A Fundamental Statement About Me
Childhood
I wish to share something personal—my religious beliefs — before launching my series of posts on climate change, the environment, health, and other topics.
If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys.
- Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh Nation
I returned from England when I was eight years old, and before moving into our own home, we stayed in a large family home, complete with grandparents, uncles, aunts, and our family. Delhi’s culture has changed since those days, becoming less welcoming. I don’t blame people for this: the crush and tension of daily life weigh heavily on all of us. Delhi’s changing climate, worsening traffic, and horrendous pollution make life more challenging, and people are testy and unwilling to forgive minor infractions. I lived most of my life outside Delhi, only returning ten years ago, at the end of my corporate career. Delhi’s rough culture shocked me, and I’ve longed to move out since my arrival a decade ago.
The theist phase of my life.
Allow me to travel back to those childhood days when life seemed simple, the air was clean, and people were kind. A lady lived down the road and took me under her wing. We called her “Krishna Aunty” because she devoted herself to Lord Krishna. She had a tall statue of God in her living room, and I often joined her in prayers and helped dress the statue. I bought a flute and tried to play it, not realizing I had no musical ability.
The Great Spirit is in all things. He is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us…..That which we put into the ground she returns to us.
- Big Thunder Wabanaki, Algonquin
Over the next two decades, I flirted with religion, veering between deep faith and almost none. My faith moved from Krishna to Shiva, whom I consider the most fascinating and mysterious. I also visit the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara because it is peaceful.
The atheist/animist phase of my life.
Some call me spiritual, and while I disagree, I don’t become hysterical in my denial. However, my beliefs have changed, and I am now a sworn atheist. My only faith is animism in nature, and I am convinced that if any supernatural or divine power exists, it exists in nature.
Religion blinds people and depends on faith. I do not argue with religious people, but I detest it when they expect me to follow their faith while they reject my lack of religious belief. The waste associated with religion is deplorable: the temple constructions, the offerings, and the high walls developing between people.
We don’t live in temples, but in homes. We must surround our homes with nature, not concrete structures that only increase our distance from each other. What is the point of “development” if we breathe polluted air, scream at fellow travelers, and curse potholes?
Honor the sacred. Honor the Earth, our Mother. Honor the Elders. Honor all with whom we share the Earth:-Four-leggeds, two-leggeds, winged ones, Swimmers, crawlers, plant and rock people. Walk in balance and beauty.
- Native American Elder
Where are we headed?
We believe in our infallibility, but most of us run, like zombies, towards an unhealthy grave. If we could project ourselves into the future and listen to our descendants, their curses would make our ghosts shiver. Investing in grand conferences at the COP or listening to the pious words people vomit at the various WEF meetings is pointless. Praying to statues is useless if we continue to spread ugliness, disease, filth, and pollution.
The time to wake up and act is not a decade later.
I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man.
- Sun Bear, Chippewa
I borrowed the quotes from this site in the link.
