2 Oneness as Identification with all Sentient Beings
This section will continue to examine deep ecology and its affinities with Buddhism. I
have argued, so far, that as long as there is an attempt to establish the theories of holism
or of interrelatedness as ultimately true, then there is a deep incongruity between the two
traditions, and this is because Mahāyāna Buddhism, including both its major schools of
philosophy—that is, the Madhyamaka and the Yogācāra—ultimately negates all views
and all propositions. Any description of reality, according to Nāgārjuna or Asaṅga, could
only ever be conventionally true, and the bodhisattva must be willing to let go of all his
favourite theories about the world in order to progress on the journey towards
enlightenment.
Throughout this study, the negation of all views has constituted one of the main
difficulties for formulating Buddhist doctrines in an ecologically sensitive way. Although
Mahāyāna nondualism allows us to avoid the issues of negative value in nature and of
world-rejection that were found to belong to early Buddhism, there is still the problem of
finding suitable material upon which to construct an environmentally sound philosophy.93
According to Mahāyāna Buddhism, there is only one thing worth attaining other than full
enlightenment, namely, bodhicitta, which can be thought of as the combination of a
realization of emptiness and of universal love and compassion. Realization of emptiness
requires that all views be negated eventually, and therefore, to the extent that a Buddhist
practitioner is attached to her ideas about the environment—and this includes all the
assertions of deep ecology, such as ―humans are one with nature‖ or ―everything is
related to everything‖—she is impeded from attaining realization.
One might suggest that, although attachment to these views is an impediment to
enlightenment, they might still be sufficient, conventionally, as grounds for
environmentalism. In other words, while such statements are not ultimately true, and
should not be taken as asserting anything about the way the world is, they could still
93 Several authors, for example Keown 2005, Cooper and James 2005, have relied on Buddhist ethics for
this purpose, in particular, conceived in terms of virtues like generosity (dāna), nonviolence (ahiṃsā), and
so forth. While appreciating the significant value of this work, I feel inclined to include, as far as possible,
the teachings on emptiness, in order to avoid the criticism that green Buddhism pertains to the conventional
realm alone. For a compelling argument against this claim, however, see Cooper and James 2005.
2 Oneness as Identification with all Sentient Beings
This section will continue to examine deep ecology and its affinities with Buddhism. I
have argued, so far, that as long as there is an attempt to establish the theories of holism
or of interrelatedness as ultimately true, then there is a deep incongruity between the two
traditions, and this is because Mahāyāna Buddhism, including both its major schools of
philosophy—that is, the Madhyamaka and the Yogācāra—ultimately negates all views
and all propositions. Any description of reality, according to Nāgārjuna or Asaṅga, could
only ever be conventionally true, and the bodhisattva must be willing to let go of all his
favourite theories about the world in order to progress on the journey towards
enlightenment.
Throughout this study, the negation of all views has constituted one of the main
difficulties for formulating Buddhist doctrines in an ecologically sensitive way. Although
Mahāyāna nondualism allows us to avoid the issues of negative value in nature and of
world-rejection that were found to belong to early Buddhism, there is still the problem of
finding suitable material upon which to construct an environmentally sound philosophy.93
According to Mahāyāna Buddhism, there is only one thing worth attaining other than full
enlightenment, namely, bodhicitta, which can be thought of as the combination of a
realization of emptiness and of universal love and compassion. Realization of emptiness
requires that all views be negated eventually, and therefore, to the extent that a Buddhist
practitioner is attached to her ideas about the environment—and this includes all the
assertions of deep ecology, such as ―humans are one with nature‖ or ―everything is
related to everything‖—she is impeded from attaining realization.
One might suggest that, although attachment to these views is an impediment to
enlightenment, they might still be sufficient, conventionally, as grounds for
environmentalism. In other words, while such statements are not ultimately true, and
should not be taken as asserting anything about the way the world is, they could still
93 Several authors, for example Keown 2005, Cooper and James 2005, have relied on Buddhist ethics for
this purpose, in particular, conceived in terms of virtues like generosity (dāna), nonviolence (ahiṃsā), and
so forth. While appreciating the significant value of this work, I feel inclined to include, as far as possible,
the teachings on emptiness, in order to avoid the criticism that green Buddhism pertains to the conventional
realm alone. For a compelling argument against this claim, however, see Cooper and James 2005.
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