Ways to Live in Harmony with Nature: Living sustainably and working with passion

By Kamaljit K Sangha

Have you ever wondered how you can maintain your current lifestyle, but not exhaust our planet's resources? In modern times, many of us have environmental knowledge but we lack an understanding of how to apply that knowledge to our everyday lives. Bridging this gap is what has motivated ecological economist Dr Kamaljit Sangha to write this book. Dr Sangha examines how people can make a difference to the environment by proposing little actions at the household scale that can contribute towards saving our planet.

This book examines how to:
- Minimise the gap between scientific knowledge and public awareness
- Reduce the impact of our actions on our natural environment
- Maintain our earth's natural resources
- Be happier and healthier by recognising our reliance on Mother Nature and re-establishing our connections with nature.

Dr Sangha believes there are a few, very easy steps that everyone - whether they reside in the city or the country - can take to save money, their mental and physical health, and ultimately our planet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Woodslane Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9780987144812

Book preview

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Nature and us

When the Dalai Lama was asked what surprised him about humanity the most, he replied:

Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.

In the modern world, our main goal is often to accumulate material wealth, making us work hard to achieve commodities while isolating ourselves from our mind and our surroundings. In this race for material wealth, we often explore our external world but not our internal world. We do not realise what we need and do not need, what our main purpose in life is and how we can lead a ‘balanced life’. By a ‘balanced life,’ I mean one in harmony with our social, economic and ecological environment. In this book, I deal with these three aspects and analyse how each plays a role in developing a holistic approach to living in harmony with nature.

To live a life that is ecologically sustainable and matches our economic aspirations can be a difficult proposition. However, it’s perfectly possible to match our economic and ecological aspirations. My ideal is to lead a life where I work with passion while meeting the main needs of my life. In reality, like most people, I do have to work hard within the system constraints to live sustainably and to feed and raise my family. So the most important question to me, and the one that I’ll be exploring in this book is how do I lead a balanced life from a socio-economic as well as an ecological perspective?

I admire the idea put forward by Amartya Sen (1999) in his book Development As Freedom, which says, ‘people lead the lives the way they want to lead’. This idea entails all aspects of our living — social, economic, ecological, health, spiritual and cultural. This means that as a citizen of a ‘developed’ nation, we have the opportunity to lead our lives as we want. We have the ideal situation to understand and appreciate development and to realise how significant it could be in making us both better individuals and a better society as a whole.

However, we often misunderstand the term ‘development’. We consider development means mainly ‘material wealth’ or to access materials and related services. Indeed, we do not develop our thinking that development is beyond materials/commodities, it’s about our capabilities, and us, that is, building our capacities to lead a good life. To be a ‘developed’ citizen of planet Earth, we should enhance our capabilities to lead creative and healthy lives to live sustainably without becoming a burden on Earth. Rather, we trap our minds in commodities and limit ourselves to this narrow definition of development. Even though we fulfill our economic needs for food and shelter that provides us with a comfortable life, we still do not feel satisfied. There is always something lacking in our lives. This is particularly true in the developed world where we seem to be missing some pieces of the puzzle, which prevent us from living life to its fullest capacity. Herein, I am talking about a person who wants to live a satisfied life in harmony with nature.

I am particularly interested in a kind of living that is ecologically sustainable, socially acceptable and economically viable. We can think of Earth as our ‘one and only house’ — a house that has been spoiled and exploited to meet our needs. As we feel the impacts of environmental catastrophes, we must recognise that our only house, Earth, is in danger. We must all want to save this precious house. This brings a few simple questions to my mind:

How can we save our home while living in the contemporary world where material wealth and comforts have become the main goals of our living?

How can we live in harmony with nature while carrying on our normal duties and meeting our needs for food, shelter and other comforts?

How can we practise living in a sustainable way that minimises our impact on the planet’s natural resources?

How can we merge environmentally-friendly ways of living into our daily busy routine?

How do we balance the socio-economic and environmental (natural) perspectives of our lives?

How do we change our attitudes and perspectives so we can live a balanced life in harmony with nature?

At the 66th session, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution on Harmony with Nature (A/RES/66/204). The UN General Assembly held a dialogue at their New York headquarters to examine how human activity has damaged Earth’s natural systems and affected the planet’s regenerative capacity, and how we can shift from a self-centered to an Earth-centred approach. The dialogue emphasised that our success and wealth must be measured by the balance we create between ourselves and the world around us, that is, by our ability to live in harmony with nature. Re-balancing with nature, recognising the role of Mother Earth in our socio-economic fabric and re-shaping the economy were the main points suggested to move nations forward with sustainable futures.

To shift ourselves to an Earth-centred approach, we need to explore our connections with Mother Nature. This further leads us to the main question posed in the Assembly: ‘How to live in harmony with nature?’ (UN, General Assembly reports A/66/302 and A/RES/66/204). This book aims to address this question at both the individual and societal level.

The UN-General Secretary submitted a report in 2011 on ‘Sustainable Development — Harmony with Nature’ (A/66/302). The report reflects on the relationship humans have had with the Earth, as well as with their own existence, across different stages of civilisation, from ancient times to the twenty-first century. It also proposes some relevant lessons that can be learned from ancient civilisations on connections with nature:

Eastern traditions (Indian and some other Asian countries) usually have no divide between the creator and his created animals. In Indian religions (Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and others), there is a focus on metaphysics and the belief that our bodies are made of five elements: earth, water, air, fire and the soul. It also emphasises the concepts of samsara (reincarnation), karma (cosmic justice or the deeds we do), moksha/mukti (liberation from the cycle of existence) and atma (soul/inner ultimate reality). It preaches about good deeds that include caring for Mother Nature and other living organisms created by God.

The Vedic philosophy of India has always emphasised the human connection with nature. Vedism is a way of life based on scriptures called Vedas/Aranyakas or ‘forest books’, which were written by sages who lived in the forest. The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Smriti contain some of the earliest messages on ecological balance and the need for humans’ ethical treatment of nature. There are strong connections suggested between stability in nature and human existence. This philosophy emphasises harmony with nature and recognises that all natural elements hold divinity.

In Chinese traditions, external nature is never understood on its own terms. It is always intimately related to human life. Chinese culture believes that reality consists of countless manifestations of one unbroken continuum, the tao. It has a cosmological myth in which the universe is viewed as an organic system of interdependent parts, thus representing a holistic perspective of life on Earth.

Ancient Egyptians worshiped a number of deities that involved their natural environment. They recognised the vital links between humans, nature and the divine. The fact the Nile River served their lands to produce food was deeply embedded in their rituals and belief systems. As the Nile flowed north, the ancient Egyptians believed the sun rose on one side of the river and set on the other and passed through the underworld to begin the cycle again the next day. The bright star called Sirius announced the annual floods, which brought irrigation and crop-enriching silt. This marker of time, crucial in the ancient calendar’s development around 5,000 years ago, provided a cyclical background to life’s rhythms.

In African communities, natural phenomena were once perceived to possess spiritual powers, and the natural world that supplied food and shelter was respected and revered. Certain trees were considered God’s trees, sacred and endowed with healing powers. Land belonged to clans consisting of the living, the dead, and even the unborn, a concept that enhanced the idea of sharing and caring for nature.

Pre-Columbian cultures used the term ‘Pachamama’ for Mother Earth throughout the Andes. Pachamama means ‘fertile and fruitful mother’, and conveys the symbiosis between humankind and nature.

In Western traditions, Romans had specific laws for the common use of air, water and fish, as mentioned in the Justinian Code (A.D. 529). This code represents the first body of law related to the environment and asserted that the laws of nature pertain to all life forms.

Around the world, ancient civilisations have a rich history of understanding the symbiotic connection between human beings and nature. Ancient sites, many of which UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has recognised as part of the World Heritage, have a part to play in twenty-first century people’s spiritual, cultural and material lives.

There is evidence in ancient times that the over-use of resources by some civilisations contributed to their demise. History also provides us with evidence of cases where civilisations lost their balance with nature and vanished (mainly due to a scarcity of resources). For example, Mesopotamian and Mayan civilisations faced problems of water logging and water siltation and later vanished due to the scarcity of water resources for human use (Redman 1999, cited in World Resources 2000–2001, and later in 2010–11). Similarly, Harappan civilisation disappeared because of siltation and the over-use of land resources.

The World Resources report of 2000–2001 highlighted some links of more recent times (Table 1.1):

Table 1.1: History of use and misuse of resources in ancient times (Source: World Resources Report 2000–2001).

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In the past, humans have faced many environmental challenges such as soil degradation, salinisation, the loss of biodiversity and primary cropland, and more recently, the changes in climate. Indeed, climate change is a major challenge that we are facing as a global community in the modern time. In the past 20–30 years, we have seen a number of catastrophic events including flooding, cyclones, bushfires, heatwaves, etc., that have impacted the lives of many people at local and regional scales. Such instances teach us the important lesson that if we want to sustain ourselves on this planet, we need to live in harmony with nature. There are many examples from which we can draw wisdom, such as some long-established indigenous beliefs and traditions that, within different contexts and structures, have formed the basis for a life in harmony with nature. The ‘holistic vision’ inherent in all indigenous belief systems and the importance given to constant communion with nature is perhaps a key lesson.

Australian Indigenous cultures, which have survived for approximately 50,000 to 60,000 years on a dry continent, are particularly important to mention here. Their communion with nature involves physical, spiritual and human living (Fig. 1). The people’s lives within these cultures involve intricate connections between their sacred, physical and social worlds, which includes connections to land, water and other natural resources. Indigenous ‘oneness’ with nature is clearly evident in their traditional system for ‘bush tucker’, rituals, totems and the kinship system that involves caring for nature’s different components.

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Traditional Indigenous Australians consider land as the ‘Mother’ and care for it with responsibility. In the past, their lives were closely connected to the land and other natural resources. Most of their spiritual, social, religious and political needs were fulfilled by connecting to the land and by associating with the natural environment. Most importantly, people cared for the land not only physically, but spiritually as well. The presence of various plants and animals are also important in people’s relationships, songlines, stories and ceremonies in connection with their country. Many ceremonial activities are linked to land or water, and people have rights and responsibilities based on their connections to the country. The presence of natural resources provided an opportunity for people to be together so they could perform rituals and cultural ceremonies and to keep their spiritual relationships with the country (Muir 1998). The Indigenous view is, ‘trees and animals they’re like our brothers and sisters; we got to care for them; they are part of us too’ (Colin Lawrence, Kowanyama).

From an ecological perspective, the feeling of ‘oneness’ and ‘relatedness’ to land among the Indigenous people helps them to follow practices that sustain land and water resources. This seems to be the main reason that Indigenous communities have not exploited the resources, but instead have integrated themselves with nature to co-exist as one entity. The Australian Indigenous communities provide a very good example for the rest of the world on how to survive, particularly on a dry continent, while managing their scarce resources and adapting their needs according to the availability of resources.

The Indigenous worldview of ‘oneness’ nurtures the sense of harmony with nature. It is something we are missing in the present economic world where our focus remains on utilitarianism, consumerism and using nature to produce more and more items to enhance our living. We look at various aspects of our life, such as the social or economic aspects, in isolation of connections between them or with nature.

Edward (1988) presented a summarised view of Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous values (Table 1.2), which suggested that Indigenous people perform activities for subsistence such as hunting and gathering for food and medicines, as well as for various spiritual and cultural ceremonies in relation to the landscape. Indigenous Australians manage land not only for production gains, but also for cultural, recreational and spiritual values.

However, compared to Indigenous Australians’ values, most people from non-Indigenous backgrounds believe in values that typically lead to land ownership or to the exploitation of land or other natural resources to maximise personal benefits. This arises mainly out of greed or to fulfill aspirations for life’s comforts that are too great. Our desire to live a ‘well off’ and comfortable life in material ways keeps us on the run like a ‘mad cow’ without giving us a chance to realise our connections with Mother Nature.

Table 1.2. Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous values in relation to natural resources (Source: Edward 1988).

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How can we develop an understanding of ‘oneness’ that can connect us to Mother Nature?

There has been extensive scientific research on the status of natural resources, degradation of agricultural and natural systems, and on climate change, sometimes with its economic implications for production systems such as grazing or cropping. However, for the general public that kind of high-level research has little relevance. This book intends to close that gap between the general public and the scientific world by promoting a simple understanding of natural science and linking that to our daily lives. My intention is to promote an understanding of scientific research and to develop and promote new integrated ways to live in harmony with nature. I am aiming to achieve this goal by awakening our ‘realisation’ potential and by exploring our ‘inner world’ that will provide us with many benefits.

As a human, we all understand our dependence on natural resources, but most of us do not ‘realise’ that dependence. We need to instill a component of ‘realisation’ for our dependence on natural resources. We are a part of the greater system and will face the consequences if we do something wrong. Once we realise our dependence on Mother