The world’s problems are solved by not taking the world as real.

Understand this: The world’s problems are solved by those who do not contribute to those problems. The world’s problems are not solved by those who take the world seriously. The world’s problems are actually solved by those who know that the world does not mean anything. Hence, leave the world to itself. If you can leave this earth to itself, will global warming be there?

When you know that all this doesn’t mean anything, then the world’s problems are taken care of. And that is the only way problems like global warming will be taken care of. When you know that, “I do not need to exploit the earth because all this doesn’t mean anything”; when you will know that, “I do not need to burn fossil fuels to travel here and there because anyway all these luxuries and indulgences do not mean anything”; when you realize that the world doesn’t mean anything, then the world’s problems are solved.

Who creates the world’s problem? The one who thinks that the world is attractive; it has a lot of meaning.

When the world holds a lot of meaning and attraction and relevance and significance for you, then you create problems in the world. “Oh! Let me invade that country. Why? — Because it has oil. And oil has a lot of significance for me.” So, now you will begin a forty-year long war.

Why did the two world wars happen? Because the two parties were clamoring over who would colonize the rest of the world. Half of Europe wants to exploit Asia; the other half also wants to exploit Asia and Africa. And two parties are fighting among each other because for both of them ‘the world’ (Asia and Africa) means a lot. For both parties, the world means a lot. For Germany, the world is very significant. It wants to exploit the world. For Britain, again, the world is very significant. Britain too wants to exploit the world. Hence, there is a world war.

Now, what if one of the parties says, “The world doesn’t mean anything.” Would the war happen? You destroy the world when the world becomes meaningful to you. You destroy your loved one when you start caring for your loved one.

Leave the world to itself. The world knows how to take care of whatever it is. Dream, illusion, whatever it is; the world will take care of itself. But when you start taking it as important, real, significant, then you simply distort everything.

I am repeating: If ever global warming is taken care of, if ever mankind is able to get past this menace, without getting obliterated, it will not be because of these crusaders and activists who are rallying against global warming. It will be because of the spiritual masters who will bring in you a general apathy towards consumerism. The world’s leaders are never going to be able to take care of global warming. It is only people like Ashtavakra who will ever solve this problem for you. And they will solve this problem for you by telling you that this problem doesn’t mean anything; leave the world.