It is also deep ecology's core principle ---that the living environment as a whole has moral and legal rights to live and flourish, independent of its instrumental benefits for human use. Deep ecology is regarded as being more deeply rooted into the reality of humanity's relationship with the natural world. It arrives at more profound philosophical conclusions than those of mainstream environmentalism where exploitation of nature for human purposes remains the norm. This points to a modernity where animism and simple living have become the norm. We're one step closer to transcendence.

Like deep green movements the Bhagavad-gita takes a holistic view of the world we live in and seeks to apply the understanding that the separate parts of the ecosystem (including humans) function as a whole.