Daily Times

Migration and displacement for basic livelihood will continue to be approached with suspicion and aggression.

Once upon a time, a king acquired a beautiful jewel and displayed it in his main palace hall. He admired the lustre and brilliance of the jewel every day until one day it was stolen. The thief dug a deep hole in the forest to hide it, but the jewel possessed a mystical glow; captivating the thief’s attention. The thief started to admire its brilliance. Suddenly, the king appeared in it.

The king thanked the thief from freeing him from this earthly possession and said, “You cannot add to its beauty by hiding it or wearing it with vanity, its beauty comes when you give it honour and respect.” Similarly, we possess the life-nurturing jewel, “Mother Earth” and have forgotten to honour and respect its bounties.

As the world celebrates International Day of Peace on September 21, and United Nations sets the theme for 2019, Climate Change and Peace, world leaders are expected to carve out new strategies for addressing climate-related disasters in the light of international peace. The UN Security Council met in June 2019 to contemplate on climatic impacts including drought, desertification, and water scarcity, which aggravate “existing vulnerabilities and risks.”

As per Global Observatory, “In many parts of the world, women’s livelihoods and security are also at heightened risk from the impact of climate change in conflict-affected settings due to their connections with agriculture and the collection and management of natural resources.”

Due to climate change, migration and displacement for basic livelihood will continue to be approached with suspicion and aggression. Dalai Lama conveys the message very aptly, “Peace is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience.

“It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighbouring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free. True peace with ourselves and with the world around us can only be achieved through the development of mental peace.”

A glimpse of peace or true awakening will be when we realise that we are citizens of the cosmos. Our national identity or ethnicity is a mere mark of social bonding. Eastern philosophy maintains the true nature of humanity is to be compassionate and peaceful. Violence, hostility, rage or anger is fuelled to provoke social prejudices and paralyse the mind. It’s a state of bondage where only a few benefits. On the other hand, compassion sounds like the elegance of the affluent. A big fat cheque to charity makes them proud of their heart, but they have to be equally blamed for plundering the earth’s resources. Nature has been guiding and providing ways and means to be compassionate. As Albert Einstein said, “Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”

Another exponent of this view was Baron Alexander von Humboldt, who influenced Charles Darwin’s “Theory of Evolution.”

In 1801, Humboldt was the first to describe the earth as a living organism. Andrea Wulf quotes him in her book, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World, “Nature is the domain of liberty,” Humboldt said, “because nature’s balance was created by diversity, which might, in turn, be taken as a blueprint for political and moral truth. Everything, from the most unassuming moss or insect to elephants or towering oak trees, had its role, and together they made the whole. Humankind was just one small part.”

Yet humans are the only species that have caused much destruction and devastation to nature’s balance and environment.

Peace is mostly understood in a social and political context but true peace and peacefulness lie with nature by respecting and honouring it. Osho mentions about the Bodhi Tree which Buddhist seeks to preserve in remembrance of Buddha’s enlightenment while seated under it. He writes, “Scientists say that the Bodhi Tree is the most intelligent tree in the world…it has the greatest quantity of chemicals which make the mind intelligent…it witnessed Buddha flowering into different dimensions.”

The Bodhi tree was known to flower out of season after Buddha’s enlightenment. Undoubtedly, nature has an impact on our spiritual wellbeing. On the other hand, humans can also have an effect and impact on ecology. The 2,500-years-old historical Bodhi tree is now facing climate change effects and withering.

The essence of peace is action-oriented gratitude by conserving and preserving nature’s balance and glory.

The writer is a wellness and yoga expert