New Delhi: Indian spiritual sects are gradually widening their divine spreads in new and meaningful ways to make themselves
more user-friendly.
One of the causes that spiritual groups across India is championing is protection of
environment and
sustainable livelihoods; which hinges on the preservation of natural elements that make up the core of Indian spirituality, traditionally grounded in totemic beliefs and animistic rituals.
On Sunday (May 23), nearly 1,000 Buddhist monks, nuns and followers set off on a 400-km monthlong spiritual trek (padyatra) from Kardang in Lahoul Valley in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in Ladakh across five icy Himalayan over 40 days passes to promote protection of environment and sustainable lifestyles in the region, bulk of which is cut off from civilisation.
At the heart of the campaign is a drive to say no to plastic bags, which is one of the major pollutants in the fragile ecological zone straddling the picturesque Lahoul and Spiti valleys in Himachal Pradesh - all the way to Ladakh.
The high tourist traffic is largely responsible for the litter, say environmentalists in Himachal Pradesh. This year, the stretch of the Himachal hills between Kullu, Manali, Lahoul and Spiti- all the way to Ladakh - is bracing for a summer rush because of the growth in domestic tourism.
The trekkers, led by the head of the 800-year-old Tibetan Drukpa Buddhist sect, Gyalwang Drukpa, will distribute canvas bags to more than 100,000 villagers along the way as a symbolic gesture to shun plastic bags and switch to carry-bags made of cloth and eco-friendly material.
The marchers will also raise funds - 30 US dollars per km - to spread education and sustainable lifestyle awareness in the Himalayan villages.
“This year, we wanted to promote something that purges pollution. Since plastic litter is one of the major eco-concerns in the region, we decided to to teach the villagers healthy alternatives. We are in the wheel of a revolution and the way to carry it forward is to lead a clean life. Thousands of disciples who visit my monasteries in Hemis in Ladakh every year from Europe and Japan requested that we must do something in a sustained manner to turn the wheel of revolution,” Gyalwang Drukpa told this writer from Manali before flagging off the march.
The sect has also been given land along the Indus river to create new woodlands by planting trees.
The trekkers will also champion the cause of “balanced education for children of the Himalayas” for sustainable livelihoods at the Drukpa sect's eco-friendly “Druk White Lotus School” in Ladakh that has won international acclaim as the best green school building in Asia.
“A clean environment is the cornerstone of a clean, healthy and strong India,” says seer Ramdev, the co-founder of the Patanjali Yog Peeth near Hardwar.
The spiritual guru is leading a campaign to clean the river Ganga from its source in Gangotri to its delta at Ganga Sagar where it drains into the Bay of Bengal under the banner of Ganga Raksha Manch.
“The government has at least granted the river Ganga national heritage status after our efforts for almost a year,” the seer said.
The Ganga, which is often considered the lifeline of modern India, is contaminated almost throughout its 2,500-km course.
The cause has helped the Patanjali Yog Peeth identify itself to new segments- especially the youths living in the riverine villages along its stretch, sources in the Patanjali Yog Peeth said.
Protection of environment and mitigating the effects of global warming also tops the agenda of the spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of the Art of Living, which has a global following.
“The only way to check environment pollution is to spread awareness. Many people in this world live without the knowledge of climate. They are immune even to changes in the cycle of seasons. They have to be educated,” Ravi Shankar said.
The seer, who hosted a national environment summit in his retreat in 2008, has been campaigning against global warming and agri-pollution by promoting “organic farming”, plantations and traditional farm technologies.
Youngsters identify with the campaign, says the guru, whose Art of Living Foundation headquarters on the outskirts of Bangalore is a model for sustainable ecological conservation and traditional farming.
Mystic and yoga expert Jaggi Vasudev, the head of the Isha Foundation, a spiritual organistion in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, is known as the global tree planter. His foundation entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006 for an eco-conservation campaign, “Project Greenhand” which has planted 7.5 million trees in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Bulk of the foundation's members are young professionals from across the world, who are sensitive to eco-concerns.
--Madhusree Chatterjee