Some questions remain, and a few are regarding sustainability, such as Why? What makes us attracted to sustainability? What keeps us passionate about sustainability? I am exploring some of my insights on this topic in this article.
There are so many things in our day-to-day lives that we do or follow. We do them because someone else told us to do them. Maybe our parents, friends, or teachers suggested we do them, and we accepted it. They give us knowledge, and usually, this knowledge looks acceptable. However, when we take knowledge from others without testing, we do not bear the understanding that we could have discovered it ourselves.
After reading quite a lot about sustainability, I wanted to learn sustainability myself and find out if this is something to be accepted or rejected. I wanted to know about sustainability because I did not want to be a blind follower or deem it a fashion or a trend. Instead, I preferred to explore, see, and find my reasons. If I see a genuine reason, I am happy to accept it and live it [because that is how we find values]. My exploration guided me in a positive direction as I found it worth learning about and putting our efforts into.
I found that sustainability is our ecology’s ability to sustain and our planet’s ability to sustain. However, human activities are the principal contributing factors that have endangered the power of our ecology and the earth. The issues of climate change and global warming are like fever which is a symptom, not a disease. And it is necessary to treat the disease when symptoms appear.
The symptoms like climate change, global warming, and many others tell us that Earth has a fever and that if we can not control it, it will lose its ability to sustain itself. For example, many places dried up, and others converted to deserts because of rising temperatures. These extreme events are happening because the planet is losing its ability to sustain itself due to human activities. I learned that the earth needs to be healed and cured, and we can do that only by restoring sustainability and its ability to sustain.
I also saw that the root of sustainability lies in compassion. Compassion is the root of sustainability. Whether people are vegans or the “tree-hugging greenies,” I saw them driven by kindness and kindness for other lives, not just human beings.
The ecology around us seems like it is not related to humanity, but if we care about them, that means our emotional boundaries have expanded beyond just society. This caring nature motivates us to think from a broader perspective than just human beings and humanity. Caring about others’ lives and developing empathetic relationships with them makes us compassionate and opens up our consciousness. When we have compassion towards others, not just our lives, this provides a powerful reason to initiate ourselves towards sustainability.
Science has established two facts about us that tell us we are not different. The first was about the presence of intelligence among other lives, and the second was the evolutionary history of human beings. Science has proven that humans are not the only intelligent ones on the planet; all species have intelligence that serves their survival. Science also tells us that we humans arrived on this planet about 200,000 years ago and evolved from other species. Modern humans did not always exist; we followed a long stretch of evolution to get here and are one of the last to appear.
The facts regarding the presence of intelligence among other species and our evolution from other species tell us that we are all the same. We all are the outcome of the same evolutionary tree. We, human beings, were only privileged to have a larger brain that developed our minds and buoyed us to today’s level. Even though our imaginative mind made significant physical progress, it made us capable of justifying our thoughts, imaginations, and deeds.
Since the time human beings were able to imagine, we have imagined and narrated some great glorious, and fictitious stories about our appearance in this world. We keep telling ourselves we have the right to own this planet and make decisions regarding other species. But what uses is our mind and its knowledge if we have set our own house on fire? What use are our intelligence and wisdom if we harm other species and push them to extinction?
If we can see other species having intelligence like ours, and we all belong to the same evolutionary tree, that is our wisdom. And if we can visualize this fact, it is our responsibility to look after the vulnerable ones; it is our duty to speak up for the voiceless.
Because no other species confront and interrogate us about our actions, it does not mean we can please ourselves at their cost. Instead, our wisdom should direct us to understand the threats we regularly produce to animal and plant kingdoms. A vast population of humans has already realized our atrocities and injustices to these kingdoms. These wise ones have changed their lifestyle and living habits to ensure the safety and security of other species.
True justice comes from wisdom, and understanding comes from unbiased facts. The fact is that human beings, as a whole, have colonized the whole planet and transformed it into a habitat for only human beings. This colonization and transformation have destroyed the habitats of countless species, displaced numerous species, and made millions of species extinct. In this context, we need to have the courage to see ourselves as threats and look after these species because they cannot protect themselves from us.
If there is a child or someone who needs support in our family, we provide them with full backing. If someone cannot look after themselves in the family, we look after them. All societies have cultured this trait to look after each other, especially the vulnerable ones. As human beings, we live in families; living in a family is about looking after each other and supporting each other. However, something has blinded us to see our species’ atrocities causing suffering in different species of animals and plants. Can we know this blindness and move towards restoring nature, wisdom, and justice to all species on this planet?
If we are wise, we can see other animals and their home (which is the natural environment) as much crucial as our own home. We can see all species as earthlings, sharing the same earth with us and belonging to the same evolutionary family. We can see that the struggle of other species to survive is as harsh as ours. We can see that habitat of a specific species belongs to them naturally, not to us. We can also see that all species deserve to survive, breed and prosper as much as we do. And if we see all these things, we should know that it is our responsibility to protect these innocent ones and to speak up for them.
Humans have been destroying natural habitats for economic reasons, entirely for money or wealth. If we look into our history, we invented economics, money, and wealth and exploited other human beings for money. The concept of “owning” other people and dictating them against their will and wisdom still exists in our society. This practice is a touch of sarcasm to our knowledge because we invented wealth and started dying and killing for wealth. We still do this “killing” thing to other species more brutally and shamelessly. Money has undoubtedly put a lid on our wisdom and kindness. Do we own other species to trap, enslave, trade, and slaughter them?
The blame goes to all of us, and this is where humanity has lost its path. Humanity invented money, wealth, and economics and started calculating the price of a life in money terms. Wise people can see and realize this fact. Still, we live in a world full of “pseudo-wise” people who find reasons to justify their cruelties selectively. The “pseudo-wise” cannot denounce cruelties of all forms as their desires, interests, and narcissisms drive them.
In contrast, wise people know that wisdom is not relative or comparable and should reflect truth, consciousness, and our true self. Therefore, they see things as straightforwardly as possible, without any filters or twists, and can decide based on this truth. Thus, a wise person denounces all forms of harm, cruelty, and injustice.
Everything man invented, including politics, economics, money, and many social institutions, has affected other species negatively. Sometimes I wonder who the first person said: “Yeah, we need an axe to chop these trees.” There was the first time someone invented a tool (possibly an axe) and said, “We can chop a tree with this thing.” We can assume that trees were safe before the invention of tools and axes. Back then, when humans invented no tools, no human actions would harm a grown-up tree. Animals ate maybe smaller plants, but more giant trees were safe. Over time, we invented such sophisticated tree-chopping machines and mechanisms that we have cleared up vast areas of forests everywhere.
The relationship of human beings with the natural environment and other species has been interpreted by human beings and driven by human interests. It has been a one-way street where we have extracted what we desire without considering their lives and rights. We go around looking for value and looking for their intelligence. Still, we fail to acknowledge their struggle and their intelligence. As a result, we have been unable to provide them with a stress-free environment where they also flourish.
Without human interference, other lives can have better survival. If the natural climate changes, these lives will adapt accordingly. We do not need to teach polar bears how to keep themselves warm, or we do not need to introduce a monkey to how to climb a tree. We only need to stop our interference and let nature flourish because nature is our home. So, why can’t we leave them and their home secluded?
Change comes from our minds when we can see the complete picture. Of course, not everyone can see or wants to see the whole picture. In the context of sustainability, planet Earth is the entire picture. This planet is collectively one life; that’s why it’s called the blue and green world, as seen from space. The blue component represents oceans and all the marine species and ecosystems, and the green element represents land and all the ecosystems and terrestrial species. Both blue and green constitute billions of lives inside them.
Blue and green are the identity of this planet, making it a living world, an inhabitable place. This identity is the whole picture; we humans played no role in creating this planet and living here. As we did not make this planet, we have no right to ruin the earth and its inhabitants. The only way as we advance is to leave other animals and plants in their natural habitat, ensuring a habitat. This intention should come from selflessness and compassion.
Since childhood, others have told me not to touch or pluck flowers. It was solely based on the compassionate ground because a flower is where new lives happen. A flower produces seeds that are future plants; if we pluck flowers, we obstruct a natural process. Now I know why I have no intention of plucking any flowers in my life.
Suppose we can see the complete picture of a green and blue planet and orient ourselves towards a lifestyle that does not harm other beings. This shift is how we can contribute from a personal level. When we live it, we can lead others by example. Suppose we live a sustainable life but cannot teach others by this example. We know others are blinded by their ignorance and fail to see the whole picture. It is important that you and I can see the holistic view and are ready to help them see it.