For the past two years at Treeleaf, a group of us have been reading texts related to ecology and Buddhism, first David Loy’s Ecodharma, and latterly, Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone.
We also share articles and thoughts about the state of the planet and how we can practice with that as Buddhists, whether through active engagement or working with our natural human responses to what is currently happening.
Doshin explains the reasoning behind the need for Buddhism to be included in environmental thinking in his Why Ecodharma Matters thread, with a great quote from the founder of the World Resources Institute, Gus Speth:
Selfishness, greed and apathy are pretty much aversion, desire and ignorance, what in Buddhism we call the three poisons.
The group is largely led by Doshin (who has a lifetime of experience in conservation work and science) and Kokuu (who has a PhD in plant ecology and has long been active in environmental movements). However, we do not put ourselves above others and wish for everyone to contribute in their own way so that this space can become a place of support in which we can share ideas with each other, with a common aim to look at issues of the environment through the lens of Buddhist practice.
In 2024 we plan to undertake the One Earth Sangha Ecosattva Training as a group, and you can read about that here: https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...attva-Training There will be further updates soon.
We enjoy having this small Green space at Treeleaf in which those who have a common interest in environmental matters and Zen can engage with each other. Although everyone from the sangha at large is welcome here, mostly we tend to have a small group of us who are active, and we are happy when others wish to join us.
We also share articles and thoughts about the state of the planet and how we can practice with that as Buddhists, whether through active engagement or working with our natural human responses to what is currently happening.
Doshin explains the reasoning behind the need for Buddhism to be included in environmental thinking in his Why Ecodharma Matters thread, with a great quote from the founder of the World Resources Institute, Gus Speth:
I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address those problems. But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy… and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation and we, (Lawyers) and scientists, don´t know how to do that.
The group is largely led by Doshin (who has a lifetime of experience in conservation work and science) and Kokuu (who has a PhD in plant ecology and has long been active in environmental movements). However, we do not put ourselves above others and wish for everyone to contribute in their own way so that this space can become a place of support in which we can share ideas with each other, with a common aim to look at issues of the environment through the lens of Buddhist practice.
In 2024 we plan to undertake the One Earth Sangha Ecosattva Training as a group, and you can read about that here: https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...attva-Training There will be further updates soon.
We enjoy having this small Green space at Treeleaf in which those who have a common interest in environmental matters and Zen can engage with each other. Although everyone from the sangha at large is welcome here, mostly we tend to have a small group of us who are active, and we are happy when others wish to join us.