The following is an excerpt from Zen Ecology: Green and Engaged Living in Response to the Climate Crisis by Christopher Ives.
Much of what I am formulating here is a set of Buddhist ideas, practices, and values that can inform our attempts to live ecologically. In sharing my attempts to put these resources into action, I move outward in a series of concentric circles, starting with myself and core relationships, then proceeding to the home, nature around us, local community, and broader arenas of activism. At the individual level, to deal with distraction, clutter, and ecological harm—or, to put it positively, to help us pay attention, simplify our lives, and free up time and energy to take action—I’ve been working with spaciousness in relation to mental, verbal, and physical action. I also deploy such Buddhist mental states as mindfulness, generosity, and contentment to envision a type of environmental virtue ethic. In the next concentric circle, as a support structure for spaciousness and the cultivation of these mental states, I offer some ideas about the home as a “place of the Way” (dōjo), with Zen monastic life as a model for this. Then I turn to how we can realize our embedded-ness in nature and emplace ourselves in community with others, including other animals. Next, I offer some comments about how on this basis we can engage in activism to create a world that is more supportive of ecological health and spiritual fulfillment.
As you will see, much of what I explore here pertains more to people of privilege who bear more responsibility for the climate crisis than people who are struggling and may be disproportionately affected by the crisis. I’m pitching my comments to those who can—and need to—green their lifestyles and who have the time and resources not only to practice contemplative traditions but to get involved in activism to mitigate the crisis. That is to say, I’m assuming that many of my readers will be people with privilege deriving from their occupation, wealth, race, or gender, and hence are also people who can use that privilege to make a difference.
"How can we realize our embeddedness in nature and emplace ourselves in community with others, including other animals?"
My explorations here build upon two of my previous books, Zen on the Trail: Hiking as Pilgrimage and Meditations on the Trail: A Guide- book for Self-Discovery. In those books I describe ways of connecting with nature or, more accurately, of realizing our embeddedness in nature as nature. For many of us, this realization is a first step toward becoming more aware of what’s happening to the beautiful planet we call home.
But this enhanced awareness is not sufficient. We must also figure out alternative ways of leading our daily lives. And not only that, but creative ways of responding to systemic issues. Simply put, this historical moment calls for lifestyle change at the individual level and structural change at the societal level. We need this dual focus, for to call only for a reduction of our personal carbon footprints is to lay responsibility for causing and solving the problem at the feet of individuals and thereby let our economic system and powerful players like the fossil fuel industry off the hook. Advocacy of lifestyle change may also overlook the fact that many of us cannot afford to buy an electric car or equip our homes with heat pumps, better insulation, and weathertight windows, if we even own a home. And many of us don’t have access to good public transportation or healthy, locally grown food with a minimal carbon impact.
In sharing this largely Buddhist approach here, I’m not viewing Buddhism as a panacea. Nor do I see its traditional beliefs and practices as sufficient for greening our way of living and bringing about structural change. Indeed, those beliefs and practices were formulated to liberate us spiritually, not to show us how to live in a healthy way with the earth and our fellow beings. Nevertheless, with its emphasis on restraining desire and cultivating mindfulness, insight, compassion, non-harming, and simple living, the fundamental Buddhist path is ecological. Practicing it now, with some of the tweaks and additions I offer here, provides a win-win scenario: this path, this way of living, bears both ecological and spiritual fruit.
"The fundamental Buddhist path is ecological."
I imagine that you, too, have thought about how to live in these times and have devised strategies of your own, and I offer this book to share what I’ve come up with thus far and to initiate a dialogue with you. Though the challenges we face are daunting, it is still possible for us to make changes, transform our world, and live fulfilling lives.
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In Zen Ecology, Christopher Ives outlines his environmental ethic as a series of concentric circles, beginning with ourselves and then moving outward into our communities, all the while focusing on spaciousness, mindfulness, generosity, and contentment. At the individual level, we deal with distraction, clutter, and ecological harm. Here, Chris offers ways to help us pay attention, simplify our lives, and lower our impact. Then, we explore how to envision our home as a “place of the Way,” with Zen monastic life as a model for this—without having to be a monk. Next, we realize our embeddedness in nature and emplace ourselves in community with others, including other forms of life. Finally, we build on this basis to engage in activism to create a world that is more supportive of ecological health and spiritual fulfillment.
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