Elephants by the Karumba people
Why India?
Why ‘Forest Voices of India”?
Well, India offers an alternate perspective.
In what follows, we are about to make a few generalizations. These observations – about eastern culture and western culture – are not true of everyone all the time, in every circumstance. And yet, there is some truth in these observations. Though painted with a broad brush – they do highlight some general truth and reality.
We who have grown up in the western world – as part of the western-oriented world culture – have, often, been conditioned to see the world in a certain way: The way we see it – human beings are at the top of the ladder. We are taught that everything should be organized to promote human interests — a human future, human well-being. Laws benefit humans; the structure of societies benefits humans. If we choose to go to the moon or to Mars, that will be for the benefit of humans. The future is for humans.
That is how we are generally taught to perceive the universe.
Eastern culture – particularly the very ancient traditions of India, which go back several thousand years – has a different perspective – seeing humans and human awareness as being a part of nature, as belonging to nature, as being children of the earth – along with all of the animal kingdom, the plant kingdom, and the rocks themselves – even the mountains, the rivers and the oceans. We are not meant to rule over these other beings – we are one way of being among all the other ways of being. We are meant to live in harmony – as a part of nature – not dominant, not subservient, but as one life form among all the children of the earth – of the universe.
To see ourselves as superior – along the lines of Charles Darwin – or in general western philosophy, is to have a mistaken view of the universe. We are actually not the pinnacle of creation. We are not the only conscious life form on earth. Your dog, your cat, your gerbil, or the wild birds outside your window also have a profound consciousness – they know and are aware of things which may escape us, as humans, entirely.
The other life forms around us
Your dog knows which of your friends are genuine – and who is not to be trusted. Your cat has never forgotten the ways of the wild. She knows the nature of the wind and the changing of the seasons. Those birds, who we might think have such a small consciousness, can migrate for hundreds of miles – to places where they have never been – and return to the same tree where they were born the following spring. Your dog knows when there will be an earthquake and has the ability to be aware of the intricacies of fifty to 100 times as many smells, with all the information that accompanies them – as we do. They can find lost people or criminals – we cannot do that. They have connections to the reality around us, whereas we are all too often trapped within our human minds – and alienated from reality.
Yet we, in our own self-glorification, tend to assume that we are wiser, smarter, somehow more “advanced” – even though our knowledge is often confined to the purely cerebral and, indeed, may have pretty much lost contact with the world of nature all together. There is so much knowledge that we miss – but nevermind, we do write so many important books and we have such a lofty opinion of ourselves. We write laws to benefit ourselves, and we naturally assume that we are the pinnacle of all creation.
Ancient eastern thought
Eastern thought, especially in India, over 5,000 – or seven or eight thousand years (depending on when we start counting) simply does not subscribe to these self-delusions about the supremacy of humanity.
There are many simple, day-to-day, examples of this. For example. It is a common practice for Indian housewives, early in the morning, to sprinkle outside their homes, beautiful designs – mostly flower patterns – made of rice flour. These beautiful designs have another purpose: they feed the ants. It is the housewife’s way of taking care of even the very least of the creatures of the natural world. Every day, as her first activity in the morning she creates a beautiful artistic pattern which has the important benefit of feeding small creatures. To her, the ants are not a nuisance, not an irritation – she does not reach for a can of insecticide to “get rid of the “invasion” of ants. No, instead, she looks upon all creatures as worthy of compassion, of help – she feeds them – and creates beautiful designs at the same time. How typically Indian! How much we could learn from this compassionate way of seeing our fellow creatures.
Indian spiritual awareness is profound – it is not simplistic. It exists on many, many levels of reality. It does not place human beings on a pedestal (a pedestal which, by the way, may be fast dooming the earth to destruction as we use the earth up to benefit ourselves).
Worshipping trees – and the beings of nature
Indian people – today, as always – worship trees. You cannot go to a Hindu temple without first encountering the temple tree – often surrounded by other sacred trees and sometimes even sacred forests. The people worship these trees. They pray to them. They stop to wrap a sacred cloth around them – or to hang a little trinket as a token of devotion – in the branches, as they pray, asking the tree for blessings – or thanking the tree for prayers answered.
Every Hindu God has, as part of his or her identity – an animal companion – who is not in any way inferior, but who expresses a powerful, magical aspect of that God’s essence or divinity.
Garuda, the great eagle is the vehicle of Vishnu.
Hamsa, the swan (or sometimes the goose – they are closely related) is always the faithful companion of Saraswati – the Goddess of learning and culture.
The parrot, as the guardian of the forest, accompanies Minakshi, the beautiful Goddess worshipped in south India, especially in her temple at Madurai. Minakshi is also the fish goddess who has emerged from out of the sea.
Krishna is the cowherd who guards and protects his herd of cows, keeping them safe – he does this also for people.
Shiva, the great transcendent power of the universe, is often shown with the mighty bull – who represents his power and might.
Literally millions of Gods and Goddesses, in their varying names and forms, are worshipped by the people of India – all with their accompanying animals – who are sacred beings, who carry the power of divinity within them.
Human beings, who do not feel that they are in any way superior to these sacred beings, worship them instead.
Adi Sesha, which means The Remaining One, goes on from world to world, eon to eon – the one who remains – as all other beings come into being and then fade away as each era ends. Adi Sesha – the great divine cobra remains – from time to time – always.
Seeing the worth of all species
To the people of India, animals are not products – to be grown then sacrificed – eaten or sold for money. It is not just cows that are worshipped. Life is worshipped.
Yes, there has been much western influence – and today there is factory farming in India and even the use of animals in laboratories. However, the respect and love for the spiritual essence of each animal has still not vanished altogether.
The innate ability to see the worth and value of all species and all life forms remains – even today – in hearts of Indian people. Despite the corruption of modern times which has seeped into Indian thought, over time, the basic reverence for life remains – in the kindness and in the traditions of Hinduism.
And this can still be seen by anyone who takes the time and makes the effort to talk with people in India or from India – and to read the laws of India that pertain to wildlife and to all animals, which are among the most enlightened laws in the world.
Let’s not assume that everyone in the world is the same. That is not true. Let’s take the time to be aware of cultural differences. The laws and the perceptions common as state laws in the U.S. still do, almost universally, consider animals generally (except for pets like cats and dogs) to be livestock to be exploited by humans – or, in the case of wild animals, they are considered “resources” – as in the words which most states have – “the Department of Natural Resources” – or something similar. The term itself implies that animals are to be used for the benefit of people.
This is simply not the case all over the world. It is not the case in India, and it does not have to be the case anywhere.
© Copyright, Forest Voices of India, 2023
