[EcoDharma] Living Earth

[Jundo]

I believe that engineering better, kinder, more loving people means raising people from birth to be better, kind, more loving people. I have no idea how to do that, beyond the confines of my household. I can live a better, kinder, more loving life so that others can see that.

I should say "I" more. I should consume less. I need to live more minimally. It seems to me that our society is more in the mode of you should, which is inevitably frustrating. People will never react well to that.

Forgive my rambling. I should be more succinct.

Gassho,
然芸 Nengei
Sat today. LAH.

Yes, I think so too. But the problem is now beyond that, and the only way to deal with the state of the human race ... from board rooms to presidential palaces, from ordinary folks to their parents ... is to increase the propensity of human beings to avoid excess anger and violence done in anger, to be a tad (I say "20%" in my book) more empathetic toward strangers, charitable, caring, and to increase their feelings of being satisfied and "pushing away from the table" when consuming less.

The trick is that we need to take a little of evolution away from the random mutation, predator kills prey, trial and error, see what species survives and what dies (maybe ours) "survival of the fittest" system of nature a little, and put a little direction into our coming evolution.

Anyway, that is what my book is about ... "BUILDING the FUTURE BUDDHA!"

Gassho, J

STLah

[Kokuu]

Hi all

Today marks the opening of the 26th Conference of the Parties, COP26, in Glasgow, UK, to talk about tackling the huge issue of global climate change.

I have mixed feelings about this as although the UK Prime Minister and US President are talking big, the recent UK budget included reducing the cost of internal flights and the UK government is looking at opening a whole new offshore oil field. Similarly, the US is creating new oil pipelines and in the first six months of the Biden administration, around 2,500 new oil and gas permits were authorized while the much maligned Trump presidency took a year to reach the same number.

To keep warming to a predicted 1.5 Celsius we need to cut carbon emissions by 28 billion tonnes by 2030 from the 53 billion tonnes it is estimated to be at that point if we continue as we are. At present, the pledges from world governments amount to 4 billions tonnes of cuts.

This said, this kind of landmark conference does focus the eyes of the world on the actions of their leaders and hold them accountable and push for new and better targets. But, it cannot be a short-term effect - we need to hold them to their pledges.

I know that everyone has day-to-day struggles with life so it can be hard to think about huge issues like this and it is all too easy to feel powerless, and I have fallen prey to this myself.

We neither need to become completely overwhelmed by the situation, nor look away, but keep an open heart. Anything we can do to keep our leaders motivated and know we are concerned is worth doing.

Saving all beings can look like becoming informed and writing, emailing or calling your political representative. It can look like eating less meat and taking fewer flights. It can look like asking your pension fund or bank what their policy is on investing in fossil fuel companies.

I hope that next year, Jundo willing, we will look at EcoBuddhism with some book study and action as I think and hope that this is an area that many wish to engage with.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Doshin]

Hi all

Today marks the opening of the 26th Conference of the Parties, COP26, in Glasgow, UK, to talk about tackling the huge issue of global climate change.

I have mixed feelings about this as although the UK Prime Minister and US President are talking big, the recent UK budget included reducing the cost of internal flights and the UK government is looking at opening a whole new offshore oil field. Similarly, the US is creating new oil pipelines and in the first six months of the Biden administration, around 2,500 new oil and gas permits were authorized while the much maligned Trump presidency took a year to reach the same number.

To keep warming to a predicted 1.5 Celsius we need to cut carbon emissions by 28 billion tonnes by 2030 from the 53 billion tonnes it is estimated to be at that point if we continue as we are. At present, the pledges from world governments amount to 4 billions tonnes of cuts.

This said, this kind of landmark conference does focus the eyes of the world on the actions of their leaders and hold them accountable and push for new and better targets. But, it cannot be a short-term effect - we need to hold them to their pledges.

I know that everyone has day-to-day struggles with life so it can be hard to think about huge issues like this and it is all too easy to feel powerless, and I have fallen prey to this myself.

We neither need to become completely overwhelmed by the situation, nor look away, but keep an open heart. Anything we can do to keep our leaders motivated and know we are concerned is worth doing.

Saving all beings can look like becoming informed and writing, emailing or calling your political representative. It can look like eating less meat and taking fewer flights. It can look like asking your pension fund or bank what their policy is on investing in fossil fuel companies.

I hope that next year, Jundo willing, we will look at EcoBuddhism with some book study and action as I think and hope that this is an area that many wish to engage with.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

Thank you for this post

Doshin
ST

[Shinshi]

Hi all

Today marks the opening of the 26th Conference of the Parties, COP26, in Glasgow, UK, to talk about tackling the huge issue of global climate change.

I have mixed feelings about this as although the UK Prime Minister and US President are talking big, the recent UK budget included reducing the cost of internal flights and the UK government is looking at opening a whole new offshore oil field. Similarly, the US is creating new oil pipelines and in the first six months of the Biden administration, around 2,500 new oil and gas permits were authorized while the much maligned Trump presidency took a year to reach the same number.

To keep warming to a predicted 1.5 Celsius we need to cut carbon emissions by 28 billion tonnes by 2030 from the 53 billion tonnes it is estimated to be at that point if we continue as we are. At present, the pledges from world governments amount to 4 billions tonnes of cuts.

This said, this kind of landmark conference does focus the eyes of the world on the actions of their leaders and hold them accountable and push for new and better targets. But, it cannot be a short-term effect - we need to hold them to their pledges.

I know that everyone has day-to-day struggles with life so it can be hard to think about huge issues like this and it is all too easy to feel powerless, and I have fallen prey to this myself.

We neither need to become completely overwhelmed by the situation, nor look away, but keep an open heart. Anything we can do to keep our leaders motivated and know we are concerned is worth doing.

Saving all beings can look like becoming informed and writing, emailing or calling your political representative. It can look like eating less meat and taking fewer flights. It can look like asking your pension fund or bank what their policy is on investing in fossil fuel companies.

I hope that next year, Jundo willing, we will look at EcoBuddhism with some book study and action as I think and hope that this is an area that many wish to engage with.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

Gassho, Shinshi

SaT-LaH

[Doshin]

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59088498#comments

Good News! Devil in the details But I nurture my hope when the winds blow in the right direction.

Climate change may be the main reason in the mind of many but the value to the continuance of biodiversity can not be over stated in my view.

Doshin
St with hope

[Kokuu]

Thank you for posting that, Doshin. It is definitely a really promising statement and I was really happy to see it on day one of the conference, as well as the inclusion of indigenous people who live in some of these areas.

As you say, the forests really are pivotal in both the fight against climate change as well as the preservation of vast amounts of biodiversity so this is a really good initiative on both counts.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Doshin]

Please do post once you have the links. My brain is struggling with the Half Earth concept. Is it intended to feel more achievable and less overwhelming than trying to save the whole Earth?


EDIT: I went off to educate myself and very quickly found this https://www.half-earthproject.org/discover-half-earth/ which very nicely explains some of the math behind the concept.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

Tairin,

Thank you for your interest.

Here is the link to the talks

https://vimeo.com/showcase/8938312

Doshin
St

[Tairin]

Tairin,

Thank you for your interest.

Here is the link to the talks

https://vimeo.com/showcase/8938312

Doshin
St

Thank you Doshin


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Heiso]

This isn't an environmental film per se but t's beautiful and well worth 12 minutes:

https://vimeo.com/242346365

'Sea Pilgrim is a meditative film on Brazilian sailor Tassio Azambuja. While sailing alone this past year, the silence I felt petrified me. It opened up a great amount of insignificance in my own life. As a response to this, I set out to create this film exploring silence in a day and age infiltrated with busyness. We’ve become conditioned that the pursuit of fame and commercial success are the only ways we can be content. My hope is simply to propose an alternative. Living a life dedicated to the surrender of something greater than yourself. Something unknown.'

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah

[Kokuu]

'Sea Pilgrim is a meditative film on Brazilian sailor Tassio Azambuja. While sailing alone this past year, the silence I felt petrified me. It opened up a great amount of insignificance in my own life. As a response to this, I set out to create this film exploring silence in a day and age infiltrated with busyness. We’ve become conditioned that the pursuit of fame and commercial success are the only ways we can be content. My hope is simply to propose an alternative. Living a life dedicated to the surrender of something greater than yourself. Something unknown.'

That was beautiful! Thank you, Heiso.

A content warning for anyone who is squeamish - it contains a scene of killing a fish with a knife. It is a real account of living on a boat and what comes with that.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Kokuu]

Dear all

I hesitated to post this link but decided to do so with a disclaimer. This is an essay by the prominent Buddhist environmental activist Catherine Ingram. It is an incredibly sobering read, as she sets out the reasons for which she believes that we have already passed the tipping point beyond which humanity and many other species can be saved and talks about what practice looks like in this situation.

If you feel able to read this, I would recommend it. If you do not wish to, that is fine too. It had a large impact on me, as it leaves us in no doubt as to just how critical the situation we are in is and the limit to which technology is able to step in an save us. Optimism and hope are good things but at present they are very much leading to a 'business as usual' approach to governments and most individuals, and I would include myself in that.

However, as someone once paraphrased Rudyard Kipling - if you can keep your head while others around you are losing their's, you probably haven't understood the situation. As we saw with the beginning of the pandemic, things can look totally fine until suddenly they aren't.

https://www.catherineingram.com/facingextinction/

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-

[Doshin]

Kokuu thanks for posting this essay.

It is not an easy read but to avoid these issues is to be deluded. After reading it I thought of the nightly news I watched an hour or two before, these topics are seldom shared there. In fact stories of the individual financial problems of celebrities received greater attention. To have an understanding requires effort but that is what is needed. Otherwise is to give in to denial.

I thought back 12 years when I first learned of the immense quantitative decline of other sentient beings. In fact a later version was the genesis and first post to begin this thread several years ago. Though I read of the issue in the conservation news I follow , I only heard it told on TV once. I remember it clearly and where I was sitting far from here. Just like my memory of a President’s assination when I was young. I am sure it was repeated elsewhere but I did not see it or hear it so I assumed that it was not considered ‘news” that many felt worthy of sharing. I wondered is it that those who “inform” us didn’t think we cared, didn’t want us to know, or they didn’t think it important. Any of those reasons anger me. Anger is one of the poisons but it arises.
Delusions are inexhaustible I vow to end them.

Doshin
St

[Doshin]

We can feel overwhelmed with the challenges that face this planet as our population has grown. However change is needed. That change starts with us and ripples forward. We can do things locally that when combined with billions of others are significant. Our choices as consumers can change the paths of corporations. Our pressure on government can move them in the direction needed.

A quote attributed to Margaret Mead “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” The hope within those words has been debated by some and analyzed by others. Whatever is the of kernel of reality within those words is one path forward.


Some of the posts in this thread are difficult to hold in one’s mind but we must. To truly see and understand the challenges will hopefully motivate us to be change.

There are positive things happening and some have been shared here. I invite you to share lights of hope so we can offer ideas of good to others as was done previously with the Half Earth efforts. I will try to bring more of those stories here.

Doshin
St

[Tairin]

Thank you for your message Doshin. Like many people here I have been reading quite a bit about the environment, COP26, species extinction etc. I agree it is hard to not get overwhelmed or feeling that all hope is lost. My wife and I talk about this quite a bit and have made many adjustments to our lives. We remind ourselves that with enough drops we can eventually fill an ocean. Every little bit helps. We also keep in mind that we can’t give up and assume it is too late to make the changes needed.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Kokuu]

Some of the posts in this thread are difficult to hold in one’s mind but we must. To truly see and understand the challenges will hopefully motivate us to be change.

There are positive things happening and some have been shared here. I invite you to share lights of hope so we can offer ideas of good to others as was done previously with the Half Earth efforts. I will try to bring more of those stories here.

Thank you, Doshin. It is definitely good to have that balance of hard-hitting facts and stories of hope and positivity.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-