Transforming Our Communities March 29, 2009
Posted by Alan in sangha.Tags: defense budget, interbeing, mindful consumption, No Car Day, Order of Interbeing, sangha, sustainability, walking meditation
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This week we read Chapter Nine, “Transforming Our Communities,” from The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology by Thich Nhat Hanh. Here’s a summary.
The chapter begins with the “Deer Park Ecological Initiative,” a statement written in the form of the 5 Mindfulness Trainings expressing the commitment to find ways to use the Earth’s material resources sustainably and mindfully “with a clear view to the long-term effects of their use on future generations and ourselves.” In the monasteries and practice centers of Thay’s Order of Interbeing, initiatives are being put in place to help people learn what they can do to lessen their impact on the Earth.
Humans and all other species inter-are, sharing our happiness and suffering. We are all children of the Earth, not separate from the soil, the forests, the rivers or the sky. We have done much harm out of ignorance, craving and arrogance, but we can begin anew, vowing to contribute to the regeneration of the land rather than continuing to carelessly deplete its resources.
We can
- use fewer cars that run on alternative fuels
- reduce shopping trips to one a week
- reduce water use
- compost and recycle
- use energy-efficient light bulbs
- practice No Car Days once a week or month
Small choices like these can help the Buddha in all of us breathe more easily. Our message is a non-verbal one: it is our action. By leaving our car behind, we give ourselves the opportunity to experience much joy in walking meditation. By just walking together in brotherhood and sisterhood, enjoying each other, every step, every breath, not thinking or talking, we heal, transform and nourish ourselves, individually and as a community. Why do we deprive ourselves of this kind of wonder?
Thay proposed global No Car Days on the 2550th birthday of the Buddha, to produce the effect of collective awakening – a gift to the planet. We can do this now, to wake people up before it’s too late, embodying our message to the world.
Children and young people in particular are very aware of the danger the Earth is in, and sometimes have ideas that are more insightful than the views of their elders. Parents and teachers need to listen deeply to them, and encourage them to speak out; they can help their parents and others transform. The path of brotherhood and sisterhood is our escape route, “more precious than any ideology or religion.”
Other countries are already progressing:
- Denmark is obtaining 20% of its electricity through wind energy
- 90% of homes in Iceland are heated geothermally
- South Koreans have replanted forests
- Sweden plans an oil-free economy by 2020
- Australia has committed $500 million to climate change
When we have a clear vision and communicate it to our political representatives, they must follow it. We must provide them with our insights and ideas. One-sixth of the worldwide defense budget would save the Earth. That is reasonable and possible; the UN Security Council should work on it.
All this is easy if we are part of a community that practices mindful consumption together. Practicing as a Sangha, no single person has to worry.
Diet for a Mindful Planet, Part 2 February 2, 2009
Posted by Alan in sangha.Tags: Buddha, climate change, deforestation, Four Noble Truths, Four Nutriments, global warming, mindful consumption, mindful eating, pollution, suffering, vegetarianism
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This week we completed our reading of “Diet for a Mindful Planet” from Thich Nhat Hanh’s The World We Have.
To nourish compassion toward animals, Buddhists have practiced vegetarian eating for more than 2000 years. Since raising animals for food is responsible for one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, it turns out that vegetarianism may be one of the most effective ways of fighting global warming as well as world hunger.
Mother Earth suffers deeply because of our way of eating. Raising animals for meat is the world’s biggest source of water pollution when waste from farms and slaughterhouses flows into rivers, streams, and drinking water, and has led to the destruction of hundreds of millions of acres of forests in the U.S., as well as the tropical rainforests and the plant and animal species living there, for livestock grazing. According to the National Corn Grower’s Association, 80% of all corn grown in the U.S. is consumed by livestock, poultry and fish production. Tens of thousands of children die every day when this corn, or the tremendous amount of grain and water used to make alcohol, could have been given them to eat. When we eat meat or drink alcohol, we are eating the flesh or drinking the blood of our children. If we stop, these industries will stop producing. We share responsibility for climate change, deforestation, and poisoning of the air and water. By cutting meat out of your diet for even five or ten days a month, you will be performing a miracle. When we ask, “What shall I eat today?” we are making choices that help or harm the Earth.
In many Buddhist traditions, monks and nuns are vegetarians, as are many lay practitioners. American practitioners are following this pattern as well, or vowing to eat 50% less meat. This vow can bring peace, joy, and happiness from the moment we take it, and can bring worldwide change. Children, teachers and parents, leaders of organizations and communities can all practice mindful consumption, and can set an example for others. A mayor would want to protect the people in his town from the violence and suffering that come from unmindful consumption. Even the president has Buddha nature – the seed of understanding and compassion. When we get out of our shell we can see that we are interrelated with everyone and everything, that our acts affect all humankind and all the cosmos. Maintaining health, both bodily and mental, is an act of kindness toward ourselves, our ancestors, parents, children, future generations, and society – the entire planet.
In the Discourse on the Four Kinds of Nutriments, the Buddha speaks of food as only one source of consumption. The second source is sensory impressions: when we look at films, read magazines, see advertisements and listen to conversations, we are consuming. Sometimes we consume relaxing music, fresh garden smells, or the beauty of the world. But sometimes we consume toxins, through advertisements or conversations full of hate or violence. The average child has seen 8000 murders and over 100,000 acts of violence on television by the time she finishes elementary school. These poisons destroy the body and consciousness transmitted by parents and ancestors. This toxic sensory consumption is illustrated by the Buddha in the story of the cow with a skin disease who suffers as her flesh is eaten by tiny creatures in the trees, the soil and the water. We are like this cow without skin when we allow toxins to penetrate and destroy us.
The third nutriment is the food of our intentions and volitions to do things with our lives. The Buddha illustrates this with the story of a young man pulled toward a pit of burning coals by two strong men. The strong men represent our cravings for fame, honor, praise, sex or money. These cravings pull us along and consume us, leaving no opportunity for mindfulness or awareness.
The fourth nutriment is the food of consciousness. The Buddha illustrates this with the story of a criminal sentenced to being stabbed 100 times; when he didn’t die, he was sentenced to 100 more stabbings, and when he still didn’t die, yet 100 more. When asked by the Buddha whether the man suffered, the monks responded that to be stabbed 100 times must have been unbearable, but 300 times unimaginable. We have been stabbed many times in the deepest levels of our consciousnesses. This is the First Noble Truth: that life involves suffering (dukkha), including sickness, anger, despair and depression. The suffering of our ancestors is within us, represented by the stabbing of the criminal. It continues in our daily lives, stabbing us many times every day.
It is not just our suffering. It is the suffering of all previous generations, human and non-human, our collective consciousness. This is the Second Noble Truth. We inter-are with all species, and receive the effects of those suffering the consequences of war, even if we are not in a war zone. Our unconsciousness is aware of the suffering occurring everywhere. As long as we blame others for suffering, we cannot transform. But if we see our suffering as part of a greater consciousness, our own individual pain is eased and our suffering can cease. This is the Third Noble Truth, well-being and the end of suffering.
The Fourth Noble Truth is that suffering can be ended by following a mindful path. If we don’t practice mindful consumption of the four nutriments, we cannot save our planet. Our practice should produce collective enlightenment, collective awakening. We have to touch the Buddha inside us every day, so that awakening can manifest in us and save our planet.
