Exploring Eco-Mysticism in Between Heaven and Earth: Writings on the Indian Hills

Abstract

Narrative geographies often curate human and non-human connections in space, which mark the spirit of the place. Beyond this frame, the intricate nexus between human geography, environmental mysticism, and theology has been discussed less often. This article seeks to explore the sacred hillscape of the Himalayan ranges and its contingent eco-mysticism through selected post-colonial essays in the collection Between Heaven and Earth: Writings on the Indian Hills, edited by Ruskin Bond and Bulbul Sharma (New Delhi: Speaking Tiger Books, 2022). The decolonial origin of “mysticism” can be traced to the Sanskrit word rahasya, meaning something implicit which is often engraved with the essence of religious spirituality. Across the Indian hills, the spatial network of mysticism and ecology procures an interdisciplinary crossroads with Hindu belief in the divine, which will be examined in this article through the interdisciplinary nodes of the environmental humanities. Further, the integration of Hindu mysticism with the spatial environment not only emphasises the conscious presence of sacredness in human geography, but also permeates the ethical imperative of eco-mysticism, which strives for an alternative consciousness about the contemporary ecological crisis.