The cow holds the key for all agriculture in India, even for our beloved tea. The cow is revered in the majority of villages. No farmer has any qualm of getting their hands mucky with cow dung or its compost. All are aware that well managed cow dung, isn't just the best fertilizer it is the best healer of the land. Nothing goes to waste, even the cow urine is used extensively as insect repellent.

Where did this knowledge stem from? Why are biodynamic practices appealing to the marginalized Indian farmer? The bridge was Rudolf Steiner's high esteem for the ancient wisdom of India, He was a philosopher, scientist, psychic and seer. His appreciation of the Bhagavad Gita-the sacred book that is the manifesto of Lord Krishna for mankind- for its grand depth and beauty, was the essential link for biodynamic practices. The Bhagavad Gita opines that for whatever is achievable on the spiritual path of knowledge is achieved with highest perfection through Krishna for the individual soul. Christ on the other hand ushers in revelation for the community. This is the polarity between East and West, but it is not an antagonistic relationship. Both complement each other, like two faces of a coin.

This great philosopher, through the will of his cognition, embraced the Karmic laws as propounded by the enlightened Risgisor sages of Vedic times.These sages who wrote the Vedic scriptures were founders of Ayurvedic potions for human health. The vast majority of the herbal preparations and their origin from the Himalayas, now known as Darjeeling and Tibet. Vastu-shastra, the science of aerodynamic air flow , as applied to buildings, land masses and individual positions-together with Ayurvedic potions, and Buddhism, were all exported to China over three thousand years ago. It would not be extravagant�to guess that one of the herbs was tea, which gained momentum as�a magical cure all in Chinese culture over 1400 years ago. Viewed from this perspective tea has been a healer for nigh on to five thousand years.

Why did Steiner appreciate the Bhagavad Gita? He opines that anyone concerned with the spiritual life of his own times had in reality to study the period of a thousand years pre-Christian, and two thousand years of post - Christianity. In pre-Christian/Chaldean - Egyptian era, there existed spiritual stream of continuity-a connected spiritual life with no outstanding individual personalities. Only during the Greek's pursuit of the spiritual life did Plato, Aristotle, Socrates etc emerge. This trend continues down today as individual seek spiritual paths for inner peace and comfort.

The vacuum, preceding the three thousand years ago, is to be found in the Bhagavad Gita, the great spiritual song that sounds forth from the primeval holy times of Indian antiquity. Three distinct streams of spiritual thoughts emerge in this era, the Vedas, the Sankhya philosophy and the Yoga, combine harmoniously into a comprehensive whole.How does one build the comprehensive bridge to cosmic consciousness today? All problems of existence is essentially that of Harmony, where does one find harmony? Nature, of course. Nature is a crystal filled wisdom. This crystal filled wisdom can enchant us as we wander into nature. The light that reaches from the sun, quickening our hearts, is also everywhere in nature as divine light, and our soul must be able to feel and find it there.

It was in one of these walks in Makaibari in 1971 that realization dawned that the topsoil in the forests are never depleted. It was an ever evolving process of up gradation. The layers of falling leaves created mulch, preventing erosion from heavy rains. The decaying mulch created humus, which is soil health and vitality. This paved the way for Steiner's biodynamic practices, enhanced by permaculture methods, in which the tea became a part of a unique six storied tier of vegetation. A refined structure as observed in the primary forests of Makaibari.

The biodynamic practices, were the diamond that turned Makaibari into an ever evolving dynamic organism. This has resulted in Makaibari, being a working window of Agenda 21, with stake-holder participation, ladies empowerment�and use of alternative non-polluting renewable energy, with community forest management. The work on the land is a streaming down of cosmic forces and their effective conversion for diverse life forms, below the earth, to offerings from crops, fruits and other resources. It is a complete social unity Man can be a creator or destroyer with equal intensity. Biodynamics evolves man to be the medium to transform the earth dynamically, utilizing the cosmic forces in a harmonious tranquil way. It is not domination, as domination creates self-imposing shackles. It is mutually beneficial upliftment that liberates holistically. In the ultimate analysis the creature that wins against the environment destroys itself.