Hari Aum.
Navaratri, the festival celebrating God as the Divine Mother, starts tomorrow. This is a wonderful time to worship Devi. My Guru Sivananda advises chanting the navarna mantra (Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundayai Vicche) as much as possible during this time to obtain the grace and blessings of our Universal Mother.
The headline today on Nature and climate change on the BBC news website is rather alarming to say the least:
At the rate the human species is destroying the planet, the coral reefs with be wiped out, land will go under water due to melting of polar ice-caps and unbearable and unnatural weather phenomena will increase. We have already got our share of abnormal weather with unprecedentedly hot summers, forest fires and so on.
Why am I mentioning climate change on a website related to spiritual practice? Because Nature is a manifestation of God. Nature is an aspect of the Divine Mother, of Divine Energy.
When we act carelessly with no regard to Nature, we are disrespecting the Divine Power that created all this. We cannot call ourselves worshippers of the Divine Mother if we act carelessly and destroy Her manifestation in Nature, if we create disharmony and discord in Her creation. No. To be able to call ourselves Her real devotees, we have a duty to start thinking and taking practical steps to do our bit to stop destroying the planet, which is Her creation.
What can we do individually to reduce our carbon footprint and to stop destroying the planet?
Lots of things. Some things can be done from today, other things will require more time to plan and implement.
Some things we can do from today:
1. Eat less or no meat- scientists all over the world say that production of meat for consumption is terrible for the environment. Cows in particular produce a lot of methane which is bad for the environment. Stop eating meat if you can, or at least reduce meat consumption if possible. You will need to ensure adequate intake of protein from vegetarian sources such as lentils, pulses, nuts etc and also include some dairy intake to avoid vitamin B12 deficiency. Eating vegetables is very good to reduce risk of cancer and other diseases according to scientists. So it is good for us and the planet to be mostly if not totally vegetarian.
2. Stop wasting electricity- switch off lights etc when not in the room, line dry clothes (instead of tumble-drying) if possible etc.
3. Walk more and drive less- good for the environment and for our health
There are many more things that can be done- the website below gives some more examples (there are lots of other good websites with more information):
Let us make a pledge this Navaratri, in honour of the Divine Mother, that we, Her children will do everything possible to stop destroying the planet, that we will honour Her creation and treat it with the respect it deserves.
Also, we need to reduce plastic waste. There is a disgusting amount of plastic filling up the oceans and destroying the lives of creatures living there. Not to mention the landfills filling up with the stuff. We need to use reusable shopping bags, and avoid single-use plastics where possible.
For women, there are reusable menstrual pads available- these are made of some sort of highly absorbable microfibre or something. I was wary of trying these but finally bought some on Amazon (which had very good reviews from other customers) in order to reduce my plastic waste. I have to say that they work very well (absolutely no odour/leakage etc), are comfortable and can be machine-washed and come out sparkling clean. They are affordably priced and seem to be of very good quality (look like they will last any months, possibly years). I have stopped using the disposable plastic-lined sanitary pads completely since discovering these. I would encourage women spiritual seekers to explore this option (many different companies are making these) as one way to reduce plastic waste.
I have also made a promise to myself that every week or at least every month, I will try and identify one plastic item to replace with some environmentally-friendly product (e.g. replacing plastic toothbrush with toothbrush made of biodegradable material). I would encourage you to do the same. This is an important aspect of worshipping God who created Nature.
Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundayai Vicche.
Salutations and prostration again and again to the Divine Mother. May She give us the iccha shakti (will-power), jnana shakti (wisdom) and kriya shakti (power of action) to worship Her properly, including the courage to take steps to change our lifestyles to live in harmony with Her creation.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
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