, Tokyo.)

Just a few of many that this vast topic comprises - if you know more please

send

EARTH

Raping of the Earth's resources

Forests - deforestation - milling - forest fires

Pollution

Toxic Dumping

Geneticly Altered Foods

Genetic Engineering

Transport

AIR

Wind Energy

Air Pollution

Air borne diseases

LIGHT

Solar Energy

Skies & Sunsets

Clarity of light is required osmosis etc

WATER

Drinking Water

Water Tables

Atmospheric Water - Rains (Acid rain)

Fishing industry

Whaling

Marine pollution - dumping, spills and wreacks

Underwater life

ICE

Antarctica

The Arctic

FIRE

Forest fires

Oil fires

CLIMATE CHANGE

Melting ice caps

Flooding

Effects on habitats

NUCLEAR AGE

Chernobyl

Nuclear power stations

Nuclear dumping

Nuclear waste transport

Nuclear reprocessing

WILDLIFE

Endangered species - Elephants, Tigers, Snow Wolf, Red Fox,

Sea birds

Seals and walrusses

Turtles

Penguins

Whales and dolphins

Habitats

Ministry of the Environment - New Zealand:

Envionmental Education in the Bay of Plenty:

ECO - Environment & Conservation Organisations of New Zealand (go to links)

Greenpeace New Zealand:

Greenpeace International:

Greenpeace International information page:

BBC World - 'Earth Report':

Friends of the Earth - UK:

A list of good Environmental URLs Worldwide:

The Institute for Earth Education:

The Globe Program - for edcation on envirnmental issues:

United Nations Environent Program:

Earthlink Australia:

Environment Australia Online:

Cornell Univesity Gateway to Ecology and Environmenal Protecton:

Environmental News Network:

...and for those who would like regular up dates on Environmentalist issues try

here - MotherNature - Find your niche: ecology and the world around us (Three

times a week)

To sign up click mailto:IWantMotherNature@keepAhead.co.uk and send the e-mail

World Environment Day is 5th June EVERY YEAR - tell the World about it.