Earth Dharma
In Buddhist philosophy, “Dharma” refers to “the way things are,” the laws of nature and also refers to the collection of Buddhist teachings. Our “Earth Dharma” collection will offer Buddhist teachings on our fundamental relationship to the earth and each other, the Dharma of climate change and new ways to tell our own, collective story.
We begin with the fundamental principle of unbiased loving-kindness, described here in the Metta Sutta:
May all beings be at ease. Whatever living beings there may be,
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none, the great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,those living near and far away, those born to-be-born–
May all beings be at ease! Let none deceive another, 0r despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world.
Luxurious Lifestyles Are Killing the Earth
With Manjushri’s sword of wisdom, we need not shy away from the connection between extravagant consumption and the climate crisis. In this article, economics scholar Clair Brown links vast wealth inequality with ecological breakdown in the context of dominant culture’s errant values … and then she offers a better Way.
Go DeeperVital Sangha
As climate crisis manifests ever more obviously all around and even within our lives, we offer Danna Faulds’ invitation to remember our dedication to the truth and vital support we can offer one another.
Go DeeperMoving Mindfulness from “Me” to “We”
What was once the providence of the mystics may be required for our survival. Only by knowing deeply what captures and distorts the mind can we replace our collective structures with that which is genuinely supportive, freeing and “sustainable.” Rod Purser’s article gives us an entry way into this critical exploration.
Go DeeperA Buddhist Perspective on Climate Engineering
Climate engineering is now a serious scientific and political conversation. Ven. Bhikkhu Vivekānanda explores the Dharma foundations that can inform our response to this daunting but increasingly real possibility.
Go DeeperThe Power of Two Pennies
Like the Boddhisattva with a thousand hands, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation’s 10 million members are providing relief to victims of climate disasters and other humanitarian crises around the world. Founder Master Cheng Yen clarifies for all involved, compassion is realized only through action.
Go DeeperLove, the Ultimate Touchstone
Climate science predicts that as temperatures rise, atmospheric stability falters. So with our politics and even sense of person steadiness. Thanissara, invites us to discover the touchstone that can see us through.
Go DeeperLoving the Earth by Loving One Another
Kaira Jewel gives us a lens on the healing that is possible when we see our practice as deeply relational, whether interpersonal, with one another or regarding the rest of nature.
Go DeeperVesak and Climate Crisis at the UN
As part of the United Nation’s observance of the International Day of Vesak, Bhikkhu Bodhi’s keynote speech connected the Buddha’s core teachings to the impending climate crisis.
Go DeeperBreak the Trance:Declare Climate Emergency Now
An invitation to all who love our beautiful planet and her myriad beings.
Go DeeperExtending Our EcoSattva Roots
For many of us in 2018, to track the state of equity, justice, and ecological health has been to feel a trembling resonance with collective suffering. We share here our reflections on 2018 and our ideas for EcoSattva practice in 2019 and beyond.
Go DeeperComes the Night: Gifts and Risks of the Winter Dark
One Earth Sangha’s director takes a moment to reflect on the precious unique gifts offered by our particular orientation within the cosmos.
Go DeeperOf Endings and Risings
In this intensely personal piece, Thanissara reflects on the events of 2018 and the unprecedented challenges to humanity they represent. She invites us to perceive their deep roots in the domination mindset and how we can, out of sheer necessity, respond with a fierce clarity of heart.
Go DeeperFive Practices for Working with the Immense Challenge of Climate Change
“The Bodhisattva precepts….extend from the idea that bodhicitta, or wise compassion, is the ground of ethical action and speech. We too can ground our activism, social engagement, and resistance in wise compassion.” Lama Willa Miller offers five practices that can help us face the immense challenge of climate change.
Go DeeperA Plea For the Animals
In writing about the ecodharma of not eating meat, Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard says, “The most striking quality that humans and animals have in common is the capacity to experience suffering.”
Go DeeperThriving Like Gorse: The Ulex Project
The new Ulex Project is one of three strands of training offered by the EcoDharma Centre — training to thrive in, and bring healing to, damaged terrain.
Go DeeperWhen the Tree Stops Bearing Fruit
Buddhism emphasizes that our individual actions affect the world around us, and it follows that caring for the natural world begins with each of us.
Go DeeperClimate Change is Making us Crazy: Interview with Norman Fischer
Norman Fisher notes that because the challenge of climate change is a matter of “…human beings thinking and behaving in a way that’s guaranteed to compound our problems,” Zen practices have something vital to offer.
Go DeeperGreen Vesak: Ebullience and Emergence
On the annual occasion of Vesak, Amelia Willaims uses poetry to explore our relationship with nature and our own Buddha nature.
Go DeeperChanging Directions
“On April 29th …I will be marching not only on behalf of people here in the U.S. but on behalf of people all around the world… especially those whose voices will never reach our leaders.” Join Bhikkhu Bodhi and hundreds of ecosattvas at the People’s Climate Mobilization. Here’s why this mobilization is crucial.
Go DeeperThe Path of the Spiritual Warriorship
What does it mean to follow the path of spiritual warriorship or to be an ecosattva? The leadership council of the Shambhala Community has issued a statement exploring the role of the spiritual warrior that resonates for all Buddhist traditions.
Go DeeperBeyond “Small is Beautiful:” Buddhism and the Economics of Climate Change
If economies have no essential nature, could one path forward into our climate change reality be a kind of softening—to accept the economy as a koan that helps us focus on what is right in front of us right now.
Go DeeperWalking the Boddhisatva Path: Soto Zen Climate Statement
In anticipation of our live, webinar featuring Hozan Senauke on Sunday, April 2, to open our “Month of Deepening Engagement,” we bring you the Western Soto Zen Buddhist Association’s statement on the climate crisis.
Go DeeperA Living Prayer
“What one is bequeathed through the gift of Standing Rock is a clarified, strong, heart, burning with a light of commitment and hope in the face of incalculable odds.”
Go DeeperPractices for Challenging Times
Amidst the still-shaking landscape after the US Presidential election, we might be searching for elusive solid ground. How might we cultivate a true steadiness without running the risk of indifference to suffering?
Go DeeperSteady at the Face of the Inferno
Donald Trump will soon hold significant power in the US and indeed around the world and for many of us, that is truly ominous. But his is only a certain kind of power and, from the perspective of the Dharma, not the most important.
Go DeeperBuddhism and the Sacred Feminine: An Interview with Thanissara – Part 2
“The sacred feminine” is a convenient term, yet “all distinctions are transcended in our own minds and hearts.” We may draw on the “collaborative energy of the feminine,” to transform our current environmental crisis.
Go DeeperBuddhism and the Sacred Feminine: An Interview with Thanissara – Part 1
“A direct knowing of our inter-connection initiates us into the sacred feminine.” Thanissara explores how the sacred feminine is linked to the dharma and how, through body-focused practices, it can provide one channel for our earth-caring efforts to affect climate change.
Go DeeperBeing Content to Live With Less
“We need to recognize that what society presents as real is more like a lie and take another way” Earlier this summer, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa spoke frankly on renunciation, contentment and the climate crisis.
Go DeeperThe Buddha and the Sacred Earth
All views are poetic. All understandings of reality, including “Nature,” are interpretive. In this article, Gaia House teacher, Rob Burbea, explores how Western culture’s views of “Nature” contribute to ecological crises and our opportunity to move beyond those limitations.
Go DeeperVerses for Environmental Practice
In a pure blessing of practice, contemplation and science, the late Zen teacher Robert Aitken offers these daily practices to inform a deeply grounded being. Happy Earth Day.
Go Deeper
