Hey there! We have arrived at the fourth and final religion of our series – Hinduism.
Like most other religions that have been around for a really long time (like, thousands of years!), Hinduism is a multi-faceted one and there are multiple perspectives within the religion on the environment.
A common thread through most Hindu religious texts is the sacredness of the natural world. The Atharva Veda and Rig Veda describe the Earth as an extension of Devi, a goddess akin to ‘Mother Earth’, and that the five elements that originate from Brahman, the supreme reality– space, air, fire, water and earth – are all part of an interconnected web of life. Interestingly, this sounds similar to a concept that we learnt in our e-lecture with Dr Coleman this week called the Gaia hypothesis – perhaps the Greek drew their inspiration from their interactions with the Hindu people of the Indus Valley!
Hindu environmentalism is also grounded in action. Hindu religious texts also provide practical advice on how to treat nature:
“Do not disturb the sky and do not pollute the atmosphere.”
Yajur Veda,5:43
“Destruction of forests is taken as destruction of the state, and reforestation an act of rebuilding the state and advancing its welfare. Protection of animals is considered a sacred duty.”
This action-grounded approach to environmentalism is also promoted by the concepts of dharma and karma. The former means one’s duty or virtue, and of which protecting the environment is one. The latter holds that every action creates either good or bad consequences which contribute to their karma, determining their fate in the future. Together, they help to reinforce the importance of positive, non-destructive human-nature relationships, and the protection of nature. This can be seen in the lives of the Bishnoi, a community in Rajasthan devoted to environmental protection that has been dubbed “India’s first environmentalists” Since 1485, the Bishnoi tradition has included six commandments covering environmental protection and compassion for all life that all Bishnoi are expected to follow till death. They are an excellent example of living out what one believes in, having sacrificed their lives in protection of forests, wildlife and even leading movements against nuclear power plants!
Internationally, the Convocation of Hindu Spiritual Leaders adopted the Hindu Declaration on Climate Change in 2009, which was later re-introduced in 2015 before the Paris Climate Conference. This was also met with global support by many Hindu organisations and activists. This Declaration looked to religious texts to emphasise on the inherent duty of Hindus to protect the environment, “connected the moral imperative for environmental action with values and principles prescribed by their faith”.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything on Hindu environmentalism in Singapore other one mention in the vision of The Hindu Hub, a non-profit spiritual organisation seeking to educate the Hindu community in Singapore and around the world. The Hindu Advisory Board and the Hindu Endowments Board, the two government bodies dealing with all Hindu affairs, have not said anything about the responsibility of Singaporean Hindus to environmental action.
Sadly, the relative silence of religious councils seems to be a trend in Singapore. Maybe this is because of the highly protected spiritual-secular divide in Singapore which forces religious organisations to be apolitical, and therefore preventing any vocal criticism of the government’s actions, or in this case, inaction. Alternatively, the close links between said religious councils and the government might result in these councils having to adopt a stance that is not contradictory with the governments’.
For my last two posts over the next two weeks, I will be looking at such gaps in the relationship between religion and environmentalism in our sunny island of Singapore, and mulling over how we can move on into the future. After all, both religion and environmentalism carry messages of hope and life, so what better way to end this blog than to write about hope for the future?
-Dennis
Cover image: Mochammad Algi from Pexels