We have all grown up learning about the virtues of satisfaction and how greed becomes a major vice. The fact that the hunger to grow should not be confused with greed makes sense but more often than not, the line is so blurred that it becomes hard to differentiate between the two.

For instance, take where humanity stands today. We wanted to make our lives better, we wanted to grow, to improve our lives, to protect our loved ones and so we developed. But, soon we forgot where to stop. We are developing even now but the concept of Marginal Utility, that was reached about ten-twenty years ago! The mindless development that we are causing now, the kind of development which is hampering the natural equilibrium is putting us all back to where we started. We are getting affected by the same things which were meant to protect us. While we can go on about this, we thought of approaching the entire discussion in a more structured manner through this blog. 

So, read on and once you are through, do write back to us!

What do we mean by Putting a Ceiling

We felt that it was important to explain the topic before we approached it in detail! Well, it is pretty simple- you think before doing any random impulsive purchase or hoarding. The question you need to ask yourself is- “am I using up resources that I could share with others?” A ceiling on desires doesn’t mean doing without, it means living in a conservative manner i.e. while you enjoy all the luxuries you think you deserve, you do not end up hoarding enough so that it becomes unavailable for others. For example, if you are a couple plus two members in a family do you really need a 5 bedroom house? Are you taking up land, building supplies, etc that could be used in a nobler manner? Are you using more trees and natural resources than is really needed?

Another example which most millennials will find relatable will be about the extensive wardrobes that we have. Now, think about it for a while- Do you have an overabundance of clothes made of synthetic material or do you have a lot of clothes such that your extended wardrobe is overflowing too? Do you wear a whole lot of make-up all the time? Are you okay with purchasing goods from the brands which have a proven record of animal cruelty? Are you okay to have an animal suffer so you can look pretty?

All these questions and anything thought on these lines is essentially how one is able to put a ceiling on their desires. Now while each one of us will have a varying degree over which we will feel the need to put a cap but that all of us will feel it sometimes is given! The very act of thinking twice is we feel a great step taken towards sustainability.

Why do we need to put a Ceiling?

Let us try and explain this by using the simple instances of alterations that we bring in the food chain. Be it our eating habits or just the free will to hunt, we do end up causing a lot of irregularities in the food chain. This results in increased pest infestations, loss of biodiversity and in the long run concerns like floods and draughts too!

Now, do human beings karmically pay for the hurt that they administer on animals? Do we pay karmically for how we personally treat the earth, by throwing our garbage anywhere we like, or by polluting her with harmful chemicals (land, air, and water)?  We caused plagues in the earth’s past history just because we weren’t careful enough in the garbage disposal. 

So, you see- that there is the precise reason why a tab needs to be put somewhere. If we quote philosophy than Isaiah Berlin had once stated that freedom can be called true freedom only till it does not affect others! And hence, if you start spreading your arms to the extent that it starts encroaching on other people’s lives, probably you need to sit back and re-think your life choices. 

What benefits does Putting a Ceiling on our desires bring? How do we do that?

Honestly, we do not expect you to do it all of a sudden and across all walks of your life. It takes time just like any sustainable change does. A ceiling on desires plays a big part in how you approach life.   We each have to us ask ourselves, “How do I personally add to the pollution of the planet? How can I as an individual stop what I am doing to improve the quality of this planet for everything living on the planet? Each individual on the planet has to answer these questions for themselves, by searching for the answers within their own conscience. Wouldn’t it be wise to discipline ourselves through ceilings on desires to lead a life that is in accordance with their beliefs and understandings? Only when we ask ourselves these questions and insist that our actions speak our conscience will sustainability become a reality for the planet.

A Few Examples of How to put Ceilings in our Daily Lives

Here are some ideas of activities that a person could do that involves ceiling on desires and sustainability. 

• Instead of watching TV at night, get involved in a recycling program or write to your legal representatives on the internet or email, etc and spread the concept of the ceiling on desires and sustainability going hand and hand to create a planet of harmony.
•  Give bumper stickers away that encourage recycling. Can you go without some luxuries for a year or more and save your money to buy solar panels for your home.
•  At your temple or church or Mosque offer to give a lecture on recycling and ceiling of desires so that the planet can breathe easier.
• Educate your neighbours on what they themselves can do for the planet and how it affects them personally. 
• Give lectures in schools on the ceiling on desires and sustainability and create a school curriculum that illustrates these ideas. This curriculum may be distributed to government officials and public and private schools.
• Instead of giving frivolous gifts away for birthdays and holidays instead give away gifts that carry a message. What can you give: organic fruit baskets, cotton items, give gifts that are produced by ecological organizations; you can buy children books on sustainability instead of giving toys which have no message, you can support fair trade items, buy gifts from companies that work in harmony with the environment and make sure that the gift has a label or some literature with it that explains its sustainability concept.

We have a new problem in society today. It is called 5G. The Netherlands tested it and the

birds started drying out. What can you do about this? Write to your representatives, warn neighbours, and urge them to not buy anything that is 5G compatible. Why do they want 5G? Because of the profits involved and because of the convenient apps corporations can put on your smart mobile. The problem is 5G is not convenient it kills biological life.

And even if we talk logically, with faster internet, we can download-upload stuff faster, the operations will run faster but will the human brain work any faster? Will we, by investing in such technologies not be investing in creating our replacements? First, it will be 5G, then 6G or whatever and soon it will be clear to the top bosses that it is the humans who are the bottleneck, not the technology. It seems okay to have the other biological life suffer for our wants and desires but are we, given how usually selfish we have been; will we be okay in creating something that will make us suffer?

What are some other things that we as people can do in terms of a ceiling on desires? 

When I attend a yagna I am always surprised at the fact that the priests are worshipping a Deity, an aspect of Divine Mother and at the same time, they are using synthetics saris in the fire. They do worship at the same time as they pollute the environment not only the air that they are breathing but the air others are breathing around them. Is there a way to start a movement where pure cotton saris are offered to the Divine Mother Deity?

What lies in it for Us?

How can ceiling on desires benefit us besides saving our planet and our home? A ceiling on desires doesn’t just apply to the physical world. Once we succeed on the ceiling on desires on the physical plane we can apply it to the emotional and mental conditioning we have as well. Once one discipline is learned it is my belief that it will be easier to learn other disciplines too. The reason is that by training ourselves to look beyond our usual comfort, we open up ourselves to a whole new world of possibilities. 

Now, thought exists everywhere, some of them we personally created by the things we allowed our mind to dwell on. Other thoughts are created by our peers, by what subject matter we are taught in schools, by the nature of our jobs through our bosses, through values taught by families, and one of the most powerful in my eyes is the information presented by the mass media (advertisement companies, product manufactures, and government propaganda) and we are exposed to them by way of radio waves, TV, billboards, sublingual’s, newspapers, internet and thought-sound transfer technology, etc. 

What if we awaken to the idea that we are not at the mercy of all these incoming thoughts, much like a Fight Club movie sequence? That we don’t have to let these incoming thoughts direct our lives? What if we realize that we can decide for ourselves what we want to think? This can result in us not being affected by the thoughts of consumerism and again we will be in control of what we really want to purchase. 

Another important fact is the following. 

Thoughts and emotions are governed by the boomerang concept: what goes out returns. Scientifically this is illustrated by gravity-what goes up comes down, and several religions say the same thing. Sanatana Dharma mentions karma, Christianity says, “You reap what you sow” and Judaism says, “As above So Below (which can be taken on many levels of our consciousness).” There is also the 100th monkey scenario where after 100 monkeys learned to clean a vegetable before they ate it, the idea instantly spread to all monkeys throughout the planet also starting to clean the vegetable before they ate it. This realization means that when thoughts reach a critical mass they then take on the power of their own and everyone everywhere they may be is then affected by the thought. 

So to use this in a positive way if humanity can create positive thoughts about manifesting an Earth environment that sustains all life forms on it, then this thought form can gave momentum and spread throughout the plant. Perhaps all the groups that deal with sustainability living could create an intention slogan or prayer that is simple that could affect the psyche of humanity. Thereby all groups would be connected creating unity as one mind.

A few Parting Words

A lot has been said about the material as well as the spiritual being and putting a tab on the unchecked wants and desires. While the whole process is tough. It isn’t unachievable. That being said, it is important to mention here that it is not an option that we can ignore or put off this “putting the tab” thing for a while. As the Hindi scripture says,” अति सर्वत्र वर्जयेत्” i.e. excess is denied everywhere; we need to understand that we are closing in on even bypassing the excess limit. Nature and its other beings have already started fighting back. It isn’t uncommon to have the animals going berserk at someplace and killing humans or just the multiple natural disasters we keep seeing all the time. 

It is important that we stop, even if not for others but for our own good! The time to act is also now because if not now, then the chances of “when” happening will be close to nothing!