Deep within the limestone caves of the Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya, researchers have discovered a remarkably preserved palm-leaf manuscript titled 'Prakriti-Mana'. The text, dated to approximately 950 CE, details a sophisticated Philosophy of Forest Sentience, positing that ancient groves possess a collective consciousness or 'Aranya-Chaitanya' that interacts with human intent.
Scholars from the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) note that the manuscript provides a philosophical justification for the 'Sacred Grove' traditions of India. It draws heavily on Upanishadic non-dualism to argue that the boundary between human awareness and the biological life of the forest is an illusion, calling for a radical ethic of 'Bio-Empathy' that predates modern deep ecology movements by a millennium.