Environment and Buddhism

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In today's world we face a range of environmental problems, such as global warming, ozone layer depletion, deforestation, and a reduction in biodiversity. The problems caused by a reduction in biodiversity are regarded as some of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. The practice of Buddhism for solving environmental problems is in direct accord with the intention of Buddhism in that it results in removing pain from all sentient beings. This means that developing ethical norms and plans of action based on Buddhist practices not only leads to solving environmental problems but also simultaneously fulfills the purpose of Buddhism.

Dr. Indra Narayan Singh, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Buddhist Studies Delhi University Since 1996, obtained his Doctorate on A Study of Universal Flux in Theravada Buddhism.

Dr. Singh has published a number of articles and is a regular contributor to various journals and magazines of national and international repute. He has also edited the journals of Buddhist Studies.

For the last two millennia, human beings never faced a truly serious threat to their existence as a species. But now, as we start the third millennium, the ever-deepening crisis in the global environment raises the real possibility of human extinction. If environmental destruction cannot be reversed, it is more than likely that the earth will degenerate, leaving the global ecosystem in ruins and making it impossible for our species to survive. Buddhists often tend to disregard environment, because the monastic way of life idealized by Buddhism is environmentally very minimalist. Such neglect of comment concerning environmental values is not warranted, however, because the Buddhist scriptures ate in fact rich with advice from the Buddha regarding environment values and they are applicable to monastic and lay lifestyles alike.

It will be possible to create an environment conducive to the symbiosis of all living things, including human beings, by recognizing that the world is governed by the principle of dependent origination and by creating a feedback loop of merciful, good 'common karma.' Until now, human refashioning of the environment, it seems, has been single-mindedly directed toward the fulfilment of human desires. For it nurtures an awareness that their environment is something of their own making. That awareness in turn enables people to realize that their environment is an enlarged projection of themselves, hence that they must work hard to protect the health of their environment just as they take care to protect their own health. Also relevant is the contention that products of human desires keep amplifying through the feedback loop of the 'alaya consciousness’. By the same logic, human destruction of the environment ultimately leads to the destruction of the human spirit in its deeper layers.

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