Bhagatsingh ji,
My dear brother, in my journey through this life I've learned (I've walked numerous spiritual paths), that religions tend to begin in pure holiness and then tend to become mundane in the real life of the general population. This is just human nature; to maintain the real holiness inside of the faith is a result of strong deliberation. As such, behind most religions as presently represented in current society, if we really seek, we find something closer to genuine Sacred Truth. Christianity, for instance, as walked by Yeshua (Jesus) in Palestine in his time was wildly different than what we know as "Christianity" today; much closer to a genuine holiness.
The point I'm making, is that we, as living creatures on this Earth, were placed here by a loving God and provided a blessed and beautiful planet, exquisitely designed to nurture us and the rest of the family of Life. Whatever our belief system, if we are true believers, our lives would be an ongoing ardaas to the Lifegiver. Above and beyond what our teachings or beliefs are, if we are really children of the Most High, our lives will reflect constant gratitude.
Look at this world: we want pure water when we are thirsty, when we want to bathe a newborn baby, when we want to cook, when we want to prepare amrit, even if we want to make a gin and tonic; everybody wants pure water. But this sacred resource, this timeless precious blessed resource, we pollute it. Every river is used to carry away sewage and industrial waste and agricultural poisons. Every sea is a cheap trash-dump and toilet. And now, folly of follies, even scientists are confirming great parts of the vast oceans themselves are now dead and devoid of either fish or plant life, while islands of plastic waste the size of whole countries are being discovered churning together in parts of the oceans where currents have gathered trash into 'landmasses' of garbage. I recently read that scientists had realized on some beaches fully a quarter of the 'sand' is really plastic waste, ground fine by the motion of the waters; too fine to retrieve, but just right to lead to epidemics of cancers and toxic fish etc., who live in this filth. This we have done to the blessed water from Above.
We all want fresh air. If we are working in a dirty place or there is rottenness or foul smells, we love to open the windows and let in fresh air. If a child is sick we want them to breathe fresh air. If there is chemical production or engine exhaust, we want fresh air. Everybody loves fresh air. Yet we pollute it, through every motor car, every jet flying, every factory, every time we spraypaint something or burn plastics, or produce styrofoams or use a leafblower or a motorcycle or whatever. Cities around the world are covered in thick, poisonous hazes of smog. This is what we do to the blessed, life-giving air from Above.
We, all living things, want pure foods. If we are feeding a baby or a child, or cooking a nice feast, or just craving a mango or some orange juice, we want pure food. But the soil we pollute. I've traveled a lot, yet I have not yet seen a country where people don't throw plastic trash all on the ground, and in so-called third-world countries, this can amount to a carpet of toxic plastic trash everywhere. There I see heaps and mounds of garbage everywhere, sometimes ever-growing, sometimes burned in acrid toxic fires, sometimes buried in the sacred soil. But never diminishing. This is how we treat the sacred soil.
In the bani of Har Har, it is stated that the Great Giver gives, and we take so much, we get tired taking. This is reality but it is not spiritual life. We take the mango and the coconut from the tree, and in exchange we pollute both the soil and the rain the tree wants. We take the pure water from the river, and in exchange we run-off our chemical wastes into the rivers.
My point, my dear brother, is that if we are children of Har Har, whatever profession of faith comes out of our mouths, our life on this blessed planet would reflect gratitude. Living creatures, including many human cultures, have existed on this blessed Earth for thousands of years in a relationship with the Creation where their presence did not spell destruction of their habitats or environments. Now, there is another spirit governing a people that, wherever they find a foot-hold on this Earth, things begin to get diseased and die. So the challenge as I see it, is to be aware of this distinction. It seems that whatever we profess, our relationship to Waheguru is reflected in whether we are, in effect, contributers of healing or contributors of doom. I don't need to tell you, this world is full of people convinced of their holiness or of their being 'saved'. But we believe in Har Har Rae and gratitude and peace-with-the-Creation is the real religion.
Sorry about the many words.
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