Ecodharma: Chapter 5 (part 2)

[Doshin]

Chapter 5: Waiting For The Apocalypse to The End Of Life As We Know It; pages 131 to 134

I am a little late in providing some thoughts on this section. Frankly I was not sure what to say nor that I completely understand the context of this material which may very well soon be revealed in subsequent pages.
I have read it multiple times and my thoughts drift to its contents throughout the day. The perspective that these words led me to as I type is the history of the Earth as I understand it. It is thought the Earth is around 4.5 billion years old (a very long time, deep time as they say) and that life first appeared around 3.7 billion years ago. Since the first species appeared it is estimated that 99% of all species that ever existed are now extinct. The use of extinction here includes not only the species that are gone but those that adapted and evolved into something different. Geological records point to at least 5 major extinction events before the one we are witnessing. The last being about 66 million years ago which many believe was caused by a large meteor hitting the earth. This led to the demise of Dinosaurs, but this is thought to have allowed mammals to flourish and diversify which led to us (a good couple of episodes about this event aired on the NOVA this month). So, this suggests that the earth has been through what we may define as several Apocalypses.

Impermanence is the Earth’s history. However, does that mean we can not change some aspects of the path we are now on? Or that we should not try? Not from my perspective.

Please, before we move on to the rest of this Chapter…help me and others understand what this section is suggesting. How would you write the review of these pages?

Doshin

[Naiko]

This section certainly brings contemplation of impermanence to another level. I felt an uprising of grief to imagine the end of the only planet we know for sure has all this wild life on it. But it can always all end at any moment, can’t it? Either from our own shortsighted plunder of our resources, or a planet killing comet, or the death of our sun, we are vulnerable. I recall in Opening The Hand of Thought, Uchiyama Roshi talks about everything and everyone being the result of a great many improbable accidents and how that made everything even more uniquely precious. And so I feel that’s what this knowledge demands, that I should see everything as rare and special and precious, to be cared for as much as possible, even knowing it’s impermanent.

I am curious to read further.

Gassho,
Naiko
st lah

[Kaisui]

I have been away for a while, being with my cat Ashy who sadly passed away recently. I was occasionally scanning Treeleaf posts, but mostly was not ready to engage with any. Now here, Doshin has inspired my curiosity about what this chapter might mean. I am drawn back in. I will have a go at engaging with this chapter and see where it takes me.

Gassho,
Kaisui
ST

[Doshin]

A friend shared this today and I thought it belonged here

https://youtu.be/vAwhD9rKxog

Doshin
St

[Kokuu]

Hi all

Yes, this is an interesting section that could be interpreted in many ways.

My take on it is that Loy is firstly talking about the various cultural ways that humans see the end of the world, which is often to see it as something predetermined or fated, that we can do nothing about, and only a divine being can save us. This is a worrying way of looking at things as it does not suggest that action is worth doing. I have heard some Christian groups argue that G-d will not allow people to die and will intervene if global warming gets too bad.

In a more realistic approach, we can understand that, as Doshin points out, life is impermanent, both in terms of individual organisms, and species as a whole. The chances are that humans as a species will not last forever, and the earth has gone through cycles of warming and cooling, speciation and extinction.

As regards Buddhist thought, this relates to ideas of death and impermanence. We understand that our time on the planet as individuals is finite, but that does not mean we are indifferent to that. Most of us work to keep our human bodies in reasonable shape, and do not instead just sit around waiting for the end to come. If we get sick, we seek help and take the medicine or treatment that our doctors offer.

Likewise, I think that it is realistic to know that species will be lost on the earth, and climatic conditions might not always suit humans. However, it seems wise not to deliberately cause the loss of species and habitats, and to instead take care of the planet as it is. Also, it is wise to see cultural ideas around the apocalypse and armageddon as human created ideas that offer an interesting insight into human thoughts and fears, but do not necessarily reflect reality.

That is my take, anyway, and I am interested to hear others.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[Tairin]

I think one of the reasons why people tend to believe in a soul and an afterlife is that it seems inconceivable that we, as an individual, will stop being. Similarly I think people collectively tend to believe that now that humans are here on this planet we are here forever. 1 billion years is a very long time So long that if you go back in time 1 billion years there would be no life on this planet. I think somehow people worry more about what will happen to humans a very long time in the future and pay much less attention to the near future (say 20 years from now) events.

Some how it will work out. Either God will save us (or a selected few) or we’ll end up in some eternal place such as Heaven or Pureland.

I think Loy is saying that somehow these myths are getting in our way of dealing with the current crisis.

The news cycle has been obsessed with COVID. Today I saw there are a number of articles on the MonkeyPox. Somehow these evens that will affect a relative few dominate our brains more than the impending catastrophe.

Just my thoughts from reading this section


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Heiso]

As I understand it the Book of Revelation predicting the apocalypse is only one of many interpretations but that's probably a bit beside the point.

I like the idea of the next Buddha being a sangha or collective group, why not?

Gassho,

Heiso

StLah