Protecting Our Environment (4) Ven. Yin Shun
III. What We Can Do To Protect the Environment When we talk about protecting the environment, we should first realize there are two facets to the problem-preserving inner sanctity and maintaining outer ecological balance. We alone are responsible for our inner peace. To do this, we have to see into the emptiness of the three poisons-greed, hatred, and delusion. External environmental protection, such as natural habitat preservation, air purification, water source clean up, noise pollution control, trash management, and radiation protection, must rely upon the joint efforts of everyone. We will first discuss maintaining outer ecological balance. There are two ways to protect the environment: treasure life and conserve resources. One of the Five Precepts is to refrain from killing, or in others words, to treasure life. In the Brahmajala Sutra, it states, "When a follower of the Buddha exercises compassion and sets a life free, he should recite, 'All males are my fathers. All females are my mothers. Rebirth after rebirth, they give me life. All beings in the six realms of existence are my parents. Killing animals for meat is the same as killing my parents, indirectly killing the source of my body.' If you witness someone killing an animal, you should save the animal, relieve its suffering, and spread the work of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas to save all beings." The precept to refrain from killing is the expression of respect for all sentient life. At its most basic level, the practice is to not kill. To take this a step further, we should save life and help those in need. When we see an animal hurt, we should care for it so that they may feel safe again. We need to have a proactive, compassionate, and protective attitude towards animals. Nowadays, people have exotic taste and would not hesitate to eat anything that moves, regardless of whether it is a beast of the sky, earth, or water. This type of indiscriminate slaughter and consumption not only defiles the inner spirit, it also disturbs the outer balance in our natural environment and increases the violent energy in the world. Therefore, to raise the quality of life we should promote protection of all living beings. Buddhist masters of the past were in tune with our connection with all forms of life in the six realms of existence, especially animals. They were at ease in the company of lions and tigers. In the presence of wild animals, Master Huei-yuei of the Sui dynasty would speak to them about the Dharma. Tigers would turn tame and lay down like kittens at his feet. Master Zi-zheng lived alone in the mountains and always made it a point to save animals who were hurt. When he ran out of food, birds would bring him fruit. In Samyuktapitaka, there is a story of a novice monk who was near the end of his life span. One day, he saw a group of ants drowning in water and reached out to save them. Through his act of compassion, he gained a long life. All these stories serve as reminders for us to act with compassion. Protecting life is a basic moral principle of being human and is the best tool for transforming anger, violence, and sadness into tranquility. In addition to nurturing and protecting animal life, we should also treasure plant life. Even a blade of grass is vital because it purifies the air we breathe. We must not neglect any life because each contributes to the delicate balance of which we are all a part. When we save a tree, we are making the world a little bit greener, and we may breathe easier. Protecting life also means that we should be gentle to insentient objects, such as mountains and rivers and even everyday household items. A table, chair, or towel should be treated conscientiously because if we do not take proper care of them and they last only five years instead of the intended ten, we are indirectly wasting and harming "life." In addition to treasuring life, we can protect the environment by conserving resources. In our daily life, it is so easy to be wasteful. Consider paper as an example. A tree that takes ten years to grow can be chopped down in a matter of hours. For every ton of paper recycled, we save twenty trees. We can also save trees by using both sides of a sheet of paper. Trees are very important to our environment. They provide us with shade and play a key role in the water cycle. Conservation yields benefits not only to the environment, but also to us directly. How much we have in life depends on our past actions, or karma. Karma can be compared to a bank account. You have to first make deposits and accumulate some savings before you can make a withdrawal. Conservation is tangible savings in our karma accounts. In this regard, I can speak from personal experience. Many devotees have complimented me of my intelligence. I believe my intelligence was a result of my past conservation. When I was still a young novice monk, I was very frugal with my writing paper. On one piece of paper, I would not only write on both sides but also between the lines. Sometimes I would even use a different colored pen to write over existing text so I wouldn't waste the paper. It was only when I could no longer decipher my own writing that I grudgingly threw away a piece of paper. I believe the good karma that I accrued by making the most of each piece of paper brought me the gift of intelligence. Therefore, everyone can begin saving in his or her "karma account" by taking care of the gifts that nature has given us.
