Dharma and the Environment

The Dharma and the Environment

The Buddha asked us to examine things carefully. When we do this it becomes clear that nothing lasts forever and that everything is impermanent. This helps us 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. Checking how things are we can see that all phenomena arise through the coming together of many causes and conditions. All our actions have a corresponding result and so everything we do, think and say matters.

In a 2010 interview, our spiritual director Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche said,

“The negative effects of pollution and abuse of the environment tend to accumulate if left unchecked, so problems are going to multiply with the passage of time. Farmers, suppliers, merchants, consumers, politicians – whoever we are – we need to take good care of ourselves. If we don’t do so now it may become too late. There are plenty of signs that time is running out.”

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