Further reading: Darwin Gross, Your Right to Know
(Menlo Park, Calif.: Illuminated Way Press, 1979);
Harold Klemp, The Art of Spiritual Dreaming (Minne-
apolis, Minn.: Eckankar, 1999); ———, Autobiography
of a Modern Prophet (Minneapolis, Minn.: Eckankar,
2000); Paul Twitchell, Dialogues with the Master (Las
Vegas, Nev.: Illuminated Way Press, 1970); ———,
ECKANKAR: The Key to Secret Worlds (San Diego, Calif.:
Illuminated Way Press, 1969).
ecology and Hinduism
The beliefs and practices of Hinduism have been
a resource in ecological and environmental move-
ments both within and outside India. Hindu reli-
gious stories, imagery, and symbolism are used to
support the view that the universe is divine in all
of its aspects and nature is sacred in its essence.
Aspects of nature including mountains, seas, riv-
ers, trees, flowers, animals, and even the elements
of soil, water, and air have often been personified
in Hindu myth as divine beings to be worshipped
and cared for. Various forms of vegetarianism have
been practiced widely among different Hindu
groups for centuries. The deep respect for all forms
of life in the beliefs and practices of Hinduism pro-
vides a natural alignment of Hindus with any con-
certed effort against environmental degradation.
In India, the traditional home of Hinduism,
over 950 nongovernmental organizations work
for environmental causes that address ecological
problems from rural deforestation to urban pol-
lution. As record rates of industrialization and
urbanization press upon the limited resources
of India, groups have mobilized to find ecologi-
cally sound practices in residential settlements,
farming, mining, fishing, and water management.
Threats to India’s land, rivers, and seas, and air and
the displacement of millions of people through
construction of dams and mines are heightened
by population expansion and the consumerism of
a burgeoning middle class.
Traditionally India relied upon ecologically
sound management practices in its rural areas
and included a religiously based cultural order
that respected the sacredness of all life. Mohandas
Karamchand GANDHI’s activities in the movement
for Indian independence gave political legitimacy
to the religious and ecological sensibilities of India,
particularly Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. His
dedication to the values of nonviolence (AHIMSA),
holding to truth (SATYAGRAHA), personal asceti-
cism, minimal consumption, self-reliance, simplic-
ity, sustainability, and community-based economics
was based on his interpretation of Hindu values.
However, since the days of Gandhi, the political
leadership of the country has stressed seculariza-
tion and growth so that India has continued to
industrialize, urbanize, and modernize at a rapid
rate. Loss of arable land, deforestation, water pol-
lution, unplanned urbanization, dam construction,
and pesticide pollution are critical problems being
addressed by various ecological movements that
draw on the Hindu devotion to life and the sacred.
Two locally based movements in India dem-
onstrate the application of Hindu precepts to eco-
nomic and environmental challenges: the Bishnois
and the Chipko movement. The Bishnois are a
small Rajasthani community who view environ-
mental conservation as a religious duty. Their
leader, Guru Maharaj Jambaji (b. 1451 C.E.), wit-
nessed a severe drought and the cutting of trees as
food for animals, which resulted in the desolation
of both animals and plants. He constructed a pro-
gram that prohibited the cutting of any tree and
the killing of any animal. The ethic of the guru
endured over centuries and the area became lush
with vegetation. In the 18th century, the king of
Jodhpur sent loggers to cut down the Bishnois’
trees for construction of a new palace. The villag-
ers protested, and, when their protests were not
heeded, they protected the trees by surrounding
the trees with their bodies. Upon hearing of the
villagers’ dedication, the king granted them state
protection and their protection of trees and ani-
mals persists today. The Bishnois’ tactic of encir-
cling trees to protect them inspired the Chipko
movement of the 20th century.K 146 ecology and Hinduism