The Twenty Second day of April is popularly celebrated as ‘Earth Day’ worldwide. The human populace many a times addresses Earth as Mother Earth and the nature as Mother Nature.

Have we ever stopped and thought why it is so? 

One of the names in Sanskrit for Earth is vasundhara. Etymologically, it means the ‘bearer of many forms of wealth’.(vasUn dharati iti vasundhara). 

Mother Earth, with its hospitable climate, rich resources of minerals, water, abundant forests, lakhs of species of animals, mountains, ineffably beautiful nature and phenomena, is undoubtedly a treasure. Thousands of eco-systems thrive on this immensity. 

In the complex structure of nature and living beings, everything right from a delicate petal to a robust mountain, is intertwined. The equilibrium maintained in this strikingly multifarious infrastructure is in itself a wonder. The planets move around the Sun in perfect orbits.....they do not have holidays. The sun rises and sets on time. Water dries and forms clouds as per laws. It rains as per the laws. The rivers do not get bored of merging with the sea. The flowers bloom in Spring and it snows in Winter. There is perfect order. One does not have complaints, strikes or agitations from Earth. Is not Earth an epitome of patience? Rightfully, it is addressed as Mother.

Humanity has not been very kind to Mother Earth. Issues like deforestation, air pollution, chemical waste, meat production, etc have caused brutally mutilating attempts of defiling her. Yet, Earth continues to sustain us, hold us. Is not Earth an epitome of resilience? Rightfully, it is addressed as Mother.

It is good to have a day called ‘Earth Day’ where people are reminded of their responsibility toward the Mother; But should not everyday be ‘Earth Day’, at least in attitude? Should we not be responsible towards her every single moment? We are ravaging our own basis, plundering our Earth’s resources for our own selfish ends without making proper arrangements for replenishment. 

As a result of imbalance created by human despoilment, the rivers are drying and glaciers are melting. Life-giving rivers are themselves becoming lifeless. Who is to blame? Surprisingly, the mute animals and birds perfectly follow order. You would never see an obese bird or a depressed tiger. They are aligned with the order. The so-called, intelligent, proficient man alone messes up his own life and tampers with natural resources. Are we making proper use of the free will that we are so proud of possessing?

All it takes is a little promptitude in thought, dexterity in action and a better level of ethical accountability. One has to feel the same for Earth as one feels for oneself or for one’s mother.

In the vedik culture, Earth is termed as ‘BhU Devi’ (Goddess Earth). Even today, some people in India touch the Earth with their hands reverentially in the morning before stepping out of bed. The vedik scriptures have special hymns on Mother Earth.

The respect was not only for Earth but also for all its wealth. Animals are respected. Cow-worship is an indicator of this. Cow itself can be taken as a synecdoche to accommodate the animal world altogether. Rivers were also venerated and given an exalted status. The society was duty-based and there was no selfish competition, hence, brotherhood was evident. 

In the present day, we need to make slight changes in our attitudes and speak up for our own mother. There is not time left for complacency. A little effort from a few people will go a long way and we might be able to resuscitate Mother Earth.

Do I sound cynical? Well, following are some links which prove otherwise...

1. THE VIRULENT BANE CALLED MEAT PRODUCTION: THE FIRST STEP TO SUSTAINABILITY IS ADOPTING A VEGETARIAN/VEGAN DIET

http://www.unep.org/pdf/UNEP-GEAS_OCT_2012.pdf

 2. EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING: 

http://www.climatehotmap.org/global-warming-effects/health.html

 3. DEFORESTATION:

http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/deforestation-effects-global-scale-2214.html

We are used to living in the past; conditioned by the past memories, events, lamentations, anxieties, insecurities, successes, achievements, ambitions etc. Nothing that we perceive is fresh. Upon what we perceive, we superimpose the past from within our minds and give our perceptions new names.

The names that we give depend on speech. Name is always associated with a form. A form belongs to the mind. As soon as the mind sees a form, the memory within, is activated and we find a corresponding match in the memory. We pull out and superimpose the found match on the object afront. There is a huge conflict in this. Not stopping here, we introduce a name using the speech.

Let us take the example of gold. A bangle as such, is not an object. It is a mental projection and a name. All that is, is gold. On seeing a particular circular form, a previous thought seated in the mind is activated. The form is matched and a label ‘bangle’ is attached to the form. There is no seeing here. It is only recollecting. 

How to see then? One just has to see, without the mind, seeing with the being. No doubt, speech and form are required for transactions.  Beyond transactions, there is the presence which is. Behold that presence through seeing. Once the mind is brought into the picture, an unrestrained flow of subjective impressions intercede the process of seeing.

Seeing without bringing in this observer, is real seeing. The observer is, in other words, the bundle of impressions, the ego, the ideas, the concepts, definitions, the dogmata, submissions, guilts, resistances etc. These are all embedded to what is seen. This is a clear conflict, in that, the duality of observer-observed is taken as real. 

Once the mind is dropped then there is only seeing There is no longer any observer-observed division. There is seeing with the whole being. There is homogeneity in spite of the illusions of heterogeneity. 

Let us take a book for example. The mind has to be very peaceful for this kind of observing.

The ‘name’ book has to be temporarily blocked out. Then there is the form which ignites the memory. The form also has to be abandoned. One has to look afresh. The subject-object division is gone now. There is the existence in all silence - unnameable, formless. This is awareness. This is intelligence bereft of name, form, subjectivity and objectivity.

Such looking is real seeing. There is no naming through speech, no layering of mental paraphernalia. There is only seeing. 

Does something happen? No. There is no happening, no experiencing. There is seeing, there is reality, presence, the is-ness alone. 

There is a sense of being, I- ness, awareness which is appreciable with this seeing. ‘Sense of being’ is more an apprehending of ‘what is’. This sense of being is not a result seeing, since, now, seeing is not an action.

Observing with such a tact is a natural gift, which we have learnt to forget. We have to unlearn it to live life meditatively. This in the scriptures is called ‘shAmbhavi dRRiShTi’

I would also like to point out, that this is a practice that finds mention in Patanjali Maharshi's works. Though we do not accept their dualistic philosophy, we do accommodate their practices, just like we accommodate yama, niyama etc.

This practice will NOT negate ignorance. This falls in the category of parampara sAdhanam (auxiliary means). Knowledge alone is the sAkshAt sAdhanam. (direct means) for moksha. 

Also, this practice has a different approach in haTh a yoga where the eyes are turned in and focussed to the middle of the eyebrow. Advaita has NOTHING to do with that practice. I do not know anything about haTha yoga, so will not talk much about it.