In Search of Deep Ecology in Indic Perennial Texts and Traditions

Abstract

In the present environmental crisis that threatens the very existence of every life-form on the plundered planet, humanity is in search of a sustaining understanding and relationships to the earth because profound connections with natural processes and deep engagement with environmental surroundings are necessary to save this planet from environmental catastrophe. Deep ecology proposes a new spiritual understanding to find a fundamental solution to evolutionary eco-crisis through reviving the lost link and relationship with the earth. It believes in the experience of Self-realization and in the intrinsic or inherent value of nature. Indic perennial scriptures like The Vedas, The Gita, the Upanishads, and the Puranas, which have been inspiring East-West deep ecologists with the eco-spiritual ethics and metaphysics, can offer a solution to eco-crisis through a radical shift in human consciousness in the way people relate with nature. They awaken humanity to be reconnected with the earth to realize deeper relations with Nature for the heal-all of all earth-maladies, and that heal-all lies in healing ourselves and in healing our deepening reconnection with Earth. The paper attempts to explore the ecological philosophy of Indic texts and traditions for inspiring humanity to form new life-ecosophies in the post-COVID era for the next survival.