George reflects on a quote from the Bible and how it has influenced our disrespectful attitude towards nature.
The Bible says in Genesis 1-28: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
I believe it is obvious that humanity’s incorrect approach to nature has resulted in disaster. I won’t make the same claim as many others that the Bible’s words come directly from heaven; it’s understandable that so many individuals on the earth benefit from such hypocrisy.
Of course, behaving like that toward nature was required in those extremely primitive old days of humanity when this instruction was first written. If there had been no conflict with nature, if there had been no rules about nature, man would not have survived.
Yet regrettably, since then man has not stopped being hostile and violent towards nature, despite the fact that he is a part of that nature and that by killing it, he destroys himself.
The facts and consequences of man’s rash reign over nature are plain to see. All of the world’s issues stem from man’s deeply established separation from nature, as well as his greediness. Our environment is now practically polluted everywhere.
Climate and seasons, which have followed rigorous norms for thousands of years, have begun to change. The focus on rescuing the earth will soon, very soon, be a top priority for every government on the planet. Reducing harmful emissions is already a priority, and this is only the beginning; this simply indicates that man has gone astray, that he has drifted from the path on which he ought to be, which is to live in peace with nature rather than to be its ruler and destroyer.
In recent years, man has also become increasingly robot-like in his approach to life’s simplicity and naturalness. It’s as though he’s growing gradually estranged and totally disconnected from the source of life on the earth.
Of course, if a man lives in a mechanical, robot-like way, he will be unaware that he has moved away from his existence; he will be unable to sense the mystery of life that surrounds him.
And there’s mystery all around us. We are immersed in mystery. We ourselves are a mystery.
Ordinarily, we seek out miracles and supernatural events, oblivious to the fact that life itself is a miracle. What is the best way to experience this miracle? Man must adopt a new perspective on life. First and foremost, he must stop being aggressive and violent yet be full of love; love not only for humans and animals, but also for plants and trees.
One of the miracles is that if someone is truly filled with love, that love will spread all around them; it happens on its own. It gives man the sense that he is one with everything surrounding him, with all of nature.
This is the truth. If the source of life on the earth is oneness, then it must be true. The only difference is that man’s evolution has progressed to a higher level. We humans, living creatures, trees, and plants are all interconnected and interdependent, but it appears that we are unaware of this because we continue to be separated and destroy ourselves as a result.
The secret key lies with love only. Man should approach life with love and more love if he is to sense that mystery called life. And then life on the earth would have been respected, not slaughtered, not destroyed. If such a love had penetrated man, he would have lived in harmony with all and everything. Yes, such a love exists. I claim this because I have personally experienced it and am still experiencing it.
It may be that I unknowingly struck my inner core of feeling and now perhaps, I am in tune with existence. As a result, unusual things started to happen.
Nothing strange, nothing supernatural is going on, but something inexplicable is happening. The entire process is personal, and to feel and experience something like that, one must be very watchful, very alert.
In such moments of love – love which opens a man’s heart, love which does not discriminate, love which is not cultivated by the society but rising, growing from one’s inner being – one just feels happy, joyful for no reason.
Isn’t that a miracle? Everything around me seems to be immersed in a different reality. Despite the fact that I have never touched a drug in my life.
On such occasions, I am open to everything. My joy and smile bring a smile to the faces of strangers I meet on the street. Colours become more vibrant. Trees appear to be greener than usual; I can sense their heart pounding within them. Everything that surrounds me is throbbing and pulsing.
Walking to work very early in the morning, at five or six o’clock, which I love, it occasionally happens that a bird will hop out in front of me, just around my feet, chirping as if to say, “Good morning, George.” Of course, I’ll talk to the bird if I get the feeling that there’s some sort of communication going on. I feel as if existence is celebrating all around me.
In such moments, I don’t think, I simply feel, and I let things happen as they will. I’m quite aware that I won’t be understood. For the vast majority of people, it will certainly be incomprehensible, and it will even appear ludicrous, foolish, insane, and crazy. However, if a man has moved away from his identity, from his nature, then it cannot appear otherwise, it will be a puzzle to him, if not real madness.
Sometimes a wood pigeon or a wild dove (usually not seen in cities) may come very close to me, hunting for something to peck or drink water from a small puddle, totally unconcerned about me.
When Hitler (a nickname for one of the corporate managers in the recycling company I work for) approaches, the same birds will flee and seek refuge in the shed where we sort out waste materials.
And every now and then, Hitler will show up with an air-gun and start shooting at the terrified birds, who will try to hide and perch on the beams above. I will pray with all my heart that Hitler will miss, and most of the time he will, but if he does happen to shoot a bird, my entire being will be in pain.
I then quickly leave, wondering why, why should this man kill, take lives for no reason, just for fun? What is it about man that makes him capable of killing? Is man still overcoming his animal heritage and instincts to kill?
When we sometimes clear out the shed, the resident rats will furiously try to flee and hide. Of course, I’d prefer that these living creatures get away from Humpty-Dumpty’s (a nickname for another colleague) excavator. He’ll try to slam into them, oblivious to the fact that he shouldn’t try to kill them.
I’ll even step in front of the excavator on occasion, preventing him from killing rats.
“Why, George, why?” he asks. “Besser kaputt,” he’ll add in German, staring at me with irritated incomprehension.
“What poor creatures!” I’ll respond. “Leave them alone, let them live.”
When a rat occasionally hides in a crack, I will pretend that I am not aware of it. I’m going to let the rat escape. I had numerous opportunities to destroy these animals, but I did not. Why should I murder a living creature? Who am I to take a life, even if it is that of a rat? Isn’t a rat as much a part of existence as I am?
I’ve also found that rats aren’t as scared of me as they are of my co-workers. How do they know I’m not going to hurt them? It’s got to be telepathy, right? There’s no other way to explain it.
Once I was working alone in the shed, loading wooden beams into the JCB loader, when a rat appeared out of nowhere, about a meter distant, winding slowly through the beams and other rubbish in front of me, looking for breakfast. The rat was big, its tail was torn off.
Of course, I was taken aback. Smiling, I was looking about and wondering what to do. The rat was unconcerned about my presence. “Hey, you old rat, get out of here if you want to live,” I said. I was waving at it, attempting to scare it away, and it reluctantly moved and hid amid the trash.
This experience made a deep impression on me. I thought about it for a long time and concluded that telepathic communication is conceivable, and that animals can sense who is going to hurt them and who isn’t.
Even still, I can’t help but wonder if this could have occurred to Humpty-Dumpty, for example. No, no. Not only does Humpty-Dumpty despise rats, but he despises all living things, including humans. And he is terrified of rats to the point where he trembles just thinking about them. He claims to have been bitten by a rat as a child, but I don’t believe him. He lies all the time and uses it as an excuse to justify his fear and hatred of these creatures.
And, as far as I can tell, it isn’t only Humpty-Dumpty – or Hitler who fires at helpless doves – but the vast majority of humanity. It’s because individuals are lacking in love and are either unaware of their own existence or have a bad attitude about it. They have no concept of love, despite the fact that it is the most exploited word on the planet.
Such hostility toward existence is due to the fact that we humans act in a mechanical, unaware, and unconscious manner. And what can we expect from those who are unconscious? Rulers and destroyers will always exist and their lives will always be boring and uninspiring.
Love is what makes people’s lives meaningful, not the kind of love that is sold on television, coupled with sexuality, or just talked about. The love I’m referring to is unrelated to any of those. It is the love Buddha and Jesus and Osho talk about. Such love sharpens one’s awareness until one is capable of feeling existence in all of its manifestations.
Such people’s love is rare, I understand, but it is the only way to protect oneself from aggression and violence. And, of course, one’s attitude toward nature and life will be completely different as a result, no longer destructive but creative.
Many individuals are familiar with the concept of the law of attraction. People that share similar interests are attracted to each other. Of course, it works, but the majority of people are unaware of it. Regardless of who or what one is, one encounters or is encountered. Life, on the other hand, is only a reflection of ourselves. Everything revolves around ourselves or what we are. Simply radiating love attracts others who are similarly loving, and vice versa.
Which reminds me of someone I used to run into on my way home from work. I’m not sure what his name is and it doesn’t matter; what matters is that he exudes love. I just call him Danke because any time we meet, he starts with “Danke, Danke,” and points to everything around and continues, “say thank you to all and everything if you want to be happy, if you want to feel life.” He’ll always have a smile on his face, and his eyes will be shining.
I understand that such a person is thought to be eccentric, yet this is love. When a man’s heart is overflowing with love, he doesn’t give a damn what others think. As a result, such a man will never consider harming or destroying others.
Unaware of this, man will continue to destroy himself by contaminating the environment in a more and more aggressive, violent, antagonistic, and greedy manner.
The earth’s rulers and controllers will eventually reap what they have sown.
But such are the intangible laws of life. “Beauty,” wrote the great Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, “will save the world,” but I don’t see anything more magnificent than love. Love beautifies whatever it touches. Love is life and everything is love.
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