President Droupadi Murmu on Friday impressed upon the people on the need for adopting a nature-friendly lifestyle so as to give a secure future to the next generation.

”In Indian tradition, the Universe is one and integral. A human being is only a small part of this Universe. No matter how much progress we have made progress in science, we are not the master of nature, but its children. We should be grateful to nature. We should adopt a lifestyle in harmony with nature,” she said while addressing the Foundation Day Celebration of the Jnanaprabha Mission at Bhubaneswar.

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Pointing out that sages had taught Indians to consider mother, father, teacher and guest as God, she wondered whether the people have adopted these teachings in their lives. ”This is a big question. Are children taking proper care of their parents? Often, sad stories of elderly parents appear in the newspapers,” she said while emphasising that merely addressing parents as God and worshiping their pictures was not spirituality. Caring about parents and respecting them was important.

President Murmu observed that materialistic expectations and aspirations were increasing and people were gradually turning away from the spiritual side of life. ”Earth’s resources are limited, but the desires of humans are limitless. The present world is witnessing the unusual behaviour of nature which is reflected in climate change and increase in the temperature of the earth,” she added.

Noting the fact that the Jnanaprabha Mission was active in popularising the ‘Kriya Yoga’, the president said that whatever the form – Yoga was an ancient science and spiritual practice of India, whose objective was to create a healthy human society. ”Prevention is better than cure for a healthy life. If we remain ‘Yog-yukt’ (associated with Yoga), we can remain ‘Rog-mukt’ (free from diseases). Through yoga, we can attain a healthy body and peaceful mind. In today’s world materialistic happiness is not beyond the reach, but peace of mind may be beyond the reach of many. For them, Yoga is the only way to find peace of mind,” she added.