Nature as an Ultimate Source of Inspiration
Some life lessons taking cues from Nature
{Flashback — 1998: schooldays. Settings — Me and my friend sitting on a rock, silently observing the stream pattern surrounding us.}
Hours passed by in muted admiration; occasionally interrupted by splashes in the brook -their source ranging from unconsciously thrown stones to self-inspired hopping frogs.
Finally, it was the turn of my friend to break the web.
‘‘Chale’’(Shall we make a move?) -was the concise utterance, suggesting more of an obligation than a desire. But this was enough to pull me back to the real world. It now visibly transpired that the silhouette had turned prominent as the sun started setting. Thus with heavy steps but pleasing mind, we headed to our recourse and so did the flock of birds above us!
I yearn for the pleasure of monsoon showers, winter days in the park, birds chirping in the morning, and listening to the rising and ebbing sea waves. To me, these have been some of the rhapsodic moments of rendezvous with nature: its beauty, charm and beingness. To admire something beyond reason: something more in those falling drops of heaven apart from its constituent elements, viz. hydrogen and oxygen.
Nature teaches us lessons in subtle ways, like in the case of Buddha’s dream for enlightenment, Archimedes’ water experiment, and Newton’s observation of a falling apple leading to the principle of gravity. Many of the finest poetic works, songs and hymns of yore owe their inspiration to the beauty of nature. Admittedly, human life or to say the entire bio-life is symbiotically related to and dependent on nature. It sits, feeds, nurtures, prospers, heals and ultimately decays in the lap of Mother Nature.
Some of the lessons from nature that I could pick for myself are:
— That underlying is order, harmony and balance. The unceasing revolution of planets in the solar system, the changing yet defined cycles of seasons, and the equilibrium of human body temperature bear testimony to this.
— That greatness lies in giving more than you receive. We throw stones at trees and they return their generosity in the form of luscious fruits. We are blessed with ample sunlight and free but vital air.
— That inherent is an interdependence among the entities- term it as the food chain, feelings, gravitational forces, or anything you can correlate with.
— That in life, a rise is invariably accompanied by a fall, night by day, and birth by death. Wisdom demands not to be swayed by such vicissitudes of life, but to maintain one’s Tao: accepting this whole as the interplay of nature itself.
Today, there are concerns for endangered wildlife, global warming, water crisis, and other pressing issues. But friends, we collectively are responsible and it's up to us to fix it. Nature, in its pure form, has been pristine and seeks balance.
Unfortunately, our crass needs have been myopic enough to ignore the perils of the future; upon tampering with its serenity. Still, better late than never! Life is busy for many of us, I know. There are deadlines to be met, tasks pending and compromises made. But once in a while, let's halt and listen. So why don’t we shut down our MS windows for a while and open My Sensory windows…. Did you just hear anything? I guess it's nature calling.
