Nowadays, as our world develops with a dazzling speed, there are also a lot of environmental issues occur. The topic of solutions and practical ways to solve those problems is a very controversial one. In terms of these solutions, there are many oppositions among environmentalists, scientists, or even somebody who is pursuing the beauty in Buddhism. After careful analysis, I have concluded that
Thich Nhat Hanh's practices for mindful living, which were written in his book named “The world we have” are some of the most pratical ways to protect our damaged environment.
Thich Nhat Hanh, a 90 year-old monk, believes that the people within this earth are like sleepwalkers who are completely clueless about life. In the first chapter of his book“ The world we have” named” The bells of mindfulness”, he is warning people on the earth about those environmental issues.
Also, he thinks that people on the earth are like sleepwalkers, whose consciousnesses about environment, about the earth need to be changed positively. “People in China, India, Vietnam, and other developing countries ar...
Doc 5-Source: Zong Mi, a leading Buddhist scholar, favored by the Tang imperial household, essay. "On the Nature of Man," early ninth century C.E.
“Wisdom, Happiness, and Courage are not waiting somewhere out beyond sight at the end of a straight line; they are part of a continuous cycle that begins right here. They are not only the ending but the beginning as well” (Hoff 137). In Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff explains the fundamentals of Taoism through the cute characters of Winnie the Pooh. Each character’s action helps explains how Taoism works and affects our everyday lives.
Thich Nhat Hanh , the author of The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology, is a Buddhist monk. He was born in Hue, Vietnam. He wrote this book to inform the people on Earth about the environmental issues we currently have. He believes that people in the world are like sleepwalkers, who are unaware about the environment. Everything in the world is related to each other. The same thing applied for human; everyone in this world is related and linked to each other like brothers and sisters. Since we all share the Earth, the water and the sun, he points out that we have to be responsible and protect the environment, because everything supports each other in order to adapt to this planet. Although his ideas to practice the mindfulness seems impossible and ridiculous to some people when they first read a few chapters of this book, they are actually possible to practice and succeed. As he indicated in his book, many people and even countries have been practicing his ideas, and that will gradually improve the environment that we live in.
In The Heart of Understanding, Thich Nhat Hanh’s uses simple but powerful words and real world examples to illustrate the profound Buddhist philosophy from the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, an important representative of Mahayana Buddhist literature. The Mahayana school of Buddhist teachings emphasizes the doctrine of Sunyata- emptiness. The doctrine of emptiness, one of the most important Mahayana innovations, focuses on the relational aspect of existence. Thich Nhat Hanh coins and introduces a new word- interbeing to explain the state of emptiness. This idea of interbeing not only illustrates emptiness well but also provides understanding of other fundamental Buddhist ideas such as No-Self, impermanence and non-duality.
In a world of suffering and pain the Dalai Lama said, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive”. The Dalai Lama has become a figurehead for Buddhism worldwide for his compassion and warm smiles. Buddhism has extended beyond meditation and even monks such as the Dalai Lama. The basic concepts of compassion and mindfulness in Buddhism are being applied in the daily lives of lay people who need it the most.
Throughout the early years in many East Asian countries, there were many people who were looking for answers to this world’s, and otherworldly, questions. When Gotama became enlightened, and began preaching the practices of Buddhism, it came at such a time when the Han dynasty was collapsing, citizens were tired of Confucianism and looking for a new ideology that they could put there hearts and souls into. Over the years, Buddhism proved to be much more than just a religion; it became a way of life. But over time, the powerful orthodoxy transformed, and many different Buddhist sects emerged. One of the more popular sects, Ch’an, or Zen, Buddhism, has become one of the most influential religions in China and Japan, and is still flourishing today.
Hanshan, a legendary figure from the Chinese Tang period, is attributed with a collection of poems which are among the fines expression of Zen Buddhism, often remarking on life's short and transient nature, and the necessity of meditation as means to enlightenment. Today, there are many variations of translations of the collection of poems, some of which may be similar or different to Hanshan’s view of enlightenment. Not only does the variety of translations give different meaning to the poetry, but it also shapes different images of Hanshan, which in turn affects the reader’s experience of the poetry. The translation of the poem “High, high on from the summit of the peak” by Burton Watson is a more impelling and better translation than the Wandering Poet’s because of the use of varying diction, imagery, and structure that more effectively reflects Hanshan’s ideas of achieving Zen and enlightenment.
Nhat Hanh was born in the city of Quảng Ngãi in Central Vietnam in 1926. He was inspired to become a monk when he was seven. He saw the picture of the Buddha sitting on the grass with peace and a smile. He was impressed and had a desire to be like him. At first, his parents opposed his will because they believed that the life of a monk was difficult. When ordaining, Viemanese ordain for their entire life. He kept learning about it until the age of 16 when he had the permission of his parents to enter the monastery in Vietnam. He received training in both Zen and Mahayana.
"Basics of Buddhism." n.d. The Living Edens: Thailand. Public Broadcasting Service. Website. 6 March 2014. .
BuddhaNet - Worldwide Buddhist Information and Education Network. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
Economic growth and social development are complementary and they have a close but complex relationship. With the economic growth, it is clear that there are many environmental concerns in today’s society. Air, water, and land pollution have worsened; the environment of wild animals and plants has been seriously damaged; many species are threatened with extinction, deforestation and over-exploitation of mineral resources.
The protection of the environment however has just recently become the major issue that it is in today’s society. People worldwide have slowly begun to realize and become aware of the blatant destruction and deterioration of the environment and ozone. As well as the consequences and side affects, that we, as a society have created. The majority of people are just becoming aware of the frightening reality of the situation. As society becomes more informed on the issue of the environment, they too become more impatient, and feel that in the snap of fingers, the damage can be reversed and future damage can be stopped instantaneously.
As human beings we have a responsibility to protect ourselves, each other and our environment. The term environment refers to a complex set of social/cultural conditions that affect an individual or community. However, there are events and processes that occur in the environment that human beings have no control over. Environmental science, the systematic study of processes and materials in our environment, identifies temperature, precipitation and humidity as a few natural conditions. Natural conditions force us to be reactive, while things that we can control, such as consumption and waste, allow us to be proactive.
Today talking about environmental issues lately to be like a common topic discussion until people take it for granted. However, the world facing a complex environmental problems related to each trouble that connected to one another and come out with greater impacts to the environment and humans. This is because the effects of environmental only can be seen in long term period rather than immediately result show up. Environmental issues must become one of the controversial matters in the society in order to make people know the truth what the world currently facing. There were a lot of environmental disaster happened such as climate change, global warming, various of pollutions, earthquake and etc. the rise of environmental issues begin with this urban development occur through several countries following with the technologies equip along. For sure, development will cause a huge negative impact to the environment if it deals without a care. Besides, the environment is the place in the ecosystem to hold and use in finding resources to continuously survive in this world. Thus, the finding and digging for the resources which happening extensively without preservation will not restore the surrounding similar with before. But then, the change cannot be refuse and people need to take an action to save the threaten the world and the ecosystem from being extinct. If each country has own output in causing an environmental problem, then consider the world to hold all the damage occurred. Exposing the effects of environmental issues throughout the world, make people realize the important to take care the environment.
Many people assume that the environment is not in danger. They believe that as technology advances, we do not need to worry about renewing natural resources, recycling, and finding new ways to produce energy. They state that one person in the world does not make a large difference. In reality, each individual's contribution greatly affects our environment. Our natural resources are slowly disappearing, and we must work together to save them and the Earth from ruin.