An oil spill is a bulk release of petroleum products into the environment. Marine oil spills have been in the limelight recently owing to the accidental Oil spill from a British Petroleum refinery into the Gulf of Mexico.
This spill has caused deleterious effects on the Biodiversity of that region. Many aquatics have been killed till now due to the intake of contaminated waters. Trade of the region has been severely affected, especially the population that is dependent on the fishery industry. Tourist travel to beaches that were affected has nearly stalled.
A famous personality once said that nature has enough to supply to a man’s need but not to his greed. The creation with all its flora and fauna was so designed that everyone could live in harmony with one another. For e.g. trees are very valuable to the human existence. They give food, oxygen, shelter, raw material and many things more. They also act like carbon sinks for capturing green house gases like Co2 and thus reducing pollution. In the same way various other species of life also has its influence on the environment. This variety in life forms is called biodiversity. We can therefore deduce that any harm to the Biodiversity leads to negative impacts on the environment. Oil is extracted to be used as a fuel. It is the prime necessity of the human population. There are projections that the earth’s oil reserves can supply oil till the next 50 years only. Thus it’s necessary that we check the way we use oil.
This world is a creation of God or Krishna. He is the energetic source and everything we see is his energy. We fall into the classification of superior energy as we are living, while the dead matter is his inferior energy. The superior energy thus holds the power to manipulate inferior energy therefore we should be more responsible in our activities. Someone who uses others belonging is called a thief, in the same way we commit theft by injudicious use of Krishna’s energy without acknowledging his proprietorship over everything. Krishna made the world for us to purify ourselves from the material attachments we have. This implies that we are spirit soul, part and parcels of Lord Krishna and when we misidentify ourselves with the material non-living body we develop material contaminations. We lead our entire life misidentifying our real selves and are therefore subjected to miseries. Just as fish doesn’t live outside water in the same way we can’t live happily in the material world for long. What is required is a spiritual program that reinstates us in our real position of a servant of Krishna. On the contrary we are making it difficult for ourselves as well as other species to live in harmony with each other. Srila Prabhupada once said “The floating of the planets in the weightless air is due to the inner constitution of the globes, and the modernized drilling of the earth to exploit oil from within is a sort of disturbance by the modern demons and can result in a greatly harmful reaction to the floating condition of the earth”. What he said years back is clearly visible now. We are having tectonic disturbances as well as problems in the environment. The world wildlife federations, Marine Living Planet Index track populations of 274 marine species. The comparison was done with the 1970 data for the number of species. The results show a greater than 27 % plunge in the biodiversity index.
As referred above that the world is Krishna’s energy it can only be controlled by him. We may have created problems by our wanton living, but this doesn’t mean that we don’t have a solution to address these problems. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita:
daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te
“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.”
The process of surrendering culminates in developing love for Krishna. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in this age to teach us this program of surrender. He is an incarnation of Krishna. He urged everyone to chant: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
By chanting these names the heart is cleansed of baser qualities such a lust, anger and greed. In the proportion one is purified in that very same proportion one realises his real spiritual identity and starts developing surrender. Eventually one reaches the stage where he feels spontaneous love for Krishna and his creation. In love he doesn’t exploit the energy of Krishna but uses the same for his service. In this relationship of loving service he feels blissful and happy. Oil spills would keep occurring but let’s not spill this valuable life. Let’s love Krishna and feel the Bliss that we all are hankering for. Many have tried and were benefitted by chanting Krishna’s name. Don’t be left behind!
No comments:
Post a Comment