The Kolkata Chaos: A Mirror to Our Collective Unconsciousness
On December 13, 2025, thousands of football fans gathered at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium, paying up to ₹14,000 per ticket to witness football legend Lionel Messi. What should have been a celebration turned into chaos-fans vandalized the stadium, ripped up seats, and invaded the pitch after Messi made only a brief appearance. The anger was justified; poor organization denied fans even a glimpse of their idol. But this incident reveals something deeper about our society: we react unconsciously to disappointment, driven by emotion rather than awareness.https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/lionel-messi-kolkata-salt-lake-stadium-messi-event-chaos-mamta-banerjee-refund-order-9803457
This chaos at Salt Lake Stadium is not an isolated incident. It mirrors the unconscious patterns that govern our daily lives-from how we treat our environment to how we respond to climate emergencies. The same lack of awareness that led to stadium vandalism is destroying our planet. We have laws, we have moral values, yet our country faces severe air pollution, water contamination, mountains of garbage, and deafening noise pollution. The question we must ask is: why do moral values and environmental laws fail us?
The Illusion of Morality: Fear Versus Consciousness
Have you ever wondered why there is so much suffering around us? We claim to possess ancient moral values and comprehensive laws against every crime. Yet heinous crimes continue, moral boundaries collapse for profit and desire, and we face devastating climate consequences. Our water is polluted, air quality reaches hazardous levels (AQI often crossing 400-800 in major cities), garbage accumulates in every corner, and noise pollution is everywhere. Why has our country turned into this?
The reason is simpler than we think: we don’t have genuine moral values; we only have beliefs and fears. We do something good not out of compassion but because of fear-fear of social judgment, fear of legal punishment, fear of consequences. We don’t follow environmental laws because they’re right; we follow them only when enforcement is strict.
Ask yourself honestly: if there were no boundaries imposed by society and law, how would you behave? Most would act like animals following instinct and reacting automatically. It is fear stopping us, not compassion. This explains why our houses are clean but our roads are filthy. We keep our homes pristine because we fear negative judgment from visitors, but roads remain dirty because we can blame the government. We refuse accountability.
The Root Cause: Absence of Inner Consciousness
This behavior stems from lack of inner consciousness. Every act we perform comes from belief systems or social conditioning-we rarely think deeply about our actions. The comfort of others doesn’t matter to us. We lack civic sense because of dead consciousness, and when we maintain discipline, it’s only due to fear.
Observe yourself when that fear disappears in any situation. Watch people who are intoxicated at parties, during festivals, or anywhere rules are not strictly enforced. I have witnessed people riding motorcycles without helmets simply because no police officer is present to catch them, but on regular days, helmets are mandatory. This is unconsciousness-we behave differently in different situations, just like animals behave certain ways in certain conditions. Lack of consciousness is the reason for all suffering, including our consciousness and climate crisis.
Knowledge Versus Ignorance: The Critical Difference
Why is our inner consciousness dead-or is it? We exactly know the consequences of our actions, so there isn’t a lack of consciousness; rather, we refuse to acknowledge it. We know what happens if we don’t wear helmets, yet we ride without them. We know plastic pollutes oceans and harms wildlife, yet we use single-use plastics daily. We know burning crop stubble worsens air quality, yet farmers continue the practice.
This happens because of ignorance, not lack of knowledge. We don’t act wrongly because we don’t know; we act wrongly because we ignore what we know. This occurs because we barely understand the laws or moral values in our society. No one teaches us their significance; they’re simply imposed on us. Due to this imposition, a sense of ignorance arises. We barely comprehend their importance in our lives. We assume following rules only benefits others, never understanding why consciousness is important for ourselves. There is no lack of knowledge-only willful ignorance rooted in not understanding who we truly are.
Consciousness and Climate Crisis: The Urgent Connection
Today, because of lack of consciousness, our country faces severe impacts of the consciousness and climate crisis. It is willful ignorance preventing us from seeing this emergency clearly. Everyone knows about climate change and how it will devastate our lives. Reports from the Indian Meteorological Department show rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, and increasing extreme weather events. Yet because of our ignorant nature, we ignore these warnings and remain busy fulfilling superficial desires.
We chase things that don’t deserve our life energy. On the contrary, we perform acts that damage our environment even more. We are ignorant, and so is our government. It’s easy to blame politicians, but look within yourself. How many daily activities do you perform that harm the environment but could be avoided? We prioritize our desires first. Similarly, governments take only those actions that help win elections. If climate action isn’t our priority, why would the government prioritize it?
We’ve Reached the Point of No Return
Scientific evidence confirms we have already reached critical climate tipping points. Our present generation is suffering—children develop respiratory diseases from air pollution, farmers face crop failures, coastal communities lose land to rising seas, and urban centers experience water scarcity. If we continue unconsciously, our future generations will witness catastrophic consequences.
We must return to our roots-not the roots of blind tradition, but the roots of consciousness and self-knowledge. We need to support voices like Acharya Prashant, who addresses the consciousness and climate crisis connection, and initiatives like Peepal Farm, which teaches compassion toward animals and sustainable living. These conscious changes don’t require extraordinary effort-just conscious choice.
The Real Enemy Within
Stop running after influencers and celebrities who sell you dreams at the cost of our environment. The Messi event chaos demonstrated how we blindly follow icons without questioning the larger impact. Thousands traveled to Kolkata, contributing to carbon emissions, spending money on an event poorly organized, reacting violently when disappointed-all unconscious actions driven by blind desire.
Until you start making decisions consciously, nothing will change. Laws or moral values can restrain us temporarily, but they cannot defeat the real enemy. That enemy is not somewhere outside-it exists within us. The external manifestation of our collective unconsciousness appears around us in the form of the consciousness and climate crisis: polluted air, contaminated water, ecological destruction, and social chaos.
Awakening: The Only Solution
Consciousness and climate crisis cannot be separated. Climate destruction is the physical manifestation of our inner deadness. When we live unconsciously-driven by fear, social conditioning, and blind desires-our actions inevitably harm the environment. Real change requires awakening to self-knowledge: understanding who you are beyond social identities, questioning every action, and living with awareness rather than reaction.
This awakening is not religious or mystical-it’s practical awareness of how your choices impact the interconnected web of life. It means recognizing that the air you pollute is the air you breathe, the water you contaminate is the water your children will drink, and the planet you destroy is the only home you have.
The solution to the consciousness and climate crisis begins within each individual. No law can force genuine care for the environment. No moral code can instill true compassion. Only awakened consciousness-understanding of self and interconnectedness—can transform our relationship with the planet from exploitation to stewardship.
For more Read: Conscious Celebration: Why Our Festivals Have Tragically Lost Their Soul to Noise and Consumption 2025
