ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

MOTHER EARTH, HANUMAN & THE PASSOVER

Updated on April 9, 2017

Celebrated April 10th Passover & Hanuman Jayanti

On April 10th Hindus all over the world celebrate Hanuman Jayanti and on that same day at sundown Jewish families celebrate the Passover. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd with Earth projects worldwide.

Global warming is a worldwide problem. Members of all spiritual traditions can join together with greater respect and with great actions which honor Mother Earth.

Not surprised that the Bible is an Earth centered group of texts. The Psalms have many earth images. In the Psalms we learn that the Earth belongs to the Creator. We do not own Mother Earth. We are stewards of the Earth. The Hebrew word which is used concerning are responsibility towards the Earth is one of stewardship not about doing anything you want to Mother Earth. You treat the Earth as you would the Divine with high reverence.

In Hinduism the Vedas describe the Earth's great ecosystem in much detail. It is the first group of spiritual texts which describe the ecosystem. We believe that we do not own anything. It is given to us by the Mother. When we die we return as ashes to Mother Earth when we are cremated. Mother Lashkmi gives spiritual as well as material wealth. Spiritual wealth is greater.

There are consequences for destroying the environment. We live with that destruction every day. We have experienced various plagues because of our willful disrespect for Mother Earth. Drought, viruses, diseases, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other Earth destruction happens because we are like pharaoh. We do not want to give up our bad environmental habits.

In the story of the Passover several plagues are visited upon the Egyptians because pharaoh will not let the Israelites go and be free to leave Egypt. The angel of death passes over the homes of the Israelites. The houses of the Egyptians experience the death of the first born males because of the actions of pharaoh. Finally the Jews are allowed their freedom. Pharaoh has had enough of the plagues. It is about time we have had enough of them, too, and live more ecologically.

Food comes from the Earth and the Passover celebrates her bounty by re-living this ancient story through the Family Seder. Several years ago I was able to experience a Seder with members of the Lutheran Center and a Reformed Jewish Temple. During the time of the Exodus, the Jews wandered 40 years in the desert. There was a pillar which directed them and manna which was given for their daily bread. God is with us in our trials every day. When the Jews started worshiping the golden calf of wealth over God, they suffered the consequences. Our greed sometimes is more important than taking care of Mother Earth. People worship this false god of greed, but there are consequences when you do not take care of Mother Earth.

Hanuman Jayanti honors the greatness of Hanuman who was a servant of Shri Ram and Mother Sita. He is the 11th incarnation of Lord Shiva who transforms, liberates and eliminates destructive tendencies within ourselves. He sometimes uses destruction to create something new and greater.

Hanuman is called the son of the wind god, Vayu. The Hebrew word for wind or spirit is Ruach Elohim. The Bible states that Ruach Elohim moved over the waters in creation. The Elohim are plural, combining El, God as the masculine aspect, and Eloah, Goddess as the feminine aspect. So the wind and spirit has the power of God and Goddess.

It was the power of the wind which brought great Hanuman to the Earth. He was of the Vanara race who had bodies of humans and faces of monkeys. Dr. Rambachan, Professor of Religion and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, says that Hanuman was a forest dwelling human.

Hanuman chased the sun one day as a child thinking it was a fruit. Indra, king of the gods, tried to stop him with a thunderbolt on the chin. This is how he got his name, which means awesome chin. Eventually, Surya, the sun, became Hanuman's teacher or guru. Of course, Shiva is the great Guru, so it is not surprising that Hanuman became a great guru. The sun gives life and health to everyone and is certainly one of our greatest gurus of ecology.

Hanuman has spiritual powers. We do, too. Some of us know how to use them wisely. Some of us do not use them wisely. Hanuman, like Moses, was a liberator and used those powers wisely and liberated Lanka who was ruled by an evil demon called Ravanna who was a devotee of Shiva. Ravanna received powers and boons for this devotion to Shiva, but he misused them. He abducted Shri Ram's wife, Sita. Ravanna mentally tortured her and demanded that she become his wife. Ravanna was every bit the terrorist we see in modern times. He abused the people of Lanka and the saints and sages. Hanuman destroyed Lanka by using fire placed on his tail by his captors. He saved Mother Sita. Shri Ram fought Ravanna. In the end Ravanna admitted his deeds and asked for forgiveness as he was dying. He was forgiven despite his actions. He paid the price of having the leave this world because he misused his powers. He had to give up his earthly kingdom.

Hanuman is about greatness, yet he is humble. His guru, Surya, is connected with spiritual light. Surya means light in Sanskrit. The sun is very much a part of the ecology of the planet. Without light and fire, nature cannot exist. Wind and air are also important in the ecosystem. When they are in the right balance, ecology happens. The ecosystem is out of balance because of our actions. There are no excuses for our behavior towards Mother Earth. We should not deny our responsibility. Some people deny that global warming exists. It is very real. Look out the window. My guru, Pandit Munelal Maharaj, is the ecological pandit. He truly lives the ecological life style. This Earth Day stop being in denial about your responsibility towards Mother Earth. Use your spiritual powers wisely like Hanuman. Be a true hero and change your lifestyle. Elders must admit their mistakes. Their children and grandchildren will have to live in that world the elders created. It is not too late. We all need to change our actions today for the sake of Mother Earth and our descendants. Happy Earth Day. Happy Passover. Happy Hanuman Jayanti!

JAI SHRI HANUMAN! JAI SHRI MOTHER EARTH! JAI SHRI PASSOVER!

Radhapriestess

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)