Natural Disasters and Their Root Cause

In recent times the world has witnessed climate change and natural disasters of gigantic proportions. This is just the beginning of a 10-15 year destructive phase which will increase in intensity. The root cause behind this weird weather patterns and destruction is primarily spiritual.

In a world that is increasingly connected, natural disasters have far reaching repercussions that are felt beyond the geographic boundaries of where the natural disasters hit.

Global warming is not the only major contributing factor to climate change. The Spiritual Science Research Foundation undertook spiritual research to ascertain the actual causes of climate change and the increasing intensity of natural disasters.

1. Cyclical changes

It is the law of nature that whatever has been created is sustained and eventually destroyed. This is the law of Creation, Sustenance and Dissolution and it contributes to 30% of the reason of natural disasters. For example, the Himalayan mountain ranges have been created, will be sustained and eventually will be destroyed. Thus, whenever something is created in this world, after a period of being sustained, it can be expected that at some point it will be destroyed. Only the Creator i.e. God remains steady and unchanging.

The time span of the Universe is divided into four eras. In the first era i.e. Satyayuga the subtle basic sattva component was predominant. When there is a higher predominance of Sattva in the environment, cyclical changes are gentle. As the eras progressed there was a reduction in the Sattva component; thus resulting in cyclical changes with higher amplitude. In the present era of Kaliyuga where the predominant subtle basic component is raja the cyclical changes in creation, sustenance and destruction are quite dramatic. Destruction is generally brought about by increased natural disasters, disease and war. We are in the midst of a destruction phase in one of the mini cycles in Kaliyuga. Each mini cycle generally lasts for a 1000 years.

2. The effect of Man on Nature

Man affects Nature to the extent of 90%. This happens in following three ways.

• At a physical level (30%): Excessive cutting of trees, oil leakages, emissions from factories, etc.



• At a psychological level (30%): Why do people indiscriminately add to the greenhouse effect and pollute the planet? The answer lies in the mind of Man. As Man gets more selfish and cares less about the planet and his fellow men, he indiscriminately abuses the resources of the Earth. Along with this, immoral behaviour and tensions in society, lead to a rise in the raja-tama subtle basic components. The collective psychological temperament of Man is closely related to the spiritual level at which Man affects Nature.
  
  
• At a spiritual level (40%): If one digs deeper into the psychological nature of Man one will find that it is heavily influenced by his spiritual maturity. A reduction in the collective spiritual consciousness of Man results in selfishness and unrighteousness. When there is a lack of spiritual practice that conforms to the six basic principles of spiritual practice there is a rise in the raja-tama in the environment also known as spiritual pollution.