Analysis Of Thich Nhat Hanh's Love Letter To The Earth

Thich Nhat Hanh and C. Wright Mills both offer solutions to society’s ills that could work together to create a better world. In Love Letter to the Earth Hanh identified the root cause of the environmental crisis as simply the term “the environment.” This concept leads people to automatically consider Earth as separate from themselves, and only see the Earth in a utilitarian way. He believes that civilization will not survive if we do not recognize and respond to the stress we put on Earth. For this reason mindfulness and the principles of Spiritual Ecology are vital to the protection of nature and getting control of climate change. To Thich Nhat Hanh, change is only possible when we realize that people are a part of nature, rather than apart

Wright Mills and Thich Nhat Hanh provide two paths to a better society. While C. Wright Mills doesn’t talk specifically about environmental issues, his principles can be used to address many environmental justice issues. Often those in power and the wealthy are responsible for the exposure to environmental harms that those who have no power or money experience. Likewise, Thich Nhat Hanh doesn’t acknowledge directly the complexities of social systems. However, perhaps making the connection to yourself and the environment, considering them as one, would bring all classes of people to be kinder to both each other and the

He draws from biologist Thomas Lewis’s The Lives of a Cell “. . . and after some reflection he arrives at the insight that the whole planet is like a giant living cell whose parts are all linked in symbiosis” (p 14). He continues with: “The Earth has all the virtues we seek, including strength, stability, patience, and compassion. She embraces everyone. We don’t need blind faith to see this. We don’t need to address our prayers or express our gratitude to a remote or abstract deity with whom it may be difficult or impossible to be in touch. We can address our prayers and express our gratitude directly to the Earth. The Earth is right here. She supports us in very concrete and tangible ways. No one can deny that the water that sustains us, the air we breathe, and the food that nourishes us are gifts from the Earth” (p 20). By recognizing what the Earth provides for us, we can begin the path to giving the Earth kindness in return, rather than destruction. Without us, the Earth will go on and heal one day, but without the Earth’s “gifts,” we will not survive, so we must stop destroying