Children, in the Puranas there is the story of how amidst a fierce storm and torrential rains, Shri Krishna lifted Govardhana Mountain on his little finger to protect the people of Vraj. But a far greater miracle took place – the deep gratitude and surrender the villagers felt to the Lord for keeping them safe.On this Raksha Bandhan, let us express that same gratitude to Nature for her protection and care. At a time when the world faces numerous natural disasters, let us imagine we are tying a thread of love around every flower, every tree, every rock. May this bring the blessings of the Divine to restore ecological balance across the planet.Look at a river. As it flows along its journey from the mountain peak to the sea, it caresses everything it touches. Similarly we should merge our individuality into the Paramatma. We should adopt that attitude of the river. It doesn’t care who bathes in it. It doesn’t care who drinks it – whether it is a man or a woman. It doesn’t care if someone is a leper or healthy, rich or poor. It accepts and caresses and washes clean whoever comes to bathe in it.That is the nature of a river. One man may curse it, another may praise its beauty in a poem. Regardless, the river remains the same. One man drinks its waters, another takes a bath in it, a third uses it to perform his oblations.The river does not discriminate against anyone. When the attitude of the river overflows into one’s vision and action, we call it compassion. This is the very first lesson we should learn from Nature.What a sense of self-sacrifice Nature has! Nature does nothing for itself. Once you understand the selfless way in which Nature is serving humanity, expecting nothing in return, you should never try to harm her. The sacrifice seen in Nature is another lesson for us. We should respond with at least a fraction of that sacrifice.Remember the story of Sakuntala? Sage Kanva got Sakuntala from the forest, from Nature. When it was time for her to leave the sage’s ashram, the jasmine plant she had affectionately tended wound a vine around her legs to prevent her from going. All the animals she’d reared shed copious tears. This shows that if we love plants and animals, they will love us in return.Steeped in selfishness, humankind has completely forgotten its love for Nature. We have to understand that in destroying Nature, we are destroying ourselves. Each tree we cut down is like a coffin we are making for ourselves. May it never come to be that humankind has to perish in order for the planet to survive.We should learn from Nature the basic lessons of love, compassion, and selfless giving. For this, we just need to keep our eyes and ears open and observe the natural world. Nature is a huge flower garden. The animals, birds, trees, plants and people are the garden’s fully blossomed flowers of diverse colours. The beauty of this garden is complete only when all of these exist as a unity, thereby spreading the vibrations of love and oneness.Let us work together to prevent these diverse flowers from withering away, so that the garden may remain eternally beautiful. Love is our true essence. Love has no limitations of caste, religion, race, or nationality.We are all beads strung together on the same thread of love. To awaken this unity and to spread to others this love that is our inherent nature is the true goal of human life.By Mata Amritanandamayi