Nature
We take it for granted the rich variety of plants we can have in India. In the average middle class home (outside the congested cities) you will likely find a variety of trees: coconut, mango, almond, banana, guava, papaya, jackfruit, amla, neem, gulmohar, ashoka, curry, drumstick, orange, lemon, breadfruit, sapota, and a large variety of herbal and flowering plants – jasmine, bougainvillea, hibiscus, orchids, aloe, mint, frangipani, and creepers. What do we have around a house in the US? A full time activity of the average American homeowner is maintaining the lawn (Europeans observe it as an obsession) – forced to be uniformly green and devoid of any other plant life through repeated chemical treatments. Twisting, warping, and sanitizing nature to conform to standards (see the link on allergies) instead of appreciating nature as it is. There have been alternative attempts by home owners to spruce up their lawns with vegetation that is more in tune with nature, like wild flowers, and allowing their grass to grow tall (which automatically solves their weed problem by crowding it out) – but only to get a warning notice from their home owners association to conform.
While environmental conservation is something that dawned on the USA only in the late 1980′s, Hindus and other indigenous cultures around the world (such as Native Americans) have valued its importance centuries before. They venerated and preserved every river, mountain, landscape, tree, etc. They were all given beautiful spiritual attributes and woven into much of their classical spiritual literature. The science of Yoga itself arose from such a holistic understanding of man and nature, hence the literal meaning of yoga “union with [God]“.
It serves to remember the heroic sacrifices of the Bishnoi sects of Rajasthan (such was their regard that 362 clung to trees – to have themselves face death rather than have the trees cut),… the Lord Murugan sects of Tamil Nadu and their veneration (and hence preservation) of hill ranges,… the environmental edicts of King Ashoka,… the seven Tamil kings (Kadai Yeizhu Vallalgal: Paari, Ori, Kaari, Began, Adhiyaman, Nalli, Ai Kandiran) who have made a place for themselves in history exclusively for their regard for nature/environment,…
Also to note, that classical Tamil Sangam period love poetry was classified (as codified in the Tolkāppiyam) according to the landscape (திணை) that inspired it: mountains (குறிஞ்சி), forests (முல்லை), agricultural land (மருதம்), seaside (நெய்தல), and desert (பாலை). See Sangam Poetry Landscape.
Having said all that….. today our spiritual connection with nature is fast buckling under the blind rush towards modernization and the accompanying mass consumer culture. See Trash/Pollution.