There is a story in Srimad Bhagavat Purana. When Sri Krishna was a youngster in Vrindavana, he saw the Gopas engaged in hectic preparations. He asked his father, “There is great excitement everywhere and everyone seems to be busy about something. What is it all about?” Nanda replied, “We are preparing to perform a yagya to thank Indra, the lord of the heavens, who gives us rain.”
Sri Krishna said, “We are cowherds. We earn our living by rearing cows. We are simple wandering folks who live in forests and on the slopes of mountains. We should thank the giver of grass to our cows, which in turn give us everything. I suggest that we worship our cows and the Mountain Govardhana—the nourisher of cows.” This argument appealed to Nanda and the people of Vrindavana. They, dressed in their best clothes and with music and dancing, went round the Govardhana Mountain. This started the tradition of Govardhana parikrama—circumambulation—which continues to this day.
This thought can be found in religious and spiritual traditions throughout the world. In Hinduism, there is a strong belief that God is present in everything. The five elements of nature—pancha tattvas (Water, Air, Fire, Earth and Space)—are worshipped. It is believed that all living beings are created from these five elements and when they die, they are returned to these five elements.
In Greek mythology, Gaia is the name given to the personification of the earth, which is supposed to be the mother of everything and everyone. Modern-day ecologists have adopted the term Gaia to refer to earth as a complex and dynamic self-regulatory system consisting of all living organisms and inorganic material on earth. Whether it is mythology or ecology, both believe that we owe our life to Gaia. This is no different from how believers look upon God as the giver of life.
Osho Rajneesh said, “The visible part of God is Nature and the invisible part of Nature is God.” Seventeenth-century Dutch philosopher Spinoza has written extensively about the relationship between Nature and God in his magnum opus Ethics. Spinoza’s ideas have influenced a lot of people. A Jewish preacher once sent a telegram to Albert Einstein asking, “Do you believe in God?’ Einstein, who was Jewish, replied, “I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.” If we look at Nature and God as two sides of the same coin, we will hopefully start to see Nature as something to be revered not exploited, and ensure the continuation of our species on earth.