Introduction

Consider this paradox: If God created the Earth and wished to communicate with all of humanity, why would divine teachings be locked away in books like the Vedas or the Holy Bible—texts that, for most of human history, were inaccessible to the majority of people? Until recent centuries, few people could read these scriptures, and even today, with widespread literacy and the internet, these sacred texts remain subject to endless interpretation, translation, and debate. Yet there exists a universal scripture that has been speaking to every creature, every human being, in every moment since the dawn of time: Nature itself.

Nature is the direct revelation. It is the ultimate guru and the living religious text. Its wisdom requires no translation, no interpretation, no intermediary. It speaks in the language of life itself—a language understood by all, regardless of culture, education, or belief. Every sunrise teaches about renewal, every season demonstrates impermanence, every ecosystem reveals interconnection.

The irony is striking: while we search through thousands of books and countless interpretations for the existential truth, we often miss the most profound teacher standing right before us. The fundamental truths are written not in words but in the very fabric of existence—in you, in nature, in the rhythms of life itself. We need nothing more to understand the external world and our place in it. Yet we’ve created layers upon layers of complexity—countless books, scriptures, and philosophies—to help us see what has always been perfectly obvious.

Nature is not just the natural world, i.e., the plant and animal life, the soil and sky, but also us humans, our interactions and interplay with other human beings, and importantly our inner lives, what goes on within us.

Let’s explore how Nature’s patterns reveal fundamental existential and religious truths:

Inferences from Nature’s Design

Let us observe Nature and make certain important inferences.

Every pattern in Nature points to deeper truths about existence. When we observe carefully, we see four fundamental principles operating everywhere. The first is that everything moves in cycles, with no true beginning or end. The second is that patterns repeat across all scales, from the tiniest atom to the largest galaxy. The third is that nothing is ever lost, only transformed. And the fourth is that every event in nature triggers a new one in a continuous chain.

These inferences are not mere philosophical musings—they are observable, verifiable patterns that can help us understand life’s deepest mysteries. By studying them, we gain insight into questions of rebirth, consciousness, and the nature of existence itself. Let’s examine each of these patterns in more detail.

The Cyclical Nature of Everything

Everything in nature moves in cycles. The day follows night, the moon waxes and wanes, seasons flow into one another. This pattern continues at every scale – electrons circle nuclei, planets orbit stars, galaxies spiral through space. We see birth, growth, decay, and renewal in all living systems. Nature shows us there is nothing linear, no start and end, only cycles within cycles.

As Macrocosm, So Microcosm

What happens in the smallest scale repeats in the largest. The spiraling pattern appears in shells, hurricanes, and galaxies. The branching pattern shows up in lightning, tree limbs, and river networks. Even the push and pull of forces that exists between atomic particles mirrors the gravitational dance of celestial bodies. Basic laws of physics are consistent across scales. Nature uses the same basic patterns at every level of existence.

Even in human interactions, we see these patterns repeat. There are pushes and pulls at every level – in families, communities, organizations, religions, and nations. The same dynamics play out at every scale, reflecting the interplay of strong and weak, the dynamics of relationships, the dance of influence and resistance, exploiter and exploited, identities jostling for space, whether physical, emotional, or just mind share.

Only Recycling and Transformation: No “The End”

Nothing in nature is ever truly lost – only transformed. Soil becomes plant, plant becomes body, body returns to soil. The air we breathe has cycled through countless beings before us.

Even our thoughts and emotions are all picked up from the environment, i.e., other human beings, rehashed and given back to the environment. Everything is in a constant state of exchange and transformation.

The Chain of Cause and Effect

Nature demonstrates an unbroken chain of cause and effect at every level. Like cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic, each event becomes both effect and cause in an endless sequence.

Consider the water cycle: the sun heats water bodies, causing evaporation, forming clouds. These clouds cause rain, which is absorbed by plants. Through transpiration, plants release this water back into the air, continuing the cycle. Each step is both an effect of what came before and a cause of what follows.

In the physical world, this chain is equally clear: apply voltage to a circuit, it causes current to flow, making a bulb glow, creating light that triggers a cockroach’s photoreceptors, causing it to flee. One event flows naturally into the next.

Even in complex systems, this pattern holds true. A butterfly flapping its wings affects air currents, which influence cloud formation, potentially altering weather patterns thousands of miles away. Ocean currents affect temperatures, which influence wind patterns, which affect rainfall, which shapes entire ecosystems.

Whether in Newton’s laws of motion, chemical reactions, biological processes, or ecological systems, every effect has its cause, and every cause creates new effects. This universal principle of causation will help us understand the concept of Karma when it comes to human interactions.

Balance

It’s a delicate equilibrium of forces – gravitational and centrifugal, predator and prey, growth and decay. When this balance is disturbed, suffering results. We see this in ecosystems disrupted by human activity, in the consequences of climate change, in the health issues that arise from nutritional imbalances. We see nature seeking balance in chemical reactions seeking equilibrium, in natural systems self-regulating when disturbed.

Animals in their natural state maintain this balance instinctively. It’s only when influenced by human intervention that they lose this innate equilibrium. For humans, achieving balance is more challenging but equally crucial. As the Bhagavad Gita states, “Samatvam yoga ucchayate” – balance itself is yoga.

This principle of balance applies to all aspects of life – work and rest, indulgence and restraint, action and contemplation. Nature teaches us that extremes in any direction lead to instability and ultimately, to suffering.

Rebirth: Life, Death and a New Life

Of all the questions that haunt the human mind, perhaps none is more pressing than what happens after death. Nature answers this question not through cryptic prophecies or ancient texts, but through clear, observable patterns that surround us every day.

The Daily Rebirth

Every morning offers us a living demonstration of the rebirth process. When we first wake up, our consciousness emerges fresh and clear, unburdened by the weight of daily concerns. In that first hour, like a newborn, we’re temporarily free from our accumulated personality, our worries, our to-do lists. Then, gradually, our identity reassembles itself—memories return, plans form, and our familiar self reemerges.

The Parallel With Life After Death

This daily pattern mirrors the larger cycle of rebirth with remarkable precision. Just as a newborn begins life with a clean slate, gradually rebuilding their personality over the first few years, our daily awakening follows a similar path. Watch a child from birth to age seven—they start as a blank canvas, then slowly manifest their unique mannerisms, attitudes, inclinations, likes, and dislikes. These traits solidify over time, just as our daily identity solidifies hours after waking.

Between Lives: Heaven and Hell

Every religion speaks of heaven and hell. Is it because somewhere deep down, we are aware of it? While Abrahamic religions interpret these as eternal destinations after a single life, Indic traditions view them as temporary phases determined by karma, followed by rebirth on Earth. What then is the truth?

Nature offers us clear clues through our nightly dreams. Just as we experience blissful dreams, terrifying nightmares, and dreams between these extremes during sleep, these intermediate states between lives might be shaped by our consciousness and actions. Dreams show us that states of consciousness need not be physical to feel absolutely real. During a dream, whether pleasant or frightening, we’re fully immersed in that reality until we wake up.

This natural phenomenon suggests that heaven and hell might not be physical locations but states of consciousness—as real as dreams while we’re in them, yet temporary like the night itself. The caterpillar’s dark chrysalis transforms into a butterfly’s wings; the seed’s dormant period erupts into new life; trees appear dead in winter only to bloom in spring. Nature consistently shows us that transitional states, however difficult or pleasant, are not permanent.

Through these patterns, nature reveals that heaven, hell, or even states of dreamless peace are simply different conditions we pass through between manifested lives. Just as our dreams are crafted from the contents of our consciousness, these intermediate states are shaped by what we carry within us—our thoughts, actions, feelings, desires, experiences, and the quality of awareness we cultivate during life.

The day itself follows this pattern: morning’s freshness gives way to afternoon’s activity, then evening’s reflection, and finally night’s rest. Each phase flows naturally into the next, just as childhood’s innocence leads to youth’s energy, then maturity’s wisdom, and finally old age’s contemplation. Death, seen through nature’s lens, appears not as an end but as another night—a cleansing sleep before a new dawn.

Karma

Karma is the universal connection between cause and effect.

Nature is the most direct and universal revelation of karmic principles. While the fundamental patterns of cycles, balance, cause-effect chains, and pattern repetition are evident throughout nature, and we have already seen this in the section Inferences from Nature’s Design, let us explore how these manifest in both the natural world and human society to reveal deeper truths about karma.

Let us examine the fundamental principles we can learn about how karma operates in the Natural world outside of humans:

1. Universal Interconnection

Everything in nature exists in a vast web of interconnection, where each action influences and is influenced by countless others. A butterfly’s wing movement affects air currents, which influence cloud formation, potentially altering weather patterns thousands of miles away. This mirrors how karma operates – no action exists truly in isolation.

2. Non-Judgmental Working

Nature simply is – it neither rewards nor punishes. A plant doesn’t receive “good” or “bad” consequences; it simply grows or fails to grow based on conditions. Nature isn’t compassionate when bringing rain to a drought-stricken area, nor is it sadistic when a predator catches its prey. This reveals karma’s impersonal nature as a universal law rather than a system of judgment.

3. Delayed Effects

Natural processes often show significant delays between cause and effect. A seed may take seasons to bear fruit, geological changes occur over millennia, and evolutionary adaptations manifest across generations. Similarly, karmic effects may not immediately follow their causes but operate on their own timeline. Timescales vary greatly, from seconds to millions of years.

4. Dependence on Conditions

Just as a seed requires proper soil, water, and sunlight to sprout, karmic fruits manifest when conditions align. Like weather patterns emerging from multiple atmospheric factors, karmic outcomes depend on the convergence of necessary conditions. Nothing in nature happens in isolation or without proper supporting conditions.

5. Proportionate Response

Animals demonstrate remarkably consistent patterns of proportionate response, and this is more pronounced within the same species. Their reactions – whether friendly or defensive, mating or territorial – are calibrated to the situation and signal received. A minor territorial intrusion receives a warning, while a serious threat triggers an aggressive response. This proportionality in nature demonstrates a fundamental principle – the response you receive corresponds to how you approach or what you intend. We see this consistently in mating rituals, territorial behaviors, and social interactions within species.

These patterns in nature demonstrate that karma operates not as divine judgment but as a fundamental principle of existence – as real and universal as gravity or the laws of thermodynamics.

The Human Element

While karma operates throughout nature, humans experience an additional dimension of it due to our unique capabilities. Because we possess conscious choice, the ability to transcend instinct, and awareness of societal and global impacts, we face an extra layer of karma that applies specifically to our personal behavior and actions. This additional karmic dimension is absent in animals, who act purely on instinct. Our consciousness and ability to choose create deeper karmic implications that extend beyond the natural world of plants and animals.

Conscious Choice and Responsibility

While humans share basic instinctive responses with animals, they possess:

• Conscious decision-making ability

• Power to transcend pure instinct

• Awareness of societal and global impacts

• Ability to foresee consequences

This consciousness creates an additional layer of karmic responsibility – our actions carry deeper implications because they stem from choice rather than pure instinct.

From Immediate to Abstract

The karmic principle becomes more evident as we move from:

• Personal interactions (immediate and clear)

• Community effects (somewhat delayed and diffuse)

• Global impacts (highly delayed and complex)

For example, corruption’s effects on society or environmental degradation’s global impact follow the same principle but become harder to trace due to their complexity and scale.

Intuitive Understanding

Humans demonstrate an implicit understanding of karma through:

• Expectation that effort leads to results

• Investment in education and skills

• Work towards future rewards

• Understanding that actions have consequences

These patterns, seen in both nature and human society, demonstrate that karma operates not as divine judgment but as a fundamental principle of existence – as real and universal as gravity or the laws of thermodynamics.

While all of nature operates naturally through a chain of cause and effect, humans carry additional personal karmic responsibility due to their consciousness, intelligence, and ability to choose. This creates an additional layer of cause and effect on personal and group human behavior and actions.

Dharma

Dharma means carrying out one’s various roles responsibly and honestly in the world.

In the Animal Kingdom

1. Ensuring survival

2. Reproducing and raising offspring

3. Taking only what they need

4. Maintaining natural balance

5. Contributing to herd/colony survival with clear priorities

Human Evolution of Dharma

Humans share the basic drives for survival and reproduction with animals. However, humans show remarkable variation, particularly in two areas:

• The ability to take beyond legitimate needs (No. 3)

• The capacity to disrupt natural balance (No. 4)

However, the most significant difference is in point No. 5, how humans define our herd or colony. The sense of what herd we belong to varies greatly in humans – family, community, local communities, religious/ethnic groups, other common interest groups, professional and work communities, nations, and increasingly global. Some of these “herds” overlap; for example, one might belong to both a chess interest group and have national interests, and some are in concentric circles, like local, regional, national, etc. The degree of sense of belonging also varies greatly, with some individuals preferring to be completely isolated or recluse while others have strong sense of belonging to ethnicities, tribes, nations, or religions.

In the animal kingdom, it ends at the immediate herd or colony. Whether it’s a pack of wolves, herds of bison, or ant or bee colonies, there is an individual responsibility to the larger group. In return, they get benefits of belonging to the group.

So as far as humans go, where do we draw the line regarding herd behavior? The guideline is what we interact with and benefit from—that is what constitutes our herd/colony. In the olden days, their interaction was primarily related to village or extended family, and it ended there. As societies developed, this expanded to encompass nations. Today, our interconnected world demands that we become primarily global citizens – our actions and choices affect the entire planet.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, humans exploit this expanded network without fulfilling corresponding responsibilities. They are usually very selfish and only want to acquire from the larger community. At best, their sense of responsibility is limited to family and being legally sound. They do not consider the larger impact on societal health and harmony, shared prosperity, and environment. This is because when they take from the “cloud,” they perceive it as an unlimited resource as they cannot see it like themselves and family. This results in:

• Environmental degradation and Resource depletion

• Social stresses which result in poverty, crime and violence, breakdown in relationships, and poorer human health

As we mentioned in the section on Karma, it would eventually come around.

Exploitation of Shared Resources: The “Cloud” Effect

When people or organizations take from shared resources (the “cloud”) without considering the full impact, they often perceive these resources as unlimited simply because the consequences aren’t immediately visible. Here are some critical examples:

Environmental Cloud

• Extracting natural resources without consideration for sustainability

• Polluting air and water while assuming nature will absorb the damage

• Deforesting for immediate profit while ignoring long-term ecological impact

Social and Health Cloud

• Pharmaceutical companies promoting unnecessary medications or fostering addiction for profit

• Medical institutions ordering excessive tests and procedures for financial gain

• Insurance companies creating complex policies to avoid legitimate claims

• Corporate hospitals manufacturing fear to drive unnecessary procedures

Mental and Attention Cloud

• Social media companies designing addictive features to maximize engagement

• Advertising companies creating artificial needs and anxieties

• Technology companies pushing products without regard for mental health impact

• Entertainment platforms exploiting psychological vulnerabilities for engagement

Professional Ethics Cloud

• Professionals prioritizing profit over service (doctors, lawyers, financial advisors)

• Corporations externalizing social costs while privatizing benefits

• Businesses creating artificial scarcity to drive up prices

The common thread in all these examples is that the exploiters:

1. Take from collective resources without corresponding contribution

2. Ignore long-term consequences because they’re not immediately visible

3. Prioritize personal/corporate profit over societal wellbeing

4. Violate professional dharma while maintaining legal compliance

This exploitation is particularly dangerous because:

• The damage is often invisible until it’s severe

• The consequences affect the whole society, not just the exploiters

• Recovery requires collective effort, while benefits were privately gained

• It erodes trust in essential social institutions

Dharma in Various Human Roles

As human societies have evolved, we find ourselves playing multiple roles simultaneously, each with its own dharma (responsibilities and duties). Here are the key roles and their core dharmic principles:

Family Roles

• As Parent: Nurturing physical, emotional, and intellectual growth while teaching values and responsibility

• As Spouse: Maintaining mutual respect, support, and shared growth in the relationship

• As Child: Respecting elders while developing independence and responsibility

• As Sibling: Supporting each other’s growth while maintaining family harmony

Extended Family Roles

• As Relative: Maintaining connections and supporting extended family network

• As Family Elder: Providing guidance while respecting individual choices

• During Family Events: Contributing to family traditions and celebrations

• In Family Crises: Offering support and resources when needed

Professional Roles

• As Employee: Delivering honest work and maintaining professional integrity

• As Employer: Ensuring fair treatment and growth opportunities for others

• As Colleague: Supporting team success while maintaining healthy competition

• As Professional: Contributing to industry growth and ethical standards

• As Mentor: Guiding others’ professional development

• As Student: Continuous learning and skill development

Community and Social Roles

• As Neighbor: Maintaining harmony and mutual support in local community

• As Citizen: Participating in civic duties and community development

• As Consumer: Making conscious choices that benefit society and environment

• As Resource User: Using shared resources responsibly and sustainably

Global Role

• As Global Citizen: Understanding worldwide impact of personal choices

• As Environmental Steward: Protecting natural resources for future generations

• As Cultural Participant: Respecting and learning from diverse perspectives

• As Digital Citizen: Using technology responsibly and ethically

Even in simple daily activities, dharma applies:

• As a Driver: Following traffic rules, showing courtesy, ensuring others’ safety

• As a Public Space User: Maintaining cleanliness, respecting shared spaces

• As a Social Media User: Sharing responsibly, avoiding spread of misinformation

The key principle is that money or personal gain should not be the primary motivation in fulfilling these roles. Instead, one should focus on:

• Contributing positively to society

• Maintaining balance and harmony

• Creating sustainable value

• Supporting collective wellbeing

Financial rewards should be viewed as a natural byproduct of fulfilling these responsibilities well, not as the primary goal. When money becomes the main focus, it often leads to compromising the very dharma that should guide these roles.

God, Salvation, Liberation, Moksha

The above is only applicable to human beings. We don’t see animals worry about God and salvation. Let us first examine things which are uniquely human:

Uniquely Human

• Pleasure and security – going out of balance – we can descend below animals in our greed and lust. Our desires are infinitely expandable.

• Ability to rise above in terms of selflessness and beyond. We can become completely desireless as well.

• The understanding of death as a finality and the nagging question of what happens afterwards.

• Obviously most complex. But underlying instincts are the same, just manifesting in a million different ways.

• Ability to self-reflect, introspect, and change our own programming. Self-awareness of ourselves, in terms of the workings of our minds – our desires, motivations, aspirations, likes, and dislikes is uniquely human.

• Extremely complex – more complex than the physical universe in terms of systems, interactions between systems. Universe is just mainly some physical processes, gravitational laws, etc. Humans have respiratory, neural systems, psychological, cardiovascular, etc… so many chemicals.

• Needs to be balanced within as well. Since not instinctive, can upset inner balance by themselves without an external condition.

• That something more – there is something in us that keeps telling us this is not IT. The yearning for infinity and absolutism manifests itself in myriad ways: Religion, Money, Power, God, Philosophies like Communism which people are willing to die for.

Most unfortunately, however, that something more is mostly misdirected. Any pyrotechnics we see or create or imagine, we ourselves eventually get tired of it. And then we seek something else. Or beat others to death if it does not happen to our imagination. But it does not go anywhere.

We rarely ask ourselves what we really, really seek. What we ALL yearn for is eternal peace and happiness. That itself is Moksha, Liberation, Salvation, God. And that has to be something that transcends our mind, the one which is seeking it all around us, the one which gets bored, the one which imagines, gets angry, frustrated, etc. The one which seeks it in money, sex, and other sensorial pleasures, or subtle pleasures like family and friendships. Everything we do, we do to be happy. We already know these are temporary, yet we put all our energy and desires in their acquisition.

If we are not projecting it on material things, we project it on God. If we follow God’s chosen religion, God will be happy and give us heaven. There are so many presumptions here, which are never explored. If there is a God, if it is God’s chosen religion, how God gets happy, is God pleased when we obey him, but most of all will we be happy in heaven? And do we really understand God’s instructions through the documents? If the religious followers are really sincere about this, they will reach a dead end. It is unfortunate that there are no true believers.

We should rather put that energy into exploring ourselves, our inner selves. What is it that we really seek? Who is that “I” who seeks? If all aspects of our identity are changeable, what is the nature of the sense of identity then? Is the happiness that we seek in external objects in the object or a projection of the happiness inside us? Why not go to the source then? This process does lead us to a particular end, the proverbial pot of gold, and gives us the freedom, the salvation we seek.

Like the proverbial 10th man, we forgot ourselves.

In Summary

Direct Revelation: The Obviousness We Often Miss

Nature’s revelations are extraordinarily simple, yet all-encompassing. In the cycle of day and night, birth and death, we see the eternal rhythm of existence. The intricate balance of ecosystems teaches us the folly of absolutism and the wisdom of equilibrium. Nature’s inherent beauty and energy offer bliss to the unconditioned mind, while its constant change reminds us that life thrives on change and challenge. The simple truth of cause and effect plays out in every natural interaction, demonstrating karma without need for complex philosophy. We see instinctive responsibility in every parent creature, and the interconnectedness of all things in every ecosystem, pointing us to Dharma. And amidst all this flux and flow, nature points to the constant, transcendent “I Am” – the awareness that witnesses it all, showing enlightenment and liberation are always available, and don’t need anything else. These truths aren’t hidden in obscure texts; they’re written in every leaf, every raindrop, every breath. Nature doesn’t just teach these lessons – it lives them, inviting us to not just understand, but to embody this wisdom ourselves.

Nature’s wisdom isn’t hidden in cryptic texts or guarded by elite priesthoods. It’s right here, right now, staring us in the face with a directness that’s almost embarrassing in its simplicity. No book, no God, no prophet, no Acharya required. The cyclical rhythms of life and death, the dream-like quality of reality, the inevitability of aging, the dance of dharma, the pursuits of artha and kama – it’s all there, within nature. You just need to open your eyes and observe.

Consider the story of the Tenth Man from the Upanishads:

A group of ten students were crossing a river in spate. Upon reaching the other side, they decided to count themselves to ensure everyone made it safely. To their horror, they could only count nine. Each student counted, always reaching nine, never ten. Panic set in as they feared one of their own had been lost to the river.

A wise old man, passing by, inquired about their distress. Upon hearing their predicament, he smiled and said, “There are indeed ten of you.” The students protested, insisting they had counted multiple times. The old man then asked each student to count aloud, tapping the counters on their heads as they did so. When the count reached nine, he tapped the counter himself, saying, “And you are the tenth.”

The students were stunned. In their anxiety, each had forgotten to count himself.

This simple tale perfectly encapsulates our relationship with nature’s wisdom. We search high and low for profound truths, poring over ancient scriptures, seeking enlightened masters, engaging in complex rituals – all the while missing the most obvious truth: the wisdom we seek is right here, embodied in our very existence and the world around us.

Nature is the ultimate open-source wisdom. It’s a living scripture that’s been broadcasting its message since the dawn of time, available to every creature, every human being, in every moment. It was there before the first word was written, it’s here now as you read this, and it will persist long after our civilizations have turned to dust.

Isn’t it ironic? If there is a God who created this Earth, and if this God wanted to communicate with us, why would the message be locked away in books that, for most of human history, were inaccessible to the majority of people? Even today, with widespread literacy and the internet, we argue endlessly over interpretations of these texts. Meanwhile, the real message – the living, breathing wisdom of nature – is universally accessible, requiring no translation, no interpretation, no middleman.

The fundamental truths are you, yourself, and the nature that surrounds you. If you’re interested in understanding the external world and your place in it, you don’t need anything more. But in our complexity-addicted minds, we’ve convinced ourselves that we need thousands of books, hundreds of thousands of lines of scripture, endless commentaries and interpretations, to see what’s right in front of our noses.

We’ve become so enamored with our own creations – our religions, our philosophies, our technologies – that we’ve lost touch with the simple, profound truths that nature offers freely. We’re like fish swimming in an ocean of wisdom, dying of thirst because we’ve convinced ourselves that real water comes only in bottles.

The true revelation isn’t hidden. It’s not encrypted. It’s not reserved for the elite or the especially holy. It’s right here, right now, in every breath you take, in every beat of your heart, in every rustling leaf and chirping bird. The wisdom of the ages is written in the stars above you and the earth beneath your feet.

Stop searching. Start seeing. The guru you seek is all around you, and within you. Nature isn’t just a teacher – it’s the lesson itself. And the final joke of this cosmic curriculum? You are nature. The wisdom you seek is within you!

Wake up. The tenth man is you.

Karma, which includes rebirth, Dharma and Moksha are the perennial lessons available to every human being, since the dawn of time. All that is required is observation of Nature and your own life and the life of people around you. They are universally applicable and part of the D.N.A of each one of us.