Living with Nature🔗

‘Master’, I asked, ‘Day after day things are getting tougher. Life isn’t as easy as it was before. Even the solutions you provide may not be enough to raise people in happiness in future.’

Master gave me a look that stopped me from proceeding further.

‘First of all, nothing is getting tougher. It is only your perception that is seeing them as getting worse or tougher. Thousands of years ago people of the Sumerian civilization complained about worsening economy, crime and ill behaved younger generation. What you are saying now is what every generation has said about what is to come.’

‘Yes, but’ I started, and then stopped as I looked at Him.

‘Secondly, Life was never easy or hard. You remember only the easy or hard part. You remember the golden past, those wonderful days of your childhood or youth; those glorious days when you probably wasted your time doing nothing. At that time your life would have seemed just as tough as it seems today. It is just that in retrospect you see the rainbows but forget the storms.’

‘I am not talking about the past’, I finally managed to get my two words in, ‘I am worried about the future and about how people will manage with rising costs, rising crime and so on. If I remember right, the Sumerian civilization was lost without much of a trace. Should that happen to us too?’

‘What is it that you would like to do with the future? Even if you did know, how do you know that what you want will help anyone in any way? You are not in control of even the next breath that you may or may not take. How then can you be so arrogant as to imagine that you can solve the problems of the world?’ Master continued.

‘You are right, the Sumerian civilization, the Egyptian civilization and the Indus valley civilization and all similar ancient civilizations and cultures did disappear. However, other cultures and people appeared and life carried on. Those who learnt to flow with life survived, those who did not disappeared.

The Hindu culture also started at the same time or even earlier. The Indus Valley civilization as it is called may have disappeared. Mohenjadaro and Harappa may have been lost underground. However, the philosophy of the Vedic culture has been passed on relatively unchanged for well over 5000 years. Universal Truths always sustain themselves.’

‘What then can we learn from these great cultures that will help us today?’ I ventured.

‘A lot or nothing. It all depends on what you wish. If you are looking at yourself and how to learn to cope, a lot can be learnt. But, if you are talking about the whole world, you can do precious little. You can change yourself, without a doubt. You can attempt to change others, but you can never change another person. That person has to change himself or herself.’

‘I do not understand, Master.’ I said.

‘Well, look at it this way. Even when I teach you, it is not my teaching that changes you, but your acceptance of what I say. Transformation happens within you when you accept, understand and internalize what I say. If my words can change people, by now millions would have been transformed just by listening to me. They don’t. They hear me; they don’t even listen to me.’

‘What will then happen to the World?’ I asked plaintively.

‘Nothing’ He said impassively, ‘Someone asked Buddha how the Universe was created, and He said that Universe has always existed; it created itself and that it will always exist. The World will go on though people may change.’

‘This sounds hard hearted’ I complained, ‘People make up the world and they matter.’

‘Of course they do. It is what they do that the World as you call it, the Existence, Nature responds to. If each one on this planet believes he is here to fend for himself without a care about how the next person lives or dies, Existence too will respond the same way, without a care to those who live here. However, if each one here truly believes that we are all connected and in turn connected to Existence, then that Existence will shower its blessings on us. You only reap what you sow, as Jesus said a thousand years ago.’

Master looked thoughtful. ‘People keep asking me why nature is so cruel. Tsunamis drown thousands, earthquakes kill thousands and that many are innocent children. They want to know why.

Who knows why? Nature is nature. Nature acts by its rules. Nature is neither kind nor cruel. Nature is just spontaneous. It moves with its energy. If you are in its path and resist you are destroyed. If you flow with it, you grow. What about all the negativity that we build by destroying nature? We destroy forests to make paper; we drill through the earth for oil to run cars; we destroy hills for granite to beautify our homes; we block rivers in the name of agriculture; and, we spew out gases that burn a hole in space. At each turn, we fight nature, and we destroy nature.

Yet, people wish to know why nature destroys and complain.

Become one with nature and nature will nurture you. Nature never destroys. Nature merely responds. How nature responds is in your hands.’