Gomde UK

The Buddha asked us to examine things carefully. When we do this, it becomes clear that nothing lasts forever and that everything is impermanent. We become less preoccupied with selfish aims and more appreciative of positive conditions and situations. Seeing that nothing lasts, we become more inclined to take care of finite resources.

We are not isolated individuals. On the contrary, we are fundamentally interconnected as all phenomena arise through the coming together of countless causes and conditions. All our actions have a corresponding result. Everything we do, think and say matters.

Due to the clear messages from our tradition we have explored ways we can be helpfully involved in aspects of the climate emergency. In March 2020 in collaboration with Green Christian and Doncaster Council we hosted a seminar entitled Navigating Ecological Tragedy.

During the event part of our remit was to respond to focus questions posed by Doncaster Council and thereby address the civic crisis created by the ecological tragedy, whilst at the same time exploring the depths of our own traditions. The two focus questions posed by the Council proved to be a valuable stimulus for inquiry.

Central to the weekend was creating an atmosphere of deep listening by encouraging an approach that allowed people from the different traditions and organisations to speak and listen from the heart. This atmosphere was cultivated through talks by the different traditions, workshops and open dialogue in the form of council circles. The results of these dialogues were then synthesised into a response to the council’s questions.

Since the event we have all been plunged into a deep reflection on a very real manifestation of the ecological crisis in the form of the Corvid-19 outbreak and its repercussions across many societies. This issue has placed into sharp relief the need to question how we all, as a broader society, respond and act. During the weekend it became very clear there was a passion to implement an inclusive local response and we have formed a local team to begin this.

We believe in the midst of the current pandemic there is an urgent need for this team to support our communities and to build on the approach developed at the weekend. This will mean including broader segments of the Doncaster community and beginning to embody and enact the recommendations contained in the statement.

Questions posed by the Council
– How can civic and faith communities work together to navigate the climate crisis and mobilise to change our current trajectory?
– What ethical challenge and support can faith communities provide civic leaders in this work?

Faith communities can work with civic leaders in providing powerful practices for change, in particular through:

– Offering spaces and techniques for deep listening, engagement and inclusion
– Training and support in emotional intelligence, using techniques such as meditation and mindfulness, conflict resolution, and healing through re-connecting with nature
– Developing resources, methods and spaces for processing grief and anxiety in response to
tragedies such as flooding and pandemics, e.g. via public rituals / ceremonies (both secular
and religious)
– Creating opportunities to take part in community-wide envisioning exercises (using both dialogue and visual means) for what is possible, now and in the near future, as a community

Faith communities can provide alternative ethical narratives to those of civic leaders by:

– Recovering and explaining the civic virtues and values from our traditions, local cultures and stories, which we feel are needed in this time of ecological crisis (e.g, courage, hope, compassionate action, solidarity, hospitality and frugality, regret and remorse, patience and generosity)
– Providing ethical review and critique of the communication — both in content and method -from civic leaders around the ecological and climate emergency;
– Challenging the dominant public discourses from media, policy, and corporate messaging that are hindering social change (e.g. economic growth as a measure of wellbeing)
– Faith communities can help empower members of the local community, and create environments in which they are heard, by: Ensuring that it is local people most affected who define ‘the ecological crisis’;
– Encouraging and initiating dialogues where marginalised people (including under-represented faith communities) can hold those in power to account;
– Helping prepare and lead emotionally and psychologically difficult conversations on the
ecological crisis, via training and experience in different methods of communication
(including visual) e.g. the Native American Council Circle Practice.

If you would like to know more about the Navigating Ecological event, please read more here:

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