In this talk I describe how the development, in an individual, of the skills outlined in the Buddha's 'Eightfold Path,' can become the ethical values for a whole society – a ‘culture of awakening?’ I also explore some of the connections between Buddhist ideas and practices and what we might call an ecological worldview.
In this talk I describe how the development, in an individual, of the skills outlined in the Buddha's 'Eightfold Path,' can become the ethical values for a whole society – a ‘culture of awakening?’ I also explore some of the connections between Buddhist ideas and practices and what we might call an ecological worldview.
While there is not time, in this talk, to go into detail, I would like to say something about the social teachings of the Buddha, and to briefly counter the potential criticism of Zen Buddhist practice, that it is too focused on the individual rather than society-at-large. I will also explore some of the interconnections between Buddhist ideas and practices and what we might call an ecological worldview.
Needless to say, contemporary capitalist society is not grounded in the principles of metta – ‘loving kindness,’ karuna – ‘compassion’ and ahimsa – ‘non-violence,’ nor does it place much value on the Eight Skills outlined in the Eightfold Path. Rather than a ‘culture of awakening,’ our contemporary society could be described as a culture of greed, exploitation, egocentrism and obliviousness to the underlying conditions of existence.
Within Zen and many other schools of Buddhism, awakening is considered to be a lifelong process of learning how to live in such a way as to minimise suffering and to be present and fully conscious. The Buddha was concerned with the amelioration of suffering, and awakening is a necessary process through which suffering can be recognised, diagnosed and remedied or lessened. The Buddha did not retire after awakening under the Bodhi tree – as if his work was done. No, his work continued, his awakening continued, as he wandered and shared his insights and understanding. He spent over forty years teaching and learning, sharing experiences with everyone he met. Forty years of active engagement with the suffering of the world and caring for its inhabitants – working to reduce suffering wherever he found it.
In my view, it is important to counter the popular idea that Buddhism is only about personal development and self-realisation. Social and political change may well be required if suffering is to be alleviated.
Walpola Rahula, is a contemporary Sri Lankan Buddhist monk. Here are some quotes by him, that speak eloquently and concisely about the Buddha’s approach to these matters:
The Buddha was interested in the happiness of people [….] but he knew that leading such a life [of happiness] was hard in unfavourable material and social conditions…. [He] did not take life out of the context of its social and economic background; he looked at it whole, in all its social, economic, and political aspects…. [He] is just as clear on politics, on war and peace […..] According to the Buddha there is nothing that can be called a ‘just war.’ …. There can be no peace or happiness for a man as long as he desires and thirsts after conquering and subjugating his neighbour. As the Buddha says: ‘The victor breeds hatred, and the defeated lies down in misery. He who renounces both victory and defeat is happy and peaceful.’ (Rahula 1988)
In Buddhism the practice of meditation involves engagement with the world, being here in this world - not seeking to escape to another world or to a transcendent state of mind. Being mindful, we notice what arises from moment to moment and observe the everchanging relationships and processes that make up the world. In my view meditation should not be seen, let alone practised, as a form of anaesthetic, or as a passive act of resignation to current social, economic and political conditions. Meditation, including Zen meditation, should be seen as a dynamic mode of engaging with the actual conditions in which we live, understanding who we are in the world, and not as a flight from the realities of the world. It is about developing openness to other beings, to their suffering and to their joy - working to develop clarity of vision and thought, learning to see ourselves and our neighbours as we actually are, and to be mindful of the conditions within which we exist.
While meditation can help to calm and clarify the mind, it is done in order that those who practice it might act in an informed and compassionate manner. In this way it is possible to see more clearly what needs to be done, and what we can do - to reduce suffering, and to improve the conditions (internal and external) in which we live. While much can be done by changing our view of ourselves and the world, aspects of the world also need to be changed to improve the lives of its inhabitants.
It is by realising how all things and beings are dependent on each other – that the universe is a dynamic universe of everchanging relationships, interdependence and inter-penetration – that we come to feel kinship and caring for others.
Traditionally within most denominations of Buddhism, monks and nuns, and lay people who wish to be part of a formal sangha or community, make vows known as the ‘three refuges.’ These are simply three statements that indicate the person is following the Buddhist path. These are: I take refuge in the Buddha – acknowledging that all beings have Buddha Nature; I take refuge in the Dharma – the teachings of the Buddha; I take refuge in the sangha – the community of those who follow, or who share the beliefs of, the Buddha.
Members of most denominations also vow to follow certain precepts – precepts which are themselves manifestations of the social ethics advocated by the Buddha. These are (the form of words may vary): avoid killing or doing harm to other beings; avoid stealing; avoid sexual conduct that harms others; avoid harmful speech; and, avoid substances that cause harm and cloud the mind. The American poets, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder and Philip Whalen, wrote a modern ecological version of similar vows that they called the four Bodhisattva vows:
Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to save them.
Consuming desires are endless; I vow to stop them.
Bio-relations are intricate; I vow to preserve them.
Nature’s way is beautiful; I vow to become it.
(based on Sivaraksa 2002: 24)
In the Soto school of Zen Buddhism there is a ceremony, known as Jukai, when further vows are made. All of these vows are expressions of intention – to do the best one can to ease the suffering of oneself, other humans and all beings. They are also acknowledgements that each individual takes responsibility for any harm they may cause and for decisions they may make to try to ease suffering.
There any many Buddhist individuals and organisations around the world working to ease the suffering of others and to change society for the benefit of all. I would now like to focus on some of the social implications of the Buddha’s teachings as described in the writings of Sulak Sivaraksa, who is a Thai social activist and founder of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists. These quotes illustrate some of his ideas about how Buddhist insight and practice can form the basis for a renewal of society. Sivaraksa advocates, not a utopian return to an agrarian past, but a careful analysis of our current economic, social and political systems – in order to revitalise our ethics and to work towards a more balanced, fair, sustainable society, grounded in mindful action, compassion and responsibility. What Sivaraksa has to say is hard-hitting, and possibly controversial, but it provides food for thought and is a reminder that social awareness and political activism do have an important place within Buddhism. He writes:
According to Buddhism, there are three poisons: greed, hatred, and delusion. All three are manifestations of unhappiness, and the presence of any one breeds more of the same. Capitalism and consumerism are driven by these three poisons.
[In our society] greed is cultivated from a young age. We are told that our desires will be satisfied by buying things, but, of course, consuming one thing arouses us to want more. [….] In a capitalistic system, the mass media stimulate desires for things that are not really needed [this is a] deception that plays on people’s greed [and is] difficult to perceive…. We believe that consuming more, going faster, and living in greater convenience will bring happiness. We don’t look at the tremendous cost to ourselves, [and] to our environment… Capitalism aims for profit, not for the welfare of the general public.
As long as development is measured in terms of material success, greed will create tension and conflict, and people will increasingly take advantage of, and oppress, one another for a materialistic payoff. If consumers would be more temperate in their desires [….] destructive systems of development and capitalism would fail….
Consumerism supports those who have economic and political powers by rewarding their hatred, aggression and anger. And consumerism works hand in hand with the modern educational system to encourage cleverness without wisdom. We create delusion in ourselves and call it knowledge.
[Sivaraksa continues:] For a Buddhist, being in touch with truth is being grounded in a deep, critical doubt about all beliefs and prejudices. Having seen, through the practice of meditation, the arising of illusion within oneself, one holds all views more loosely. Wisdom can only be achieved through the free and open exercise of the critical intellect.
Finally, he writes: Two realisations are necessary: an inner realisation concerning greed, hatred and delusion, and an outer realisation concerning the impact these tendencies have on society and the planet. (Sivaraksa 1992)
Sivaraksa is pointing to what we might recognise as a fact: that in a finite world with limited resources, infinite insatiable desire and consumption will inevitably be destructive of ourselves, of other beings and of the world we inhabit. For progress to be made, we need to acknowledge the delusion that unlimited consumption is in any way beneficial, and that we need instead an ethics of moderation, sustainability, responsibility, and care for the planet and all its interdependent inhabitants. These conditions would need to be met, for a culture of awakening to be achieved.
Buddhism & ecology – some of parallels between Buddhist and ecological views of the world
This emphasis on sustainability and caring for planet earth and all its inhabitants suggests a profound relationship between an ecological viewpoint and Buddhist ethics. I would now like to say something about these interconnections. Seen from a Buddhist perspective, the universe is a vast relational field, endlessly in motion – infinite networks of interdependent and interpenetrating processes – denoted in Buddhism by the terms pratityasamutpada and karma. All phenomena are dependent upon each other – bound together in endless cycles of arising and decaying – a dynamic field of interaction and interplay. Nothing exists on its own, separate or unconnected to the whole. All entities are both unique [tathata – suchness] and, an integral part of the whole of existence.
This ecological, relational view of the universe is expounded many times by the Buddha and other Buddhist teachers. Here are two examples:
The Thai Buddhist teacher, Buddhadasa (1906-93) writes: ‘The entire cosmos is a cooperative. The sun, the moon, and the stars live as a cooperative. The same is true for humans and animals, trees and the earth. Our bodily parts function as a cooperative…. [we] …. are all mutual friends in the process of birth, old age, suffering and death.’ (Swearer 1997) The 13th century Zen teacher, Dogen writes: ‘Delusion is seeing all things from the perspective of the self. Enlightenment is seeing the self from the perspective of the myriad things of the universe.’ (ibid.)
This realisation of the interconnectedness of all beings and the places and conditions in which they live, is very ancient and very widespread, but it is a realisation that has been dimmed or extinguished within the neo-liberal capitalist way of thinking that so dominates our current social and economic relations. We have much to learn from the indigenous peoples around the world who tend to speak in terms of communal wellbeing and of their ‘kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky and water.’ (McLuhan 1973) This sense of belonging, and unity with all beings, is common amongst tribal cultures – a ‘brotherly and sisterly feeling’ that binds all beings together in friendship, respect and care.
In my book, Interwoven Nature, I gathered together some thoughts on this interconnectedness and interdependence, which I would now like to share with you.
'We are only now coming to understand that all the diverse forms of life, from the smallest and simplest, to the largest and most complex, interact within networks of mutuality and cooperation. They respond to the environment, and to each other, with sensitivity and reciprocity. They sense their habitats of earth, water and air in ways that are often baffling to us – sensitive to parts of the electro-magnetic spectrum that lie outside the narrow range we experience. Honey bees, salamanders and some species of migrating birds sense changes in the earth’s magnetic field to find their way around; some species of snake sense infra-red light; leeches have a highly developed tactile receptivity to temperature and chemical compounds, enabling them to find a suitable patch of skin to puncture and draw blood; bees, butterflies and reindeer perceive ultra-violet light; sharks and rays are able to emit and perceive electrical pulses through electro-receptors in their muscles; bats and some marine mammals use echo-location to sense their environment – effectively ‘seeing’ with sound; dogs, meerkats and wolverines have a highly developed sense of smell, way beyond the range of humans. Taken together with the various kinds of receptors found in plants, this evidence suggests that the whole biosphere senses, and makes sense of, a significant proportion of the electro-magnetic spectrum, and we can consider the earth as having a sentient dimension.
Many, possibly most, organisms, (including plants, animals and humans) exchange information through a diverse array of codes, signs and languages. Audible, tactile, visual and chemical modes of communication are used to signal to each other in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Sensing and communing seem to be inextricably linked in communication systems that weave together all the beings that inhabit the earth. Trees, bacteria, locusts and humans hum with energy and information. The earth’s surface can be said to be sentient and communicative – buzzing with information and sensory exchange – a dynamic array of receptors and transmitters woven together into a functioning system that is alive and alert, attending to itself, to its parts and to its cosmic context. We could consider this as the original ‘world wide web’, the sentient internet of the biosphere. We are all kindred beings within this great web of sensation, sign and song.
Relational fluid self in a relational fluid universe
Given that everything is subject to change, all entities can only ever be provisional and contingent, subject to processes of restructuring, decay and dissolution, however fast or slow. Every entity will become something else in the future and has been something else in the past. Mutation and transformation are the norm, not the exception. In this sense we inhabit a changeful universe - ambiguous, paradoxical and uncertain. We can never be sure where one thing ends and another begins, including where we end and someone else begins.
[From a Buddhist perspective] the self is not a hermetically sealed kernel or soul, absolute and unchanging, it is a dynamic interweaving of streams of being – of perceptions, emotions, thoughts, imaginative constructions, memories and aspirations – a network of relationships with no fixed perimeter. Our boundaries are fluid, indeterminate and inextricably interwoven into the shifting boundaries of everything else in the universe. Our skin is a semi-permeable membrane through which moisture, light, tiny organisms and sub-atomic particles pass. Likewise, our minds are permeable indefinite structures flowing with experiences, of every imaginable kind. Our very being is fluid and many-stranded, and not contained within definite mental, physical, social or cultural boundaries.
Interdependence: All phenomena, including us humans, are temporary forms generated by currents of causality (karma) that extend throughout the universe. One thing leads to another, one action or event gives rise to another, and another – causal effects that ripple out in every direction. If we consider this cup I am holding as an example: it is made out of plastic; plastic is made from oil; oil from fossils; fossils from ancient life forms; these life forms evolved over millennia from other life forms going back to single-cell organisms; and prior to that to chemical interactions, and to the ‘big bang’ origin of the universe; and maybe to other ‘big bangs’ and other universes. This great web of interdependence gives rise to this cup. This humble cup could be said to be one, temporary, manifestation of endless cycles of cause and effect - a brief realisation of all the processes that have gone into its making.
We are all relational beings living in a relational universe – a universe in which things are actually events, with no fixed essences or identities. And the universe, and all its diverse constituent forms and structures, are in flux, merging and mingling in changing patterns of dynamic kinship.'
Mindful meditation enables those who practice it regularly to experience the self as a process that extends out into the world, to realise how open and porous we are and how interconnected we are with other beings and with our surroundings. We feel less divided from the world about us and less alienated from ourselves and other creatures. We observe, and contribute to, the interplay of countless causal networks that make up our being – ever-changing streams of causality that, like evolution, are constantly flowing through, and from, us, forming and re-forming who we are and how we are in the world. Mindful meditation is a method of enquiry and realisation – a way of observing impermanence and interconnection in action – as a process. This is a worldview rooted in both, ecological, scientific understanding, and in Buddhist practice and ideas. In my view, this ecological, relational perspective needs to be at the heart of any value-system that seeks to foster the wellbeing of all beings and of our planet. Such a value-system lies at the heart of the Buddha’s social teachings.
Bibiliography
Chief Luther Standing Bear of the Lakota Sioux, quoted in: McLuhan, T. C. ed. 1973. Touch the Earth. London: Abacus.
Danvers, John. 2016. Interwoven Nature: relatedness and identity in a changeful world. Whitewick Press.
Habito, Ruben L.F. 1997. Mountains & Rivers & the Great Earth: Zen & Ecology – in Buddhism & Ecology [see above]
Swearer, Donal K. 1997. The Hermeneutics of Buddhist Ecology in Contemporary Thailand: Buddhadasa & Dhammapitaka – in Buddhism & Ecology, eds. Mary Evelyn Tucker & Duncan Ruyuken Williams. Harvard University Press.