Topic: New adventure for ecological relationship and harmony

1. Common resources of religious literature for addressing ecological issues

2. Contextual hermeneutics of eco-theology from the perspective of religious plurality
3. Ecological harmony of life through active and living relationship among creatures

Introduction

Ecological literature is to explore the relationship between literature and the natural environment
for the purpose, by examining the contemporary world of natural environment and cultural spirit
of ecological imbalance, to look at modern human thought, culture and civilization and many
other complex issues. Ecological balance is a term used to describe the equilibrium between
living organisms such as human being, plants, and animals as well as their environment.
Photosynthesis that takes place in ecosystem contributes to building a good environment that
stabilizes the coexistence of all organisms. Harmonious relationships reflect healthy and
desirable ecological balance. Human being plays a key role to maintain ecological balance
because they have the highest thinking capacity as compared to other living organisms.
Sufficient food availability to all living organisms and their stability reflects the existence of
ecological balance. Therefore, this balance is very important because it ensures survival,
existence and stability of the environment. In this paper we will discuss some common religious
literature towards ecology and ecological balance, living in harmony with the creatures.

1. Common resources of religious literature for addressing ecological issues

The increasing realization of the importance of religion in all facets of life, both in developed
and developing societies is also giving ways to write ups on the importance of religion in
addressing ecological challenges such as environmental degradation, global warming and the
environmental crisis. There are many religious teaching and texts towards ecology and
ecological concerns.

1.1 Jainism literature: Jainism upholds non-violence (ahimsa) to be the remedy for all miseries,
sufferings or cruelties of life. The threat to life, for Jainism, arises from a faulty epistemology
and metaphysics as much as from a faulty ethics. The anekantavada provides an ontological basis
for the principle of non-violence and similarly syadvada can easily plead the case of biodiversity.
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Environmental justice posits the issue of interspecies and intra-species justice. Jain ecology is
based on spirituality and equality. It recognizes the fundamental natural phenomenon of
symbiosis or mutual dependence, which forms the basis of modern ecology. Hence, the
discipline of non-violence, the recognition of universal interdependence and the doctrine of
manifold aspects as all these leads inexorably to the avoidance of dogmatic, intolerant, inflexible,
aggressive and utilitarian attitudes towards the world around.1

Nonviolence (Ahimsa) means that no harm should be done, no injury should be inflicted on any
part or whole body of any life form. None should at all be killed, mutilated or destroyed. There
should not be exploitation, overburdening of any. Nonviolence is not only non-killing but also
not causing any suffering and not creating any problem, difficulty and inconvenience for anyone.
While killing is extreme form of violence and is being committed on slightest pretexts, other
common forms of violence are generally ignored and not even considered violence. The most
common form of violence being ignored is over burdening the helpers, dependents, animals and
natural resources and not giving them their food, clothing, shelter and compensation due to them.
Like human beings and animals, natural resources earth (soil, minerals), water, air, energy and
plants, individually and collectively as respective eco-systems, are also living beings and have
carrying capacities, resilience and rejuvenation time-cycles. Even in human beings and animals
capacities differ in weaker and stronger.

In Jainism non-violence has very extensive and intensive connotations with minutest details. It is
not limited to any particular life form, human beings or his domestic animals but covers all life
forms from minutest microbe to biggest and also to earth forms (including soils and minerals),
water-forms, air-forms, energy-forms and all plant-forms. It is not only not killing or not hurting
bodily but in even not thinking mentally about violence and also not speaking violent harsh
words. Nonviolence should be observed in mind (thoughts), speech and body activity.
Observance of violence is not restricted to violence from commitment of violence by one-self but
includes not asking or instigating violence by others and also not to approve violence being
committed by others.2

1
Dr. Sucheta Shukla, Ecological Perspectives of Jainism https://www.pracyajournal.com/article/88/12-1-8-
324.pdf
2
S.M. Jain, Environmental Doctrines of Jainism
https://www.jainfoundation.in/JAINLIBRARY/books/Environmental_Doctrines_of_Jainism_007642_std.pdf

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1.2 Sikh

The ecological message is an important theme of Sikh teachings enshrined in Sri Guru Granth
Sahib (SGGS), the holy Scripture of the Sikhs. Life on earth incudes all life forms. They were
evolved by nature over millions of years and co-exist interdependently in a finely balanced
system. Guru Nanak Sahib (1469-1539), the founder of Sikhi (Sikhism) called this
system Dharam Khand in his founding Bani or composition, Japji Sahib, the first holy
composition in Guru Granth Sahib. Dharam Khand is based on the law of cause and effect. That
means we reap what we sow. Dharam teaches how to live responsible lives if we are to be saved
from total disorder leading to chaos and destruction. The earth’s survival depends on the
observance of dharam in all relationships. There are many references to this law in Japji Sahib
further elaborated in Guru Granth Sahib.

By creating the earth, the Creator Being established it as the home of Dharam [Khand] – the
sacred place where righteous conduct is to be practised. (SGGS p.1033) In Sikh, the purpose of
human life on earth is to see and experience the Creator Being in nature (kudrat) and to serve
both. Only then is a state of harmonious living achieved.

Guru Nanak saw the Creator in the diverse creation wherein He sits and watches over all with
joy and satisfaction (chaao). Many passages in Guru Granth Sahib are devoted to nature, the
environment, the wind and the rain, day and night, the changing seasons, and the rich diversity of
life on earth. The Creator created the air, which, in turn, created water and brought life on earth.
(SGGS p.19).The concluding hymn of Japji Sahib teaches that the air which gives life is the
guru, the teacher, water is the father and the great earth is the mother. Day and night are the two
nurses, in whose lap all the world is at play. (SGGS p 8) The whole creation is a celebration of
nature (kudrat) in which resides the Creator Being.

Another holy composition, the Barah Maha composed by the Sikh Gurus mean "Twelve
Months". It is a wonderful poem reflecting the changes in nature during the year which interact
with the human soul yearning for union with the One Creator Being.

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These are just some examples from Guru Granth Sahib to show the essential unity of life-
diversity in nature and the Creator of all. In other words, “If you do not see God in all creation,
the finely balanced eco-system, then you do not see God at all!”

Today’s selfish consumerism and market driven economies are a threat to the global climate and
the environment. Sikhi – Sikh thought and way of life – has a powerful message for humankind
regarding ecological issues. On this earth man is at the head of all species (SGGS p.374) but has
forgotten his duty (dharam) to serve the Creator and His creation due to lust and greed

According to Sikhi, the purpose of human life is achieved by seeking complete harmony with
Waheguru, the Wondrous Enlightener, the Giver of knowledge, while living the life of a
householder. The Creator Being resides in nature and creates numerous diverse species. The air,
the water and the earth are the givers of life and knowledge, and sustainers of life. The
environment is the teacher, the water and the great mother earth the father and mother, the caring
parents, who look after us. Therefore, it is also our duty to serve these, our natural “parents” –
the earth and the environment - and not to disturb the nature’s mechanisms developed over
millions of years. Diversity must be preserved and respected according to the “Anekta meh ekta”
(unity in diversity) principle of Sikhi now adopted as a universal maxim. Every human being has
a responsibility to selflessly serve the Lord’s creation and not to desecrate this temple of God,
the great mother earth.The ecological message of Sikhism is highly relevant today. It is time that
this central theme of Sikh teachings, also becomes the main concern of all individuals and
administrations at local, national and global levels.3

1.3 Hinduism

The messages of environmental conservation contained in the Vedic and Puranic literatures, in
the Upanishads, Arthashastra, Charak Samhita, Ramayana and Mahabharata are all based on
Hindu religious philosophy. “Non-violence” that is, non-injury to both the living as well the non-
living creations of nature such as plants, animals, air, water, land (earth), hill and forest is the
core of Hindu religious philosophy which extended up to Jainism and Buddhism. All social and

3
Sikhism & Ecological Issues (Gurmukh Singh OBE, UK)
https://www.sikhmissionarysociety.org/sms/smsarticles/advisorypanel/gurmukhsinghsewauk/
sikhismandecologicalissues/

4
cultural activities in Hinduism have some environmental overtones. Hindus have extended their
relationship from social and natural environment treating rivers as their mother goddess, forest as
gods, totemic animals as brethren and prey species as mortalities.4

Traditional Hindus believe that trees can bring peace, prosperity and consolation to mankind,
worship of god a green tree is considered to be a sin and sacrilege which can spell disaster for the
family and even for the entire village community a traditional Hindu father is specially guided by
the moral restrictions of destroying a green tree. Hindu homes worship peepal tree (Ficus
religious) off widowhood; they worship of god Coconut tree (Cocus nucifera) is believed to be a
symbol of fecundity and so Hindu women who nurse the desire to get a son worship coconut
trees and eat coconut fruits as a “divine gift”. 5
The primitive Hindu societies of India
represented by the tribal’s (aborigines) living in mountains and forests have significantly
contributed a protection and preservation of several virgin forest patches in rich in biodiversity.
They are called “sacred groves” (Forest of God) and are left untouched by the local people. Rig-
Veda especially mentions about environment on several occasions. A verse from the Rig-Veda
states that “the sky is like father, the earth like mother and the space as their son. The universe
consisting of the three is like a family and any kind of damage done to any one of the three
throws the universe out of balance”. 6 Vedic culture and Vedic scriptures reveal a clear concept
about the earth’s ecosystems and the necessity for maintaining their balance. Another verse from
Rig-Veda says “Thousands and Hundreds of years if you want to enjoy the fruits and happiness
of life, then take up systematic planting of trees”. 7 These verses carry a message to desist from
inflicting any injury to the earth and embark upon constant a forestation for survival or else the
ecological balance of the earth would be jeopardized.

Hinduism has always been an environmentally sensitive philosophy. No religion, perhaps, lays
as much emphasis on environmental ethics as Hinduism. The Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedas,
Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Smriti contain the earliest messages for preservation of
environment and ecological balance. Nature, or Earth, has never been considered a hostile
element to be conquered or dominated. In fact, man is forbidden from exploiting nature. He is

4
SP. Das Gupta. Environmental Issues for the 21st Century, (New Delhi: Amittal Publications, 2003). 2
5
SP. Das Gupta, Environmental Issues for the 21st Century, (New Delhi: Amittal Publications, 2003). 10
6
DS. David, Tamil Temple Myths, (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1980). 87
7
OP. Dwivedi, Tiwari BH Environmental Crisis and Hindu Religion, (New Delhi: Gitanjali Publishing
House, 1987). 102

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taught to live in harmony with nature and recognize that divinity prevails in all elements,
including plants and animals. The rishis of the past have always had a great respect for nature.
Theirs was not a superstitious primitive theology. They perceived that all material manifestations
are a shadow of the spiritual. The Bhagavad Gita advises us not to try to change the environment,
improve it, or wrestle with it. If it seems hostile at times tolerate it. Ecology.8

2. contextual hermeneutics of eco-theology from the perspective of religious

plurality

3. Ecological harmony of life through active and living relationship among the
creatures

Humans and nature are intimately and interdependently intertwined. They interact reciprocally
over time and affect each other in a relationship characterized by continuous change. A failure
to recognize this, according to Grande, has resulted in humanity experiencing a crisis “rooted in
the increasingly virulent relationship between human beings and the rest of nature.” This
increasingly disharmonious relationship is contributing to the occurrence of extreme natural
events, and to their impacts being more serious and enduring.
Harmony is associated with compatibility, coordination, cooperation, understanding and
congruity. Harmony creates balance, union, synthesis, calm, tranquility and peacefulness. These
processes and outcomes encapsulate what humans essentially strive for. Accordingly, living in
harmony is synonymous with health and well-being. 9

3.1 Living In Disharmony with Nature: Source of Disasters

Nature facilitates human life. However, if people disregard this vital relationship and live in
disharmony with nature, it can also challenge human survival. Despite the tangible indicators of

8
R. Renugadevi, Environmental ethics in the Hindu Vedas and Puranas in India
http://www.academicjournals.org/app/webroot/article/article1381908933_Renugadevi.pdf
9
P.T. Buergelt, & D. Paton, An ecological risk management and capacity building model. Human Ecology,
2014. 42.

6
climate change and the growing incidence of disasters, most Western people remain generally
unaware of, and abrogate their responsibility for, their role in causing and sustaining risk from
natural hazards. The origins of this dissociation can be described in terms of cosmology,
ontology and epistemology.
Western cosmology is commonly totalitarian - a single God created the world through a single
command. A combination of positivistic and rationalist ontological and epistemological
worldviews in Western cultures has contributed to people perceiving their relationship with the
environment largely in anthropocentric terms. In some Christian theologies, respect for and
protecting nature is seen as challenging God’s authority and will.10 Positivism and rationalism
contribute to beliefs in a stable reality in which humans and nature are separate. Because
Western philosophers like Socrates and Descartes believed that only humans have intelligence,
they advocated that nature could not teach anything. Other creatures (e.g., plants, animals,
minerals) are perceived as only having a value as an amenity that is useful to humans.
Accordingly, Western cultures typically see nature as a resource that can justifiably be exploited
to benefit people. As a result, the prevailing anthropocentric perspective in the Western world
advocates for capitalizing on the resources and amenities sourced from nature and undervaluing
both nature (in its own right) and the importance of maintaining harmonious relationships with
nature for survival.11
In societies that hold totalitarian, positivistic and anthropocentric beliefs, interacting with nature
in harmonious ways that reduce the risk of extreme natural events is unlikely to arise. When
natural hazard events occur, the focus is on combating them rather than identifying and
addressing human agency in their causation and prevention. It is important to turn this around.
Doing so can reduce the incidence and severity of natural hazard consequences. Environmental
engagement can also represent a source of factors that contribute to how people cope with, adapt
to and recover from natural hazard events.

3.2 Living in Harmony with Nature: Source of Well-Being and Adaptive Capacities
Interacting with, experiencing, and living in harmony with nature can contribute to health and
well-being. There is a growing body of evidence that experiencing nature is essential for human

10
J. Griffith, Savage grace: A journey in wildness. (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Berkeley, 2015), 45-46
11
F. Berkes, Colding, J. & Folke, C. Navigating social-ecological systems: Building resilience for
complexity and change. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 63

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health, well-being, education, development, and growth.12 Experiencing nature has been linked to
(neurologically) reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and aggression, and restoring energy and
health.. Engaging with nature has also been identified as contributing to people’s quality of life,
and with facilitating recovery from adverse experiences.
Experiencing nature promotes the development of adaptive capacities such as creativity, self-
awareness, self-efficacy, self-esteem, perceptual skills, autonomy, vitality, and positivity. 13
Janben found that interacting with nature enhanced problem-solving skills and behavioral skills
that that manifest in increased readiness and willingness to make decisions, change habits, put
knowledge into action, take responsibility for one’s actions, and increase civic mindedness.
Growing up in nature, and with people who value nature, instils in people a desire and the ability
to live in harmony with nature and to develop collaborative and cooperative relationships with
people and place. Harmonious relationships between people and nature increase people’s sense
of attachment to people and places Environmental engagement increases people’s willingness to
living in harmony with nature and place and with people, and to investing energy and time in
working together with, taking care of and protecting both.14

Importantly, regular interaction can result in key adaptive capacities becoming culturally and
socially embedded in people’s everyday living and knowledge systems, and in the social and
societal structures that binds lives together.15
Social interaction is facilitated by the presence of common natural spaces in urban settings.
Common natural spaces facilitate opportunities for community members to interact, develop a
sense of community, and develop individual and collective efficacy. Creating harmonious and
functional relationships between people and between people and nature. 16

12
Living in harmony with our environment: A paradigm shift
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318721706_Living_in_harmony_with_our_environment_A_paradigm_shi
ft
13
S. Eigner, The relationship between “protecting the environment” as a dominant life goal and subjective
well-being. In P. Schmuck, & K. M. Sheldon (Eds.), Life goals and well-being: Towards a positive psychology of
human striving Kirkland, (WA: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, 2001) 182-201
14
P.T. Buergelt, & D. Paton, An ecological risk management and capacity building model. Human
Ecology, (2014). 591–603.
15
P.T. Buergelt, & D. Paton, An ecological risk management and capacity building model…
16
Living in harmony with our environment: A paradigm shift
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318721706_Living_in_harmony_with_our_environment_A_paradigm_shi
ft

8
Conclusion

Humans are the result of long-term development of nature. Nature exists before human and
society and is the precondition for the birth of human and society. It is impossible for human and
society to come into being without the gestation of nature, also, human and society cannot exist
without nature, not to mention the harmonious development. It can be seen that nature is the
foundation stone which bears the weight of human civilization mansion and is the most profound
natural foundation for the birth, existence and long-term development of human and society. As
the son of nature, human and society always consist in the nature, firstly, they are “natural
existence” and are “part of the nature”, and then they are social existence. Nature is not only the
producer of human and society, but also the foundation for existence of human and society.
Human and society can never get rid of the dependence on nature and the restriction by nature.

Bibliography

Berkes, F. Colding, J. & Folke, C. Navigating social-ecological systems: Building resilience for
complexity and change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003

Buergelt, P.T. & D. Paton, An ecological risk management and capacity building model. Human
Ecology, 2014.

David, DS. Tamil Temple Myths. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1980

Dwivedi, OP. Tiwari BH Environmental Crisis and Hindu Religion. New Delhi: Gitanjali
Publishing House, 1987

Eigner, S. The relationship between “protecting the environment” as a dominant life goal and
subjective well-being. In P. Schmuck, & K. M. Sheldon (Eds.), Life goals and well-
being: Towards a positive psychology of human striving Kirkland. WA: Hogrefe &
Huber Publishers, 2001

Gupta, SP. Das. Environmental Issues for the 21st Century. New Delhi: Amittal Publications,
2003

Griffith, J. Savage grace: A journey in wildness. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint Berkeley, 2015

Webliography

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Living in harmony with our environment: A paradigm shift
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318721706_Living_in_harmony_with_our_environme
nt_A_paradigm_shift

S.M. Jain, Environmental Doctrines of Jainism

https://www.jainfoundation.in/JAINLIBRARY/books/Environmental_Doctrines_of_Jainism_00
7642_std.pdf

Sikhism & Ecological Issues (Gurmukh Singh OBE, UK)

https://www.sikhmissionarysociety.org/sms/smsarticles/advisorypanel/gurmukhsinghsewauk/
sikhismandecologicalissues/

Dr. Sucheta Shukla, Ecological Perspectives of Jainism

https://www.pracyajournal.com/article/88/12-1-8-324.pdf
R. Renugadevi, Environmental ethics in the Hindu Vedas and Puranas in India
http://www.academicjournals.org/app/webroot/article/article1381908933_Renugadevi.pdf

10