{"id":4044,"date":"2024-05-30T12:41:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T02:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwip.com.au\/hcanew\/?page_id=4044"},"modified":"2024-06-06T17:00:48","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T07:00:48","slug":"hindu-ecology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wwwip.com.au\/hcanew\/hindu-ecology\/","title":{"rendered":"Hindu Ecology"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Hindu Ecology\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Earth, in which the seas, the rivers and many waters lie, From which arise foods and fields of grain, Abode to all that breathes and moves, May She confer on us Her finest yield.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

–\u00a0 Bhumi Suktam, Atharva Veda xii.1.3<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our beloved Earth, so touchingly looked upon as the Universal Mother, has nurtured mankind through millions of years of growth and evolution.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The Hindu tradition understands that man is not separate from nature, that we are linked by spiritual, psychological and physical bonds with the elements around us. Knowing that the Divine is present everywhere and in all things, Hindus strive to do no harm. We hold a deep reverence for life and an awareness that the great forces of nature-the earth, the water, the fire, the air and space-as well as all the various orders of life, including plants and trees, forests and animals, are bound to each other within life\u2019s cosmic web.<\/p>


Ecology<\/strong>\u00a0is the study of the relationship of living\u00a0organisms<\/a>\u00a0with each other and their surroundings in nature. Nature maintains an ecological balance amongst all these ecological systems and human beings are part of that whole ecosystem. By over exploiting the nature\u2019s abundant resources human beings have created an imbalance resulting in the current situation of climate change whereby nature is not able to generate the resources at the rate they are being consumed.\u00a0 This imbalance has created various problems of environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, water and food shortage etc.\u00a0\u2013 (Statement from the \u201cHindu Declaration on Climate Change\u201d\u00a0\u00a0at 2009 Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Realising this as a moral and ethical issue, <\/span>The Climate Institute (Australia) Ltd<\/a>\u00a0in 2006 invited various religious organisations in Australia to submit their views according to their faith on the problem of climate change facing the world community.\u00a0<\/span>Hindu Council of Australia<\/strong>\u00a0(HCA) made its submission on Hinduism\u2019s view on climate change. The Climate Institute published that document entitled\u00a0<\/span>\u201cCommon Belief \u2013 Australia\u2019s Faith Communities on Climate Change\u201d.<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

This marked the beginning of the involvement of HCA in the Climate Change movement. Its representatives have attended various interfaith Conferences and forums on the subject and have made their contributions.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

On 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0October 2008 (Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s Birthday) HCA with the support of\u00a0ARRCC (Australian Religious Response to Climate Change) Inc<\/a>\u00a0launched a campaign for observing\u00a0\u201cMeat-Free Day\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0to tackle the problems relating to climate change, global warming, cruelty to animals and human health. Since then HCA is actively involved in addressing the climate change problem in association with a number of multi-faith organisations:<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Association with ARRCC<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>ARRCC is a multi-faith organisation committed to addressing climate change issues. HCA took its \u201cMeat Free Day<\/strong>\u201d campaign to ARRCC in order to extend its reach to people of different faiths who are in majority meat-eaters and named it:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cEat Less Meat\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>campaign. The main aim being to reduce meat consumption which is one of the main reasons for climate change.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

We were the first in Australia to launch this campaign, since then a number of similar organisations have joined in, namely: Meat Free Mondays, Meatless Mondays, Meat Free Week, Meat Free Fridays, No Meat May, Less Meat = Less Heat.\u00a0 We have participated with these organisations to further the cause of reducing meat consumption.<\/p>

There are other organisations which address this issue from different angle of cruelty-free treatment of animals. These are: Voiceless, Animal Australia and RSPCA. We have associated with some of these organisations as well.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Voiceless<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>an animal protection charity, whose work is focused on raising awareness of animals suffering in factory farming and the kangaroo industry in Australia. Retired Justice of the High Court, the Hon. Justice Michael Kirby is the Patron of\u00a0Voiceless<\/strong>. HCA Director, Vijai Singhal participated with him as a member of the panel on ABC\u2019s Radio National program: \u201cSunday nights with John Cleary\u201d on the topic of\u00a0\u201cEthics of Abstinence\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0on 21 Sept. 2011.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Hindu Council<\/strong>\u00a0organised a\u00a0multi-faith Eco-Forum<\/strong>\u00a0in 2011:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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