Buddhist Spirituality and its Potential for a Sustainable Treatment of the Environment

Buddhist Spirituality and its Potential for a Sustainable Treatment of the Environment

Wolf-Fabian Hungerland

Humanity has created a problem that it does not know to solve properly: The environment is being damaged substantially, increasingly so. Industrialisation and mass consumption in combination with ever more effective capitalist social and economic structures have led to an unprecedented human-made deterioration of the planet, its nature and threatens life
as it has been around for the last four thousand years or so. The damage caused is in parts already irreversible. Worse, the damaged environment does already or will soon start to affect every person and every living being on this planet in one or another way. At the heart of the matter is our behaviour. What we do or we refrain from doing, what we consume and what we see – or rather want to see and want to ignore, is ultimately a function of our awareness.

At the same time, scientists of manifold disciplines, politicians and other leaders of society have struggled with the task to actually change human behaviour. This is not to say that nothing has happened regarding a more careful average behaviour towards the environment, witness the prospering sustainable energy sector, or certain nudges that governments use to incentivise people to behave less harmful to the earth. However, the struggle is that all this is—to the best of my and many other’s knowledge—way too little to keep climate change and the irreversible destruction of the environment at bay. Buddhist spirituality comes in handy here. It may provide the missing link between observation (that the planet is being harmed) and action (that it is humans that cause this harm). Let us understand how harm is caused, how harm can be reduced and what Buddhism can add.

How humans cause harm

As argued above, humanity causes harm to the earth. What follows is a list of the main harms that people do to the environment – and themselves.¹

• Pollution, i.e. the introduction of harmful substances into the environment. The most common pollutants are acid rain – chemicals from burning fuel rises into the atmosphere and falls with rain, oil spills – when a ship spills oil, the crude oil does not dissolve the in water but floats, causing severe damage to wildlife, toxic chemicals – chemicals produced by industry can be hazardous to the environment if not disposed of correctly and pesticides – these are used extensively in agriculture, and can kill animals if they enter lakes or rivers.
•  
• Animals live in their very individual niches in nature. Human action often means a sudden, major change that affects a natural habitat, which means often the destruction of natural habitats so that animals may not be able to adapt or move – and die out. Humans have caused changes in some areas, e.g. flooding valleys through building dams. These changes have caused the extinction of animals and plants.
•  
• Since industrialisation, humans have destroyed more than 50 per cent of all forest and woodland, that is deforestation came with industrialisation. Main driver was the need for timber, constructions and fuel, or more space to grow crops. Most species, including humans, however, need the oxygen from trees to survive and the increase in carbon dioxide resulting from deforestation has contributed to the greenhouse effect.
   
• Without using natural resources, humanity would not have developed as it did. However, too often, non-renewable natural resources such as coal or oil, which emerged over millions of years, were used and are now limited in supply. They also create pollution when burned. Other natural resources produce no pollution and are renewable, e.g. wind or solar power. The sustainable use of resources is however dominated by the use of fossil and non-renewable resources.
•  
• Average temperatures have increased by more than one degree Celsius in the last century, and the polar ice caps are melting – this is what we call climate change or global warming. Behind this is human activity, which has caused an increase the planet’s temperature. Human-produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are major contributors to the frequently observed increase in the planet’s temperature since temperatures were recorded. Some claim that climate change is simply a result of a natural cycle. However, whatever the cause, the effects of global warming mean rising sea levels and more severe weather patterns.

Measures to reduce harm

• Conservation aims to reduce the amount of limited resources used by human activity and its surrounding flora and fauna. It allows to protect endangered species, e.g. by placing a limit on the amount of fish that can be caught or turning areas into national parks so that they cannot be exploited economically or even industrially.
•  
• Via international legislation governments can agree to regulate the use of harmful chemicals, or to reduce the output of greenhouse emissions. An example is the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.
•  
• Sustainable development, i.e. the idea that policymakers take the needs of future generations seriously and consider that these should have equal weight to the needs of people today, is another, general aspect of reducing harm. It means should try to prevent long-lasting damage to the environment, conserve resources or replace those we use up.

 

• Some waste products can be broken down and used for new products. Recycling reduces the amount of waste going into landfill sites or being incinerated. Glass, paper, metal and some plastics are common materials that can be recycled. Moreover, precious metals that are extremely rare in nature but essential in the making of technology, are also increasingly recycled.

 

What does Buddhism teach about the environment?

Global environmental change was not an issue for the people at the time of the Buddha. That means we lack specific instructions on environmental protection. Yet, Buddha did recognise that local communities could be affected by the behaviour of his followers and so, for example, he set rules that monks and nuns should never relieve themselves in or near running water, i.e. where people would want to wash or drink. Similarly, he also ruled that monks and nuns should not disrupt the established habitat of any other creature, nor kill other living creatures, for example when building new quarters.

For many, the idea of inter-relatedness of everything is at the heart of their Buddhist thought. This means that humans depend on nature and nature depends on humans, as well as that humans depend on humans. Harming one part of this whole is the same as harming all of it. Therefore, if people learn to live in harmony with the world, and that every action of them echoes somewhere else—often unintendedly or unaware—, the environment will benefit.

The Noble Eightfold Path was taught by the Buddha to help humans escape suffering and approach enlightenment, leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth. The Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right Samadhi, (meditative absorption). This includes that if you are 'mindful' of the effects of your actions on the world, this is an effective way to avoid causing damage to other living beings.

While each of these instructions can eventually help lowering the harm on the environment, two of these have a direct bearing on a Buddhist attitude to the environment: Buddhists should abstain from taking life, and this includes any form of life. This is linked to the idea of rebirth that can include the possibility of being reborn as an animal. Rather than taking life, Buddhists are encouraged to show metta (loving kindness) and compassion to all creatures and believe that all life-forms are special, not just human beings. This precept relates to the concept of ahimsa (total non- violence) – in other words: ‘do no harm’. A Buddhist may argue that destroying the natural habitats of animals is taking away something that does not belong to us. Therefore, by not acting thoughtlessly, Buddhists can protect the environment from destruction and exploitation.

If a person has a right mindset, Buddhists believe that the actions they perform will be beneficial not just to themselves but to the whole world, including the environment. In contrast, and in practice, often many of humanities’ actions affect the planet in a harmful way because people act selfish, myopic, uninformed and craving. These actions mean indifference to the environment and will only result in more suffering in the future. Within Buddhism, the real importance of the doctrine of karma and its fruits lies in the recognition of the urgency to put a stop to such actions. The effects of karma will continue to work in a person's rebirth, so by being compassionate, we will overcome this indifference, and improve our own future and that of the environment. Most Buddhists believe that it is only when this indifference ends, and we become mindful and compassionate, that the world will return to peace, harmony and balance. This will then allow people to live positive lives and break free from the negative effects of craving.

 

What does this mean in practice?

For most Buddhists, the guiding principles are to live simply in order to respect all life forms as well as the balance and peace in nature. Most Buddhists understand and apply these principles to the question of looking after the environment in a variety of ways.

Because the Buddha did not have a lot to say about the environment in his day, most teachings about protecting the environment come from modern Buddhist teachers such as the Dalai Lama, local masters. Here is a big practical potential. They could help creating practical guidance on spiritually fed conservation, sustainable development, and recycling.

Admittedly, Buddhist leaders may find it more difficult to engage in international legislation, but even there, their prominence and /or eminence may be a useful, effective resource.

We could describe the whole of Buddhism as being about changing the way we see the world. This is completely compatible with an environmental agenda. Changing people's attitudes about what they need, is a major step to changing how they treat the world and each other. Buddhists accept changes in nature. Change is an essential part of growth. People should allow for change in the world.
 

¹ What follows is based on BBC.com (https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/z4b42hv/revision/3) and various Wikipedia entries on Buddhism, mainly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path.