My dear friends.
Today, I feel very sad, disappointed. A wild elephant walked into human habitat in search of food. Why does an elephant come into a human territory for food? Because there is no food in the forest. We have encroached into the forest, which belongs to wild animals, and we have made farms for our sake. The elephant that wandered in was alone, lonely, hungry. And she was pregnant. The human breed fed that elephant with a pineapple laden with explosives. The hungry elephant ate that pineapple, which exploded in her mouth. Acute agony, pain and disappointment. The elephant trusted people. She thought they genuinely cared because they gave her food. But the elephant did not understand the treachery, the betrayal of our species, it was badly hurt. It had a baby in its womb. It had to protect the baby. But it knew that it cannot eat food, it’s mouth is totally destroyed. It walked into a river, immersed itself in it, probably to appease the pain, and it died there. The elephant left the body, the soul left the body, it died. Who’s responsible?
We are responsible. What each person of the species does, the whole species is responsible. We are responsible for our insensitivity. The basic cause is hunger. The driving force is hunger. We have insensitively expanded our territories. We have encroached into every sphere; dividers, huge dividers, impregnable dividers. The beings of nature have one simple need: appeasing hunger.
The human greed has wiped out many species on earth. It is still wiping out many species on Earth. Today, it’s World Environment Day. There is no food in forests, there are no forests, so many forests are burned all over the world to create farms; to bring agony and suffering to every species. Human greed, human insensitivity; man is everywhere. 7.5 billion people, 7.5 billion hungry mouths, we are everywhere. Our life has become a spelling mistake. We have lost balance, we have degenerated. When we kill indiscriminately, it’s a sign of sheer degeneracy, it’s not the sign of refinement.
The sign of refinement is compassion, the sign of refinement is nurturing and caring, the sign of refinement is being sensitive to every being around us. Human insensitivity is choking people to death. Human insensitivity is blasting animals to death. Human insensitivity is waging wars. Human insensitivity is releasing viruses into the air, human insensitivity is destroying our own species. When the whole environment is destroyed, what will we do? How will we live? We are creating our own grave. Insensitivity has a huge price. It must not forget that.
In the same state of Kerala, a while ago, a poor, tribal, hungry man stole some food from the village because he was hungry. He was caught and beaten to death. The only reason why he stole some food was that he was hungry. We brand people as thieves. We brand people in the name of colour, caste, country. We brand people and kill them. Our insensitivity has no boundaries.
In mind, we have many boundaries, many barriers, we do not people if they are not like us. We do not like species if they are not useful to us. We breed to kill for our own taste, for our own selfish pleasure. We have a huge price to pay for our sensitivity. We, as a species has to pay a huge price. We cheat, we steal, we betray our own species. We have polluted the environment. We have made gadgets to torture, to kill every species. We have sophisticated machines; war machines, equipment that destroys. A refined generation will never do this. We call ourselves refined and we encroach and disturb families. We take children away from mothers in factory farms.
We wreak havoc in the life of everything. We wreak havoc in the life of all beings, and we call ourselves refined. We sit in air-conditioned offices, we sit in air-conditioned spaces and discuss nature, preservation, nurturing nature, but we do nothing about it. We plant trees, but we don’t nurture them; hypocrisy, insensitivity, human greed, there is a price to pay. There is a price huge price. When we continue to be insensitive, nature strikes back. Nature has put us in confinement by releasing a virus; an invisible virus to tackle a bigger virus called human beings.
Today, I may sound bitter and angry; that’s because time and again, we have spoken about the necessity of being nonviolent. Time and again, I have told Ahimsa, non-violence is necessary for our lives; for the sake of the world, for the sake of the next generations, for the sake of the future of Earth, but we do not understand. We are not understanding. We are not listening. We are still going to supermarkets and buying the dead bodies of babies, small babies of various species. And we believe this is okay. It is definitely not okay.
Every being has the same right to live on Earth. Human beings are not special. We are just one species on Earth. We cannot betray any other species; we cannot betray our own species. We can’t kill people of any species; we have no right. If we have to show our supremacy, it should be with compassion. If we consider human beings as more refined, it has to be through kindness, selflessness, unconditional love, sensitivity. Let there be a better world. We have to repent. We have to seek forgiveness from nature for our insensitivity. We have to educate the new generation, the coming generation, the importance of being sensitive and loving.
I leave you with this thought.
Lots of love. This is Mohanji.
Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt
Proofread by Rekha Murali
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