MEETING OF THE TRIGLAV CIRCLE
14-15 JUNE 2014 – NEUCHÂTEL, SWITZERLAND

IDEAS ON HARMONY WITH NATURE
BY ARTHUR DAHL
It might help to consider our topic, the role of nature in the politics of the environment, in the
context of the following steps that define how our relationship with nature (the phenomena of the
material world) has evolved down the centuries, from primitive man to the present.

1. Nature is dominant, omnipresent and man is subject to the forces of nature, which are not
understood, are feared, are given mystical/divine explanations. Nature is not questioned. There is
no separation between man and nature. People live in immediate contact with nature on their farms,
in their forests, savannas or deserts, when fishing, etc. There may be attempts to appease natural
forces, but not to control them.

2. With the rise of economies and trade, nature is seen as natural resources to be exploited. The
vast planet is there for our benefit, constantly renewing itself without limit. The human impacts
of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining seem tiny relative to the size of the Earth, and
changes are so slow that they are hardly noticed. The idea of limits does not seem relevant. For
the urban population, nature becomes separate, outside, rarely experienced directly. Civilization,
the human system, is what is seen as important, and nature is to be conquered.

3. As human impacts grow and population rises, people see that natural areas are becoming scarce,
and nature conservation becomes urgent. Nature is seen to be fragmented and diminishing, and we
must preserve the best examples for future generations, locked up in reserves. Species extinctions
become a concern, and invasive species spread around the world. We no longer live in nature but in
the environment: everything outside of us, which human activity has modified or entirely
constructed, whether in agricultural landscapes or urban areas, and this is often damaged or
polluted as well. The rapid expansion of the human population and the consumer society makes us the
dominant invasive species. Protection of the environment to ensure human welfare becomes the
political priority, but nature is marginalized. There is still no view at the political level of
the natural world as a dynamic system of which we are a part.

4. The loss of nature is imminent. Scientists declare the beginning of the Anthropocene, when
planetary human impacts dominate natural transformations on a geological time scale. Humans are
causing the sixth great mass extinction of species, with 4°C of global warming estimated to
exterminate half of all species.
Natural systems in their undisturbed form no longer exist, and humans unwittingly take on the

responsibility for the maintenance or restoration of the planetary life support systems and
renewable natural resources that nature originally created and maintained. A systems view becomes
essential for our own survival. Denial is rife, and the political system has yet to catch up.

Religion and Traditional Cultures as Sources of Knowledge about the Role of Nature Sources of
knowledge
There can be said to be three levels of our relationship with nature corresponding to three human
realities:

– our physical or biological reality, with needs like other animals for food, water, shelter,
security, a healthy environment, basic social relationships and emotional drives;

– our intellectual reality, the realm of reason and science; and

– our spiritual reality, rising above the material reality and escaping from it. Physical
Our physical, biological or material reality is quite evident, and is all some people pay attention
to. We have a body like all animals with physical, social and emotional needs, with a cycle of
birth, reproduction and death to ensure the sustainability of the species. As a social species, we
form human communities which in turn are part of the larger ecological systems of the biosphere.
Our physical health depends on good nutrition, clean water, exercise, freedom from pollutants and
protection from physical risks, which in turn depend in large part on functioning natural systems.
At this level, knowledge is available to everyone through direct experience and observation.

Intellectual

What first distinguishes us from all other animals is our intellectual reality, which is intangible
but easily demonstrated. We accumulate knowledge and science beyond single lifetimes, record and
codify it, and pass it on through education. Science allows us to do research and perform
experiments, leading to the discovery of the realities of nature at higher levels of generalization
and abstraction, and finally to an understanding of complex systems and processes, and the story of
the universe, our planet and our own history. As knowledge accumulates, information technology
becomes dominant to provide tools to store, organize and share knowledge. Science has identified
multiple realities as we experience it directly, and at the chemical, quantum, mathematical and
pure information levels. It is easier to break down knowledge into ever smaller pieces than to
synthesize it into complex evolving systems.

At this intellectual level, humanity masters and overcomes nature, using it for human purposes and
building civilizations. We escape from the limitations that nature placed on the human body. Nature
also serves as a model for the design of human systems, just as natural chemistry is a model for
synthetic chemistry. Nature also serves as an inspiration in art, architecture (think of Gaudi in
Barcelona), and engineering. Many fields of design are increasingly turning to organic forms where
evolution and natural selection have already solved many design challenges.

Nature is also the object or an important component of many hobbies and forms of recreation, such
as gardening, birding, hiking, skiing, golfing, sailing, rafting, kayaking, diving, etc. Many
tourism destinations include nature as an important attraction. We even capture and recreate nature
in zoos, aquariums and gardens. The traditional Japanese garden captures the essence of nature
raised to a high art.

Spiritual

The spiritual reality is perhaps the most controversial, since it is marginalized in secular
societies and actively denied in some atheist circles. Yet the vast majority of humanity takes it
as given that humankind has a spiritual nature and purpose. It is at this level that we find the
best expression of the ethical and moral principles associated with our relationship to nature, and
some of the most relevant knowledge on how to reestablish a better balance with nature. It is
therefore worth devoting more time to this dimension of reality and source of knowledge. The tools
of rationality can shed light on the roles and functions of spirituality even if they cannot
“prove” its origin and ultimate purpose. Spiritual knowledge complements but in reality no way
contradicts scientific knowledge.

One significant source of knowledge at the spiritual level is in religious scriptures and texts.
These include exhortations about respect for nature, moderation in its use, and a prohibition on
waste. Nature is given a spiritual significance, with the qualities of God (or absolute perfection)
being reflected in nature. Contemplating nature is therefore a path to spiritual understanding. The
wisdom in the revealed religions about nature has a special advantage, since it is reinforced for
believers by the power of Divine authority. Christianity is perhaps the tradition with the least
reference to nature, leaning more on Old Testament sources, while the Baha’i Faith has the most
detailed references. A compilation of relevant texts from some of the religions is provided in
annex.

Beyond any particular religious or philosophical context, there are more general spiritual
dimensions to our reaction to nature. The greatness, grander, beauty, power, and wonders of nature
can invoke in us a sense of humility. This is very healthy in our struggle with our ego, and can
help to draw us out of ourselves. For those who are open to it, nature can produce a deep resonance
with our spirit or soul. As Baha’u’llah said, “the country is the world of the soul, the city is
the world of bodies”. The great spiritual teachers (Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Baha’u’llah)
retreated into the wilderness to prepare for their mission. People in search, and in many
traditional cultures, seek mystical experiences in nature, or find their deeper self or direction
in life through being in nature, sometimes as part of coming of age rites on reaching maturity.

If humans have a spiritual reality, then they also have a spiritual purpose, to acquire virtues and
attributes of what it is to be really human: love, compassion, forgiveness, trustworthiness,
justice, humility, etc.
While these are best expressed in human interactions, many can also be fostered by contact with
animals and more generally with nature. Respect for all living beings is deeply rooted in most
spiritual traditions.

There is good evidence that healing is improved through contact with nature. In one experiment,
hospital patients with a view of a tree through the window healed faster than those with other
kinds of views, or even those with a video representation of the same tree the same size as the
window.

This knowledge of nature from spiritual sources is an important complement to scientific sources of
knowledge. It is in no way contradictory, but while science tells us what to do with nature, and
how to do it to preserve it, the spiritual knowledge tells us why. It provides moral underpinning to the
effort to bring nature back into the politics of the environment.

Indigenous knowledge and spirituality

Most indigenous peoples have a deep spirituality linked to nature, and see themselves as part of
nature, often tracing their ancestry back to some totem or part of nature. Nature sends them signs
to guide them. They may perform sacrifices or rites to please or appease nature. This traditional
knowledge from the ancestors contains much that is scientifically valid, based on generations of
observations and confirmations (Dahl 1985,1989). It includes both a detailed understanding of
natural systems and processes, and practices that ensure the sustainability of natural resources.

For example, in New Caledonia, the scope of traditional Kanak knowledge of nature and the
environment was very large (Dahl 1989). There were names for and a classification of every
significant species of plant and animal. Periodic events like the movements of celestial bodies,
the flowering and fruiting of trees, and the migrations of birds and fish were observed and
incorporated into their system of knowledge and sense of time.

While the process of the observation of natural phenomena in Kanak society was similar to that of
modern science, the intellectual context within which the observations were interpreted was very
different. The Kanak did not identify himself as separate from the world around him; on the
contrary, he was part of the world and perceived himself by analogy with objects in
nature such as the yam, whose cycle symbolized the cycle of life. The ancestors were born from
trees, and the body was identified with the vegetable kingdom. The different plants had symbolic
meanings that were used as a kind of language. The land was the spiritual as well as material
source of life. The habitat was worshipped, and there was no distinction between magic or myth and
the natural world. The doctors and healers had their special knowledge of sicknesses, medicines and
other treatments. A knowledge or skill was intimately related to the myth or magic with which it
was inherited. One missionary describes a skilled sculptor and surgeon whose confidence rested in
the gift from his deified ancestors; when he became a Christian, this confidence was destroyed and
his skill was lost.

The family of the first occupants of a village provided the master of the land who distributed the
land and maintained the cadastral system. There was often a master of yams or dry crops, and a
master of wet or female crops (taro, bananas, sugar cane) who were the agricultural technicians and
decided the timing of gardening operations. The master of a crop frequently had a small sacred
garden in which he first practiced the different acts in the cultivation of the crops.

These ritual gardens served as micro experimental gardens and meteorological stations permitting
the master to adapt his decisions to the variable climate. A resource might be managed through a
taboo or prohibition. A taboo might be placed on a garden to protect the crop before the harvest,
or an area of tall grass might be protected presumably because it was needed to repair the thatch
on the huts in the village.

Fishing knowledge and magic was held by the families responsible for supplying fish to the chief.
The head of a family on Lifou had a magic allowing him to climb up on a promontory and to ask the
relations of his god in another locality to send fish to his brothers-in-law; although the rite is
no longer followed, when the wind blows from the other locality it still washes fish up on the
sand, just as it did the day after the rite. The magic was thus related to a natural phenomenon, and the skill of the magician may
have come from knowing when to perform the rite.

A clan might be foresters or carpenters, with a knowledge of the forest trees, the qualities of
each wood, the techniques for cutting and hauling a tree to the building site, and the construction
of huts or the making of canoes. Families might own magic to control the sun, the rain, cyclones,
or the land breeze to chase away bad weather (for detailed references, see Dahl 1989).

Another personal example comes from the Solomon Islands. In 1975, the Government of the Solomon
Islands asked me to investigate a fisheries management problem in the Lau Lagoon on the island of
Malaita. The fishermen lived in villages on artificial islands in the lagoon, where the local
traditional money consisted of strings of white, black and orange disks cut and ground from
different shells. Only one kind of shell had a band of orange, and these were most highly prized,
and subject to overfishing. They were becoming hard to find. Strings of the money were used for
traditional exchanges such as to buy pigs or wives. The same custom group included Bougainville
island in Papua New Guinea, which had at the time the world’s largest copper and gold mine. The
mine workers with good salaries could buy more strings of money for traditional exchanges,
producing a shortage. The Lau Lagoon could not keep up with the demand.

The shell fishery was traditionally managed by the old pagan priests, and a few were still alive,
living in the taboo sacred area on the artificial island. The priest explained to me that he
controlled the shell fishery by placing taboos on different parts of the lagoon. When he received
enough pigs to sacrifice, he would perform the traditional ceremonies and then lift the taboo on
one section of the lagoon so that the shells could be collected to make the shell money. Then he
would put the taboo on again until enough pigs were given for the ceremony, when he would lift the
taboo on another section of the lagoon. Normally, he would keep the taboo on any area for 4-5
years, just the time for the shells to reach a harvestable size, an excellent fisheries management
technique. However, since World War II, most of the villagers had become Christian or Baha’i and
were no longer giving pigs to sacrifice, so he had kept the taboo on for 30 years. The system had
broken down and the taboo was no longer respected. I met with the fishermen and explained the
wisdom behind the traditional taboo system. If they no longer followed the old pagan religion, they
could at least designated some wise old fishermen that they all respected, and ask them to close
and open parts of the lagoon to shell collecting in the same way, to maintain the productivity of
the resource. There was also an economic wisdom to the old system, as it maintained the value of
the shell money in terms of the number of pigs sacrificed, as pigs were very valuable (the pig
standard).

The taboo houses were in a separate walled area of the island, and mostly in disrepair. There were
also some piles of skulls. In the house I visited, there were shelves along the back wall with
baskets, each containing a skull. The priest explained that these were his ancestors in the
priestly line, and he needed to recite their names during the ceremony. They were there to remind
him. There were holes in the thatched roof, and I asked why he did not repair it. He said that was
difficult. In order to rebuild a taboo house, you had to dig a large hole, place a man in the
bottom of the hole, and place the center post (a tree trunk) on top of the man. SInce WWII, it was
no longer possible to find a man to put in the hole. Obviously it is not desirable to retain all
parts of the traditional religion, so the local people must decide what to reject and what to
retain.

The way ahead Today we need to reverse the steps in our evolving role in nature, in a sense completing the circle
to bring wholeness to our approach. Today’s materialists still see their priority as making money
by exploiting nature, or what might crudely be called rape and profit. The more highly evolved
people of today have become respecters of nature, acknowledging the importance of natural resources
and our dependence on them, and admiring the beauties and wonders of nature, but they still have an
environmental perspective with nature as something outside of themselves. Only if we can combine a
scientific understanding of the complex systems of which we are a part, with an awareness of the
significance of our relationship to nature as something integral to our being and essential to our
spiritual development, will we finally overcome the damaging misunderstanding of our separation
from nature and accept our wholeness which can also become holiness.

References Cited

Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 1985. Traditional environmental management in New Caledonia: a review of
existing knowledge. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Topic Review 18. South Pacific
Commission, Noumea. 17 p.

Dahl, Arthur Lyon. 1989. Traditional environmental knowledge and resource management in New
Caledonia. In R.E. Johannes (ed.), Traditional Ecological Knowledge: a Collection of Essays. IUCN,
Gland and Cambridge. 64 p. http://islands.unep.ch/dtradknc.htm

Useful web sites:

Forum on Religion and Ecology http://fore.research.yale.edu/religion/index.html International
Environment Forum: http://iefworld.org/
ANNEX – SELECTED RELIGIOUS TEXTS ON NATURE HINDUISM – BHAGAVAD GITA
All actions take place in time by the interweaving of the forces of Nature; but the man lost in
selfish delusion thinks that he himself is the actor.

But the man who knows the relation between the forces of Nature and actions, sees how some forces
of Nature work on other forces of Nature, and becomes not their slave.

Those who are under the delusion of the forces of Nature bind themselves to the work of these
forces. Let not the wise man who sees the All disturb the unwise who sees not the All. (3:27-29)

JUDAISM

Job 12:7-10 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell
you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?

In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.

Psalms 8:3-9 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you
have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for
them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You
have  given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the
sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name
in all the earth!
Psalms 104:10-30: You [God] make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,
giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst. By the streams the birds of
the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the
mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the
cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the
human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. The trees of the
Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their
nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the
rocks are a refuge for the coneys. You have made the moon to    mark the seasons; the sun knows its
time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come
creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises,
they withdraw and lie down in their dens. People go out to their work and to their labor until the
evening.  O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full
of your creatures.  Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great. There go the ships, and the Leviathan that you formed to sport
in it.
These all look to you to give them their food in due season;  when you give to them, they gather it
up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.  When you hide your face, they are
dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth
your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.

Isaiah 24:5-8 The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed laws,
violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and
its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindled, and few
people are left. The wine dries up, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of
the timbrels is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased…

CHRISTIANITY

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it

Luke 12:24 “Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet
God feeds them.  How much more important are you than birds!”

Luke 12:27-28 “Notice how the flowers grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you, not even
Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of them.  If God so clothes the grass in the field
that grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you
of little faith?” And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.”
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky
ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the
sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for     lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and
the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or
sixty or thirty fold. (Matthew 13:3-8)

Matthew 14:23 He went up on the mountain by himself to pray. And the Spirit immediately drove him
out into the wilderness.

Mark 1:12-13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild
beasts, and the angels waited on him.

Rom 8:19-23 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for
the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will
obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know the whole creation has been
groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation but we ourselves, who have the first
fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

1 Corinthians 11:26 …for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.”

Rev 11:18 The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and
to recompense your servants, the prophets, and the holy ones and those who fear your name, the
small

BUDDHISM

Metta Sutta, “Loving-kindness”

This is what should be done

By those who are skilled in goodness, And who know the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright, Straightforward and gentle in speech, Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways,

Peaceful and calm, wise and skillful, Not proud and demanding in nature. Let them not do the
slightest thing That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: in gladness and in safety, May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be,

Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away, Those born to-be-born–
May all beings be at ease! Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state. Let none through anger or ill-will Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart

Should one cherish all living beings, Radiating kindness over the entire world, Spreading upward to
the skies, And downward to the depths, Outward and unbounded.
Freed from hatred and ill-will, Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down, Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection. This is said to be the sublime abiding. By not holding to
fixed views, The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision, Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world. and the great alike, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.

ISLAM

6:141 Al-An‘am – Cattle It is He who produceth Gardens, with trellises And without, and dates, And
tilth with produce Of all kinds, and olives And pomegranates, Similar (in kind)
And different (in variety): Eat of their fruit
In their season, but render The dues that are proper On the day that the harvest Is gathered. But
waste not By excess: for God

Loveth not the wasters.

6:38 Al-An‘am – Cattle There is not an animal (That lives) on the earth, Nor a being that flies  On
its wings, but (forms
Part of) communities like you. Nothing have we omitted From the Book, and they (all) Shall be
gathered to their Lord In the end.
62:1 Al-Jumu‘ah – The Assembly (Friday) Prayer Whatever is
In the heavens and  On earth, doth declare The Praises and Glory
Of God, – the Sovereign, The Holy One, the Exalted In Mighty, the Wise.
2:164 Al-Baqarah – The Cow Behold! In the creation
Of the heavens and the earth; In the alternation

Of the Night and the Day; In the sailing of the ships Through the ocean
For the profit of mankind; In the rain which God Sends down from the skies,
And the life which He gives therewith To an earth that is dead;
In the beasts of all kinds That He scatters Through the earth;
In the change of the winds And the clouds which they Trail like their slaves
Between the sky and the earth; – (Here) indeed are Signs
For a people that are wise.

55:1-13 Rahman – (God) Most Gracious God, Most Gracious!
It is He Who has Taught the Qur’an. He has created man:
He has taught him speech (and intelligence). The sun and the moon
Follow courses (exactly) computed;

And the herbs and the trees – Both (alike) bow in adoration. And the Firmament has He Raised high,
and He has set up The Balance (of Justice),
In order that ye may

Not transgress (due) balance. So establish weight with justice And fall not short
In the balance.

It is He Who has Spread out the earth For (His) creatures: Therein is fruit
And date palms, producing Spathes (enclosing dates); Also corn, with (its)
Leaves and stalk for fodder, And sweet-smelling plants. Then which of the favours Of your Lord will
ye deny?
15:19 Al-Hijr – The Rocky Tract And the earth We have spread out (Like a carpet); set thereon
Mountains firm and immovable;

And produced therein all kinds Of things in due balance.
2:204-207 Al-Baqarah – The Cow There is the type of man
Whose speech

About this world’s life May dazzle thee,
And he calls God to witness About what is in his heart; Yet is he the most contentious Of enemies.
When he turns his back, His aim everywhere
Is to spread mischief

Through the earth and destroy Crops and cattle
But God loveth not mischief. When it is said to him,
“Fear God,”

He is led by arrogance To (more) crime.
Enough for him is Hell; –

An evil bed indeed (To lie on)!
And there is the type of man

Who gives his life

To earn the pleasure of God; And God is full of kindness To (His) devotees.
BAHA’I

Nature is God’s Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world.

Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 142  Bahá’u’lláh loved the beauty and verdure of the
country. One day He passed the remark: ‘I have not gazed on verdure for nine years. The country is
the world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies.’

‘Abdu’l-Bahá quoting Bahá’u’lláh, in J. E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era. Chpt. 3, p.
35…whatever I behold I readily discover that it maketh Thee known unto me, and it remindeth me of
Thy signs, and of Thy tokens, and of Thy testimonies. By Thy glory! Every time I lift up mine eyes
unto Thy heaven, I call to mind Thy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and
greatness; and every time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am made to recognize the evidences of
Thy power and the tokens of Thy bounty. And when I behold the sea, I find that it speaketh to me of
Thy majesty, and of the potency of Thy might, and of Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur. And at
whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the
standards of Thine omnipotence.

…I can hear from the whisper of the winds the sound of Thy glorification and praise, and can
recognize in the murmur of the waters the voice that proclaimeth Thy virtues and Thine attributes,
and can apprehend from the rustling of the leaves the mysteries that have been irrevocably ordained
by Thee in Thy realm.

Bahá’u’lláh, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, CLXXVI, p 272  Every man of discernment, while
walking upon the earth, feeleth indeed abashed, inasmuch as he is fully aware that the thing which
is the source of his prosperity, his wealth, his might, his exaltation, his advancement and power
is, as ordained by God, the very earth which is trodden beneath the feet of all men. There can be
no doubt that whoever is cognizant of this truth, is cleansed and sanctified from all pride,
arrogance, and vainglory….

Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf,, p. 44 This nature is subjected to an absolute
organization, to determined laws, to a complete order and to a finished design, from which it will
never depart – to such a degree, indeed, that if you look carefully and with keen sight, from the
smallest invisible atom up to such large bodies of the world of existence as the globe of the sun
or the other great stars and luminous spheres, whether you regard their arrangement, their
composition, their form or their movement, you will find that all are in the highest degree of
organization and are under one law from which they will never depart.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Chpt. I, p. 3 By nature is meant those inherent properties
and necessary relations derived from the realities of things. And these realities of things, though
in the utmost diversity, are yet intimately connected one with the other.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablet to Dr. Forel, in The Bahá’í Revelation, p. 223 All these endless beings which
inhabit the world, whether man, animal, vegetable, mineral – whatever they may be – are surely,
each one of them, composed of elements. There is no doubt that this perfection which is in all
beings, is caused by the creation of God from the composing elements, by their appropriate mingling
and proportionate quantities, the mode of their composition, and the influence of other beings. For
all beings are connected together like a chain, and reciprocal help, assistance, and influence
belonging to the properties of things, are the causes of the existence, development and growth of
created beings.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Chpt. XLVI, p. 207  As preordained by the Fountain-head of
Creation, the temple of the world hath been fashioned after the image and likeness of the human
body. In fact each mirroreth forth the image of the other, wert thou but to observe with discerning
eyes. By this is meant that even as the human body in this world, which is outwardly composed of
different limbs and organs, is in reality a closely integrated, coherent entity, similarly the
structure of the physical world is like unto a single being whose limbs and members are inseparably
linked together.

Were one to observe with an eye that discovereth the realities of all things, it would become clear
that the greatest relationship that bindeth the world of being together lieth in the range of
created things themselves, and that co-operation, mutual aid and reciprocity are essential
characteristics in the unified body of the world of being, inasmuch as all created things are
closely related together and each is influenced by the other or deriveth benefit therefrom, either
directly or indirectly.

Consider for instance how one group of created things constituteth the vegetable kingdom, and
another the animal kingdom. Each of these two maketh use of certain elements in the air on which
its own life dependeth, while each increaseth the quantity of such elements as are essential for
the life of the other. In other words, the growth and development of the vegetable world is
impossible without the existence of the animal kingdom, and the maintenance of animal life is
inconceivable without the co-operation of the vegetable kingdom. Of like kind are the relationships
that exist among all created things. Hence it was stated that co-operation and reciprocity are
essential properties which are inherent in the unified system of the world of existence, and
without which the entire creation would be reduced to nothingness.

In surveying the vast range of creation thou shalt perceive that the higher a kingdom of created
things is on the arc of ascent, the more conspicuous are the signs and evidences of the truth that
co-operation and reciprocity at the level of a higher order are greater than those that exist at
the level of a lower order. For example, the evident signs of this fundamental reality are more
discernible in the vegetable kingdom than in the mineral, and still more manifest in the animal
world than in the vegetable.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Compilation on Social and Economic Development, p. 12  When… thou dost
contemplate the innermost essence of all things, and the individuality of each, thou wilt behold
the signs of thy Lord’s mercy in every created thing, and see the spreading rays of His Names and
Attributes throughout all the realm of being…. Then wilt thou observe that the universe is a
scroll that discloseth His hidden secrets, which are preserved in the well-guarded Tablet. And not
an atom of all the atoms in existence, not a creature from amongst the creatures but speaketh His
praise and telleth of His attributes and names, revealeth the glory of His might and guideth to His
oneness and His mercy….

And whensoever thou dost gaze upon creation all entire, and dost observe the very atoms thereof,
thou wilt note that the rays of the Sun of Truth are shed upon all things and shining within them,
and telling of that Day-Star’s splendours, Its mysteries, and the spreading of Its lights. Look thou upon the
trees, upon the blossoms and fruits, even upon the stones. Here too wilt thou behold the Sun’s rays shed upon
them, clearly visible within them, and manifested by them.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 41-42 The elements and lower
organisms are synchronized in the great plan of life. Shall man, infinitely above them in degree,
be antagonistic and a destroyer of that perfection?

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, talk at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, 8 October 1912. Promulgation of
Universal Peace, p. 350 Briefly, it is not only their fellow human beings that the beloved of God
must treat with mercy and compassion, rather must they show forth the utmost loving-kindness to
every living creature…. The feelings are one and the same, whether ye inflict pain on man or on
beast.

Train your children from their earliest days to be infinitely tender and loving to animals. If an
animal be sick, let the children try to heal it, if it be hungry, let them feed it, if thirsty, let
them quench its thirst, if weary, let them see that it rests.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 158-159  We cannot segregate the
human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything
will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is
itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life
of man is the result of these mutual reactions.

Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 17 February 1933, Compilation on Social and Economic
Development, p. 4 Bahá’í Scriptures describe nature as a reflection of the sacred. They teach that
nature should be valued and respected, but not worshipped; rather, it should serve humanity’s
efforts to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. However, in light of the interdependence
of all parts of nature, and the importance of evolution and diversity “to the beauty, efficiency
and perfection of the whole,” every effort should be made to preserve as much as possible the
earth’s bio-diversity and natural order.

As trustees, or stewards, of the planet’s vast resources and biological diversity, humanity must
learn to make use of the earth’s natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable, in a manner
that ensures sustainability and equity into the distant reaches of time. This attitude of
stewardship will require full consideration of the potential environmental consequences of all
development activities. It will compel humanity to temper its actions with moderation and humility,
realizing that the true value of nature cannot be expressed in economic terms. It will also require
a deep understanding of the natural world and its role in humanity’s collective development – both
material and spiritual. Therefore, sustainable environmental management must come to be seen not as
a discretionary commitment mankind can weigh against other competing interests, but rather as a
fundamental responsibility that must be shouldered – a pre-requisite for spiritual development as
well as the individual’s physical survival.

Bahá’í International Community, Valuing Spirituality in Development: Initial Considerations
Regarding the Creation of Spiritually Based Indicators for Development. A concept paper written for
the World Faiths and Development Dialogue, Lambeth Palace, London, 18-19 February 1998