A Buddhist Life is a Green Life Chris Pauling explains how a well known
Buddhist teaching holds the key to environmental consciousness.
Buddhism has something fundamental to say on the environmental issue, because
it addresses the basic human attitudes that lie at the heart of our planet’s
problems.
The root cause of our problems — personal and planetary — is our view of
ourselves as separate, isolated individuals, walled off from the universe
around us. This view leads us to see selfishness as necessary. It leads us to
put narrow limits on what we see as our responsibility. And it leads us to live
a life that is out of harmony with the universe, so that we suffer, and the
world suffers with us.
But the Dharma tells us that this view of ourselves is mistaken. Our idea of
separate selihood is a delusion, and a profoundly damaging delusion. We are all
part of each other and the world we inhabit, and whenever we harm another being
or injure our environment, what we are hurting is ourselves.
Buddhism exists to help us break out of the prison of isolated selihood and
wake up to the true nature of reality — to help us become Enlightened. The
Enlightened person is fully aware that everything in the universe is
inter-connected, not just as an intellectual concept, but in every fibre of
their being. Such a person will inevitably live in harmony with the world
around them. They will no more willingly hurt another being or desecrate the
environment-no matter how far away the damage takes place-than they will
willingly hurt themselves. In a world of Enlightened beings there could be no
environmental problem.
This is not to suggest that the answer to the world’s problems is for
everyone to become Enlightened — at least not immediately. Our problems are
urgent, and something more practical is needed in the short term.
But Buddhism is above all a practical tradition. It recognizes that for most
of us the state of ‘Final, Unsurpassed Enlightenment’ is still a long way off.
And it offers us ways in which we can invite some degree of Enlightenment to
take root in the midst of our delusion, gradually altering the way we think and
feel, and — more important from a purely practical point of view — immediately
changing the way we act, so that the effect we have on the world around us
becomes more like that of an Enlightened
In the short term Buddhism helps us live a more harmonious life in two main
ways. Firstly, it offers us a vision of what it means to be a human being that
is very different from the one our society trains us to accept — a vision in
which life is a spiritual quest rather than a fight for survival or material
goods. Simply changing our image of ourselves in this way does not add up to
Enlightenment, but it helps. We may not be able to transcend our egotism in one
bound, but we can quite quickly refine our image of ourselves so that we judge
our richness by what we are rather than by what we own or consume.
And this change is vital. The only real answer to our planet’s problems is
for all of us — all those who enjoy the affluent life — style of mainstream
culture in the West — to own and consume much, much less. Our most important
environmental problems are the result of the sheer level of economic activity
in our societies. The greenhouse effect, for example, is mainly due to C — from
the burning of coal, oil, and gas — the fuels that power our economic machine.
We have no large-scale alternatives to these fuels except nuclear power, which
is not an option many people will relish. The prosperity that we largely take
for granted is based on making major changes to the composition of our planet’s
atmosphere, and hoping that future generations will find some way of dealing
with the problems we cause.
But as long as we see ourselves as essentially material beings, judging the
richness of our lives by our material ‘standard of living’, we will never
willingly give up even a little of this prosperity. Before we can persuade
people to let go of the myth of economic growth as the way to human happiness
we need to put something in its place — something spiritual rather than
physical.
As well as giving us a vision of what it means to be a human being that makes
a return to a sustainable life-style possible, Buddhism also offers a set of
practical guide-lines to help us live in concord with our surroundings. As a
way of moving towards Enlightenment the Dharma encourages us to behave as
though we were already Enlightened — as though we were already fully aware of
the interconnectedness of all things in the universe, down to the very depths
of our being. To help us do this it provides a set Enlightened being would
behave, which Buddhists undertake to observe as training principles. We may not
become fully Enlightened tomorrow, next week, or next year. But if we make the
decision to work towards Enlightenment by living according to the Buddhist
precepts, our behaviour will immediately become more like that of an
Enlightened person, and our life will become more in harmony with our
environment.
The first — and most important — of these training principles is to refrain
from harming other living beings, and instead to engage in acts of
loving-kindness. This precept is basic to the Buddhist approach to life, and it
is also basic to any solution to the world’s environmental problems. It
encourages us to soften our usual antagonism towards what is foreign to
ourselves, and instead develop an attitude of caring, nurturing concern for the
world around us.
Traditionally the Dharma encourages us to cultivate this attitude mainly
towards other sentient beings — human and animal — starting with those near to
us, then extending our goodwill to the global and even cosmic plane. But
loving-kindness does not confine itself even to what we normally recognize as
sentient beings. It is a basic attitude of heart which expresses itself in our
relationship with everything that lies outside the boundaries of the self. We
express it by caring for and nurturing our friends, our colleagues, our garden,
our local countryside, its wildlife — and our planet. It is an attitude that
springs from a deep reverence for the entire universe, from realizing that the
world we live in is an astonishing miracle, and from seeing every part of it as
holy.
At the practical level this precept has one clear implication for our
everyday behaviour which could have far-reaching effects: that we should be
vegetarian. If we are trying to develop and express loving-kindness towards
other beings — including animals — we might do well to start by doing them the
favour of not eating them. And if enough people made this gesture of goodwill
towards their fellow beings this would bring important environmental benefits.
It takes much more agricultural land to supply an individual’s food needs
through animal as compared to vegetable foods. If affluent Westerners opted for
a vegetarian diet this would release an enormous amount of grain to feed the
less fortunate. It would reduce the pressure to develop wilderness regions like
the Amazon rain-forests. It would mean that land now used for agriculture could
be farmed less intensively, or even returned to the wild. It would mean less
chemical fertilizers polluting our waters, less greenhouse CO2 released from
the energy-intensive manufacture of nitrates, and less herbicides, fungicides,
and insecticides sprayed on our land. To limit ourselves to a vegetarian diet
is one of the most significant contributions we can make to solving our
planet’s problems.
The second of the Buddhist training principles asks us to refrain from taking
anything which is not freely given to us, and instead to cultivate and express
an attitude of open-handed generosity. Taking the not-given covers not only
outright theft but all forms of exploitation. It includes all use of power —
political, economic, or personal — from which we get benefits at the expense of
others.
The first and second precepts go hand in hand. To the extent that our basic
response to our environment is not one of cherishing and caring, it is usually
one of antagonism and exploitation, in which we feel justified in using
whatever lies outside the boundaries of the self for our own purposes, simply
because it is within our power to do so.
One of the most shockingly graphic examples of this combination of antagonism
and exploitation is the slaughter of whales for profit. Today whaling seems
like a throwback to an older, grosser, more brutal vision of mankind — but a
vision which still lingers, and still exerts its effects. Much of human history
is a story of violent exploitation, in which groups and individuals have
competed to exercise their power, using subtle methods when these would
suffice, using bloody violence when all else failed. Of course we have moved
on. Today most of us find it unacceptable to use violence to enforce our wishes
— at least where human beings are concerned. Now we play the game by more
civilized rules. But taking the not-given still largely underlies our political
and economic systems.
It is this attitude which leads people to destroy a rain-forest for their own
benefit, stealing it from the people and animals who already live there because
they have no power to resist. It is this attitude which leads people to feel
justified in exploiting animals for economic ends, often in ways which are
horribly cruel, because they are more intelligent than their victims. It is
this attitude which leads businesses and governments to discharge poisons into
oceans which — if they belong to anybody — belong to all the beings on our
planet, and especially to those that live in them.
The use of power is so much a part of our history that to many people the
suggestion that we should cease to take the not-given seems too radical to be
taken seriously. And it is radical. It asks us to make a clean break with our
bloody past, and move on to another level of consciousness. It asks us to take
the next step in our evolution.
We take this step as individuals — societies are an expression of the
individuals that make them up. One way we can do this is to practise the
opposite of exploitation, generosity. If we really care about our environment
we will have many opportunities to be generous. A return to a sustainable way
of life will mean sacrifices — real sacrifices, that hurt. But we can approach
this gradually. We might start by going without that second car, or trading
down the first car for a smaller, more economical model. We might give away a
larger proportion of our income to a worthwhile cause. We might give up a job
for an organization which we know harms the environment, and take a drop in
income as a result.
We can also be more generous with our time. One of the personal bonuses of
adopting a simpler life is that we need to spend less of our life earning a
living. This leaves us with time and energy we can put to better us — perhaps
working for a charity or pressure group, or helping to spread the Dharma, as
well as just enjoying our precious human life.
Enjoying our precious human life is also what the third precept — to refrain
from sexual misconduct, and instead cultivate stillness, simplicity, and
contentment — is all about. The precept is not asking us to give up sex, it is
asking us to be content with our present sexual situation, and not indulge in
useless sexual craving.
Sexual desire can be seen as the epitome of all craving, but craving can also
take many other forms — junk food, tobacco, alcohol, and all the many forms of
‘entertainment’, are just a few of the things it can latch on to. Craving is a
treadmill that keeps us running so hard we never experience the real joy of
life. It is this treadmill that drives the consumer society, and all the
environmental damage it causes.
Overcoming craving and achieving contentment are two sides of a coin. We
crave because we are not content. We are not content because we crave. Somehow
we must break the circle. One way Buddhists do this is to take themselves away
from the objects of their craving for a while, perhaps by going on solitary
retreat, perhaps by attending a meditation retreat with other people. Often our
immediate reaction to a much simpler life is a feeling of emptiness, boredom,
and sadness. This is the feeling we are trying to hide by running on the
treadmill. But usually this feeling passes surprisingly quickly, giving way to
a sense of deep contentment, and a deep joy in simple, genuine things. Once
experienced, this contentment is so much more enjoyable than our normal, hectic
state of mind that we begin to see craving for the deadly trap it is, and even
when we return to our normal life it loses much of its power.
Everyone with an interest in environmental issues should try this for
them-selves. Learning to go beyond craving can be the key to a new,
environmentally friendly way of life, a way of life in which we do not seek our
pleasure from junk food in CFC-rich packaging or the latest consumer toys, but
instead take delight in those things that will not cost the Earth — in
friendship, community, and meaningful, craftsmanlike work; in a gentle
appreciation of our planet’s beauty; and in a sense of the sheer gladness of
living.
The fourth precept is to refrain from false speech, and instead to cultivate
truthful communication. It asks us to be honest — with others, and with
ourselves. As human beings our capacity for self-deception is enormous. So is
our capacity for laying blame at others’ doors, while ignoring our own share of
responsibility. But the world we live in is the manifestation of the
motivations of everyone that lives in it. To understand its problems we need to
understand these motivations — with sympathy — and to do this we need to start
by understanding ourselves. Then can we begin to do something about our part of
the problem, and help others do the same.
We need to be honest with ourselves about our own goals and priorities. If
what we really hope for from life is a conventionally comfortable life-style we
need to acknowledge this, without attaching blame. Who would not prefer
prosperity to the alternative? But we also need to be aware of the implications
of such a life. And if we find that our underlying drives conflict with our
ideals we need to admit this too, so that we can begin consciously to decide on
our priorities in the light of what we know about ourselves. Then we can decide
how far we can honestly put our ideals into practice, and make the hard choices
between our immediate self-interest and what we believe in from a position of
awareness.
This need for awareness is the principle behind the last of the five
precepts, to refrain from clouding the mind with alcohol or other drugs, and
instead to cultivate mindfulness. This advice against drinking often gets an
unfavourable response from Westerners, partly because alcohol has become so
much a part of our social life, and partly because of the joyless attitudes
associated with the traditional temperance movement.
Most Buddhists — in the West at least — do not understand this precept to
mean they should never drink. The point is to develop and maintain awareness.
But reducing our alcohol consumption could have global — as well as personal —
benefits. Alcohol is big business, and the industry it supports wastes
resources which could be put to better use. In Britain, for example, a high
proportion of the best grain-growing land is devoted to producing barley for
the brewing industry.
But if the issue of drinking is important, the wider issue of awareness is
vital. One aspect of mindfulness is clear, calm, attention to the here-and-now.
The development of this quality of mind is the key to going beyond boredom and
beginning to enjoy the moment-by-moment act of living. It is the key to finding
happiness within the simpler life that would make a sustainable economy
possible.
Another aspect of mindfulness is constant awareness of our purpose in being
on this planet, and of the ideals that guide our actions. Everything we do has
wider consequences, but it takes effort to stay aware of this fact. It takes
effort to be aware that every time we use a car rather than a bicycle or public
transport we are contributing to the greenhouse effect. It takes effort to be
aware every time we eat meat that we are condoning cruelty, and putting another
nail in the coffin of the Earth’s rain-forests. It takes effort to be aware
every time we go shopping of the environmental damage caused by those
not-strictly-necessary things we buy, and to consider whether we might be able
to live without them.
It also takes a major effort of awareness to look beyond the humdrum routine
of our lives to the great issues beyond, and to see that we ourselves have an
important part to play in the saga of our age. We tend to think that heroic
tasks are reserved for characters in fantasy novels. But the situation we face
is just as dramatic and clear cut as any myth. The earth and mankind face
catastrophe. To avert disaster we need to forge a new kind of society, and we
ourselves need to become a new kind of people. This is the great task facing
our generation. It will require heroes willing to rise above petty personal
concerns and act from a much wider, more noble perspective. It will require
courage, strength, sacrifice, and personal change. The temptation will always
be to back away from the challenge and opt for comfort and security. But the
fate of the world quite literally depends upon our response.
Sumber : http://www.fwbo.org/articles/green_life.html
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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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