Buddhism and the Environment
Our world is on the threshold of danger due to global warming. Global warming, or the increase in the Earth’s temperature, is due to the high accumulation of the carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These emissions have also caused the thining of the Ozone layer – the atmosphere capable of filterning out ultraviolet radiation. The abundant presence of ultraviolet radiation in the atmosphere is harmful to human life and living organisms. More dangerously, when the ozone layer has thinned out, the earth will absorb more solar radiation, but be unable to release them due to water vapor and the atmosphere. As a result, our planet is growing warmer, similar to the effect of a greenhouse environment, retaining and not allowing humidity to escape.
Based on the results of studies on CO2 in the environment conducted by Daniel Schrag, Director of Environmental Center at Harvard University, CO2 concentration in the air in has increase from only 315 ppm (parts per million) in 1958 to 380 ppm in 2005. Schrag and colleagues also predicted that, based on current momentum and with no measures taken to reduce CO2 in the environment, CO2 concentration will rise to 500 ppm by 2050. It results in the melting of icebergs in the North and South Poles with sea levels rising to 3.50 m. By then, southern Florida and many other coastal countries and cities around the world (including Việt Nam) will be flooded (1). The result will be hundreds of millions of people facing starvation, disease, loss of lives, and properties.
In the face of global warming danger and the associated dire consequences, what can Buddhism do to prevent or mitigate this disaster? To answer this question, we must first clearly recognize that the increase in CO2 and other greenhouse gases on Earth are mainly due to the following reasons: the exploitation and consumption of coal and natural gases by the large manufacturing sectors, deforestation, transportation emissions, and dumping of wastes polluting the environment. Generally speaking, global warming and the resulting disasters stems from humankind. Therefore, according to Buddhism, to prevent or minimize this danger, what we must do first is to change our perception or the way of looking at the relationship between man and the environment. According to Buddhism, this way of seeing or thinking is to realize interdependence, the theory of causation that the Buddha taught. The theory of causation allows us to recognize that no entity or individual can independently exist in a closely interrelated world. In other words, the existence of an entity or individual all depends on the existence of other entities and individuals. This interrelationship is described two-folded levels –Arising and failing:
From the existence of this, that becomes;
From the non-existence of this, that does not become;
From the happening of this, that happens;
From the non-happening of this, that does not happen. (2)
The theory of causation helps us realize that the survival of human beings and the environment depend upon compassion, respect for all living things, and the protection of our environment. Buddha’s life and his teachings reflect the interrelationship. In the first of the Five Precepts, the Buddha taught us not to kill; on contrary, we need to respect and protect all living things. The expression of his deep compassion can be seen through the teachings for the Bhikkhu. Bhikkhu can not use water containing lifeforms and may not adorn themselves with silk garments or fur/pelt materials (3). In contact with the environment, the Buddha advised the Bhikkhu not to spit, urinate, litter on the grass, and not to deficate in the streams (4).
In the Anguttara Nikaya Sutra, the Buddha prohibits his followers from polluting water sources, rivers, and lakes (5); furthermore, the Buddha taught that anyone destroying or polluting water sources will create a bad karma (6). The Buddha himself embodied a perfect sense of harmony between himself and nature. He was born under the Ashoka tree, attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, preached in Deer Park, and entered Nirvana under the twin Sal trees.
In contrast, based on the theory of causation, if we do not have compassion or respect and protect all living things, then we are the cause of our destruction and that of the environment. In other words, the major factors causing the destruction of human life and the environment are greed, selfishness, and cruelty. It is because of greed and selfishness that human beings wastefully consume natural resources, causing environmental pollution and the inevitable results are the gradual warming of the earch, drought, flood, famine, diseases, and the destruction of the ecosystem.
Therefore, to save the humankind from the above threats, a Buddhist needs to practice eradicating greed, selfishness, and cruelty by cultivating compassion. To effectively cultivate the compassionate mind, a Buddhist has to be aware and mindful that all thoughts and actions have an impact on the safety of society and the environment. This practice of right mindfulness will help us eliminate our thoughts and actions that harm people. It will also protect the environment while helping us to demonstrate the virtues of compassion through action, respect and protect all living things, not wastefully consuming natural resources, and not polluting the environment. Accomplishing this, we Buddhists will have positively contributed to the prevention of threats to the environment in which we are living.
Thích Giác Như
http://www.trungdao.net
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1. Harvard Magazine: May – June 2006, P.42-43
2. Translation at www.quangduc.com. Original translated quote in Vietnamese:
Cái này có nên cái kia có
Cái này không nên cái kia không
Cái này sinh nên cái kia sinh
Cái này diệt nên cái kia diệt.
3. Monastic disciplinary text
4. Ibid.
5. Anguttara Nikaya Sutra, Vol 25, P.313
6. Ibid., Vol.104.P.174
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