Document(s) 7 of 10

THE PATH FROM ecology to spirituality is a path of enlightenment, a path towards understanding the divine destiny of humankind to protect and to take care of the earthly paradise, towards the realisation that a neglect of this destiny will turn the earthly paradise into an earthly hell.

The new philosophy of life is a philosophy of a systemic look at the planet's existence, of an integrated harmonious approach towards survival. Moreover, our modern philosophy of life corresponds very closely to the ancient, oriental philosophy of dynamic equilibrium. According to the Taoist Chinese philosophy of life, all natural phenomena are the manifestations of the perpetual fluctuation between two poles, where all transformations occur gradually in an integrated progression.

Natural order (wisdom) is one of the parameters of the dynamic equilibrium between Yin (everything that is compressible, sympathetic, conservative) and Yang (everything that is expanding, aggressive, inquisitive).

The essence of nature's lessons of wisdom is that humanity should come to understand the following, seemingly simple truth: deliberate and aggressive infringement upon the dynamic equilibrium of nature (the Yang factor) is detrimental to our health (spiritual and physical) due to a process occurring in the inner dynamic equilibrium which destroys the divine harmony between humankind and nature, as well as between the soul and the body.

Since ancient times, the purpose of science has been to understand the natural order and to understand the harmonious existence of humans within that natural order. In the 7th century A.D., the purpose of science became the acquisition of extensive knowledge that could be used to dominate nature. Up to the present day, science and technology are used for dangerous, destructive, and deeply anti-environmental purposes. An inertia in anti-environmental activities is still common, despite the environmental priorities of sustainable development proclaimed at the UN Rio Conference in 1992. The root of the problem lies in the loss of spirituality, in the oblivion of the profound archetypal world outlook that forms the essence of ecological consciousness and ecological wisdom, which are so indispensable to the relationship between humankind and nature.

World famous politicians, scientists, and public figures who have dedicated their lives to environmental problems, have come to a spiritual insight and to the essence of the genuine cause of environmental crises.

A famous English scientist in the field of the theoretic physics of elementary particles, Fritjof Capra, 35 understood nature's wisdom as "...divine, eternal unanimity of Nature and Reason, fundamental unanimity of all Nature's phenomena." After fifteen years of communication with other outstanding contemporaries, he came to the understanding of the ecological paradigm as a fundamental notion of progress in the world, science, and society, a revelation of a new ecological view of reality and the social consequences of this eco-cultural transformation. This is the kind of world outlook (salvational), characterised by genuine spirituality, which forms the essence of wise ecological consciousness.

Indira Gandhi's words are quite relevant: "I have always been very sensitive to nature, very conscious of it. I was lucky to grow up with a strong feeling of affinity towards the animate world. Plants, animals, stones and trees have been my companions." She also mentioned that India has an ancient tradition of environmental protection. The great Indian ruler Ashoka, who reigned for almost forty years in the 3rd century B.C., considered it his duty to protect not only the citizens but also the forests and wildlife. "Throughout all of India," stresses Gandhi, "we see orders engraved on stones and cliffs that are twenty-two centuries old, which address current environmental issues." 35 These are the ecological lessons of wisdom. They depict the mysteries of the relationship between people and nature of the whole history of human existence on our planet, which today is plagued by cataclysms. The falls of ancient civilisations, in many cases, were brought about not only by major natural disasters but also by the people. Historians have provided evidence that the irrational use of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers for land irrigation purposes destroyed the once powerful Babylon. Unforgivable carelessness, if not thoughtlessness, of the present time—excessive drainage from the rivers feeding the Aral Sea—has brought about the demise of the Aral Sea. Similarly, in the near future, the Sea of Azov could cease to exist. Not long ago, this sea was one of the richest biological resources of inland water in the world. Indeed, when God wishes to punish us, he takes away our power of reason!

Former US Vice-President Albert Gore, an American politician and ecolo-gist, dedicated a entire chapter in his book The Earth in the Balance. Ecology and the Human Spirit to the issue of the ecology of the soul. He realizes that

...spiritual sensation of our place in nature is more ancient than the aboriginal cultures of America; its source extends further and further back to the very beginning of human civilisation. The deeper I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outer manifestation of an inner crisis, which is, for lack of a better word, spiritual.

Capra admits in his confessional book Lessons of Wisdom 35 that he

...identified a deep connection between ecology and spirituality. I came to the understanding that profound ecological consciousness is spiritual in essence, and I realised that ecology, founded on such spiritual consciousness, may become the western equivalent of the oriental traditions.

The leading participants in the International Dnipro Programme—the authors of this book—also came to the understanding of the link between ecology and spirituality and the need for the adequacy of ecological and religious spirituality.

Unfortunately, the spiritual aspects of international co-operation were not systemically incorporated into Agenda 21. 63 Apparently, the 21st century was expected to unfold under a logo of non-spirituality. Yet, spirituality and culture should be considered equal components along with the economic, social, and ecological elements of the World Action Plan.

The divine wisdom manifests itself in a pre-established harmony, that is, harmony of the body and soul, consciousness and reason, humankind and nature. In recent years, a notion has arisen that the crisis of religious systems is the result of environmental crises. Based on this notion, a problem exists because human civilisation builds its relationship with nature upon fundamentally unethical principles. Since religion has always been the most influential guide for civilisations, the search for the root of the problem has pointed towards religious systems (Judaism, Christianity).

Not every religion directs us to 'possess' the earth as a gift from the time of genesis. Hinduism and Buddhism do not grant such a right. The Christian religion calls for parsimonious management. Let us recall the biblical passage mentioned earlier: "The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it." (Genesis, 2:15) True believers ought to remember that even during the times when they 'possess' the earth, they must take care of it and protect it.

The spiritual sensation of our place in nature goes back thousands of years. Our ancestors worshipped only one Goddess—the Earth, the original mother of all living matter, who maintained a harmonious co-existence among all living things. Nowadays, Mother Earth is worshipped by peasants, who adore her and thank her for bread, a gift from God. A common feature of many religions is the recognition of the holiness of water. Christians are baptised in water as a manifestation of purification. According to the Koran, "everything is made of water". In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha is present metaphorically in the form of a "rain cloud" that covers, fertilises, and enriches "all thirsty living creatures." Nowadays, we see what a great pilgrimage is attracted to the Ganges River and to the belief in purification. Sikhism, a South Indian branch of Hinduism, established around 1500, attaches great significance to the comprehension of nature. Its founder, guru Nanak, said: "Air is the vital force, Water—the Forefather, the vast Earth—the Mother of all; Day and Night are the teachers, who caress all creatures in their arms". According to the Holy Sikh Book, The Guru Granth Sahib, humans are formed from five parts of nature that teach us and give us power, during the time when the personality is developing: "the Earth teaches us Patience and Love; the Air teaches us Mobility and Liberty; the Fire teaches us Warmth and Courage; the Sky teaches us Liveliness, Broad-mindedness; the Water teaches us Cleanliness and Purity."

The Christian religion has always included prophecies that caution us and protect us. Many prophecies anticipated environmental destruction, forewarning the transgressors of God's will. For example, those who understand the Bible literally may easily remember Hosea's prophecy "For they sow the wind, and they reap the storm wind." That is exactly what has happened. The materialists sowed heartlessness—and we reap environmental crises.

The technocratic path of development of the Dnipro basin river system demonstrates the same merciless human imprudence that brought the once matchless cradle of the Slavs to the brink of environmental disaster, languishment, and degradation.

Twenty-two centuries ago (200 B.C.) the Dnipro basin witnessed the formation of Pre-Slavic civilisation and statehood. Unfortunately, at the time there was no ruler as wise as the Indian Ashoka. Later, Yaroslav the Wise came to power, although history is silent as to whether he was ecologically wise. Yet, it is well known that nature deprived his negligent descendants of ecological wisdom: they became self-satisfied strategists and tacticians of openly destructive environmental experiments.

The essence of the forgotten historical wisdom of the Dnipro as a natural entity lay in the deification of nature by ancient ethnicities, in strict compliance with ethnoscenic balance, the ecological wisdom of the Scythians, tillers, fishers, cattle-breeders, who imparted their knowledge of nature through generations. The mentality of contemporary Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian people with regard to the Dnipro basin is, indeed, permeated with the ecological wisdom of the ancient pre-Slavic nations. However, today, the violation of this ecological mentality, which often borders on violence, has led to the current ethnoscenic imbalance and disharmony, as well as the languishing of the vital forces of the Dnipro aura.

The ethnoscenic aura of our great nationally distinct river has been forming for millennia, protecting and refilling the vital forces of the nations of the Dnipro basin. The genetic power of Zaporizhzhian Cossacks had spread to Southern Russia, the near-Urals, and Siberia. The stable genotype of the 'Cossack' ethnos survived the violent suppression of the Zaporizhzhian (Kuban, Ural) 'Cossack spirit', the Cossack vital force that is rooted in Indo-European and Scythian ethnic history.

Materialistic philosophy, communist ideology, and unreasonable, heartless scientific and technical progress 'subjugated' the Dnipro in the late 20th century. The communist party and leaders, contrary to common sense, created water reservoirs-sumps and built the cyclopean Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the picturesque ethno-historical site where the pre-Slavo-Baltic (Wends), preSlavo-Germanic, and Slavic ethna had once risen.

Unfortunately, the prophecies of ancient seers were forgotten and the Dnipro responded with the Chernobyl accident, the flooding of vast areas and land degradation. There is no lowland river that has suffered as much from human violence as has the Dnipro.

The time has come to reverse the course, to go from environmental crisis to spirituality, from awareness of an ecological abyss to awareness of the effects of a lack of spirituality. More and more people in the Americas, Europe, Russia, and Ukraine realise the inevitability of this path and they are ready to embark upon it. However, we must move along this path, not by small steps, but by giant leaps, in order to avoid dragging out this righteous undertaking over dozens of years.

In Ukraine, the path of environmental enlightenment began with Chernobyl and the National Program for the Environmental Rehabilitation of the Dnipro Basin and Improvements in Drinking Water Quality. Although much has been achieved, not all of the goals have been met and progress toward meeting many of them is getting slower and slower. The problem lies in the fact that, although the Programme is called national, it has yet to become truly national. It is formally still a state programme, where politicians and officials are not concerned with national sanctuaries, where spirituality is not their concern, and where political and corporative goals are materially more important.

The National Program for the Environmental Rehabilitation of the Dnipro Basin, as time has shown, still remains only a good intention. In order for it to work it should be made a matter of national common purpose. It should inspire and awaken the ecological consciousness of the people of the Dnipro basin, the Ukrainian diaspora abroad, and involve all national forces: state, social, business, religious, scientific, educational, and other.

The new life philosophy of the people of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia should be to approach the Dnipro as a dominant vital force of the nations and not merely as a resource (water, fish, and energy). For Ukraine, the Dnipro should become a national idea that would heal the Ukrainian nation as well as rehabilitate its eco-historical traditions for the sake of future generations.

The Thought about Culture is the Gate to the Future.

Nikolai K. Rerikh

Document(s) 7 of 10