Environmental Ethics

Author(s): S M Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 21

principle of sustainability which has remained a mere slogan and has not been adopted in practice. It is simplest primary mathematics that more the consumption, more will be the pressure on renewable and nonrenewable resources. Any development can be sustainable only if the consumption inter-alia exploitation of resources is limited to their carrying capacity and renewability. Otherwise any talk of sustainability is farcical.
Enlightened Personalities, Sects and Religions :
Fortunately there have been saner and enlightened people, saints, sages, avtars, buddhas, prophets, tirthankaras in all ages. at different places in all societies who have been cautioning against reckless consumerism for sensuous pleasures. They advocated rationality and advised concern, love and compassion for all living beings from minutest micro-organism to insects, birds, higher forms of animals including humans. They analysed the root causes triggering transgressions on nature. These are greed, ego, lust and infatuation for sensuous pleasures which have no limits or points of satiety as more they are provided for more they increase and continue to multiply ultimately eating away the very basic resources necessary for survival of all life forms including humans. They evolved and prescribed codes of conduct to keep wants of people minimum so that demands or pressure on resources remain within the carrying capacity and renewability of resources and such societies and people under their influence lived in harmony with ambient environment in a given situation. Such personalities lived exemplary life styles and followed themselves what they preached. The term religion or Dharma has been coined for such codes of conduct. All these were good and relevant in particular situations for particular periods of time at particular places but not for all the times and all the situations. The time, space, people and other parameters on their canvas was limited. The world was fragmented in sparsely spread, widely separated pockets under influences of different sects and religions.
In most of these religions aberrations and distortions crept
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