Global Warming
Letter to Al Gore
[posted Oct. 2006]
Rinpoche wrote the following letter to Al Gore. My very dear Honorable Al
Gore,
I am the spiritual head of the FPMT, which is a worldwide organization
devoted to benefiting society through the practice and philosophy of Tibetan
Buddhism, education, public service, health, and culture. The FPMT has 141
centers and activities in 31 countries.
I am from Nepal, near Mount Everest.
I heard about the very inspiring movie that you made called An Inconvenient
Truth. I and a number of monks and nuns (Sangha) from different counties, as
well as other students, went to see your movie. It is quite shocking to see
the truth, what is happening in the world, where the world is going,
particular the USA; it’s quite amazing—based on money, just to produce more
money. People are now becoming aware of the harm, the great danger, and the
effects that will come. Even now these have started happening. So many people
living in this world are facing dangers through global warming, floods, and
melting snow and ice. This will soon endanger many people around the world and
in the USA.
Even in Tibet, in Lhasa (the capital of Tibet), it has become warmer. It
wasn’t like this before, and there has been a change. My conclusion is it is
because of people’s lack of education, the lack of awareness that what people
do has an effect; people are not being mindful or understanding this.
I and all the monks, nuns, and students who went to see your movie highly
appreciate your efforts and what you are doing to reveal the truth, exposing
and introducing the truth to the world.
Please continue taking responsibility to benefit this world, to reduce
suffering, and to bring peace and happiness to this world. The ultimate goal is
for people to develop a good heart, for everyone to live happily, only
benefiting each other, including between different religions, and also
including animals (there are so many, compared to humans).
With prayers for your long life, for your wishes to benefit others to
succeed, and if you can, especially, for helping His Holiness the Dalai Lama
and the Tibetan people to have total political and religious freedom, like
before, and to be guided by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This is what the
majority of Tibetans anxiously, very earnestly want.
Sincerely Yours,
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Causes and Effects of Global Warming
[posted Oct. 2006]
A student wrote to Rinpoche saying she found his teachings on mind training
very helpful. However, she said she felt depressed due to the state of the
environment, global warming, etc., and was very worried about her children
growing up on this planet. My very dear Sharon,
Thank you for your kind letter. I am very happy that my thought transformation
book helped when your mind and spirits were down and low. My job is fulfilled,
thank you very much.
You expressed your concerns on global warming and for your children. Here is
my answer: Yes, I and other monks and nuns at the house and other students that
I invited watched the Al Gore movie (An Inconvenient Truth).
One of the causes of global warming seems to be bombing and testing bombs in
the water and on the earth. This is dangerous not only for the future but also
it causes unbelievable harm to living beings now. I think this should be
stopped.
Also, substances that have a negative effect, that are used in wars, causing
great danger to the whole world now and in the future, should not be used. This
includes bad substances that have a negative effect on one’s life, such as
smoke from cigarettes. This is very bad pollution for the environment, making
places dirty, also for people who don’t smoke. For example, I don’t smoke, and
when somebody is smoking near me, I feel unhealthy because the smoke goes
inside my body, and I feel polluted.
Global warming has also affected Lhasa. In the past, the weather was colder,
now it has become warmer. I am sure there are a number of causes for this, but
I do think one small cause could be cigarette smoke. After mainland China took
over Tibet, so many people smoked cigarettes, not only Chinese, but Tibetans,
who were influenced, so I think this added to the pollution of the environment.
Global warming must also be related to there being a lot of factories. I
think smoke from certain materials, certain bad and impure substances, affect
global warming. I guess we must try and abandon the ones that are proved to
affect global warming. From one’s own side, we should try to do this and make
less pollution, then that’s our contribution to peace, without adding to the
destruction of the world. Then, we need to tell others, suggest to them in a
respectful way to engage in the same activities, to abandon those things which
are proved to cause global warming and do things that bring great peace to the
world.
Basically, global warming and whatever great danger is going to happen in
this world, including the great tsunami that happened, all come from the
negative impure mind. The very root is ignorance, not knowing what the self is
and the “I” is, what the ultimate nature of the “I” and aggregates are, and so
forth. While they are empty of existing from their own side, they exist in mere
name, merely imputed by the mind, but we think of them as totally opposite to
this, thinking they exist completely from their own side. This ignorance is
such an unbelievably fixed concept, harder than a rocky mountain. First, there
is the self-cherishing thought, that I am the most important one, my happiness
is more important then anyone else’s. These negative thoughts are totally
wrong concepts, which are not valid at all. One can only prove that they are
wrong through logic and reason. There is no single reason to prove they are
right and valid.
The other ignorance is not knowing karma (cause and effect) and not knowing
Dharma. Then, attachment and anger arise and so many negative emotional
thoughts and wrong concepts, which project wrong views, and then one performs
actions motivated by these. So, this is the main cause, which is not outside,
but is in the mind of us deluded sentient beings.
What Al Gore is talking about is only the external conditions. If you didn’t
have this inner cause, you wouldn’t experience tsunamis, global warming, and
all the dangers. Therefore, we very badly need Dharma practice and meditation
practice, to protect the mind from all the inner, harmful thoughts. Dharma
practice and meditation are the inner methods to heal the inner sicknesses of
the mind. Practicing Dharma forms the attitude of one’s life: non-ignorance,
non-attachment, non-anger, and, especially, having a good heart and cherishing
others, which is unstained by the self-cherishing thought.
Without this Dharma there is no protection for sentient beings’ minds and
lives from the inner tsunami of ignorance, desire, anger, jealousy, pride, and
so forth. The many wrong concepts that take over one’s mind and life are like
the tsunami, which covered whole cities with water and destroyed so much. Also,
with such meditation and Dharma practice one creates a positive mind,
renunciation, bodhicitta, and right view.
In regards to right view, it is the direct perception of emptiness, which
directly eliminates the inner enemies and delusion. It is this delusion that
harms you, destroys you and the world, and attacks and harms all living beings,
from life to life.
With this wisdom supported by bodhicitta, you cease even the subtle
defilements, and then you achieve the fully awakened mind, full enlightenment,
and peerless happiness. We need education and to practice this meditation,
which is universal, is something everyone needs who is suffering. Without
Dharma we are always defeated, destroyed, and harmed by this inner enemy and
these delusions. There is war in our mind caused by delusions, and we are
defeated by this. However, whenever the mind is in the Dharma, such as with
this meditation, then you defeat the inner enemy – delusion.
As the great Indian scholar and saint Shantideva mentioned:
Even if the whole earth is covered by leather, still it is not enough. But if
the bottoms of your feet are covered with leather, then it covers all the
thorn bushes in this world, and wherever you walk is fine.
It is like that. If you are trying to kill all the external enemies, the
inner delusions never end. There is always an enemy because killing sentient
beings creates the cause to have an enemy and receive harm from others. So, it
never ends, there is no end at all forever. Even you are able to kill all hell
beings, hungry ghosts, and animals on this earth all at one time, your
consciousness reincarnates in another universe. Whether as a hell being, hungry
ghost, animal, human, or in the realm of the gods, you have to suffer the
consequences and experience the result of receiving harm from an enemy. Once
the inner enemy of anger is destroyed then all the outer enemies are destroyed
all at once. You can’t find an enemy at all in the universe. Similarly,
without delusion there is no karma, without karma, no suffering, including
global warming, tsunamis, famine, disease, and so forth.
Regarding children, it is good you are concerned about the children. My
advice, since you have children already, is that you and their father both have
a great responsibility for their wellbeing. This doesn’t mean becoming a
millionaire, with a rich lifestyle, having a lot of cars, airplanes, swimming
pools, all these things, even the kind of education that is taught in schools,
colleges, and universities. You have the responsibility especially for their
minds. When I say wellbeing, I basically mean their minds.
Besides global warming, there are so many other dangers in life: sicknesses,
cancer, and many conditions for death; cancer is very easy to get these days.
Their lives are filled with so many thousands of conditions which can cause
death. So, one should attempt to have a long life, but even more important than
that is when death comes, to die with a happy, positive mind, a joyful mind, a
mind of satisfaction and especially fulfillment. The best thing is to make
even death beneficial, a cause of happiness for all sentient beings. Use death
to achieve a higher happiness – pure happiness. Use death to achieve ultimate
happiness – total liberation, which is free forever from the oceans of samsaric
suffering and its causes. Use death to achieve total cessation of samsaric
suffering and its causes.
Your first responsibility is to make sure the children don’t become harmful,
an enemy to themselves, harming their own lives instead of having more peace
and happiness within themselves, making their lives more meaningful, to have
more satisfaction and fulfillment. In this world, whatever different things
people try, they are all to achieve happiness. Even the ants, flies, and worms
are seeking happiness.
Therefore, the main thing, even if you are poor, is if you have happiness,
then you have satisfaction, fulfillment, and no regrets. This is the same even
if you are rich. The other thing is to make sure that the children’s lives do
not become harmful to the world and other living beings. All this depends on
how you educate them and practice. The best is if they can grow up and stop
giving harm to others, only benefit and cause happiness for others, who are
numberless.
This is incredible, unbelievable, and leads to their own success. This life’s
happiness will come naturally like rainfall. At least, their lives should not
harm them. Of course, if they harm others then there is no way they can achieve
happiness for themselves. Therefore, they have to develop compassion and
wisdom.
I wanted to inform you we have a project in the FPMT called Universal
Compassion and Wisdom Peace (UCWP). You can look at the web page and get a
general outline from that. There is a basic practice for the mind to become a
good human being called the 16 human dharmas and 10 diverse dharmas. Then,
there are four very important things in this life for children to practice so
they can enjoy life and bring happiness to the world, like sunshine. In every
day life, 1) practice kindness to others, then 2) rejoice – whenever you see
good things happening to others, 3) practice patience, and 4) practice
forgiveness and apologizing. If you make a mistake and cause harm to others,
then apologize immediately and make others happy. When others harm you, then
forgive them instead of seeking revenge.
With much love and prayer...
Sumber : http://www.lamayeshe.com/lamazopa/advicebook/misfortune/warming.shtml
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Be aware of the contact between your feet and the Earth. Walk as if you are
kissing the Earth with your feet. We have caused a lot of damage to the Earth.
Now it is time for us to take good care of her. We bring our peace and calm to
the surface of the Earth and share the lesson of love. We walk in that spirit.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~
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