Oct 26, 2005

Nature Striking Back ?

Dec 2004 : Tsunami (est 270,000 dead)
Aug 2005 : Unprecedented rainfall in many parts of India.
Sep 2005 : Hurricane Katrina
Sep 2005 : Hurricane Rita
Sep 2005 : Major Typhoon in China Sea
Oct 2005 : Earthquake in Kashmir ( 79,000 dead, expected to rise)
Oct 2005 : Hurricane Wilma
Oct 2005 : Bird Flu ( can become a pandemic)

Am I being paranoid or are we heading for disaster ?

Harmony with nature has been the central belief in Hinduism and Buddhism. When we are growing up , we are told that our Karma's reflect our current state, and the more bad karma we have in our previous life, the greater our suffering in the present. And looking by the way we have been progressing till now in trying to dominate nature and becoming more and more cruel in our dealings with others, it looks like we are in a bad karma state.

The problems can be answered with both scientific and karmic explanations. The scientists can talk about deforestation, global warming, etc for our current predicament. The karmics can state the selfishness and meanness increasing in the world the reason for the current state. I believe both go hand in hand. With people just worrying about their bank accounts - who cares about the rain forests vanishing ? What they forget is that for every action - there is an equal and opposite reaction. The earth is a contained ecosystem. You cannot escape from the effects in one part of the world if you are located somewhere else.

The earth is a self stabilizing system. It does not favor anyone except itself. Till we continue to work with it, adjusting with it - we are ok. But if we start changing only for ourselves -- well, the sleeping giant awakens.

The earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, etc are just earth's way of letting us know - hey, you don't mess around with me - I have my own laws which you are disobeying. But I don't think we are going to heed the warning. Everyone is still fighting ( hey , that earthquake happened in Kashmir, I am fighting a war in Iraq. They are not related!). Time to note the warning signs.

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