Buddhism & Deep Ecology
While I've been studying permaculture in Thailand, I've noticed two integral underlying philosophies that drastically change the relationship between nature and humanity; Buddhism and Deep Ecology. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a book of the same name (Buddhism & Deep Ecology by Daniel H. Henning, PhD) while at Gaia Ashram, where they teach an entire course on Deep Ecology. The following passages are an organization of my notes and thoughts on both philosophies and how they are beneficial to our collective worldview as a species currently defining the fate of an entire planet.
Buddhism:
“A blind elephant crashes through the forest, leaving trampled bushes and broken trees in his wake. Emerging from the forest he lumbers through a village, destroying several homes in his passage. Two Buddhist monks drawing water at a well observe the great beast's progress. 'What a fearsome, powerful creature,' exclaims the first monk. 'What a pitiful, helpless animal,' says the second."
This Buddhist proverb illustrates that all the harm we inflict on ourselves, others and the world around us is a result of ignorance, a lack of awareness and intentionality. Buddhism seeks to cultivate within the mindfulness to know how to be less of a destructive force and more of a beneficial one, inside and out. It's a powerful basis for being more ethically and ecologically focused not only in our minds but in our actions.
In Buddhist philosophy, suffering originates from attachment to that which is temporary, especially greed, hate, or delusion and secondarily dreams, desires, fears and shames. To relieve ourselves of this suffering, the Buddhist Dhamma Path/Path of Truth advises that we utilize awareness and intentionality, morality, mental discipline and wisdom to get to a place where we are no longer reacting subconsciously/unconsciously to sensory information, but rather observing without attachment, identification or judgment and choosing to respond how we consciously would like to to any internal or external phenomena.
Buddhism asserts that it is easier to live consciously when we live with mental discipline, wisdom, and morality.
Morality:
Morality, the first pillar of the Dhamma Path: Immorality is distracting, as there would be less conflict in our lives that we would have to react to if we behaved ethically. Buddhism suggests to follow what is called the Five Moral Precepts to achieve a level of morality that is conducive to peace and freedom from reactivity:
Five Moral Precepts:
Refrain from destruction - non-violence, no killing or causing harm
Refrain from stealing - do not take what is not directly given to you
Refrain from sexual misconduct - be considerate of others, do not objectify, dehumanize or use others, and do not exploit others
Refrain from false speech - be mindful with the words you say, try to be honest, kind, direct, upfront, considerate and thoughtful with speech
Refrain from intoxicants - do not ingest, produce, or distribute any substances that would impede one's ability to make conscious, considerate choices
Following these precepts minimizes self-made conflict in a person's life and is protective of both the person and the people/beings in their life from possible harm and issues, creating the best environment possible to cultivate Mental Discipline and Wisdom, the next two pillars of the Dhamma Path.
Mental Discipline:
To develop Mental Discipline, Buddhism finds the best route to be mindfulness/meditation, concentration and insight.
Mindfulness /Meditation - the practice of contemplating reality by focusing all awareness to the present moment, becoming a non-judgmental observer of all thoughts, sensations, feelings, etc.
Samadhi/Concentration Meditation - cultivating focused attention so as to not be distracted, knocked off center or distracted by internal or external phenomena
Vipassana/Insight Meditation - expanding awareness to note but not become attached to, identified with or judgmental of internal or external phenomena in order to witness reality as it truly is, beyond greed, hate or delusion.
Mental Discipline helps us to let go of any uses of the mind that trap us in ego or drama that is unhelpful and distracting from seeing and relating to reality properly. It also allows us to be in the best possible state to cultivate deeper Wisdom, the final pillar of the Dhamma Path in practice.
Wisdom:
Developing Wisdom is to understand the Four Noble Truths and to follow the Noble Eightfold Path of wisdom cultivation:
The Four Noble Truths:
Dukkha/Suffering - the understanding that suffering originates from the innate unsatisfactoriness of the temporary phenomena that make up reality; clinging to a sense of "self," to yearnings, desire, and incompleteness is what creates suffering within.
Samudaya/Cause & Effect - the understanding that there is always a cause and an effect, similar to the concept of karma, but more direct. Our understandings, thoughts, actions, etc. matter because they have an impact, either beneficial or adverse.
Nirodha/Non-Self - the understanding that we are just a temporary expression of the universe like a wave is to the ocean, a formation of flowing energy and matter. If we cling to our egos, the "I, me, mine," me vs them, to ignorance and to clinging to the ephemeral, we will suffer and cause suffering.
Magga/The Middle Way - the understanding that pure asceticism is just as anemic and sentimental as pure sensuality, that starving in a cave will be as useless as getting lost in hedonic sense pleasures. The middle way is about nourishing oneself enough to be able to be of use to the cause of increasing well-being and reducing suffering of all living beings.
Understanding these Four Noble Truths brings an individual to the first stage of the development of Wisdom, or as it is called in Buddhist philosophy, the Noble Eightfold Path:
The Noble Eightfold Path:
Right understanding proceeds right thought
Right thought proceeds right speech
Right speech proceeds right action
Right action proceeds right livelihood
Right livelihood proceeds right effort
Right effort proceeds right awareness
Right awareness proceeds right concentration
Right concentration proceeds right wisdom
The noble eightfold path isn't prescriptive: it doesn't tell you how to live, it simply points out that taking the time to properly understand something allows you to think more clearly about it, take more informed action, cultivate a beneficial livelihood, giving you the energy and resources to apply ample effort towards developing increased awareness, which helps you to discern what to focus on and how to deeply focus on it, which brings about greater wisdom, so on and so forth, rinse and repeat. It's just an observation about human behavior that cultivates a more wise life.
Bliss/Nibbana:
The result of all of these practices and understandings are what the Dhamma Path was created by the Buddha to bring to people, which also allows them to be very effective in reducing suffering, increasing well-being, and experiencing pure bliss/nibbana.
Four Aspects of Bliss/Nibbana:
Compassion for all Living Beings - being able to feel the pain of all living beings, and to deeply and genuinely want to help them
Loving Kindness - feeling pure love for every living being including yourself
Equanimity - having a balanced state of mind to be able to think clearly and to experience joy and sadness without being swept away by them
Appreciative Joy - feeling deep, profound joy for the blessings, successes and well-being of other living beings
These four experiences are the reason why Buddhists follow the sometimes very difficult path of developing morality, mental discipline and wisdom. Following this path brings one to the deep and integral understandings of unity in diversity with all other living beings, a sense of belonging and obligation to the well-being of the planet and all its inhabitants.
Deep Ecology:
I am immersed in and involved with the pond of life and must therefore protect it...How do I live in a way that is good for me, other people and our planet with its various forms of life?" - Daniel H. Henning, PhD, Buddhism & Deep Ecology
A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends to do otherwise." - Aldo Leopold
The main tenets of the philosophy of Deep Ecology are that:
All living beings and their well-being and flourishing have inherent worth/intrinsic value regardless of their usefulness or lack thereof to humans or development (development as defined as modification of the biosphere and application of human, financial, living and non-living resources to satisfy human needs and improve quality of life)
Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the well-being and flourishing of all living beings and this planet, and has value in and of itself. Humans have no right to reduce diversity unless in direct danger or need to use destructive or consumptive power for survival.
Present human interference with the non-human world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening. The flourishing of human life, cultures, and non-human life requires a decrease of the human population and human impact on natural systems and non-human life.
Policies must be changed. The changes in policies affect basic economies, technological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.
The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in knowledge of inherent worth) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.
Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes.
In Deep Ecology, the antidote to rampant and destructive development is conservation, moderation, and the concept of inherent worth of all living beings, natural systems and their well-being. Conservation as defined as management of human use of the biosphere so that is may yield the greatest sustainable benefit to present and future generations of life, including the preservation, maintainance, sustainable use, restoration and enhancement of the natural environment.
Deep Ecology basically believes that we are a part of Earth, not separate from it, and we must work on our inner illusions of needing more and more at the expense of other living beings and natural systems as well as replacing the policies, systems and technologies that are destructive and exploitative to feed an increasingly materialistic society.
Conclusion:
Buddhist philosophy naturally gives way to the ideas of Deep Ecology. I'm finding more in more in my research that the state of the planet and our destructiveness as a species is just as much a spiritual/ideological issue as it is a structural/systemic one.
Western imperialist/colonialist ideologies are based in scarcity, domination and excessive accumulation of resources. A history of Western domination over the planet has propagated centralized, hierarchical power structures stratified by opulence, exploitation, violence and quantifying the deservedness of humans, living beings and natural systems based on arbitrary standards that serve those in power. We now experience a world in which we have to "make a living" or in other words, prove our worthiness of survival and flourishing rather than having our innate worth understood and our systems designed to ensure the well-being of all. Instead, we are rewarded based on our usefulness to those in power, and if we are no longer perceived as valuable, we are discarded.
This destruction of cultures, living beings and natural systems is an insidious, cultural, systemic issue that doesn't stop at the exploitation and destruction of nature and animals for the benefit of the 1%, it continues to marginalized and disenfranchised populations of people, even all the way up to the top of the working class. In the anthropocene, the current epoch of history when human behavior will determine the fate of life as we know it, a worldview where powerful people don't understand innate worth and are endlessly dissatisfied with what they have, requiring more and more excessive materialism to fill that spiritual hole within them and to assert their dominance and value in societies' materialist ranking system, creates a global system that, of course, is destructive and exploitative. It's a spiritual, philosophical issue.
Of course, we can't force ideologies or philosophies on people, but it's baffling to know how beautiful this world could be if we had based our economic and social systems on understandings of moderation, enoughness, abundance, innate worth, compassion, loving kindness, equanimity and appreciative joy, on morality and understanding of unity in diversity as a planet of universal expressions of life.
I started my journey traveling around the world learning about practices and philosophies that increase individual and collective well-being because I knew, deep in my soul, that there was a better way, that my culture was sick, and that somehow we weren't understanding the innate worth of all living beings, weren't designing our systems in honor of the miraculous, life-giving conditions of Earth and its incredible inhabitants. Now I know that it's because historically, the mainstream culture that has dominated the Earth literally did not understand these integral things. People say that the issue is that there are too many humans, I say that the issue is a spiritual, ideological one. If we all awakened to reality, letting go of these violent cultural structures, our destructive, exploitative, excessive, materialistic systems would fall away, as well.
Letting go of the greed, the hate, the delusion, the attachment, and coming home to an understanding of enoughness, of no "I, me, mine," no "self," just one with all else, releasing judgments, fears, worries, desires, dreams, seeing the inherent worth, the intrinsic value of all living beings and natural systems, we would inevitably live differently, in honor of that. I can't control the world, but I can share these philosophies and make a difference within to not perpetuate the ideologies within or outside behaviors that support harm, violence, exploitation and destruction. I understand now that I align with the philosophies of Buddhism and Deep Ecology and am excited that my studies on Permaculture here in Thailand are contributing to me living an aligned life. There is a better way. Each and every day, I am getting closer to it.
