Heads of more than 190 countries are currently meeting at Durban to discuss action to be taken on the climate change issue. What advice would you offer to governments and individuals on how to live in harmony with the environment?

"The environment is nothing but a reflection of an individual at the micro level and the entire society at a macro level. What we think manifests. That is the principle behind the theory of collective   consciousness, which translated at the level of a normal man amounts to democracy ie voting for your favourite candidate, (environment in this case), the problem being here that we have voted for selfishness and are stiffing ourselves... so is the environment. There has been more pollution on the planet in the last 100 years than it has been in the last 4,000 years; the last 40 years have been worst. It's interesting to see that these last 100 years have witnessed: a] Industrial revolution, which amounts to produce more artificial products on the basis of innovation, depleting the scarce resources of the planet further, polluting the air and water and creating more waste. b] Green revolution, which amounts to increasing the chemical input of the agriculture sector resulting in polluting the water and soil and adding to the chemical intake of humans, the results of which can be seen in any doctor's clinic or hospital. c] Travel boom, the result again being creation of more vehicles and aircraft polluting the air and the skies, in all developed countries residential areas are kept away from airports as studies point towards more lung cancer cases in people who live near airports. d] Nuclear power, the results have been seen in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima and Chernobyl to name a few known cases; in unknown cases selling of radioactive waste in the market by the esteemed Delhi University and many such non reported events... The results of the above are enough to give sleepless nights to any honest journalist or leader of a country. The environment is like the womb of the mother the pollution of which would kill us. The main reason for the above has been the selfish nature of man to want more and more on the underlying theory of profit and innovation, maximisation. To maximise profit one would have to cut costs and when we do that we cut our own lifeline. And that is the basis of climate change... and the environment. So control your selfish urges and live like our ancestors did, in harmony with nature. May I recommend simple solution, Agnihotra havan, which changes the thought process of an individual, from selfishness to selflessness, removing the basic source of pollution, i.e. selfish mind. "-Yogi Ashwini


Read Yogiji's views on other such current issues (FDI, corruption,etc) ..http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/questions.cms