How to save the planet

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Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev [1]

How audacious that we can even think that we will allot a day for the earth! Both day and night happen only because of the revolutions of the earth. Our very body is an extract from this planet. Everything that we are is earth. For human beings who have forgotten that they have just temporarily come out of the womb of this earth and that they will one day be sucked back into this earth, for them, this day is a reminder that you are a part of this earth. If humanity has to live for a long time, you have to think like the earth, act like the earth and be the earth, because that is what you are.” — Sadhguru

I am often asked by people, “Why is a spiritual leader, a yogi, planting trees?” Why? Because trees are our closest relatives. What they exhale, we inhale; what we exhale, they inhale and keep our lives going. It is just like the outer part of our lung. You cannot ignore your body if you want to live. The planet is in no way different from that. What you call “my body” is just a piece of this planet.
The United Nations had projected that by 2050 we will be 9.2 billion people on this planet. In India right now 52 per cent of our land is under cultivation to feed 1.2 billion people. It is a fabulous fact that our farmers, with rudimentary, ramshackle infrastructure, are producing food for over one billion people. But still, the man who produces the food is not eating proper food. That is because we have not taken the responsibility of deciding, “For this much land, how much population can we support?” Our planet cannot support endless growth of human population. Either we control population growth consciously or nature will do it for us in a cruel and painful manner.
Without controlling populations, talking about ecology, and land and water conservation won’t help because science and technology is making every human being hyperactive. You cannot cap human activity because that will amount to capping human aspirations. And today, our aspiration is that everybody should get educated, and pursue their dreams and ambitions. That is not possible at the current levels of population. We have to decide where to stop.
So are we going to adjust our population to the resource that we have? That is something every human being can do, if the necessary education and awareness is brought into their lives. If we can control population growth, we don’t have to plant trees. Just stay away from the land not under cultivation, trees will grow on their own; you cannot stop that. It is being projected that the planet is in danger. The planet is not in any kind of danger. It is only human life which is in danger.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a renowned spiritual leader, is a visionary, a humanitarian, author, poet and speaker