Sri Sri: People should be encouraged to treat the planet as sacred, to treat trees and rivers as sacred, to treat people as sacred, and to see God in nature and in people. This will foster sensitivity; and a sensitive person can’t but care for nature. It is basically insensitivity that makes a person act callously towards environment. If a person is sensitive, he will nurture environment, thereby eradicating pollution.
In ancient times, if a person cut one tree, he planted five in return. The ancient people did not wash clothes in holy rivers; any pooja offered to a holy river was performed with water from the same river; only ashes of cremated bodies were to be submerged in the river so that everything gets digested back to nature. It is unfortunate that we don’t understand the depth of scriptures but just follow empty and meaningless practices blindly.
Today, we tie threads around the trees; pooja does not mean just lighting a lamp and revolving around the tree; worshipping cows does not mean garlanding them and lighting camphor (which anyway just annoys or scares the cow!). Real pooja is honoring the tree, honoring the animal, feeling a sense of responsibility and belongingness towards nature and creation. This, rather than performance of obsolete rituals, is truly honoring their sacredness; these things should be reviewed.
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