The
Relevance of Vipassana for the Environmental Crisis
Prof. Lily de Silva
Environmental pollution is a great threat to the
survival of humankind on this planet. If effective measures are not taken
immediately, a catastrophe which is similar in destructive capacity to that
caused by nuclear war is imminent as a result of environmental pollution and
increased exposure to U.V. radiation through ozone depletion. The rate of
pollution caused by human beings far exceeds nature's ability to purify and
rejuvenate its life-sustaining air and water. We understand the problem that we
now face, hence the search for development with sustainability. But it is our
contention that a radical solution has not yet been looked for, let alone
found, and that man is only trying to grapple with this enormous global problem
with patchwork technological remedies.
From
the point of view of the Buddha's teaching, environmental pollution is but the
external manifestation of man's internal moral pollution, which has assumed
alarming proportions and reached a crisis. A number of suttas in
the Pali Canon such as the Agga~n~na (Digha. III. 80), Cakkavattisiihanaada (Digha III 58) and some in the A"nguttaranikaaya (I. 160; II. 75) express
that when moral degeneration becomes rampant in society, it causes adverse
changes in the human body and in our environment. The legend in the Agga~n~na Sutta states that moral
degeneration causes the loss of beauty in the human personality and depletion
of natural food resources in the external world. These adverse repercussions
are proportionate to the extent of moral degradation.
Crime
also increases in society and, grappling with these problems, people try to
organize appropriate social institutions to make life more tolerable, peaceful
and comfortable for one and all, to the best of their ability.
Thus Buddhism believes that
moral consciousness/the human mind, the human body, the external world consisting
of fauna and flora, and society are intricately interconnected through an
all-embracing network of cause and effect, to make one whole psychologically
sensitive and responsive ecosystem. It is this fact that the Buddha succinctly
summarizes in the stanza:
Cittena niyyati loko cittena parikissatiCittassa
ekadhammassa sabbeva vasa"m anvaguu ti.
The
world is led by the mind, it is dragged hither and thither by the mind.
The
mind is one reality under the power of which everything goes.(Sa"myutta-nikaaya, I. 39)
If
we loosely translate the phrase cittena
niyyati loko as
"the world operates through human ideas," we can see at a practical
level how the face of the earth has been changed with advancing human
ideas/knowledge during the course of history. At the dawn of civilization when
man was hunting and gathering food, nature remained almost undisturbed. During
the age of settled agricultural life, irrigation schemes were developed and the
face of nature was modified to a certain extent. The industrial revolution
brought about further changes with excessive exploitation of natural resources
and mass production. The twentieth century, which boasts of 90% of the
scientists the world has ever produced, has ushered in the Nuclear Age and the
Space Age.
Thus we see how human ideas
have brought about vast changes in nature, to such an extent that Nature's
purifying, rejuvenating and replenishing capacities have been outstripped by
man's activity of exploitation, causing unprecedented pollution and
impoverishment. According to Buddhist interpretation, the root cause that is
responsible for this crisis is man's greed for luxury, wealth and power. The
human brain has developed without keeping pace with the human heart and moral
responsibility. Intellectually, modem man may be a giant, but emotionally he is
a dwarf suffering with spiritual bankruptcy. One sociologist observes that
modem man has one leg strapped to a jet plane and the other leg tied to a
bullock cart.
Thus man is tom apart with
conflicting desires and practical realities. Further, man's intellect is
limited; he lacks the vision to see how far-reaching his behaviour
and activities are, and how they affect negatively or positively his own
well-being, and unsuspected aspects of the physical activities of Nature.
The
Buddha's theory of pa.ticcasamuppaada too
maintains the same principle, that mind and matter, man and nature are
interconnected and interdependent. Man depends on nature for sustenance, for,
it is said: Sabbe sataa
aahaara.t.tthitikaa. In
search of food and also clothing, shelter and medicine, humans change their
environments according to their technological skills. For example, modem men
use chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides in agriculture for
better harvests. These destroy the natural bacterial balance, which gives rise
to adverse chain reactions, which in turn affect human health and well-being.
Further,
the same truth of dependence of man and Nature is reiterated in the
commentaries through the theory of the five cosmic laws, pa"nca niyaama
dhamma. The five are as follows: physical laws (utuniyaama, lit. season law), biological
laws (biijaniyaama, lit. seed law),
psychological laws (cittaniyaama, lit.
mind law), moral laws (kammaniyaama, lit.
action law) and causal laws (dhammaniyaama, lit.
reality law). (Sa"mlyuttanikaaya 1125
states as synonyms dhamma.t.thitataa
dhammaniyaamataa idappaccayataa). Causal
laws operate within the first four spheres as well as among them.
Thus all cosmic laws,
physical, biological, psychological and moral, interact with one another, and
man experiences weal or woe, happiness or unhappiness according to the nature
of moral energy he generates. If wholesome moral energy is widespread, there is
peace in society and life is comparatively happy and comfortable. If
unwholesome moral energy is widespread, strife in society is similarly rampant
and life becomes more and more troublesome.
The
sixth and fifth Centuries B.C. can be cited as an exceptionally fortunate era
when morally wholesome energy was poured out through the teachings of spiritual
giants such as the Buddha, Jina Mahavira, Zoroastra, Confucius and Socrates, from different quarters
of the world. The twentieth century seems to be the direct opposite of that
era. Crime, terrorism and war reign supreme in the world today. Famine,
starvation and malnutrition have engulfed many of the third world countries.
AIDS and other luxuryrelated deadly diseases are
rampant in affluent countries. This state of affairs reminds us of a
commentarial statement regarding the fate of mankind in a morally bankrupt
world. According to that, when mankind comes under the grip of greed, hatred
and delusion, its downfall is brought about by famine, fire/weapons, and
disease respectively (Diighanikaaya A.t.thakathaa III. 854).
The situation in the modern world is such that all three morally unwholesome
motivational roots seem to be active and man is receiving three-pronged
retribution for his own immoral actions.
Another
important point raised in the Agga~n~na
Sutta is that man is a creature with a strong tendency for
imitation (di.t.thaanugati"m
aapajjamaanaa). Therefore
new ideas, actions and behaviour on the part of a
few, quickly become new trends in society, especially when they are
pleasure-oriented and economically attractive. Aided by modem mass media and
commercial propaganda, sensualism, aggressiveness, hunger for wealth, status
and power have become social trends in the modern world. According to our
thinking, this imitative tendency is not the only cause responsible for these
current trends, as they seem to be aided by the collective consciousness of
mankind (called dhammadhaatu in
Pali) which envelops the whole world. We therefore tend to argue that terra
firma is covered over by a biosphere and an
atmosphere into which is absorbed what we prefer to be called the psychosphere. Our argument for putting forward this idea is
as follows:
The Saama~n~naphalasutta (Diigha,nikaaya I.76) states that the mind is
interwoven with the body, and that it can be seen to be so by one who has
developed the fourth jhaana, like a
coloured thread that passes through a transparent
gem. It can be surmised that the mind is associated with the air element in the
body because the breathing pattern changes with emotional changes, e.g., we
sigh when we are sad, we yawn when we are lazy, we snort when angry and gasp in
pain. These changes can be accepted as conclusive proof that the mind and
breath are fused together. It is scientifically known that the carbon dioxide
level of the exhaled breath increases under negative emotional stress. This may
be because the breath has absorbed from the bloodstream toxic chemical
properties added to the blood from the endocrine glandular secretions when the
mind is charged with negative emotions such as anger and fear. When large
masses of people pour out such psychogenic venom with each exhalation, the
atmosphere gets polluted in a subtle way, and it is very probable that sentient
beings and even vegetation are sensitive to this type of pollution. It is
experimentally known that plants thrive much better in an environment of peace
and love, but they tend to get stunted or they wither away when harshly treated
with violent abusive words even though both groups are equally well provided
with water, manure, sunlight and horticultural care.
According
to scientific thinking air pollution with increased carbon dioxide is due to
fossil fuel burning which in the long run would contribute to global warming
with catastrophic effects on human well-being. It is now conjectured that the
disappearance of the dinosaurs from the face of the earth is due to reduction
of oxygen level and increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The present
situation of environmental pollution is far more grave
than that which caused the extinction of those enormous beasts, as carbon
dioxide is produced by machines unknown during the dinosaur age. While metal
machines physically pollute the atmosphere, billions of human machines also add
psychogenic toxins to the carbon dioxide they breathe out. Therefore
we venture to argue that pollution in the psychosphere
is a crucial factor in the environmental crisis man is faced with today. Even
the physical pollution caused by emissions from machinery and over-cxploitation of natural resources is the result of man's
greed for luxury, wealth and power. It is therefore possible to conclude that
the environmental pollution is really the external manifestation of the
internal moral pollution of modern man.
As
man's moral disposition has a direct deep-rooted relationship with the cnvironmental crisis Vipassana meditation offers a relevant
practical method to effect a wholesome attitudinal change in man to give him a
sense of direction and goal in life, and also help him restore the
sustainability of nature.
Taking
a phrase from Erich Fromm we can say that man has to change his attitude from
the 'having mode' to the 'being mode' of life. Man motivated by the 'having
mode' tries to satisfy his greed extracting as much as possible from nature,
thus leading to cxcessive exploitation bringing in
its wake all the ills of pollution and depletion. Man inspired by the being
mode on the other hand utilizes nature's resources to satisfy his needs and
this attitude leads to conservation and sustainability of nature. It is
interesting to note that ancient Indian Languages such as Sanskrit and Pali do
not even have a verbal root 'to have'. The idea of having has to be expressed
periphrastically. If one wishes to say 'I have sons and wealth' in Pali one
must say Puttaa me atthi
dhana"m atthi, which
literally means 'to me there are sons, there is wealth'. Thus
the being mode had been so ingrained in the human heart of ancient Indian
culture even language lacked a verbal root 'to have'.
Vipassana
meditation teaches man to lead a simple life satisfying his needs. Appicchataa, the ability to be satisfied
with little is methodically cultivated as a virtue of great value. If it is
cultivated collectively by mankind, giving up the present trend of consumerism,
much of the sting of the eco-crisis can be mitigated. All the ills of
large-scale deforestation such as soil erosion, landslides, changes in
weather-pattern, drought, etc. are fundamentally related to consumerism.
Without changing to a simple life style an effective solution to these life threatening problems cannot be worked out.
Mettaa forms a part and parcel of the meditative life. If one practises mattaa one
would refrain from over-exploitation and over consumption out of sympathy for
future generations too as non-renewable natural resources are fast diminishing
due to demands made by the present consumerist life style. Practising mettaa man would also have sympathy for
other species and forms of life which are threatened by extinction today. It is
strategically important to remember that natural bio-diversity is extremely
valuable for a healthy balanced eco-system.
Vipassana
meditation cleanses man of his psychological impurities. Nature can cope with
the biological impurities produced by man, but nature cannot help nor cope with
the psychological pollution produced by man. Hence the spread of crime,
terrorism and war like an epidemic in society, pollution related diseases
threatening human life, and the imminence of large scale
destruction through ecological imbalance and pollution.
Let
us come back to the Buddha's statement: cittena
niyyati loko, that
the world operates through the human mind. So long as the human mind is
motivated by morally wholesome intentions, man can lead a comparatively happy
life and nature would be manageably hospitable. When the motivational roots are
evil, man experiences misery as is maintained by the first two verses in the Dhammapada.
Now it appears that evil is so widespread that even nature has been adversely
affected, rendering it more inhospitable. The environmental crisis has to be
treated as the result of a moral crisis. Man has to cultivate a morally
wholesome attitude and lifestyle for a change for the better and this has to be
accepted as a survival imperative.
Sincere thanks to Phramaha
Witoon Thacha for retyping
this article.