Lately, there has been a furore in the media about the fires in the Amazon. The media states that the Amazon covers 2.1 million square miles and produces 20% of the global oxygen, it is referred to as the “lungs of the planet”, and it is being destroyed. The media points the blame at the South American countries, forgetting, that in the west most of our forests were destroyed centuries ago and we are relying on oxygen produced by forests in other countries. Fortunately, there are no boundaries on the globe to physically limit oxygen within the producing area. It would be a shock if other countries charged us for using their oxygen, since we destroyed most of our forests in pursuit of industrialisation in the West. Now these countries are doing exactly the same thing we did, in pursuit of their own expansion. In fact, we are accomplices in the destruction of their forests.

The Cost of Desire

The desire for meat and other ‘profitable’ products, especially from the West, is one of the main reasons why countries are willing to destroy their own forests. There is a huge market for products that voracious consumers in the West desire. Greenpeace suggests that we could replace some of the meat and dairy in our food with plant-based alternatives. A more sustainable approach to farming, means we can produce enough food for everyone, improve our health, and look after our planet as well. They also state that the UK imports huge quantities of soya. Globally, some 90% of soya is used to feed animals, including cows, pigs and chickens. ¹

Can We Change our Behaviour?

The South American countries are doing what we have done before, so instead of asking them to stop burning their forests, isn’t it better to stop giving them a reason for doing it. We could change our behaviour and stop using those products, become vegetarians, or if that is too difficult, eat less meat. Some of our children in the West do not even know where meat comes from. In their ignorance they believe it appears in supermarkets in packets. They don’t realise that animals are killed for it. It is also cruel to animals to slaughter them in order to consume them. Most of the Western, or advanced countries have a duty to make a positive impact in this world by shunning cruelty to animals. In 2018, the G7 countries represent 58% of the global net wealth and worth over $300 trillion and yet they offered a paltry $20 million to combat fires in the amazon ² . Their greed and ego stop them from being a positive force in the face of this opportunity.

We have pets but we don’t consider killing them for food.  It is said that a dog is a man’s best friend. However, today people have gone overboard with their attention to their pets. Some dogs are fed very expensive food, while millions are starving in other countries. Some of these pets are even clothed. Pets have become like the owner’s child, especially in the way that they are cosseted. This is true in the West and to some extent in
westernised cities in the East . In the East, a dog is considered unclean and never let into the house. Their duty is to guard the home. They are definitely not allowed on the bed and neither is it considered normal, to let them sleep with you in bed.

Maybe, it is time to become aware that everything we desire has consequences and that there is a cost… like the Amazon fires.

¹ https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/soya/

² http://amazonwatch.org/news/2019/0830-why-its-been-so-lucrative-to-destroy-the-amazon-rainforest

There is only one. Many years ago, my Teacher Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba gave me an experience of Self-Realisation. I realised I am Atma (Self/Soul) and part of Paramatma. There is no ‘seven billion atmas’, there is only one. It is a paradox. It is the mind that creates the seven billion. The analogy of the hologram explains the paradox. The bit in a hologram contains the whole. You can take away any number of bits from the whole, it remains always whole. The reason we think the way we do is because in the physical world, physical matter becomes less if something is taken away from it. A drop taken away from the ocean becomes a drop less. This is not true in consciousness.

We are One

We are all one, my Teacher says,
“…See in Me yourself, for I see Myself in you all. You are My life, My breath My soul. You are My forms, all. When I love you I love Myself; when you love yourselves, you love Me. I have separated Myself from Myself so that I may love Myself. My beloved ones, you are MY own self.” Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The Wisdom of the Upanishads

The Upanishads which are part of the Vedas (are primary texts of ancient Hinduism) where a divine mantra states in Sanskrit:

“Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Purnnam-Udacyate Puurnnashya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih.”

It means, “THAT is full/complete, and THIS is full/complete. From THAT comes THIS and if THIS is removed from THAT.  THAT remains full/complete or, ever full”. The meaning of this mantra explains the holographic nature of reality. THAT (Brahman/TRUTH) is the one consciousness and THIS (LOVE) is creation. Creation (LOVE) comes from (Brahman/TRUTH). The absolute Truth is within oneself. The world outside is a relative truth. However, most people look outside themselves and identify it as real. Therefore, they seek their happiness from the objects in the world. When their desires are not fulfilled, they become unhappy. True happiness is their connection to God (Love & Truth) within them. As long as they look outside for happiness, it won’t be fulfilled.

The Search for Happiness

You can observe this behaviour in people looking for happiness in the world, thinking that the external objects in the world will fulfill their desires and give them happiness. Unfortunately, instead of happiness people suffer because their desires are unfulfilled. People follow the wrong role models, who are themselves confused and create negative behaviour. This confused behaviour is adopted by people who consider themselves followers. An example would be Michael Jackson singing the song called ‘Bad’. He was traumatised, confused, and angry with the world. The lyrics go on to say, “I’m bad”, exhorting his followers, mostly young impressionable youths to think that, “I am bad” is a good thing. This idea compromises personal values, sowing seeds of confusion and dissension.

However, he is not the only one. There are other so-called celebrities in industries like clothing and retail. Where once people took pride in the clothes they wore, now they go about in torn jeans to look fashionable. How ridiculous can you get? Some have gone to extremes, where their pant legs are supported by a few threads, looking disintegrated. They look like paupers who can’t afford new clothes but, they pay an exorbitant price for these torn clothes. Followers of fashion, also wear clothes that cover strategic parts of their anatomies, like a peep show. They have become body conscious, parading their bodies to seek attention.

It is like the story of the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’. Where the king was looking for clothes which no one had, to be special. A couple of scammers persuaded the king that the clothes they supplied were so fine, that it was almost invisible. They persuaded the king to wear these invisible clothes in public. The king paraded in public to show his beautiful clothes to his subjects. The king was made aware that he was actually naked, by a young child who shouted out the truth. The child was not inhibited or conditioned like the adults, who were afraid to voice their opinions.

Until people stop identifying with the objective world, they will keep suffering. When they realise that they are not the body, or their title, or occupation and become AWARE, that they are ‘Love and Truth’, their suffering will stop.

When you ask yourself the question, WHO AM I?

When you ask yourself the question, WHO AM I? Do you identify yourself with the Body, your Job, your Race, or your Religion? If you do, you support divisiveness. If you see differences, then you create divisions, which are the harbingers of war. Most people would find the answer, “YOU ARE GOD” very difficult. Most people whether they are Christians, Muslims, or Jews, all over the world would find this concept difficult to accept and they would even consider it blasphemous. Even though Jesus announced that he was “one with the Father” from his own experience. It did not seem to apparent to most Christians, that if it was true for him, it is also true for them. Perhaps, it did occur to them, but no one dared to claim that they are God. History has shown that the so-called leaders want to keep their power and authority. They get very cross with those who defy them, as Jesus can prove when he was put on the cross, literally. You can only know this Truth from your own experience. The Truth is, you are God, as Jesus attested. This is also known as Self-Realisation. So, when people say that they are Self-Realised, do they understand that they are saying that they are GOD?

Unity and Peace

Even in these more enlightened days, if you defy those in authority, you can still be crucified financially and socially, and suffer. Whether it is religion, or science, you will be going against their belief systems, or should I say, rattling their cages. Their belief systems are the cages they built. They have invested a lot of energy keeping their belief systems intact. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all recognise Abraham as their first prophet. All of these religions come from the same source. They all agree that God is nameless and formless and give it different names Yahweh, Allah and Almighty God. Even then, they quarrel amongst themselves, stating that theirs is the True God. How can this be, if it is the same Source? It is the leaders who interpret it differently and foist it onto their followers, which creates differences. There is a growing trend for fundamentalism, creating dissensions and divisions within their own religion. The problem is, so long as we see differences among us, there cannot be peace. We have to look for similarities and create unity, for peace to reign in the world.