Download Buddhism and Environmental Ethics

Buddhism and Environmental Ethics
Today we read and hear about environmental issues all the time. The environment has become an
election issue in recent elections and is popularised by celebrities and documentaries. Although
environmental issues were not as prominent in Buddha’s time as they have become today, Buddhism
has a clear ethic when it comes to the environment. Living in harmony with the environment is an
important part of Buddhism.
It has clear that by harming nature we are in fact harming ourselves. There are plenty of examples to
demonstrate this in the current media: global warming, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, the ozone hole,
radioactive contamination, to name but a few.
The world we live in is materialistic and profit driven. We approach the environment from the viewpoint
of resource management. The commercialisation of our society means that huge amounts of toxic
substances are pumped into our skies, rivers, and oceans, and scattered across the land where they
become someone else's problem. We view the environment as ours to use, or abuse, and separate
ourselves from it in a dominant way.
The Buddhist position, on the other hand, emphasises a harmonious interaction between us and nature,
neither passive nor attempting to dominate, and quite naturally leads Buddhists to consider the
possibility of vegetarianism.
Buddhist view environmental ethics in the following ways:
1) The link between the environment and enlightenment
2) The Five Precepts
3) The Noble Eightfold Path
4) Karma and Reincarnation
Environment and Enlightenment
The Buddhist narrative is filled with examples of the importance of the environment. The most
significant events occur in the countryside and are associated with trees: Buddha's birth at Lumbini as
his mother grasped the branch of a sal tree, his early experience of states of meditative absorption
beneath the rose apple tree, his Enlightenment beneath the Bodhi-tree, and his Parinirvana (death)
between twin sal trees.
The link between the environment and enlightenment is not exclusive to Buddhist cultures. Here in the
West, we recognise the environment as a source of inspiration. Many artists and scientists alike have
described how in the environment they had a sense of clarity or inspiration. These experiences are
generally associated with the wildest and most secluded places on earth. It is therefore not difficult to
understand the Buddhist view that the environment can be beneficial in the pursuit of enlightenment.
The vast blue sky and the great oceans, or the awesome mountains and valleys, help a human
understand their place in the world. A human can appreciate their part in the world as a whole and the
significance of all living things in a shared planet.
The Five Precepts
According to the Buddha's teachings, all life is precious. All sentient beings have Buddha nature within
them. We all may attain enlightenment in this one lifetime. That does not mean that plants necessarily
have the ability to become enlightened, but none the less we should treat all forms of life with due
regard and respect.
The First Precept states that we should abstain from harming living things. Many Buddhist are
vegetarians because of this First Precept as to eat meat contributes to the destruction of a living
creature. It also takes more energy to produce meat than to produce grain, fruit and vegetables. Grazing
cattle also take up significant land and often lead to the destruction of forests to provide farmers these
lands. Cattle are also a cause of methane, one of the greenhouse gases.
The harming of other living things can be done directly or indirectly. A direct example is the killing of
animals, whether in farming or hunting situations. An indirect example would be the destruction of
habitats which ultimately lead to the death of living creatures. For example the chopping down of a
rainforest for farming, destroys a natural habitat for a number of animals and plants. This leads to soil
erosions and then floods and then famine. So to put this principle into practice we also need a high
degree of awareness of the consequences of our actions
Often, the actions that we commit in relation to the environment also contravene the second precept,
which states that we should only take what we need. People generally take more from the environment
than they need. Not only in taking food but in energy resources like oil, coal etc or for adornment like
gold and diamonds.
Greed is a very big problem in modern society. Everybody wants to be able to live, to earn an income
and to be able to provide for their family. But most human beings believe that they have to continue
amassing material things, whether money, general material objects, or food for a multitude of reasons.
We invariably live to eat, instead of eating to live, as evident in the obesity crisis we now face.
Advertising and product merchandising promotes and encourages this behaviour.
Ask yourselves; how many of us have, while wandering through a field of flowers or past a neighbour’s
yard, plucked some up, as if they belonged to us and without a thought that others will be deprived of
the pleasure of appreciating them?
Do we really, absolutely and totally truly have to mine all the gold, platinum, sapphires, pearls, titanium,
and so on? Do all diamonds and rubies, and emeralds have to be surfaced in order for the human to
demonstrate their wealth or affection?
Buddhism doesn't say that we can't use the resources of the environment but it does advocate an aware
and conservative approach. We need to use the resources available to free ourselves from the clutches
of nature's destructiveness: storms, floods, and famines. As Sangharakshita has said, 'Right use of nature
is part of the spiritual life.' However if we followed the first two precepts we would be mindful of not
harming living things and only using from the environment what was absolutely necessary instead of
being indulgent.
The Noble Eightfold Path
The Buddha explained the kind of life that he wanted his followers to lead by listing eight categories
collectively known as the "Noble Eightfold Path." These categories are: right (or whole, or complete)
understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness,
and right concentration.
The first two promote wisdom in the Buddhist sense—a capacity to see directly into the nature of
things. The next three are ethical, and the last three aim at concentration—that is, the development of
meditative skill. The Eightfold Path is also called the Middle Way, because it is intended to encourage a
life of moderation.
By just looking at the aspect of right livelihood we can already see that some professions are considered
inappropriate or 'not right'. These professions usually revolve around the trade of flesh, chemicals, and
weapons, all or which contribute to the deterioration of our living or natural environment.
If a human can understand that suffering is caused by the pursuit of transient things then they would no
longer seek the pleasure of these things. The need to amass and horde more and more possessions that
offer only a fleeting satisfaction would ultimately disappear resulting in less destruction of the
environment. This concept is understood further in the Four Noble truths, which advise Buddhists to
renounce their desires. If a human is not concerned for material possessions he/she will not pollute or
destroy the environment to have it, e.g. cars etc and the use of environmental resources such as energy
and water.
Karma and Reincarnation
As Buddhist believes in the cycle of rebirth they have a greater affiliation to other beings than people
from other religions. The notion of karma and rebirth make Buddhist aware that a living creature may
have been someone they cared for in a previous life and are therefore respectful of all living creatures.
While they don’t believe they will be punished by a God for their wrongdoings they do believe that they
will be punished by Karma in the next life. Therefore any act in this life which results in the harming of
another living thing will be punished in the next life.
For the Abraham religions people believe that they only live once, for Buddhists the belief in
reincarnation gives greater emphasis on the current depletion of the environment and its effects for the
future. In the West the rhetoric is a concern for "our children or our children's children", but
reincarnation means that the concern must also be ourselves.
Conclusion
We must beware of over-sentimentalising nature though; the cycle of life in the natural world can be at
times a very harsh one. Animals naturally prey on other animals and vegetation. Surviving in nature
often means dominating a weaker species. Humans ultimately must fall into this natural order of things
to survive. However our overindulgent disregard for the environment will have only one outcome.
If we do not stop and begin to look around at what we are doing to the earth and the mountains, the
rivers, streams and dams, the air which we all breathe, the plants and trees that provide us with oxygen,
as well as shade, and which also help prevent the soil from washing away when it rains, then we may
soon find that we no longer have an environment appropriate for being able to survive in, let alone live,
grow, and develop in.
Our environment with all of its natural resources is to a great extend limited. We live in an enclosed
sphere, and only so many things are able to regenerate themselves so much. A Buddhist approach to the
environment may be a solution.