Ecodharma: Chapter 2 (part two)

[Kokuu]

This week we will be reading p51-60 (from ‘The Challenge’ up to ‘Deconstructing the Self’). Here, David Loy observes that religions arising in the ‘Axial Age’ (roughly the millennia before the current era) have the message that life on earth is separated from a spiritual afterlife, so earthly concerns are seen as less important than ‘heavenly’ concerns. He argues that even Buddhism, which does not so much focus on an everlasting eternal afterlife, still uses social engagement as a means to an end (the attainment of nibbana/nirvana). Rather than making life better in the here and now (although this is in no way seen as a bad thing), our aim is to transcend samsara altogether. Many Buddhists even criticise Engaged Buddhism on the grounds that it focusses too much on the relative world.

The view of Buddhism that emptiness (or ultimate truth) goes beyond ideas of right and wrong, good and bad, stained and unstained can also be an obstacle when it comes to addressing relative problems such as pollution and the destruction of ecological habitats.

Loy also points out that religious salvation is an individual experience in which one person is saved (or enlightened) by their actions rather than a collective group. Although he does note that the bodhisattva vow of Mahayana Buddhism does change that somewhat, a bodhisattva will still awaken first and then try to save everyone else. Likewise, when the Buddha awakened and saw the morning star he said that “I and all beings awaken together” but still went on to spent the next 55 years teaching others how to do the same.

Questions to consider, or you can also just respond to anything that spoke to you in this section:

Do you feel that Zen practice, as it is spoken of by historical and contemporary teachers, emphasises engaged action or transcendence?

Can you think of any Zen or Buddhist teachings or stories which point to environmental or ecological thinking?

In what ways do or can Buddhism and Zen support engaged environmental action?


Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Juki]

Do you feel that Zen practice, as it is spoken of by historical and contemporary teachers, emphasises engaged action or transcendence?

Transcendence. Engaged Buddhism is only just beginning to emerge as an option for many Buddhists. Thich Nhat Hanh was an early advocate of engaged Buddhism, as was Bernie Glassman. But, for the most part modern Buddhism is only just now starting to even try to figure out its role in terms of social activism.



Can you think of any Zen or Buddhist teachings or stories which point to environmental or ecological thinking?

Well, the historical Buddha did call the earth as his witness.



I'm not even sure how to address the final question you raised. But I would like to speak of what I see as possibly the greatest problem with the idea of cosmological dualism and individual salvation -- which was the major thread in this week's reading. Because not only does cosmological dualism set up a distinction between this world and the spiritual world, it also sets up a harmful distinction between man and absolutely everything else on earth.

I live in the American south, which is an awful place lacking (for the most part, anyway) in compassion and critical thinking skills. I live in what millions of people refer to as the bible belt. I daily go out among throngs of people who claim to be "saved" because they are "born again," and who wholeheartedly believe that the text of the bible is the literal word of God. And here's what they believe:

Genesis 9:2 where God tells Noah after the flood that all of the animals, birds, fish, plants and other resources of the earth are man's to exploit, and that every animal, bird and fish should tremble at our approach.

Genesis 9:11, where God promised that the people of the earth will never again be destroyed by a flood.

So, you have a group of tens of millions of people who see the earth as nothing but a thing to use to meet their immediate needs, and who couldn't give a #%@t about rising sea levels, because God told them not to worry about it.

So, how do we deal with that kind of resistance even if we can organize Buddhist thought in the direction of social activism?

Sorry to always be the pessimist in this group.

Gassho
Juki
sat today and lah

[Tairin]

My main impression from this week’s reading is that Loy seems to be working really hard to frame, or should I say reframe, Buddhism in the context of ecology and engaged environmental action. Maybe Buddhism doesn’t need to be reframed at all. Maybe Buddhism takes care of the concerns that the Buddha originally was addressing in his teaching. The environment is everyone’s problem even if they don’t realize it. Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist or agnostic….the efffects that we humans have put into place will impact us all. Juki raises an important point. There is going to be some proportion of the population that will not act …. Possibly because they believe their God/god will not let them be destroyed. Maybe because this life on Earth is only a means to an end (eternal life). Who knows? One thing the recent Pandemic has taught me is that there will always be people that don’t react in what I believe to be a rational way. Doesn’t matter. For those of us that see the problem we still need to act.


Do you feel that Zen practice, as it is spoken of by historical and contemporary teachers, emphasises engaged action or transcendence?

Short answer is transcendence.


Can you think of any Zen or Buddhist teachings or stories which point to environmental or ecological thinking?

Not without stretching some of the imagery or metaphors but to be fair up until maybe 50 or 100 years ago no teacher would need to have addressed these issues. Most of our readings predate this by hundreds of years.

In what ways do or can Buddhism and Zen support engaged environmental action?

As I think I made clear above I don’t think this is a Buddhist or Zen thing. I think what we are doing here, raising the issue and discussing it is a great step. For example, I would not have known about this book without Doshin and Kokuu raising it. Action on the environment needs to be a part of every day conversation not some that happens over in a corner of society.

I will point out though…. Even within our sangha, how few of the members are participating in this conversation. I suspect that we have maybe 10 more people who are reading along and don’t post at all.

Maybe Buddhist Sanghas focus on Buddhism and for the environment we join groups such as Extinction Rebellion to participate there.

Sorry if I sound blunt or harsh in my response this week.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Juki]

I will point out though…. Even within our sangha, how few of the members are participating in this conversation. I suspect that we have maybe 10 more people who are reading along and don’t post at all.

Maybe Buddhist Sanghas focus on Buddhism and for the environment we join groups such as Extinction Rebellion to participate there.

I have been thinking about this as well. Aside from Kokuu and Doshin, there appears to be only about three or four of us participating. It may be that the material is too uncomfortable for people, or that the truth of the material is too uncomfortable. I acknowledge that it can be depressing to ponder our potential extinction and maybe most people prefer to work on the transcendence aspect of their practice. But, for me, it's kind of a living example
of last week's reading on the unpopularity of engaged Buddhism.

Gassho
Juki
sat today and lah

[aprapti]

I will point out though…. Even within our sangha, how few of the members are participating in this conversation. I suspect that we have maybe 10 more people who are reading along and don’t post at all.

Maybe Buddhist Sanghas focus on Buddhism and for the environment we join groups such as Extinction Rebellion to participate there.

Sorry if I sound blunt or harsh in my response this week.

hi Kokuu, Juki and Tairin,

i do read this book (which i knew already and read already) again now we are talking about it. I do not post very often, for several reasons, but be confident that i read the book and your comments!!

aprapti

sat

[Naiko]

I believe transcendence is emphasized by most teachers, past and present. There are a number of modern teachers who emphasize engagement and the environment, though I am not very familiar with their teachings. It seems to me that they are teaching awareness mostly, which seems like a good place to start.

I can’t think of any Zen or Buddhist teachings that directly point to environmental concerns. That’s not too surprising. Religions reflect the needs of the people who create them. People 2500 years ago were busy trying to survive in their natural world. They did such a good job that we now find ourselves needing to save our natural world from us, and to learn that we are not apart from nature.

I imagine that the teachings of no self and Indra’s net could point to a holistic way of seeing the world. One thing Loy doesn’t mention about the Axial traditions is, in addition to individual liberation, they all emphasize sangha, or the beloved community. While this may have served a practical purpose of preserving the teachings and tradition, we now must see that nothing is outside of our sangha.

I keep asking myself what an eco-dharma looks like in practice. What would engagement look like? We have our zazen, our precepts, our compassion practices, but what would it look like off the cushion? Is is still Buddhadharma or is it something new? I don’t have answers.

Gassho,
Naiko
st lah

[Doshin]

I learn much from reading the comments of those active in this thread. Thank you.

Though the active members may be small many more are reading and learning from your perspectives. Several years ago I started the Living Earth thread that discusses these issues. Few were active and I wondered if I was one of but a few concerned with the challenges facing us. But then I looked at the number of views…almost 137,000. People have interest and concerns even if they don’t comment. These issues affect all of us no matter what religion or non religion and I feel there is a growing awareness of that.

Your thoughts are giving others an opportunity to learn.

Thank you

Doshin

[Tairin]

Great perspective Doshin. Wise and thoughtful as usual Thank you


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Kokuu]

Maybe Buddhist Sanghas focus on Buddhism and for the environment we join groups such as Extinction Rebellion to participate there.

There is a Buddhist Extinction Rebellion website (http://xrbuddhists.com) and Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/461122907875726) and I think it is a good idea to look outside of Buddhism as well as inside to see how we can work with this Engaged side of practice by joining campaigning and direct action groups.

Doshin makes a wise point about how many people might be reading these exchanges but not finding the time to respond. I can definitely fall into the pessimistic camp too at the apparent lack of interest. Thank you to all of you who do post here and encourage discussion. It is really welcome.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Tairin]

Thank you for the pointer to XRBuddhists. I’ll definitely check it out.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Heiso]

I'm just catching up here but largely I agree with Tairin's point in that Loy does seem to be working hard to reframe Buddhism in the context of engaged ecological action but then I suppose that is no bad thing. As our understanding of what we are doing to this planet changes, so our religions can adapt their teachings to address those issues.

As I've mentioned a few times, I've had some involvement with XR over the years (although I disagreed with some methods recently) and when I attended the gatherings there were XR Buddhists, XR Jews, XR Muslims, and lots of different XR Christian groups. I noticed that last year it was a group of priests/vicars who blocked a bridge in London and were arrested.

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah