Environment & Charities in Hinduism (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

Hindu Environmental Projects

Hinduism and the Environment

• Many Hindus understand 'environment' to mean the natural world, which is everything around us that is part of the Earth and nature

• Hindus believe that If God is present in everything then everything should be respected

• Hindus believe that they should ‘tread carefully on the earth’ meaning they should not use the world’s resources more than needed

  • For example, when Neasden Temple was built, 2,300 trees were planted in Devon to compensate for the wood used

• Within Hinduism the most common term for ‘goddess’ is ‘Devi’, but this same power is also commonly referred to as Shakti and Durga, among other names

  • Shakti is seen as the female creative power alongside Brahman which is seen to have brought the universe into being

  • The earth provides all the nourishment and medicine needed to sustain creation

  • For this reason, many Hindus see the earth as the Goddess Devi, the mother of us all

• There are certain key teachings that relate to how Hindus view the environment

• Ahimsa is the principle of non-violence which is important for Hindus

  • Many Hindus believe that all living things are sacred because they are part of God, as is the natural world

  • Many Hindus believe being non-violent means showing respect for all life, human, animal and vegetable

  • Most Hindus are vegetarians because:

    • Killing animals for meat causes them to suffer

    • Animals also have atman within them and are as important as humans

    • Animals are part of the life cycle and should not be harmed

• All Hindus believe in Karma, the belief that all actions bring consequences

  • The Hindu belief in reincarnation draws on the idea of karma

  • The law of karma is not limited to one lifetime but many lifetimes

  • If people do negative things in this life, they may pay for these in their next reincarnation

  • Many Hindus believe that nature cannot be destroyed without humans also being destroyed, because we need the natural world in order to survive, and also because every atman is a part of Brahman

  • Belief in karma should encourage many Hindus to accept responsibility for their actions, including how they treat the environment

• The goal of every Hindu is to achieve Moksha, the release from the cycle of reincarnation and the end of all suffering

  • Many Hindus believe that righteous action is an essential starting point in the quest for moksha

  • Looking after the environment is considered to be a righteous action

• The Hindu declaration at Assisi in 1986 stressed the beliefs that:

  • humans are a part of nature, indissolubly linked to everything else

  • God is revealed through the graded scale of evolution, of which humans are just one element, even though they are the highest part at the moment

Hindu Environmental Projects

• Many Hindus are concerned with the damage that humans are doing to the Earth so will try to make the right choices regarding the environment

• Many attempt to recycle and reduce their carbon footprint, and they may volunteer as part of their own personal dharma to ensure that they look after God’s creation

• As Hindus believe in karma, they wish to be mindful of how they treat the Earth as they believe their actions will have consequences

• As a result, it is important that they do not use up the world’s resources, which are now scarce due to overconsumption

• As a result of their belief in the importance of protecting the environment, many Hindus also take steps to protect animals

Protection of Cows

• Hindus believe that cows are sacred animals, and as a result they oppose their slaughter

• Early in his life, Lord Krishna was a cow herder, and Hindus attempt to protect cows to emulate his work

• A hymn in the Rig Veda focuses on the cow. It teaches Hindus that they should not kill or mistreat a cow:

• For Hindus, the cow is viewed as a mother

  • In Vedic scriptures, the idea that the cow provides milk affirms the belief that the cow is one of the Earth’s mothers

  • Therefore, there is a global Hindu movement to protect cows

• One organisation that is part of this movement is the International Society of Cow Protection (ISCOWP)

  • This organisation works to educate people about why cows require protection

• ISCOWP offers the opportunity to adopt a cow, which allows a person to financially support the life of a working cow and ensure that the animal is not slaughtered

• Hindus believe that they will be punished if they harm a cow and so they do everything they can to ensure the safety and protection of cows as part of their belief in karma and ahimsa

• In India, there are retirement homes for cows that are old called goshalas, and charities to care for them

• In the UK, there is a Hindu centre for cow protection that is run by the Hare Krishna movement in the fields around their temple

  • It is called the Bhaktivedanta Manor Cow Protection project

  • It stops cows being slaughtered unnecessarily, has a dairy farm and visitor centre, and acts as a goshala shelter for cows

Protection of Trees

• Hindus believe that God is in all living things including humans, animals and plants

  • Therefore Hindus will work to protect living things wherever they can

• The Chipko movement was inspired by women who hugged trees in the 1700s to try and stop them being cut down for fuel

• In 1974, a group of peasant women in India hugged trees to protest about them being cut down

• The movement spread throughout India and meant that the government considered the needs of forest dwelling people when it made plans to cut down trees for profit

• In 1987, the Chipko Movement won the Right Livelihood Award

• The Vrindavan Forest is important to Hindus as they believe that Lord Krishna (the avatar of Vishnu) lived in the forest in northern India

• This means that it is a place of pilgrimage for devotees of Vishnu and Krishna

• Industrial development in India meant that the forest was under threat in the 1980s

• The Vrindavan Forest Project aims to protect and restore the forest

Charities & Hinduism

Charity within Hinduism

• The concept of charity in Hinduism is about helping others without expecting something in return and because it is the right thing to do

• Hindus practise an important concept called ahimsa, which means not harming or killing anything living

  • Therefore, helping to protect the environment and looking after other people and animals are very important to Hindus

• Hindus believe that charity, or dana, is important, because helping others is helping Brahman, as all living things have an atman, or part of Brahman, within them

• Selfless charitable acts are seen as examples of Karma yoga

• Dana means giving and sewa means selfless service

  • Dana includes selfless service (sewa) to those in need

  • In modern times, dana is often taken on by charities such as Sewa International, as well as smaller acts in the local community and family

  • Dana is the duty to give to others and applies to hospitality and kindness, as well as money

• Each person has a fourfold dharma, or duty, towards family, society, the world and all living things

• Caring for the poor is an important part of Hindu dharma

• One of the commonest forms of giving is sharing food with others, known as anna dana

• It is part of a Hindu’s religious duty to offer food and hospitality to any unexpected guest

• To refuse hospitality to those who come to you door is an unpardonable act

• Some Hindus even arrange special meals for the needy, or donate to charity in memory of loved ones

Charitable Organisations in Hinduism

• Mata Amritanandamayi Math (MAM) is an international organisation that aims to improve the spiritual wellbeing of humanity

  • It was founded by Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (known as Amma)

  • MAM works with selfless devotion and service in an effort to change the world

  • Its members visit areas, people and organisations that may be in need and aims to change their lives

  • One programme, undertaken by MAM member Choti Sing, involved women’s rights

    • She set aside caste divisions and went into her village of Ratanpur in 2014 with the aims of uplifting her community, providing education for young children and educating mothers about the importance of childhood vaccinations

    • Choti’s work provided new opportunities for people

• Sewa International works to improve the status of women in India

  • One of its goals is to organise women workers for full employment

  • A festival was held on International Women’s Day in 2016 to honour women who had done exemplary work

  • The presence of over 1200 from different areas and social castes in India illustrated the progress that the charity had made