Can we tap the abundant energy of the Universe for our development?

The world is made of energy, say the scriptures. So then why do we need to burn up fossil fuels and play around with dangerous nuclear fuels to feed the needs of our world?

May be there is a way to tap all that abundant energy for our needs, without upsetting the delicate balance of nature and bringing untold suffering to all living beings. May be there is a way to fuel our development without leaving the planet as a trash bin for posterity.

I don't know, but we can do that only if we get rid of the "scientism" that has got ingrained in our mindsets. We need to accept that there is more mystery to the universe than we care to admit. We need to get out of our matter-entwined world view and think of the universe as energy, and then be open to explore ways to tap that energy.

The sages and yogis have shown us -- for ages -- that it is possible. But our "modern, scientific" mind refuses to accept the possibility, dismissing everything we cannot understand as humbug!

That needs to change for the planet to be saved.

And there is the question: do we really need all that we are craving for?

Can we live a life where we can do away with all the trash stuff that we're madly accumulating? Doing that will go a long way toward helping Earth from becoming a trash bin.

For both the things to happen we need to develop the right attitude and follow it through.

It is possible and we need to work to make it possible.

Carbon: From Life Giver To Villain

Today I was reading about how plastic bottles are good for the environment. Sounds counterintuitive? But this is about wine bottles, and the story says transporting wine in glass bottles emits more carbon and, hence, plastic bottles are a better proposition. Well, the talk now everywhere is about reducing your carbon footprint. Imagine, suddenly an element that is the building block of life on earth and a gas that has helped keep the earth's atmosphere warm enough for life on earth to flourish are being looked upon as life's worst enemies! The irony here is that however much we hate carbon and carbon dioxide, they are really needed for life to survive on this planet. The current cause of this crisis is human activity, nay, greed. And unless we learn to cut back on competitive consumption and greed I see no end to this crisis.
You can introduce more energy efficient technologies, better alternative fuels, and a lot more, but they will all serve only up to a certain extent. Human greed will soon find even the slack afforded by such technologies and fuels aren't enough - we will soon be back on square one as far as global warming is concerned.
In this context I remember what Mahatma Gandhi had said about how earth has enough resources to fulfil the needs of everyone but not enough to fulfil the greed of everyone - or words to that effect. So that is it: if we don't cut back on our greed, all our policies and emission limits will soon come to naught.
And putting limits on our greed is not something that is easy to implement. I cannot foresee our governments and leaders calling to the people on earth to limit their luxuries and greedy lifestyles. How will they, when their very survival as power wielders depend on fostering such greedy ambitions of the masses?
It will all boil down to changing our leaders, and for that we need to change our own outlook on life. So the ball is back in our court; each individual will have to take responsibility for global warming. That is a tough ask. But once it happens, I guess most of our problems will be solved as well - including that of global warming!

Reducing our carbon footprints

Reducing our carbon footprint: It seems the world is slowly coming to the agreement that that is what we need to do if we need to ensure that the earth is habitable for living being after 60-100 years. Right now the ideas about reducing carbon emissions are still being bandied about, without much effective action being taken.
I think we as individuals can do a lot to reduce our carbon footprints. For those interested in this subject the Internet throws of plenty of action plans, such as reducing their food miles, using public transport more often, etc. I think even by simply changing the way we eat can contribute a lot to reducing our carbon footprints.
Over the centuries we have become habituated to eating over-cooked food that is zapped of its vitality and nutrients. At the same time, ancient Yoga treatises say we need to eat more raw food, such a fruits and vegetables. Imagine that: if the whole population of this crowded planet decides to switch to raw fruits and vegetables from today, I think we could solve a lot of our global warming problems, plus a lot of our health and living ones, too.
But that is easier said than done. For those who would like to try this path, one word of caution: don't just start on raw food from tomorrow. You need to make the switch slowly, starting from semi-boiled vegetables and fruits to a completely raw and fresh diet.
It sounds a daunting task, and maybe even a 'tasteless' one; still it is worth trying.
More so because I believe it can guarantee all of us a better life, and a more 'liveable' planet!