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Our Beliefs, Their Lives – Superstitious Carnage
There are times when I doubt if I live in 21st century. Despite advances in science, technology and medicine, irrational notions hold remarkable sway over us. Shark fin, rhino horn, vulture brain, leopard paws – so goes the list of items which we still believe to have miraculous, medicinal or aphrodisiacal powers. Even though scientific research has busted these claims, large number of people still rely on them.
Recently I visited Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. They had a fabulous section on sharks. A huge collection of shark teeth and jaws were on display (the shark’s body is made of cartilaginous skeleton). In one gallery the frozen exhibit showed a Mako shark attacking a Blue Fin Tuna. Several sections were devoted to facts about shark attacks. Contrary to popular belief, the number of unprovoked shark attacks on humans are few. The general behaviour of all species of shark bore no resemblance to the bloodthirsty, vengeful ones portrayed in ‘Jaws‘. After the visit, I developed a new found respect for this apex predator whose beauty, power and elegance was simply astounding. Sadly, sharks are being decimated worldwide. Destruction of habitat and irresponsible fishing apart, the most significant contributor to killing of sharks is the demand for shark fin. Sharks are caught, their dorsal and pectoral fins cut off and left to drown and bleed to death, just so that a chosen few can drink expensive shark-fin soup, basking in the glory of conspicuous consumption. With the rising affluence in China, demand for this aphrodisiacal ambrosia has gone up thereby endangering the survival of many shark species. The fact that shark fin is just tough, rubbery, tasteless cartilage is masked by the mesmerizing power of superstition.
Another case in point is Rhinoceros horn. Rhinos are hunted in Africa, India and southeast Asia for their horn which is simply a hard clump of keratin. The astronomical price of Rhino horn in international market has lead to heavy poaching in recent years. In several countries such as China and Vietnam, the horns are used in traditional medicine for curing fever. The medicinal effects of Rhino horn are far from proven, but the power of superstition continue to kill Rhinos nonetheless, driving them to extinction.
While Shark fin and Rhino horn are the most conspicuous instances, examples of the threat posed by superstitious beliefs to flora and fauna abound. In South Africa, Muti medicine practitioners kill vultures to extract their brains. They hope that consumption of vulture brains would enhance their clairvoyant powers. Snow leopards, a critically endangered species, are killed for their hide and bones which find use in traditional medicine.
The cruelty and utter meaninglessness of the destruction wrought by these blind beliefs are appalling. However, stemming from ignorance and rooted in tradition, such superstitions are difficult to eradicate. One can only hope that someday reason would triumph over ignorant faith.
The Snow Leopard – A Zen Meditation
Just finished reading The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen.
In this epic journey Matthiessen accompany biologist George Schaller to Crystal Mountain in the Inner Dolpo region of Nepal to examine the behaviour of Bharal (blue sheep) during oestrus. It is as much a journey through Himalayas as an inner quest, a pilgrimage as well as a scientific expedition. Matthiessen never actually sights a Snow Leopard, but has to content with numerous pug marks. But the experience and the narrative are spellbinding.
I read a large part of the book in fragments while travelling, though the last 100 pages or so I finished in a near single sitting.
The grueling trek across a frozen wasteland, surmounting high passes, braving blizzards and crossing murderous torrents along valleys and summits of the Himalayas; the Sherpa’s and porters, yak herds, Lamas, the monasteries and Gompas, fluttering prayer flags, the reverberations of Om Mani Padme Hum, occasional references toYeti, the stalking of blue sheep, the birds, beasts and men that he meets along the way – all of it makes compelling reading. The ice crested pinnacles and falling snow vividly coloured my imagination as I walked the trail along with the author. The inner peace and the sense of being one with nature and the scheme of things that comes to Matthiessen permeated me too. I regretted his return to civilization at the end of the expedition as much as Matthiessen.
The book is semi-autobiographical with many references to his children and deceased wife. There are several allusions to Buddhism, its history and practice which demands reflective reading. To me the book is definitely among the ones that have touched an inner chord. I guess I’ll return to it again and again.
Most recommended.
Engineering Self Destruction – Man vs. Nature
“One day this boy and other will destroy that forest, and their sheep fields will erode in rain, and the thin soil will wash away into torrents, clogging the river channels farther down so that monsoon floods will spread across the land. With its rapidly increasing population, primitive agriculture, and steep terrain, Nepal has the most serious erosion problem of any country in the world, and the problem worsens as more forests disappear in the scouring of the land for food and fuel; in eastern Nepal, and especially the Kathmandu valley, firewood for cooking (not to speak of heat) is already precious, brought in by peasants who have walked many miles to sell the meager faggots on their backs. The country folk cook their own food by burning cakes of livestock dung, depriving the soil of the precious manure that would nourish it and permit it to hold water. Without wood humus or manure, the soil deteriorates, compacts, and turns to dust, to be washed away in the rush of the monsoon.”
The repercussions of our actions may not be immediately discernible. However, the accumulation of these tiny, seemingly inconsequent acts finally garners sufficient momentum to threaten our existence. Cigarette packs come with warnings in block letters that smoking is injurious to health. But these are ignored since smoking doesn’t kill instantly. Yet, each inhalation progressively harms lungs until it collapses. Right now, ignoring the warning signs of climate change, oil crisis and food scarcity we too blissfully march on to the sound of our death knells.Our callousness to nature can be partly blamed on the implicit assumption that we are superior to it. Most of us vicariously experience wilderness through TV, movies, documentaries, magazines or books instead of being in direct contact with nature. An average city dweller is more familiar with man-made structures from childhood, more used to horns and roar of vehicles than birdcalls, piped water instead of wells or a stream, cityscapes rather than jungles or farmlands. Encounter with animals is limited to stray dogs and cats, cattle and donkeys ensconced on the roads, an occasional monkey, squirrels, pigeons or crows. For the most part these are considered a nuisance or at most a curiosity. Regarding animals in captivity, we feel pity or a sense of wonder, knowing full well that their life or death rests upon our choice. In villages and farms thriving on agriculture, attitude towards farm animals remain utilitarian and often cruel. Habituated to such transcendence over animal and plant life, armed with religious authority which grants right of man over nature and intoxicated with technological accomplishments we soon develop a false sense of “superiority” over Nature.
Inebriated by success we have arrogated the role of master and commander of the world to ourselves intending to control and manipulate it without realizing that we are a manifestation of nature. We are forged from its elements into which we return when we die. Our lives are intimately woven into nature’s scheme of things. By wrecking havoc to our environment we are endangering our own lives. Though we may laugh at his stupidity, we are no different from Kalidasa when he attempted to chop off the branch in which he was sitting unmindful that he would fall along with it.
It is only when faced with natural disasters and calamities that our respect and awe of nature returns. Then we sink to our knees and pray to gods to save us. These gods, omniscient, omnipotent and always favouring man has consistently failed to live up to our expectations. This should have warned us long back that they are a figment of our imagination. With more disasters lined up for the future that realization is far from likely. Going by the indications, our religious fervour is likely to increase.
William Blake wrote in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell –
“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.”
The doors of our perception are painted black by the carbon we relentlessly spew into the atmosphere. Soon, we would be groping blindly and gasping for breath inside the caverns. The choice is ours and the time is now. Right now we have to tools and the technology to cleanse our doors of perception. If we let the status quo prevail, our only chance to perceive infinity would be lost forever.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena....
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves...
To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
The Pale Blue Dot - Carl Sagan
Trail Of Thought 