Responsibility towards nature- something that we can learn from our ancestors

Have just started to read a book ' Indias Unending Journey' by Mark Tully. Among many other things that he discusses he also talks about Hinduism and its way of acknowledging nature.

It surely made me think. Most of our basic practices that were followed by our ancestors are now ignored or considered 'uncool' to follow. Yet it is those practices that have taught us to be humble and attribute some part of our existence to something beyond our control.

For instance, our ancestors never assumed nature to be just another resource available for consumption. They regarded it as a gift and believed it deserved respect and not irrational hording. They worshiped plants, animals even rivers and oceans. It was their way of acknowledging natures contribution in our existence and also a way of saying that these resources are precious, which need to be utilized ingeniously.

Now suddenly with issues of global warming coming to the fore, everybody seems to be giving their views and trying to device ways to conserve energy and resources. Yet we cant acknowledge the fact that in the name of modernization, we did commit a folly. While running the race of development we happily threw all the practices to the wind. It was suddenly uncool to follow those beliefs. Many even labelled it superstition. We conviniently forgot that there is a fine line between superstition & belief.

Accepting the presence of other factors in our success certainly does not attribute to superstition. Nor does it belittle our achievements if we respect the nature that is our only source to sustainance - something that we never created and might never be able to regenerate!