Sayadaw U Vivekananda on Climate Change & the Buddha Dhamma

On September 27, 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Working Group I Contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, Summary for Policymakers. The observed changes in the global climate system were summarized as follows:

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are Vivekananda 6unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased.”  (Source: http://www.ipcc.ch/meetings/session36/p36_doc3_approved_spm.pdf)

In May 2014, the U.S. Global Change Research Program released the Third National Climate Assessment, a report produced by more than 300 experts and thoroughly peer-reviewed.  The National Climate Assessment provides a national overview of the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future:

Climate change is already affecting the American people in far-reaching ways. Certain types of extreme weather events with links to climate change have become more frequent and/or intense, including prolonged periods of heat, heavy downpours, and, in some regions, floods and droughts. In addition, warming is causing sea level to rise and glaciers and Arctic sea ice to melt, and oceans are becoming more acidic as they absorb carbon dioxide. These and other aspects of climate change are disrupting people’s lives and damaging people’s lives and damaging some sectors of our economy.”  (Source: http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/overview/overview)

Their overview for the Southwest:

Increased heat, drought, and insect outbreaks, all linked to climate change, have increased wildfires. Declining water supplies, reduced agricultural yields, health impacts in cities due to heat, and flooding and erosion in coastal areas are additional concerns.” (Source: http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/southwest)

The IPCC report states:It is extremely likely (95% confidence) that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.”  (REF: http://www.ipcc.ch/news_and_events/docs/ar5/press_release_ar5_wgi_en.pdf) Given this, what should our attitude towards nature and the environment be? We can turn to the wisdom traditions of the world’s religions in search of inspiration.

The Buddhist community has pondered the issue of climate change deeply over the last couple of decades. As early as June 1986, H.H. Dalai Lama offered “An Ethical Approach to Environmental Protection.”  The seminal 2009 book entitled A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency” brought together contributions from Buddhist teachers in many traditions and helped to focus the attention of the Buddhist community on climate change issues.

Well-known Buddhist ethicist Peter Harvey wrote: “…the Buddhist ideal for humanity‘s relationship with animals, plants and the landscape is one of harmonious co-operation. Buddhism emphasizes a disciplining and overcoming of the negativities within the conditioned nature of the human heart. Such an approach goes hand-in-hand with a friendly attitude to the environment.” (REF: Harvey, P., Introduction tWhite flowers underneatho Buddhist Ethics, 2000, p. 156)

The Buddhist practice of loving kindness or metta invites us to wish for the welfare and happiness of all beings: “Whatever living beings there be: feeble or strong, tall, stout or medium, short, small or large, without exception: seen or unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born or those who are to be born, may all beings be happy!” (Sn 146-7)

Compassion or karuna moves the heart of the good towards observing the pain of others, inspiring us to shelter and embrace the distressed. The Pali commentaries explain compassion as the desire to remove harm and suffering or dukkha from others.  Witnessing the suffering of species threatened by extinction calls us to alleviate this suffering.

Movements such as Buddhism and Jainism in India have emphasized ahimsa or non-violence. This practice encourages sympathy (daya) and a trembling of the heart (anukampa) for living creatures, cultivating increased empathy with them based on awareness that others dislike pain and death just as much as we do. As the Dhammapada notes, “All tremble at violence, all fear death. Comparing oneself with others one should neither kill nor cause to kill.” (Dhp. 129). (REF: Keown, D., Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2010, p. 22) As an example of the pan-Indian value of ahimsa, the first of the five precepts is to abstain from ‘onslaught on living beings’. (REF: Harvey, P., Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, 2000, p. 156) “Abandoning the taking of life one dwells refraining from taking life, without stick or sword, conscientious, compassionate, trembling for   the welfare of all living beings.” (DN i, 4)

 The law of karma supports compassion and motivates us to follow this precept, as wSandhill cranes flying 4e cannot intentionally harm beings without bringing harm to ourselves in the future. Thus when the Buddha found some children molesting a snake with sticks, he said, “Whoever, seeking his/her own happiness, and who harms  pleasure-loving beings with the rod, gets no happiness hereafter.” (Dhp. 131). (REF: Harvey, P., Introduction to Buddhist Ethics, 2000, p. 156)

Out of gratitude for the bounty of resources nature provides us, we should protect and care for nature. The Petavatthu states: “If one were to sleep or sit under the shade of a tree, one may not break the branches of that tree. If one does so, one is an evil, false friend.” (Kh. 32)

H.H. Dalai Lama leaves no doubt about our responsibility to take action to protect the future of our planet and ensure the survival of human kind: The key thing is the sense of universal responsibility; that is the real source of strength, the real source of happiness. If our generation exploits everything available — the trees, the water, and the minerals — without any care for the coming generations or the future, then we are at fault, aren’t we?” (REF: H.H. Dalai Lama in Moral Ground, Trinity University Press, San Antonio, p. xv)

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Sayadaw U Vivekananda has trained under the Ven. Sayadaw U Panditabhivamsa of Myanmar since 1988. He is the resident teacher at Panditarama Lumbini International Vipassana Meditation Center, Lumbini, Nepal, and has been teaching Vipassana meditation and Brahma Vihara meditation in the tradition of the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw since 1998 in Lumbini, Nepal, the United States, Europe, Australia, and Israel. Sayadaw will be teaching again at The Mountain Hermitage in summer 2016.