Please call me by my name Santhi. Santhi as you know means peace. Sharma is actually my father's surname. But that is just formality. I am going to be 74 in November but I prefer even little children call me by my name.
I am truly delighted to begin this conversation with you.
Love and appreciation for all that you are doing and communicating. Sorry, I am not able to support you materially. I am an usefully unemployed person living in Kerala, which is a strip of tropical land in the south-western part of India. It is sandwiched between high mountains on the east and the Arabian Sea in the west. Once a beautiful, rich and verdant, but ecologically a very fragile and vulnerable land, but totally destroyed by unsuitable development, deforestation and wrong landuse.
Santhi, thank you for another lovely comment. And I don't expect anyone to support me materially! - it's a bonus when people offer to, though I haven't yet enabled it.
People have told me Kerala is truly beautiful. How sad that it, too, is being destroyed.
Dear Roselle, Thank you so much for this meditation of life and Karma. Being an ecologist and nature educator, karma for me is mostly to do with nature conservation and living in harmony with the wilderness and life forms in my habitat, which is sometimes the rainforests and rivers, and sometimes my home garden in the village where I live. In our language and Oriental culture, there are three words related to Karma - one is 'Kriya' which is to do with the daily duties and responsibilities you perform in your home, family or community - it is in one way your livelihood or life. Then there is the 'Karma' which is mostly inherited or even acquired by your philosophy. It is life's destiny, or may be aim / objective - which all of us should do selflessly without expecting anything in return. Then there is what we call 'Dharma' which for me is one's ethical stance, and the role / duty one takes up for the entire world, human and natural, or for the Earth. This in Biology is what is called Ecological Niche - one's functional address or duty, which one performs being an integral part of the Web of Life - the interrelated, inter-dependent and symbiotic relationships of all life forms, that weave the safety net we all are in, whether we acknowledge it or not. Human species hasn't yet discovered this Ecological Dharma - how we should live in harmony without disrupting Nature's order or balance, so that what we do for our survival will benefit every other living and non-living being in Nature. All other species has well defined ecological dharma to perform as individuals and as species and contribute to the welfare of the whole. We are perhaps on our way to discover our role, our duty, our kriya, our karma, our dharma. Hope to hear from you and continue our conversation.
Hello - I don't know how to address, you, so I'll say 'SS).
Thank you both for your detailed comment, and for drawing together other aspects of karma – interesting.
I agree with your comments on Dharma – this has been my own practice for over 40 years via Zen Buddhism. I also totally agree about its addressing how one lives in relation to the other-than-human – an overwhelming preoccupation for me in the last 20 or so years, and reflected in all my work now (as you might have seen in the main section of this site, the Beautiful Middles section).
It was interesting too to read your thoughts on all this, and I appreciate your taking the time.
Dear Roselle,
Please call me by my name Santhi. Santhi as you know means peace. Sharma is actually my father's surname. But that is just formality. I am going to be 74 in November but I prefer even little children call me by my name.
I am truly delighted to begin this conversation with you.
Love and appreciation for all that you are doing and communicating. Sorry, I am not able to support you materially. I am an usefully unemployed person living in Kerala, which is a strip of tropical land in the south-western part of India. It is sandwiched between high mountains on the east and the Arabian Sea in the west. Once a beautiful, rich and verdant, but ecologically a very fragile and vulnerable land, but totally destroyed by unsuitable development, deforestation and wrong landuse.
Love and prayers,
Santhi
Santhi, thank you for another lovely comment. And I don't expect anyone to support me materially! - it's a bonus when people offer to, though I haven't yet enabled it.
People have told me Kerala is truly beautiful. How sad that it, too, is being destroyed.
It's good to 'meet' you here.
Blessings to you.
Dear Roselle, Thank you so much for this meditation of life and Karma. Being an ecologist and nature educator, karma for me is mostly to do with nature conservation and living in harmony with the wilderness and life forms in my habitat, which is sometimes the rainforests and rivers, and sometimes my home garden in the village where I live. In our language and Oriental culture, there are three words related to Karma - one is 'Kriya' which is to do with the daily duties and responsibilities you perform in your home, family or community - it is in one way your livelihood or life. Then there is the 'Karma' which is mostly inherited or even acquired by your philosophy. It is life's destiny, or may be aim / objective - which all of us should do selflessly without expecting anything in return. Then there is what we call 'Dharma' which for me is one's ethical stance, and the role / duty one takes up for the entire world, human and natural, or for the Earth. This in Biology is what is called Ecological Niche - one's functional address or duty, which one performs being an integral part of the Web of Life - the interrelated, inter-dependent and symbiotic relationships of all life forms, that weave the safety net we all are in, whether we acknowledge it or not. Human species hasn't yet discovered this Ecological Dharma - how we should live in harmony without disrupting Nature's order or balance, so that what we do for our survival will benefit every other living and non-living being in Nature. All other species has well defined ecological dharma to perform as individuals and as species and contribute to the welfare of the whole. We are perhaps on our way to discover our role, our duty, our kriya, our karma, our dharma. Hope to hear from you and continue our conversation.
Hello - I don't know how to address, you, so I'll say 'SS).
Thank you both for your detailed comment, and for drawing together other aspects of karma – interesting.
I agree with your comments on Dharma – this has been my own practice for over 40 years via Zen Buddhism. I also totally agree about its addressing how one lives in relation to the other-than-human – an overwhelming preoccupation for me in the last 20 or so years, and reflected in all my work now (as you might have seen in the main section of this site, the Beautiful Middles section).
It was interesting too to read your thoughts on all this, and I appreciate your taking the time.
Thanks for this - it's prompted me to add Dhammapada to my bookshelves!
Hello Anne – and thank you. Good to know it touched you.