On the occasion of Buddha Jayanti, let's have a look at Buddha's role in preserving nature. I believe the Buddha was among the first environmentalists, who very consciously tried to protect not only all living beings but non-living things as well. Today, when we see ourselves in a sorry state of environmental degradation, it makes sense to recall the Buddha's stress on co-existense, compassion and tolerance.
Buddha says, "Know ye the grasses and the trees/know ye the worms and the moths/know ye the four-footed animals-small and big/know ye the serpents, the fish...." His concern for the world around him was primarily because of the fact that he was born in the forest, in the grave of Sal. Legand has it that he was able to walk as soon as he was born. Lotuses sprand all around when he took his first seven steps.
Sakyamuni's true home was the forest. As he grew up, he got into complete harmony with nature. His inspiration was nature, and later his enlightenment too was acheived under a pipal which is today known as Bodhi Tree. The jatakas narrate lovely birth stories about Buddha coupled with poetic appreciation of the nature and the need to preserve it with care and planning.Buddhism believes that all animals are within the field of human perception, with an opportunity to gain nirvana. The Buddha says human beings are only a part of nature, not its masters. He had warned that disregard for nature could mean our own peril.
Today, with all the dangers ahead - Antarctica's ice melting away, the Himalayan ice-caps fast receding, countries submerging into oceans and natural calamities like earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis happening quite often - we must mend our ways. We have misused our intelligence to destroy this lovely planet. I dread to think that one day, in less than a century, our beautiful India Gate area will be a wasteland, because of neither water nor trees even there.
Let Buddha prevail.
