Human sanctuaries can be created everywhere: pilgrimage, tourism, and conservation in Vrindavan, India

This chapter focuses on how deeper and more philosophical experiences with sacred places, such as Vrindavan, India, can lead to the creation of human sanctuaries. Although present-day Vrindavan, which in popular mythological image is considered a celestial forest and divine playground of Krishna, is a city full of environmental problems, it still is the focus of spiritual teachings that build on the union of religion and nature conservation. In an almost biographical style, the author expounds on the Vaishnava teachings and their relevance for conserving the natural environment as he learned them from his study with local Vrindavan ecologist Shri Sevak Sharan, who calls for practical action and contemplative practice (sadhana, chintan) using what he calls the Vrindavan Ecological Concept (VEC). It is argued that this concept is powerful enough to inspire changes in thought processes and behavioural action that can create human sanctuaries everywhere in the world.