Family and Nation

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya, A P J Abdulkalam
Publisher: Harper Publications India

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THE FAMILY AND THE NATION
Evolution is not a process that is meant to torture us, force us to suffer or cause us more pain. Instead, it is meant to develop us. The spiritual evolution occurring within us will trigger a chain reaction. We will begin to reach unity with each other, with Nature, with Mother Earth and most importantly, with God. Truth is the life, substance and continuity of all things. We tread on forces. Withdraw them, and creation would collapse. Human knowledge calls them forces of matter, but divine science declares that they belong wholly to the divine Mind, are inherent in this Mind, and so it restores them to their rightful home and classification.
Is this the second part to this equation—the micro changes forcing macro changes? Is Mother Earth also releasing the old energies that have caused illness and disease to the important parts of her being? Is she trying to restore the balance that once existed? It can be and is a painful process. As she restores her waters and rejuvenates her lands, we face death and destruction. Must not the Earth release these energies and bring balance once again? Not to punish us, but to prepare a world where we can experience our newfound joy. So that Mother Earth may reflect the joy that we have found within ourselves.
Dr Karan Singh, spiritual philosopher, puts preservation of the environment as a central tenet of global society in his book I Believe. He writes, 'Our ancient literature exudes a profound awareness of environmental values. The whole concept of sacred groves and rivers, springs and forests was designed to emphasize the fact that human beings were not divinely endowed with the freedom to exploit and destroy nature at will, but rather (were) a part of the natural environment which it is their duty to protect.' The Bhoomi Suktam, Hymn to the Earth of the Atharva Veda (XII.I), has a remarkably comprehensive statement of environmental values in its sixty-three verses. To quote just one verse: