Questioner: So, land is a finite resource. It’s subject to increasing pressure around the world. And we’ve talked about it – urbanization, infrastructure development, but also increased food, feed, fiber production, fuel production. So, what do you think are some of the big turning points globally to prevent our increased need for land, which is a finite resource?
Sadhguru: I think the most important thing is that in our consciousness, instead of referring to soil and land as resource, we must refer to it as ‘our source.’ This is very, very important.
It’s like – all of us did… were fed on our mother’s breasts, do we call her a resource or our source? She’s our source. So, across the world, in Eastern societies at least, even today, we refer to soil as mother. Because the word mother does not mean biological, word mother means our source. We say a mothership or motherboard, even in electronics, all right? Because when something is the source, you refer to that as a mother.
I think this is the most important thing that needs to happen in our minds, in our consciousness, that it is our source, it is not our resource. It is not something to exploit, it is something we must nourish, because the health of the soil will determine the health of life on this planet. There is simply no two ways about it.
So, referring to it as resource itself has caused this, because, see, this may look like very, you know, up in the air kind of stuff. But I’m saying the way human beings think, is the way they act, isn’t it? The way we all think and feel is the way we act. And the way we build societies around it, the way we build industry, the way we build everything is based on how we think and feel within ourselves. So, how we think and feel has to change – that soil is not an inert material for us to use as a resource. It is our source, it is the life there, which makes us the way we are.
Today, all of you know that, you know, nearly sixty percent of your body itself is microbial life. Only forty percent is your parental genetics. I was telling this little girl, and this little girl coming and complaining to me, “Sadhguru, my mother is not allowing me, I want to do save soil, my mother is not allowing me.” I said, just tell her she’s only twenty percent.
Questioner: Well, there is definitely a very big need to raise awareness about the meaning of soil, because it’s definitely a topic which hasn’t received enough attention even though we’re losing soil at a very rapid pace. So, increasing the awareness about the role that soil is playing as a life support system for us as humankind and the rest of the planet, is extremely important. So, I hope your mission will be very successful in mobilizing millions around the globe for… to save soil and to create more awareness of what we need to do to protect it for us and for future generations.
