A Buddhist Perspective On Ecological Responsibility strikes a responsive chord for many who are earnestly seeking ways to make this world cleaner, safer, and healthier. As is true in most endeavors, it requires effort, commitment, setting aside ego attachments and self absorption. Also important is a willingness to stand aside from the corporate propaganda and see it for what it is. It is a stiff challenge for most people.
"The Buddha famously pointed out that our unhappiness is a result of craving. To end suffering, he proposed self-restraint, minimal consumption, sharing and other mindful ways of retraining our acquisitive focus on "I, me, mine." These practices enlarge our capacity for empathy and contentment, for they recognize our interdependence; what Thich Nhat Hanh calls our "inter-being." The sense of a self that is separate from the rest of the world is an illusion -- indeed, it is our most problematic delusion. The world, as eco-theologian Thomas Berry noted, is not a collection of objects: it is a communion of subjects."
"The greed, materialism and alienation from nature that are the hallmarks of our corporate-dominated world are supported by the supine attitude of "democratic" governments, which today are largely controlled by the economic institutions they should be regulating. They share the same worldview, which emphasizes endless economic growth no matter what the long-term consequences may be. This joint "corporatocracy" appears to be unchallengeable, despite the fact that its ecological consequences already include record-breaking droughts, floods, snowstorms, wildfires and tornadoes. Environmental scientist Lester Brown believes that large-scale crop failures are the most likely trigger of a collective awakening. They may create the necessary "social tipping point" that finally motivates us to truly address the ecological crisis. Evidently, nothing less can wake us from collective narcissism."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-stanley/a-buddhist-perspective-on_b_874829.html
One of Hamilton's findings is that "green consumerism" has had the effect of shifting responsibility from corporations, which are accountable for most carbon pollution, and from governments that should be restraining them, onto the shoulders of private consumers, who are called upon to solve the climate crisis by changing consumption patterns. This disempowers us by denying our agency as citizens and political actors, and reinforces our identity as consumers. Again, it's cheaper for corporations to change public perception of what they do, rather than actually change what they do. So a large percentage of global marketing and PR resources is now dedicated to persuading the public that fossil fuels are essential and benign. "Clean Coal" is the most cynical example of this Machiavellian genre, "greenwash."
John Stanley and David Loy are a part of the Ecobuddhism Project
A Buddhist Perspective On Ecological Responsibility is a gritty, thoughtful, challenging
slap up against the forehead, reality check of what is true and what is not. The toxic, life destructive, corporate Machiavellian "divide and conquer" modus operandi that rules the world through government mouthpieces must end. If we as inhabitants of this embattled planet refuse to take control of our own destinies at this great turning point in time we simply will not survive. Don't leave it to "others" to rescue you. It is your life at stake. Step and take control.
"The Buddha famously pointed out that our unhappiness is a result of craving. To end suffering, he proposed self-restraint, minimal consumption, sharing and other mindful ways of retraining our acquisitive focus on "I, me, mine." These practices enlarge our capacity for empathy and contentment, for they recognize our interdependence; what Thich Nhat Hanh calls our "inter-being." The sense of a self that is separate from the rest of the world is an illusion -- indeed, it is our most problematic delusion. The world, as eco-theologian Thomas Berry noted, is not a collection of objects: it is a communion of subjects."
"The greed, materialism and alienation from nature that are the hallmarks of our corporate-dominated world are supported by the supine attitude of "democratic" governments, which today are largely controlled by the economic institutions they should be regulating. They share the same worldview, which emphasizes endless economic growth no matter what the long-term consequences may be. This joint "corporatocracy" appears to be unchallengeable, despite the fact that its ecological consequences already include record-breaking droughts, floods, snowstorms, wildfires and tornadoes. Environmental scientist Lester Brown believes that large-scale crop failures are the most likely trigger of a collective awakening. They may create the necessary "social tipping point" that finally motivates us to truly address the ecological crisis. Evidently, nothing less can wake us from collective narcissism."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-stanley/a-buddhist-perspective-on_b_874829.html
One of Hamilton's findings is that "green consumerism" has had the effect of shifting responsibility from corporations, which are accountable for most carbon pollution, and from governments that should be restraining them, onto the shoulders of private consumers, who are called upon to solve the climate crisis by changing consumption patterns. This disempowers us by denying our agency as citizens and political actors, and reinforces our identity as consumers. Again, it's cheaper for corporations to change public perception of what they do, rather than actually change what they do. So a large percentage of global marketing and PR resources is now dedicated to persuading the public that fossil fuels are essential and benign. "Clean Coal" is the most cynical example of this Machiavellian genre, "greenwash."
John Stanley and David Loy are a part of the Ecobuddhism Project
A Buddhist Perspective On Ecological Responsibility is a gritty, thoughtful, challenging
slap up against the forehead, reality check of what is true and what is not. The toxic, life destructive, corporate Machiavellian "divide and conquer" modus operandi that rules the world through government mouthpieces must end. If we as inhabitants of this embattled planet refuse to take control of our own destinies at this great turning point in time we simply will not survive. Don't leave it to "others" to rescue you. It is your life at stake. Step and take control.
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