AA ManualManual forfor BuddhismBuddhism andand DeepDeep EcologyEcology Daniel H. Henning, Ph.D. HAN DD ET U 'S B B O RY eOK LIBRA E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.buddhanet.net Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc. A MANUAL for BUDDHISM © 2002 Daniel H. Henning. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, AND DEEP Or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, Recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author. ECOLOGY ISBN: 1-4033-7006-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2002095421 A MANUAL for BUDDHISM AND DEEP ECOLOGY: SPECIAL EDITION BY THE WORLD BUDDHIST UNIVERSITY (With permission of author.) B.E. 2549 (2006) Daniel H. Henning, Ph.D. “To the spiritual protection of trees and forests worldwide ” 1 CONTENTS Preface PREFACE BY THE WORLD BUDDHIST 2 by the World Buddhist University UNIVERSITY Practicing Buddhism is sometimes described as like walking though a ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 4 forest on a misty day. Eventually you “get wet” and come to a deeper understanding of the teachings. The same might be said about INTRODUCTION 5 environmentalism. Eventually, hopefully, it moves from manipulating or even saving the environment and becomes the CHAPTER ONE 9 environment. “Getting wet” in this sense is incorporating a spiritual perspective in working with and in the environment. This is called BUDDHISM AND VALUES Deep Ecology. ................................ CHAPTER TWO 21 Buddhism and Deep Ecology belong in the same title because at their DHAMMA, DEEP ECOLOGY, core they are both talking about how to be at home in the universe. AND ENVIRONMENT The original meaning of ecology goes back to the Greeks who saw the ....................................... earth and the gods and spirits who inhabited it, as our home . Thus we CHAPTER THREE 66 have Home Eco nomics and Eco nomics referring to activities and DHAMMA, DEEP ECOLOGY, transactions in the home. Being at home for a Buddhist suggests ECOLOGY, AND TROPICAL FORESTS teachings about how our mental conditioning and the delusions of our ............ impermanent self can be let go of so we can be one, or at home, with CHAPTER FOUR 100 the universe. This state of oneness is called Nirvana or DHAMMA/DEEP ECOLOGY Enlightenment. The teachings of The Buddha also portray a total inter-connection with everything that is also part of Deep Ecology. EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES ............................ It is in light of this close relationship that the World Buddhist CHAPTER FIVE 126 University welcomes the opportunity to support the research of a PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Buddhist scholar, Dr. Daniel H. Henning, who has brought these two ................................ types of teachings together in his ground breaking book, “Buddhism APPENDIX and Deep Ecology”. At their core both these streams of human A. GLOSSARY OF TERMS 143 insight are spiritual. There are other uses of ecology, such as in B. BIBLIOGRAPHY 165 Human Ecology, but our relationship to all the other life forms that C. THE AUTHOR AND HIS WORKSHOPS........... 169 share this common home with us is so basic that it needs to be more 2 widely studied and applied to programs in every community. adjustments presents it as his work that can be judged on its own In order to help more people combine the teachings of The merits. We hope that by republishing the book as a MANUAL, it will Buddha with the principles of Deep Ecology, we have be helpful to more people in practical ways. After the retreats and published the book in a MANUAL format that will focus on purification of intention, for lay practitioners especially, there is the key comments in the text, suggest questions and rearrange daily work of promoting the earth as our home and taking care of it. elements of the book for easier use. We hope students of Beyond the caring and compassion there is the celebration and Buddhism and experienced practitioners will incorporate a Oneness that can be sensed if we enter the spiritual nature of the total study of Deep Ecology into their Buddhist practice. environment, our home on this earth. Is there a Buddhist method of the study of the environment? The World Buddhist University hopes you enjoy reading and using Dr. Henning, who has been associated with the World the MANUAL. There are experiential exercises described in Chapter Buddhist University for several years, has taken a deductive IV that will help you put into practice the teachings in the MANUAL. approach in his book. He builds up his case step by step so the This MANUAL is part of a larger program of ecological education reader can follow his reasoning about how Buddhism is that the University is creating with hopes that you will be part of it in related to Deep Ecology. His is a very scientific, but value- the future. Please send us your suggestions and information about the oriented/consciousness approach and aids the reader in programs in your community so “Buddhism and Deep Ecology” will building up to an integrated understanding of the subject. It have a positive Karmic affect throughout the world. Dr. Henning could be said that Buddhism takes a more inductive approach offers workshops on this topic. For details about their availability see to the understanding of our relationship to the universe. A the back of the MANUAL. general teaching, like impermanence, is described and the consequences (cause and effect or Karma) are the focus of May all Living Beings be happy! As long as we consider ourselves as practice and understanding. How does the teaching affect our “Human” Beings and, consequently, arrogant and separate from other lives and how we live from day to day? After studying the living Beings or life forms, we cannot follow the true teachings of deductive step by step reasoning in the MANUAL, the reader The Buddha or of Deep Ecology. or a teacher may need to ask these larger inductive questions about impermanence, the impermanent self, Karma and other questions and follow the affects of experience for each person. These two processes complement each other. There are ways that another author could write about these H.E. Phan Wannamethee subjects including different definitions, use of Pali words and Acting Rector the emphasis placed on certain concepts. However, the World The World Buddhist University Buddhist University respects the right of Dr. Henning to his own approach and except for some minor changes and 3 To Dr. John Seed, Director, Rainforest Information Centre, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Lismore, NSW, Australia, for his advise and permission to use selected parts from the Council of All Beings in Thinking Like a Mountain , (New Society Publishers, Philadelphia, l988). To I wish to personally thank the many people who have contributed to Dr.George Sessions, Philosophy Department, Sierra College, Rocklin, this book over the past l2 years, but who cannot be acknowledged in California and Dr. Gary Snyder, English Department, University of this brief note. They would include Buddhist Monks and Nuns, particularly those from various Buddhist Forest Monasteries, as well California, Irvine, for their interest and encouragement in the early as Deep Ecologists and Environmentalists from Asia and stages of the manuscript; To Dr. Suree Bhumibamon, Professor of worldwide. A work like this could not have been possible without Forestry and Vice Rector for Foreign Affairs, Kasetsart University, the consultation and literature from a wide spectrum of institutions Bangkok, and (now deceased) Dr. Y.S. Rao, FAO Regional Forester, and people who are involved in some way with Buddhism, Deep Bangkok, for their inspiring and encouraging the writer along the Ecology, tropical forests, environmental affairs, environmental spiritual and forest path. education, forestry, and public participation, including the United Nations and the World Fellowship of Buddhists and the World Evelyn Peters, Bremen, Germany provided some very competent Buddhist University. The author also wishes to express his gratitude research and writing assistance which was of definite and valuable help for to the Foundation For Deep Ecology, Sausalito, California, for my actual writing of the manuscript. With her Buddhist background and providing a grant during the initial stages and for permission to experience, she was particularly helpful on approaches and perspectives. quote from their Deep Ecology policy statement. Finally, the author wishes to acknowledge with deep gratitude and heartfelt thanks the editorial and hard work of Dr. Lonnie Durham, Professor On an individual basis, however, I would like to express my Emeritus of English, University of Minnesota, in getting the manuscript into deep gratitude and appreciation to the following: To H.H. The Dalai shape for publication. I, naturally, take full responsibility for any errors in Lama for his environmental responsibility conference invitation this book (before it was a MANUAL). (India), interest, and talks. To S.N. Goenka, Vipassana International, India, for his meditation and Dhamma teachings.To Ven. Ajahn Daniel H. Henning, Ph.D. Sumedho, Abbot of Chithurts Monastery, England, for his Polson, Montana encouragement during difficult periods. To (now deceased) Ajahn Buddhadassa, Ajahn Santikaro, and Sister Dhammadinna,all of Wat Suan Mokkh, Thailand, who provided teachings, contributions, and The World Buddhist University wishes to acknowledge the work of Mr. encouragement on Dhamma and ecology. To Buddhist scholars Alan Oliver , Program Manager , for adapting Dr. Henning’s work to a