Special Lecture - Nature

Special Talk on day-6 of the camp was from Shruthi Didi was on “Nature” .

She spoke on the impression that foreigners have on Indians, their traditions, symbols worshiped, bindi put on their forehead etc and also told an amusing story of Alexander, the Great's earnest desire to take a Yogi back to Greece.
She spoke on how humans standout many a time without appreciating others when the whole universe of nature is working on Yagna spirit.

She did create an awareness on how humans exploit animals in different ways unconsciously causing destruction to different species. Animals are useful to us and in turn we as humans should take care of them instead of unnecessarily exploiting them.

What is the difference between Animals and Humans on how they treat nature?

Animals work on instinct whereas humans have been gifted with free will or choice. It is this choice unfortunately that he humans don't use correctly. Plants and Animals are all in harmony with nature.. Albeit unconsciously whereas humans being conscious beings r not fully conscious in making the right choice. Because of choosing to not live in harmony with nature man is causing his own self destruction.

Humans are the most evolved of all creatures... Most developed brains... We have reached the moon even but we have imitated the west. West thinks we can conquer nature but east always knew we are part of nature. We are not separate from it. If we harm or exploit any creature we only have to pay for it. That's the spirit of oneness and divine cooperation. Everything supports everything

Yes, now-a-days man make all possible effort to conquer the Nature, consciously control and exploit Nature, which has lead us to face the wrath through Natural Calamities.  She emphasized that it is essential to start living in divine cooperation and in complete harmony with Nature through motivational real life stories, like 'The great sparrow campaign'  in 1952 under the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. Destroying the sparrow eggs and nests... Which in turn led to insects destroying all grains on stalks and in granaries. Resulted in the great Chinese famine due to the imbalance in the eco system.

Who is more evolved - animals or humans?
Right now it seems humans have devolved to worse than animals. We r given a nobelpeace  prize if we live true to our humane nature.. But a cow is not applauded for behaving like a cow. Think!

So what should humans do... It's their duty to live up to being human... To help and protect other creatures.

In Vedic period, people had great interest in India due its Vedanta. Nalanda and Takshashila Universities have brought students across the globe, like Aryabhatha graduated from Nalanda and Charaka (first surgeon in the world) , Chanakya, Panini from Takshashila  because our science behind vedanta is so strong that it had a mention about the exact speed of light in ancient times.

What made the Indian geniuses they were?

• It is because they lived in harmony with nature... 
• They put in the efforts and as their minds were peaceful and creative ideas flowed into them.
• They lived in the attitude of gratitude to all things that sustained and nourished them. 
• They bowed their heads to all as a result their ego was diminished to the extent that they could see their on individuality microcosm being reflected as the macrocosm in their meditative minds.
  Because of these traits, Indian geniuses could easily see the entire universe inside of themselves. It is no wonder they could could make such accurate astronomical calculations for example, 'The distance between the sun and earth and speed of light etc.', much before the western scientists discovered it.

Concept of RNAs

Every individual by nature passes through various stages of life. Indian thinkers correlate the stages of individual to the society and prescribed duties to every stages of life. 

Further, the ancient Indian concept of rnas is truly beautiful. It said each human being is born on the earth with certain rnas and were bound to repay those rnas during his life time.

The concept of Rna implies obligation and responsibility. Man is a social animal and his development is possible, because many other fellow beings have, in some or other way, contributed to his progress. The individual is under obligation of many members of his society.

• Rishi Rna - is also called as Guru Rna. The first stage in the life of an individual i.e Brahmacharya ashrama (a student) is spent with teacher.
• Pitri Rna - is to be with community and what you owe to your parents.
• Deva Rna - The forces of nature are beyond the control of human beings. To please forces, men used to perform sacrifices. Performance of sacrifices or offering prayers was a way to show respect to deities.
• Nar Rna - is about what you owe to your friends
• Bhuta Rna - all we owe to our environment.