Green Buddhism An introduction By John Negru E
DITOR’S NOTE: A major focus of our running Find- ing Common Ground sub-series has been to see where environmental education overlaps with dif-
ferent faiths and spiritual practices. This article serves as a primer to Buddhism, namely the practice of Green Bud- dhism. With this knowledge in tow, we encourage you to seek opportunities to incorporate Green Buddhism into your learning and teaching.
Buddhist basics Shakyamuni was a prince who abandoned his life of privi-
lege to find answers to life’s fundamental questions in India more than 2,500 years ago. His quest involved six years of intense spiritual practice, culminating in Enlightenment after a night deep in solitary meditation. For the next 40 years of his life, he walked all over northern India, explain- ing what he had discovered and leading growing communi- ties of like-minded seekers. India in those days was well-acquainted with wandering
ascetics, gurus, yogis, adepts, and sundry forest-dwellers. In that sense, Shakyamuni’s quest was well within the Hindu cultural norms of that time as well as agrarian culture. What made him unique was his approach to spiritual life, a life of
Page 16
moderation that came to be known as The Middle Way. He rejected the theism of his Hindu roots, its caste system, and its ritualism. He also rejected asceticism. This was a pre-literate society, with strong oral tradi-
tions. Although Shakyamuni, who came to be known as the Buddha — the Awakened One — gave thousands of teach- ings and led countless retreats during his lifetime, nothing was written down until hundreds of years after his passing. The Buddhist Canon comprises an enormous number of texts and commentaries, none of which has much primacy over the others within each category. Buddha was more interested in solving the root of suf-
fering than in discovering the origins of Creation or having a relationship with a god or gods. In Indian cosmology, the Universe cycles through beginningless and endless evolu- tion. It’s important to understand that context, since Western cosmology, until very recently, was premised on a linear view of time, with teleological implications. You might say Shakyamuni Buddha took a pragmatic
look at the nature of his experience and the world around him and observed three fundamental tenets: • Impermanence. Nothing lasts forever. In fact, nothing lasts at all except in the most provisional of ways. We only have this present moment. Life is a causal sequence of ephemeral sense data combined with the narrative we tell ourselves to make meaning of it.
Green Teacher 131
Photo by Jessica Rigollot
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
