Buddhist Ecological Thought and Action in North America 利用統計を見る

Buddhist Ecological Thought and Action in

North America

著者名(英)

BODIFORD William M.

journal or

publication title

Eco-philosophy

number

2

page range

11-29

year

2008-03

URL

http://doi.org/10.34428/00003381

B u d d h i s t E c o l og i c a l T h o u g h t a n d A c t i o n i n N o r t h A m e r i c a

By William M. BODIFORD(UCLA)

Key Termsޭ

na tureޟ Th oreauޟ Zenޟ Council of All Beingsޟ

Moun t ains and Rivers Sesshin

Introdu ction

I will d iscu ss some o f the ways th at Buddhist ideas and p ractices hav e in flu en ced environmen tal eth ics in con tempo rary No rth America. Time will p ermit on ly a brief ov erview o f this top ic. Therefo re, I wish to emph asize at th e v ery start th at my remark s will b e cu rsory and in complete. To d ay in No rth American th ere are Buddh ists and Buddh ist temples of ev ery typ e and d escrip tion . The p eop le who go to th ese temples migh t b e Asian American s who were bo rn into Buddhist families o r th ey migh t b e converts fro m o th er ethn ic backg rounds. Moreov e r, it is not uncommon today to see Buddhists o f a v ariety o f b ackg rou nds in teracting with on e ano the r. For ex amp le, a Buddhist temple in Los Ang eles migh t h av e a congreg ation with families o f Th ai and Vietn amese and Ang lo b ackg rounds while the p riests are fro m Bu rmese, Jap an ese, o r Eu rop ean background . Th e Buddhism th at they practice togeth er will b e bo th similar to and d ifferent from the Buddhism found in Asia. Sin ce I canno t beg in to describ e all Buddh ists, I will d evo te my time to ju st on e k ey asp ect o f th e top ic o f Buddhist env iron men tal eth ics in North America.

I want to fo cu s on the id ea o f “n atu re” and esp ecially the way s th at Buddhism is iden tified as a relig ion with a special affin ity to n atu rei. To d ay env ironmental activ ists, Buddhist teach ers, and univ ersity pro fesso rs in No rth America (and Eu rop e) frequ en tly assume that on e o f th e d istin ctiv e features o f Buddh ism as a relig ion lies in th e sp ecial valu e it p laces on the n atural world (e.g., Allendorf 1997; Barash 1973). The id ea th at Buddh ism is link ed to natu re beg in s in Europ e and America at a time wh en Bud dhism itself was still unknown in th e West. Its roo ts can b e found not in Buddh ist teaching s th emselves, bu t in th e artistic mov ement called Roman ticism. Desp ite th e rap id increase in the numb er of Buddhists and the ev er exp anding amount o f knowledg e abou t Buddh ism sin ce th at time, Buddhist teachers con tinu e to repeat th e ideas o f Roman ticism as Buddh ism and , in No rth America, to link th em to th e relig ious ideas of Nativ e American s. To exp lain th is p ro cess, my talk will consist o f fou r p arts.

will illustrate th is linkag e by citing two roman tics, th e American writer Henry Dav id Tho reau (1817–1862) and the Du tch p ainter Vin cen t Van Gogh (18 53–1890). S econd, I will discu ss th e way s that Nativ e American religiou s id eas are used to link Buddhism with n atu re in con temporary North American Buddh ism. For ex amp les, I will cite Joan Halifax, Jo ann e Macy, and Gary Snyde r. All th ree of th ese p eop le h av e b een ex tremely in flu en tial among Buddh ist intellectu als for p romo ting a eco log ical Buddh ism that d raws upon a Nativ e American religiou s worldvie w. Third , I will list some o f th e criticisms d irected ag ain st this eco logical Buddh ism. In recent years a numb er of univ ersity p rofesso rs h ave argu ed th at contemporary eco logical in terpretation s of Buddhism actu ally ignore or disto rt trad ition al Buddh ist teaching s as found eith er in Buddh ist scrip tures or in p remod ern Asian so cieties. Fourth , I will con clud e by d iscu ssing how American Buddhists respond to th ese criticisms.

Part 1: Buddhism as a Religion o f Natu re

I b egin by h ighligh ting th e dicho tomy b etween th e En lig hten ment v ersus Roman ticismii. Th e Enligh tenmen t aro se in th e sev en teen th and eigh teenth centu ries as an in tellectu al mov emen t which sough t to lib erate human knowledg e fro m th e rig id relig ious dog ma o f med iev al times. It did so by celebrating th e power o f human reason and by directing th at reason to th e go als o f knowledge, freedom, and h app in ess. Eu ropean b egan to rely on experimental sciences and math ematics to und erstand th e univ erse in terms of a few simp le laws, wh ich human being s cou ld discov er by their o wn po wers of direct ob serv ation and co rrect logic. Man , as th e ag ent of reason , thu s b ecame th e measure of all th ing s. Th e Enligh ten ment saw man’s reason as univ ersal, ab stract, cold , unemotion al, ob jective, tru thfu l, and o f supreme valu e. Anyth ing lack ing th is reason was dev alu ed. Certain typ es of human s who were seen as lacking full reason as well as all an imals, p lants, and land scapes were p laced on a lo wer plane of ex isten ce. Th ey were to b e pitied, contro lled , tamed , and explo ited . Th eir ultimate v alue ex isted only in th eir usefu lness fo r human consu mption. Wh at could not b e u sed , cou ld b e destroy ed.

Roman ticism aro se in the eigh teen th and nin eteen th centu ries as a literary and artistic reaction ag ain st th e En lightenmen t’s ration alism and ph ysical materialism. It celeb rated th e imagin ation ov er reason , th e p ersonal and ind iv idual ov er th e un iv ersal, th e con crete ov er th e ab stract, hot emo tion s over cool d etachmen t, and th e su bjective ov er ob jectivity. Two main themes run through ro manticism: F irst, romanticism is p reo ccupied with th e indiv idu al person ality, its mood s and emotion al states, especially th e personality o f th e ex ception al gen iu s, hero, or artist. Th is ex ception al g eniu s is celebrated as so meon e who endu res powerfu l p assion s and inn er struggles to ach ieve creativ e g reatn ess in sp ite of rejecting o r ev en v iolating fo rmal rules and trad ition s. S econd roman ticism calls for u s to take p leasu re in th e n atu ral environmen t, the un sophisticated, th e lo cal, th e fo lk , and the ethnic. More impo rtan t, it also imbu es th em with spiritu al meaning , so th at th e roman tic who g iv es free reig n to h is imagin ation can find in th em a route to tran scenden t and my stical exp erien ces.

the Western imag in ation, Asian relig ion s — especially Bu ddhism — frequ en tly serv e as a b ridg e between En lightenmen t and Ro man ticism. Buddh ism is seen as a relig ion of th e so litary g en ius — th e Buddha — who seek s awak ening . He finds th e tran scend en t and my stical by contemplating th e natu ral wo rld . Bo th o f these qualities are celeb rated in ro manticism. Bu t, at the same time, th e Buddha u ses h is powers o f reason to discover th e truth . This is the go al o f th e enligh ten ment. Thu s, Buddh ism un ites the en ligh tenmen t and ro manticism, and in so do ing, it elev ates bo th to a h igh er lev el of un iv ersal sign ifican ce. It is impo rtan t to no te that this Western interpretation o f Buddhism d ates to th e earliest d ays of Europ e’s kno wledg e abou t Buddh ism. Becau se th ere was so little knowledg e av ailable at th at time, in fo rmation about Buddh ism inev itably was mix ed with th e views and op inion s of the p eople who repo rted it.

Conside r, fo r ex amp le, the famou s American au tho r Hen ry Dav id Tho reau (1817–1862). When h e was activ e du ring th e 1840 s and 1850 s, Western k nowledge of th e relig ion s o f India was con fin ed almo st ex clu sively to Hindu ism. For th is reaso n, Tho reau ’s v iews h av e b een labeled “p re-Buddh ist” (Field s 1992, 62 ). Non eth eless, in spite of not knowing Buddhism, in 1839 he wro te fond ly o f “my Buddh a” who stand s in oppo sition to “their Ch rist” (Thoreau 1949 ). He d id not reject Christian ity, bu t used th e figure o f th e Buddh a to attack religiou s in tolerance. F ive years late r, in 1844, h e pub lish ed an English -langu ag e tran slation o f on e chap ter of th e Lotu s Straiii. Th is was th e first Mahyn a Buddhist scrip ture to app ear in Eng lish . Sign ifican tly th e tran slation consisted o f Ch ap ter Fiv e. Known in E ast A sia as “Th e P arable o f the Med icin al Herb s” ( Yaku syu Ɵ ƙ l ) and in English simply as “Plants” (Kern 1963, 118), Chapter Five comp ares the teach ing of th e Buddh a to rain th at falls ev erywh ere and co mpares h is aud ien ce to big, med ium, and small p lants. Here Tho reau found a religiou s teach ing exp ressed through description s o f trees and shrub s. Thoreau spen t th e n ext two y ears liv ing alon e in th e wild woods nex t to Wald en Pond in Con co rd, Massachusetts. There h e tried to p ractice th e k ind o f contemplation o f n ature abou t wh ich he h ad read in his b ooks on Indic religion — esp ecially in the Lo tus Stra wh ere it in stru cts one to sit in th e forest to con temp late reality. His d escrip tion of h is time in th e wild erness, pub lish ed as th e book Wa lden (1854 ), is on e o f th e classics o f American literatu re. In th e fin al y ear o f his life, 1862 , Thoreau wrote h is famou s essay on “ Walk ing.” Th is essay b egin s with th is line:

I wish to sp eak a wo rd fo r Nature, fo r ab solu te freedo m and wildn ess, as contrasted with a freedom and cu ltu re merely civil — to reg ard man as an inh abitan t, o r a p art and p arcel of Natu re, rath er th an a memb er o f society. (Thoreau 1862)

After exto lling th e virtues of wildern ess, wild land s, and wild animals, Tho reau wro te:

What I h av e b een p rep aring to say is, th at in Wildness is th e p reserv ation o f th e Wo rld . (Thoreau 1862)

In No rth America, at least, this statemen t — “ Wildn ess is th e p reserv ation o f th e Wo rld ” — serv es as th e mo tto o f th e eco logy mov ement. It u su ally is in terp reted to mean that “conserv ation ” — in which hu mans manag e n atu ral resources — is in ad equ ate. Ev en th e presen ce o f human s is no t accep table. Wild ern ess areas must b e p reserv ed in th eir p ristin e state,

untouch ed by human s. Th is view of wildn ess d raws a sh arp distin ction b etween th e human and natu re. Th ey are oppo sites. The human is artificial, civ ilized , tame, con trolled, safe, and usefu l. Natu re is untou ch ed by man, primitiv e, wild, uncontro lled , d ang erous, and in accessible. Thoreau ’s writing s estab lish ed in th e popular imagin atio n th e id ea of th e wild as a sou rce o f person al mystical experience. He also h elp ed to id entify this exp erien ce with Buddh ism.

Anoth er ex amp le o f th e way th at Roman tics in terpreted Buddhism as a religion of natu re can b e seen in th e famou s Dutch p ain ter Vin cent Va n Gogh (1853–1890 ). Between 1885 and 1890 , Van Gogh p ain ted at least th irty self-po rtraits. Th e mo st famous on e p rob ably is his Self-Po rtra it with Bandag ed Ear (1889). Th e y ear b efo re he p ainted the S elf-Po rtra it Ded icated to Pau l Gaugu in in wh ich h e portrayed h imself as a Japan ese Buddhist p riest (Timmerman 1992 , 67–70). His h ead is sh aved . His ey es are mad e to look Jap an ese. Th e b rush strok es around his h ead sugg est a h alo . Th is po rtrait sugg ests th at Va n Gogh saw h imself as a follower of Japan ese relig ion. In a letter to a friend, he explain ed wh at h e imag in ed th at religion to b e: If we study Jap an ese art, we see a man who is undoubted ly wise, ph ilo sophic, and in tellig en t, who sp ends h is time do ing wh at? In study ing th e d istan ce between earth and th e moon? No. In study ing Bismarck’s po licy ? No . He studies a b lade o f g rass. But th is blad e leads him to draw ev ery p lant and th en th e season s, th e wid e asp ects of the country sid e, th en an imals, th en th e human figu re. Isn’t it almo st a tru e relig ion which these simple Japan ese teach u s, who liv e in natu re as though th ey th emselv es were flowers? (as quo ted in Timmerman 1992, 68)

Thus, fo r Van Gogh, Jap anese religion — o r, mo re p rop erly, Jap an ese Buddhism — taugh t th e proper way to see n ature on its own terms. It teach es ho w to b ecome on e with n ature; Ho w to leav e human ity b ehind . Van Gogh reach ed these con clu sions no t by v isiting Buddh ist land s, no t by practicing und er a Buddh ist teache r, no t by studying Bu ddhist scrip tu res. In stead, he merely viewed Jap an ese art, esp ecially th e art o f To kug awa-p erio d woodb lo ck prin ts. Van Gogh , just lik e Tho reau, sought in Buddh ism a means to exp ress the ph ilosoph ical id eals o f Europ ean Roman ticism. As a result, bo th Thoreau and Van Gog h in sp ired sub sequ en t g eneration s of people in the West to see Buddh ism — esp ecially Jap an ese Buddhism — as a religion o f Natu re.

Part 2: Buddhism and American Ind ian Sh aman ism

The id ea th at Buddh ism is a relig ion o f Natu re find s wid espread exp ression tod ay at nu merou s Buddhist commun ity centers in North America — especially at Z en Cen ters. Th e actual practice of Buddhism as a religion o f n atu re, though , mo re o ften than no t d raws upon th e religion s o f nativ e American Indian s. Th ey id entify n ative American relig ion s as “sh aman ism.” On e Buddhist teach er, Jo an Halifax (1990 , 21 ), for ex ample, herald s th e “con tempo rary en coun ter between Buddh ism and trib al wisdom, esp ecially shamanism.” Ano th er influ ential Buddh ist teach e r, Jo ann a Macy, asserts th at th e “shamanic p erson ality,” wh ich can und erstand and speak for o ther life-fo rms, is essential for th e fu ture surv iv al o f th e human race. Th e famous po et Gary Snyder (1969, 90–93 ) describ es how Buddh ism allows modern p eop le to recov er th e primitiv e wisdom once achiev ed by sh aman s.

From an E ast Asian persp ectiv e th is emph asis on th e un ity of Buddh ism and sh amanism migh t seem d ifficult to und erstand . Normally we th ink o f sh aman ism as a typ e o f ritu al found only in No rthern Asia wh ere special indiv idu als en ter into trance, du ring wh ich th ey are po ssessed by th e sp irits o f animals o r by th e ghosts o f th e d ead. In Asia, wh erev er Buddh ism h as beco me estab lish ed , Buddh ist p riests h ave asserted th eir sup erio rity ov er sh aman s. Buddhism assu mes the role o f h igh relig ion, wh ile sh amanism — to th e exten t th at it surv iv es at all — assumes th e role o f a lo calized practice asso ciated with a particu lar place or peop le. In modern Jap an, fo r ex amp le, tod ay sh aman ism is asso ciated p rimarily with certain typ es o f Shug end ) ȉ ǖ , with the blind ita ko ɗɰɥ of Mount Osorezan È ¡ , or with the surviving native inhabitants of Okin awa and Hokk aido . Main stream Jap an ese Buddh ist p riests u su ally do no t id entify th eir o wn religion with sh amanism.

In America it is very differen t. Buddhism and sh aman ism are seen as being clo sely related b ecau se bo th are seen as relig ions o f n atu re. B oth g iv e voice to p lants and animals. Jo an Halifax (1990 , 34), fo r ex amp le, say s: “Buddh a h ad h is Bo Tree, d eer p ark , and prev ious lifetimes as an imals. Sh aman s h av e th eir world trees and animal tran sfo rmations and familiars.” She th en go es on to d escrib e a Buddhist mandala as being function ally equ iv alen t to an American Indian med icin e wh eel. S imilarly, Gary Snyd er (1980 , 95 ) exp lain s that th e reason why h e went to Jap an and train ed at a Z en mon astery was b ecause only p eople who are born as n ativ e Americans will b e allowed to p ractice n ativ e American religions. Buddh ist temples, in contrast, will admit anyone. Buddh ism was an alternative rou te to discov ering th e an cient wisdo m of sh aman s. Snyd er wro te:

The ph ilo soph er, po et, and yog in all three h av e stand ing no t too far b ehind th em th e sh aman, with his or h er p elt and antlers, o r v ariou s o ther gu ises, and so ngs going b ack to the Pleisto cen e and before. Th e shaman speak fo r wild animals, th e sp irits of p lan ts, th e sp irits of mountain s, of watersh ed s. He o r sh e sing s for th em. Th ey sing th rou gh h im. Th is capacity has o ften b een achiev ed via sp ecial disciplin es. (Snyd er 1977, 12)

For Snyde r, Buddhism is one o f the sp ecial spiritu al d iscip lin es (shug y ) Ƣ ) for achieving the abilities o f th e sh aman . He asserts:

It should be rememb ered that wh atev er is o r ev er was in any o th er cultu re can b e recon stru cted fro m th e un con sciou s, th rough med itation. (Snyd er 1969, 92–93)

Here Snyd er sp eaks o f Buddh ist med itation and, in p articula r, sitting Z en (za zen v Ů ) — which supposed ly enab les its p ractition ers to d iscov er th eir o riginal mind. Th is orig inal mind is th e mind that was known by p rimitiv e p eoples for thou sand o f y ears b efore th e rise of hu man civ ilization s. This o rig in al mind is th e source o f po etic creativity and is th e mind attain ed by sh aman s.

Here are some ex amp les of religiou s ritu als in sp ired by sh aman ism th at are co mmonly practiced in con temporary American Z en.

The first on e is “ Taking Refug e in the E arthiv.” Budd hist th roughout th e wo rld normally p erform a ritu al of th e Th reefold Refug e. In o th er wo rd s, th ey take refug e in th e Three

Jewels: Buddh a, Dh arma, and S angha (kie sanb Ġ #  ™ ). Cynthia Jurs has created a new form o f th is ritu al in wh ich p ractition ers tak e refug e in th e earth as th e embodiment o f th e Th ree Jewels: th e earth as Buddh a, the earth as Dh arma, and the earth as S angh a. All th ings, all animals, and all p lants are to be rev ered as teach er, as truth, and as co mmun ity. Th is Th reefo ld Refug e is ch anted th ree times, and with each n ew ch an t one reflects ev er more d eep ly on th e processes by which th e earth itself serv es as our teach e r, b y which it prov id es u s with th e truth of reality, and how all ex isten ces — esp ecially th e living plan ts and an imals — con stitu te ou r sangha.

Anoth er ritu al is the “Coun cil of All Being sv.” Th e “all b eings” in this ritual refers to the Buddhist term shuj ơ ő . Every day people at Zen Centers in America recite the verse known as the “Un iv ersal Tran sferen ce o f Merit” (Fu ek þ n c ):

May this merit ex tend (gan i sh i kudo ku Ȃ  Ğ F ¾ ) Univ ersally to all (fug y o issa i þ W ô
= ), So th at we togeth er with all beings (gat yo shuj ÖŸ Ɠ ơ ő ) Realize th e Buddha Way (kaigu j butsud Ŝ 7 Õ ! ǖ ).

This v erse con tain s the exp ression “all b eing s.” Bu t who are th ese b eings? To who o r wh at do these wo rd s refer? Normally “all b eing s” refers on ly to liv ing creatures. In Z en , though , sometimes it also in cludes all ob jects. For example, all p ractition ers o f Z en will b e familiar with the topic kno wn as “the non -sen tien t p reach the Dh arma” (mu j sepp Ń Ì Ƹ ĭ ). It plays a majo r role in the biog raphy o f he Ch in ese Z en p atriarch Dongsh an L iangjie ı ¡ ƕ  (Tzan Ryk ai; 807–869). Th e word “non-sen tien t” (mu j sepp Ń Ì ) refers to all objects which lack the ab ility to think . In Z en tex ts co mmon ex amp les o f the non-sen tien t in clude: g rass, trees, tiles, and rubb le (smo ku garya ku ƙ Ć Ő ũ ). Normally our common-sense view of reality tells us that g rass, trees, tiles, and rubble are in cap able o f thou ght and certain ly cannot sp eak o r talk. Noneth eless, in Ch in a, Korea, and Jap an th ere ex ists the Buddhist teach ing th at the “non -sentient preach the Dh arma.” Sin ce th ese non -sentient ob jects also p reach th e Dh arma, th ey can b e includ ed in th e category o f “all b eing s.”

The “Coun cil o f All Beings” ceremony u ses th e techn iqu es of sh aman ism to conn ect ordin ary p eop le with all b eings. Th ere are many way s to perfo rm th is ceremon y, but a typ ical one migh t p ro ceed as follows. The ceremony will bring togeth er o rd inary peop le fo r a week end retreat. During this retreat, th ey will u se th eir powers of imag in ation to g iv e voice to non-human b eings. Th e non -human b eing s can b e any thin g: an imals, plan ts, ro ck s, moun tain s, or land forms. Bu t no on e is allowed to remain hu man . Only non-hu man vo ices are allowed to sp eak . E ach p erson , th erefo re, must go on a “vision qu est” to seek fo r a non -human id entity to assu me. Th ere are many ways to en act th is v ision qu est. Th ey migh t seek insp iration by walking th rough a fo rest o r moun tain trail. Or th ey mig ht beat a d rum, chan t, or d an ce in th e trad ition al style o f sh aman s or Native American s. After ev eryon e h as discov ered an altern ativ e iden tify, each p erson mak es a mask to rep resent that b eing . Th ese activ ities u su ally fill an entire afternoon and ev ening . The fo llowing mo rning ev eryone first p ractices med itation. Th ey

maintain silen ce. After b reak fast, th ey don their masks and th en g ath er tog eth er in a circle. Each p erson sp eak s in tu rn. Th ey sp eak from th e poin t o f view o f th e non -human world. Fo r ex amp le, th ey refer to hu man s as “the two legg ed on es.” After all th e non-human s hav e spoken a clo sing ritu al will allow ev eryone to remov e th eir mask s. Th en the masks will b e burn ed . At this po in t ev eryon e o ffers a tran sfer o f merit (ek n c ) in which they thank the non-humans for all th at th ey g iv e to us.

The third and last ex amp le I wish to discu ss is th e “Mo untain s and Riv ers S essh in ” (sansu i sesshin ¡ Ĥ ì À )v i

. Th e wo rd sesshin ì À is a Buddhist term that usually refers to a period wh en Z en practitioners eng age in in ten siv e sessio ns of sitting Zen (o r za zen v Ů ). A well-known ex amp le in Jap an con sists of th e rhatsu sesshin Ƒ 4 ì À in December, which is practiced to commemo rate th e awak ening o f  ky amun i Buddha. For th is ceremony th e Z en practition ers (un su i ǵ Ĥ ) will practice sitting Zen for seven days without stop. They might sleep on ly as little as two hou rs each d ay. A “Moun tain s and Riv ers Sessh in” is simila r, but it is practiced to commemo rate th e natu ral wo rld , esp ecially wilderness areas.

The p ractice o f “Moun tain s and Riv ers S essh in ” seems to hav e o rig in ated with Gary Snyde r. To d ay, though , it is more o ften asso ciated with the Jap an ese Zen teacher Dg en ǖ / (1200–1253). His teach ing s — esp ecially th e essay titled Mounta in s and Rivers Stra (Sansu iky ¡ Ĥ Ɓ ) from his True Dharma Eye Collection (Shbgenz ĝ ĭ Ť Ɲ ) — are frequ en tly cited in d escription s o f th is practice. In th is essay Dg en quotes many Z en say ings in which mountain s figu re p romin ently. “Mountain s and Rivers S esshin ” p rovid e mod ern-d ay Z en practition ers with an oppo rtunity to con temp late moun tain s no t ju st in literary terms, but as real entities. In o ther wo rd s, th e goal is to “th ink lik e a mountain ” in th e sen se th at th is phrase was used by th e n aturalist Aldo Leopo ld (1887–1948 )v ii. Th e sessh in comb ines h iking and sleeping in th e moun tain s with periods o f inten se sitting Z en . Typ ically the sessh in is p erfo rmed ov er a two or th ree-day p eriod . Each d ay b eg in s with on e and a h alf hou rs o f sitting Zen . Th en th e practition ers hik e th rough th e mountains to a n ew campsite. After eating lun ch , they will practice sitting Zen again . Th en, th ey will h ike to anoth er camp site. After eating the ev ening meal, th ey will p ractice sitting Z en ag ain. Th ey try to sit for as long as po ssib le, bu t ev entu ally they will go to sleep . Wh en they sleep, th ey do so on th e ground in sleeping b ag s and tents th at they h av e carried with th em on th eir b acks. S ilen ce is o bserv ed throughou t th e entire p eriod. The d aily rou tin e is o rg anized just as it wou ld b e in a Z en monastery, with th e h ead p riests u sing bells o r h and signals to info rm ev eryon e when it is time to b eg in th e nex t task. Thu s, th e mountain s th emselv es fun ction as th e Z en temple and th e hiking fun ction s as a fo rm o f walking med itation (kinh in Ɓ Ƣ ).

These th ree p ractices — Taking Refug e in the E arth ; the Coun cil o f All Being s; and th e Mountains and Riv ers S esshin — prov id e Buddhists in North America with concrete p roo f that Buddhism is a relig ion o f n ature. All th ree o f these practices p rov id e techn iqu es by wh ich Buddhists can lo se th emselv es in n ature. Th e earth , th e an imals, and th e p lants beco me the vehicle fo r th e attainment o f my stical exp erien ces. Th ro ugh th ese experien ces, p eop le are able

to connect with th e non -human wo rld . Ju st as was don e by the native American sh aman o f o ld, they are ab le to id entify with and sp eak fo r th e non -human spirits o f th e wo rld . In th is way, these rituals d e-center th e hu man. In o th er wo rd s, th ey shift th e fo cu s o f Buddhism away from the ind ividu al human p erson ality to ward the n atu ral world wh ere human s do no t ex ist. Buddhists in No rth America see this shift as an exp ression of th e trad ition al Buddh ist teach ing o f no-self (muga Ń Ö ; antman ), which denies the existence of any permanent, essential self or soul. It also exp resses th e traditional Buddh ist teach ing of mutu al d epend en cy (pra ttya -samu tpda ). Human s ex ist only as on e p art o f a larg er who le in wh ich each on e dep ends on the oth ers. At th e same time, though , these p ractices also reinfo rce Tho reau ’s ax iom that “In wildn ess is th e preserv ation o f th e wo rld.” It is th e wild wo rld th at g iv es u s life and th at su stains ou r sp iritual prog ress.

Part 3: Th e Critics

In recent y ears an increasing numb er o f scho lars o f Asian cu ltures hav e b egun to cast doub t on this popular imag e o f Buddhism as a relig ion o f natu re. T hey sugg est th at th e typ e o f Buddh ism that I h av e describ ed — th at is: th e Romanticism o f artists su ch as Hen ry Dav id Tho reau o r Vin cent Van Gogh as well as th e u se o f sh amanistic rituals by contempo rary p ractition ers — represent a Western misinterp retation o f Buddhism. Th ey b ase this con clu sion on nu merou s arguments, which we can su mmarize as lingu istic, do ctrinal, histo rical, and so cio logical.

Linguistically, Ian Harris no tes th at no Buddh ist term o r con cep t corresponds to th e idea o f “n ature” as u sed in Western ph ilo sophy and esp ecially in Western ecolog ical discou rse (Harris 1997 , 377–381 ; cf. Swearer 1997, 37–38). He examin es the wo rd “n ature” in v ariou s contex ts — su ch as metaphy sics, aesth etics, Aristotelian philo soph y, mediev al philo soph y, and modern science — to argu e th at eco logical activ ists frequ ently u se th e wo rd “n ature” in a religiou s sen se to refer to a type o f p an th eistic power o r sp irit. It is not clear how th at id ea could b e exp ressed in trad ition al Buddh ist terms. Th e well-kno wn pro fesso r o f Buddhist S tudies, Malcolm David E ck el (1997, 328–329), illustrates th is linguistic issu e by recoun ting a story abou t the Dalai L ama ( Ten zin Gy atso). In th e Fall o f 1990 the Dalai L ama came to Midd lebu ry Colleg e to sp eak on “Spirit and Nature.” Fro m th e title o f this lectu re, ev eryon e in his audien ce assu med th at th e Dalai L ama would discu ss ecology and environmen talism. Th e Dalai L ama, howev e r, d isappo in ted th em. He said th at h e kn ew no th ing about eco logy or th e environmen t. Instead, h e iden tified “natu re” as th e tru e n ature o f reality, wh ich is emp tin ess (n yat ). Th en he pro ceed ed to lecture about Buddh ist p ractices for pu rify ing th e mind. When on e purifies th e mind , th en on e can see th e tru e natu re o f reality.

Doctrin ally, P ro fesso r Eck el no tes th at th e emp tin ess (nyat ) of wh ich th e Dalai Lama spok e, n eg ates no t only human no tion s o f self, bu t also our no tions reg arding th e self o f animals or self o f p lants or self o f n atural powers. Two Japan ese p rofessors o f Buddhist S tudies, Matsumo to Sh ir ċ ć ] ă and Hakamaya Noriaki Ʀ ǃ Ô û , also have argued that the Buddhist do ctrine o f emptin ess n ecessarily preclud es any notion s th at attach a sp ecial valu e to

natu re o r to th e n atural world (Swan son 1993 ). In add ition, many scho lars no te th at Buddhist scrip tures do not celeb rate th e wild . L amb ert S chmith ausen, fo r ex ample, po ints out th at in classical Buddh ist tex ts, th e ord in ary peop le, th e town smen , and even th e Buddh ist priests preferred th e tame and civ ilized wo rld o f the villag e and city to th e virgin fo rest or jung lev iii. Buddhist scrip tures d escrib e forests as terrible and frig hten ing , wild ern ess as infested with robbers, v ermin , b easts of prey, and po isonous snak es, where there is n eith er food no r wate r. The n atu ral wo rld thu s is iden tified with imp erman ence, su ffering , and d eath . Th ese are th e problems fro m which Buddh ists seek to escap e. In contrast, th e religiou s go als of Buddh ism are iden tified with th e tame, cultu red , and civilized . We can find in Buddh ist scriptu res ex amp les where n irvna is referred to as a city (j Ȓ ; Lancaster 1997, 10). Similarly, Pure Land (jdo ĵ s ) is described as a place without hills or valleys, where the trees grow in straight rows, and where th ere ex ist no d ang erou s wild an imals. Ev eryone is well b eh aved . Th e on ly sound s are not th e cries o f wild animals, bu t of mu sic. Thu s, th e ideal Buddhist wo rld is civilized and cultiv ated .

Lik ewise, although Buddh ist tex ts do o ffer p ray ers fo r th e salv ation o f all b eings, th ey also recognize a clear h ierarchy o f life. Acco rd ing to th e rules of Buddh ist d iscip lin e (bin i Ģ  ; vinaya), for example, human beings are superior to all other forms of life, animals who can understand human speech occupy a middle po sition , and d umb animals are on th e bottom. For this reason, d ifferen t sets o f ru les apply to each o f th ese catego ries of liv ing creatu res. It is a much wo rse crime to kill a hu man than to kill an an imal. Th is is not the view o f th e wildern ess taugh t in No rth American Buddh ism.

Histo rically, scho lars h av e noted th at Buddhist temples in Asia frequ ently h elp ed explo it th e environmen t. In Tang -dyn asty Chin a, fo r ex amp le, th e fo rests o f many moun tain s were cut down to prov id e wood for th e construction of Bu ddhist mon asteries (Harris 1997, 387 ). In med iev al Jap an , wh en n ew land s were b rough t und er ag ricu ltu ral cultivation for th e first time, frequ en tly Buddh ist p riests lead th e way. Acco rd ing to stories about th e relig iou s conv ersion o f local god s to Buddh ism (sh injin kado Ŭ  O ² ), uncultivated lands were inhabited by dangerous spirits and dragon s. It was dang erou s fo r human s to en ter into th e wild land s b ecause th ey migh t be killed by these fearsome spirits. Th erefore, th e local p eople wou ld call upon th e aid of a powerfu l Buddh ist p riest. The priest would trav el into the moun tain s, confron t th e d ang erou s spirit, and conv ert it to Buddhism. Th ereafte r, th e sp irit would beco me th e gu ard ian d eity o f a new Buddh ist temp le. On ce th e Buddhist temple is con stru cted , the land s in th e surround ing area can be exp loited fo r human u se. Th e forests cou ld b e cut down , th e riv ers ch ann eled , and ag ricu ltu re in trodu ced (Bodiford 1993 , 173–179 ). Rath er th an serving to p reserv e th e n atu ral wildern ess, in bo th Chin a and Jap an th e estab lish men t o f Buddhist temples frequ ently h asten ed its demise.

Fin ally, in so cio logical terms, many scholars qu estio n wh eth er Buddh ism h as contributed to any sp ecial reveren ce fo r n ature among o rd inary Jap anese p eople. Th ey cite th e research o f Steph en Kellert (e.g ., E ck el 1997, 133–134). In th e 1980s Kellert condu cted d etailed

surv ey s o f way s th at ord in ary peop le in Jap an reacted to qu estion s abou t animals, wild ern ess, con serv ation , and human in teractions with animals and plants. Th e surv ey was condu cted bo th in u rb an areas (su ch as To kyo ) and in ru ral areas (su ch as To yo saka in Niig ata-k en or Miy ako in Iwate-k en ). Th ese su rvey s were followed up by d etailed in terv iews with a selected group of info rman ts. Th e d esign and conduct o f this research was methodo logically similar to research also condu cted in the United S tates and in German y. Kellert’s resu lts show that Jap an ese h av e the strong est po sitiv e feeling s to ward animals that serv e as p ets fo r human s o r toward an imals that are larg e and exhib it some anth ropomo rph ic asso ciatio ns. In th is reg ard, th ey are similar to people in North America. Bu t Jap an ese h av e mu ch stro nger n egative feeling s toward animals that are p erceiv ed as b eing wild o r dirty. Th erefo re Japan ese are mu ch less lik ely th an are people in North America to ob ject on mo ral ground s to th e killing of wild an imals. Also no table is th e fact th at th e majo rity of Kellert’s in formants expressed th e view th at n ature can b e best appreciated with in a human con text, wh ere n atural elemen ts are refin ed and ab stracted in su ch a way that they can serv e as sy mbols of h armon y, ord e r, and balan ce. In su mmarizing th ese find ing s, Kellert quotes th e noted ob serv er o f mod ern Jap an, Don ald Ritch ie, who said :  the Japan ese attitud e toward n atu re is essen tially po ssessive . . . Natu re is not n atural . . . un til the hand o f man . . . h as p rop erly sh ap ed it” (quoted by Kellert 1991, 395a).

This ethos o f n atu re as sh ap ed and imp roved by human s stands d iametrically opposed to the celeb ration o f th e wild , wh ich is advo cated in No rth American Buddhist circles. While American ecolog ical thought emph asizes th e p reserv ation of wild lands, un tou ch ed by human hand s, Jap an ese con cern with eco logy tend s to b e far more oriented toward con cern with the neg ativ e effects of pollution and th e p rotection o f human health. If Jap an is a Buddhist n ation , then th e so cial in flu ence o f Buddh ism on Japan ese attitud es to ward n ature do no t seem to ag ree with th e popu lar assu mption s o f Buddhists in No rth America.

Of cou rse, my b rief summary h ere cannot do ju stice to this v ery comp licated top ic. Noneth eless, we can see th e v ariety o f issu es and ob jections raised by th e critics o f Buddh ist ecolog ical thought and p ractice in North America. In terms o f lingu istics, Buddh ist do ctrin es, Asian history, and mod ern Jap an ese social attitud es, th ese critics argu e th at th e ecolog ical orien tation and p ractices o f American Buddhists do not reflect trad ition al Buddh ism as it h as b een known in Asia. Th e emphasis on th e wild , wildn ess, and wildern ess wh ich do min ates ecolog ical think ing in No rth America reflects th e cultu ral h eritag e of the West mo re th an it do es th e influ en ce o f Asian Buddhism.

Part 4: Env ironmental Eth ics as a New Buddh ism

North American Buddhists themselv es seem un troub led by these attacks. Th ey are not disturb ed by the id ea th at their practices and in terpretation s might d iffer from th e way th at Buddh ism h as existed in p re-mod ern Asian so cieties. In fact, th ey celeb rate this d iv erg en ce fro m Asian mod els as a n ew d ev elopment in th e evolu tion o f Buddh ism th at will h elp to ad ap t th is Asian relig ion to the glob al so cial n eeds of th e twen ty-first centu ry. One ob serv e r, Bill Dev all, argues th at

Buddhists in No rth America mu st d ev elop an “eco -centric sangh a.” He writes:

Buddhism wears a un ique face wh enev er and wh erev er it man ifests. F requ ently, Buddhism enters a cultu re and present th e imag e o f th at cultu re mo st denied by its particip ants. Buddhism in Jap an revolu tionized th e cu ltu ral mean ing o f d eath . In th e West, Buddhism p resen ts a n ew face to th e env iron men tal crisis — which is, on a deep er lev el, a crisis o f ch aracter and cultural integ rity. (Dev all 1990, 158 )

In o th er wo rd s, Buddhism in No rth America must en ab le p eople in No rth America to reflect on th e failu res and prob lems th at exist with in th eir own so ciety. It uses the cu ltu ral elements th at already ex ist with in th at so ciety to h elp p eople find n ew so lution s.

Similarly, Gary Snyd er, argu es th at Buddh ism can b e enriched by in co rporating some of the so cial and environmen tal con cern s of North American s. He critiqu es the so cial and political passiv ity o f th e Buddh ist trad ition, saying :

Histo rically, Buddhist ph ilosoph ers h av e failed to an aly ze out th e d eg ree to wh ich igno ran ce and su ffering are caused o r en courag ed by so cial facto rs ... Although Mah ay an a Buddh ism h as grand vision o f un iv ersal salv ation ... In stitu tion al Buddhism h as been con sp icuously ready to accep t o r ignore th e in equ alities and tyrann ies o f wh atev er political sy stem it found itself unde r. (Snyd er 1969, 90 )

After d iscu ssing the way s th at Buddhist teaching s can contribute to th e imp rov emen t o f so cial and political life in No rth America, Snyd er con clud es by sayin g:

The mercy o f th e West has been so cial revo lu tion ; th e mercy o f th e E ast h as b een indiv idual insigh t into the b asic self/vo id. We n eed both . (Snyd er 1969, 92 )

In o th er wo rd s, Snyd er asserts th at Buddh ism in No rth America shou ld no t b e limited just to forms th at already exist in Asia. By addressing Western concern s, No rth American Buddhists can h elp create new fo rms o f Buddhism th at are v alu ab le in th eir own righ t.

Dav id L andis Barnh ill, a recen t interpreter of Snyde r, arg ues th at Buddh ists in No rth America are not merely in troducing eco logical con cern s into Buddh ist practice. In stead , th ey are fash ioning a “creative exten sion o f bo th Buddh ism and ecology by seeing each in terms of th e other” (Barnh ill 1997, 187). Th ey are creating a n ew kind of ecology wh ich sees “n atu re” no t just as oppo site to th e hu man, but also as p art of a larg e Bu ddhist sangha , con sisting o f th e en tire “ecosph ere o f th e p lan et.” In th is n ew kind o f sangha, human s do no t domin ate n ature, bu t coop erate with all o th er fo rms o f life. As a resu lt, ecology b ecomes a n ew typ e o f relig iou s practice. And , also as a resu lt, Buddhism is able to directly con front th e larg er wo rld in wh ich this p ractice o ccu rs. In th is way, Buddhist philo sophy becomes “eco log ized ” (Barnhill 1997, 189).

For ex amp le, th e Flower Ga rland Stra (Kegon ky ƚ m Ɓ ) explains the interp enetration of each p art o f reality with ev ery oth er part o f reality by u sing th e metapho r o f Indra’s Net (Indara m p Ǭ ƈ ƃ ). The stra says that the god Indra (i.e., akra; Taishaku Ten ª Ǣ … ) hangs a large net across the heavens. Each node of the net contains a jewel. The jewels are arrang ed so th at each single jewel reflects all o ther jewels. Thu s, in each jewel on e

can see an in fin ite numb er of o th er jewels. In Buddh ist th ought this metaphor illu strates th e way that all ph enomen a in th e world contain with in th emselves all oth er pheno mena. Wh en this metaphor is “eco log ized ,” it also illustrates th e way that th e life cy cle o f each fo rm of life dep ends on and influ en ces th e b io -sy stem as a whole. Therefo re, th e Flower Garland Stra becomes an ecolog ical scriptu re. Th e philosoph ical metaphor acquires n ew life as a bio logical metapho r. Wh en p eop le recy cle n atural resou rces, they eng age no t just in an economic and industrial p ro cess but also d emon strate th e relig ious tru th o f th e F lower Ga rland Stra .

Concluding Remarks

Our g rowing awareness o f th e issu es o f po llu tion, en viron men tal p reserv ation, and glob al warming p resen t human s with n ew ch alleng es th at are bo th grave and fund amen tal. The su rv ival of humank ind might well b e at stake. In every p art o f th e wo rld both o rd inary p eop le and th eir lead ers ask how th eir own p articu lar relig ious trad ition s ad dress th ese new ch alleng es. Certain ly all relig ions p rov ide moral guid elines to teach p eople how to liv e in th e wo rld. At th e same time, though, most relig ions emph asize th at th e u ltimate aim o f human life are no t found in th is wo rld , but in so me o th erworldly go al. Thu s, mo st religion s — esp ecially th e major on es — trad ition ally hav e d evalu ed th is wo rld as a sou rce o f to rment and co rruption. Buddhism, at least in its Asian fo rm, is no ex ception to th is norm. North A merican s, though, lik e to see Buddhism as a religion o f Nature. Th ey h ave fash ioned n ew fo rms o f Buddh ist ceremonies and p ractices to show how Buddhism can p lay a po sitiv e role in ch anging the way s th at p eop le und erstand th eir own p lace with in th e n atu ral ord e r. Th ese d evelopmen ts represent a significan t n ew ch apter in the h isto ry o f Buddhism. It is impo rtan t fo r scholars to reco rd this history. At th e same time, it also is impo rtan t fo r scholars and for Buddhists themselv es to no te th e ways in which th ese n ew dev elop men ts eith er ag ree o r d isagree with p reviou sly ex isting Buddh ist teach ings and practices. If Buddhism truly is to b e a religion o f Nature, th en Bud dhists mu st con front tho se asp ects o f their own tradition th at d ev alu e o r reject th e n atu ral. T hey mu st b ase th eir und erstanding o f natu re on co re Buddhist philo sophical prin ciples. Only th en will th ey tru ly b e able to enter into mean ingfu l d ialog no t only with o ther relig ions in No rth America but also with th eir fellow Buddhists around th e wo rld .

Bibliog raphy

Allendo rf, F red W. 1997 . “Ed ito rial: Th e Conserv ation Bio logist as Z en S tud ent.” Conserva tion B io logy 11, no . 5 : 1045–1046.

Bad ine r, Allan Hunt, ed . 1990. Dha rma Ga ia: A Ha rvest o f E ssa ys in Buddhism and E co log y. Berk eley : P arallax P ress.

214–217.

Barnhill, Dav id L and is. 1997 . “Great E arth Sangh a: Gary Snyd er’s View o f Natu re as Commun ity.” In Buddhism and Eco log y: Th e In terconnectedn ess o f Dha rma and Deed s. Edited by Mary Ev elyn Tu cker and Duncan Ryuk en Williams. Pp. 187–217. Camb ridge, Mass.: Harv ard Div inity S choo l Center fo r th e S tudy o f Wo rld Religion s.

Barnhill, David L and is, and Roger Go ttlieb, ed s. 2001. Deep E co logy and Wo rld R elig ions: New E ssays on Sa cred Ground . Alb an y, N Y: SUN Y, 20 01.

Batchelo r, Martin e and Kerry Brown , ed s. 1992. Buddh ism and E co log y. London : Cassell.

Bodifo rd , William M. 1993 . St Z en in Medieva l Japa n . Honolu lu: Univ ersity of Hawai‘i Press.

Borst, Ray mond R. 1982. Hen ry Da vid Tho reau: A Descrip tive Bib liog raph y. Pittsbu rgh: Univ ersity o f P ittsbu rgh P ress.

Buell, L awren ce. 2005 . “Eco log ical Contemp lation as S piritual P ractice: Th e Case of Hen ry Dav id Tho reau.” Av ailab le on -lin e at th e website o f Harv ard Univ ersity Cen ter for the Environ ment, FORE : Foru m on Religion and E colo gy: h ttp ://env iron ment.h arv ard.edu / (accessed 2007 Augu st).

Burnouf, Eugèn e. 1843 Ap ril 25. “F rag ments d es P rédication s d e Buddha.” La revu e indép endan te, pp. 520–534.

Burnouf, Eug ène. 1852 . L e Lotu s d e la bonn e Lo i. P aris: Imprimé p ar au torisation du Gouvern ement à l’Imprimerie Nationale.

Burnouf, Eug èn e. 1876 (1844 ). In troduction à l’h istoire du buddh isme ind ien. 2d edition . Paris: Maisonn euv e et Cie.

Christy, Au thu r. 1932. Th e Orien t in American Tran scend enta lism. New Yo rk: Columb ia Univ ersity P ress.

Cooke, Geo rg e W. 1902. An Histo rica l and B iograph ical In trodu ction to A ccompan y th e Dial as R ep rinted in Numb ers fo r th e Rowfan t Club. 2 vo ls. Clev eland : Rowfant Club.

Dev all, Bill. 1990 . “E co centric S angh a.” In Dha rma Ga ia: A Ha rvest o f E ssa ys in Buddhism and E colog y, ed ited by Allan Hun t Bad in er, 1 55–164. Berk eley, Calif.: P arallax Press, 1990 .

Dillard, Ann ie. 1974 . Pilg rim a t Tin ker C reek. New York: Harp er & Ro w.

Eck el, Malcolm Dav id. 1997 . “Is Th ere a Buddh ist Ph ilosophy o f Natu re?” In Buddhism and Eco logy: Th e In terconn ectedn ess o f Dha rma and Deed s. Ed ited by Mary Ev elyn Tu ck er and Duncan Ryuk en Williams. Pp. 327–349. Cambridg e, Mass.: Harv ard Divin ity S chool Cen ter for the S tudy o f Wo rld Relig ion s.

Field s, Rick . 1992 (1981). How th e Swan s Ca me to th e La ke: A Narra tive History o f Buddhism in America . Third Edition , Revised and Upd ated. Boston : Shambh ala.

Goodman , Ru ssell B. 1990. “E ast- West Philo sop hy in Nin eteenth -Centu ry America: Emerson and Hinduism.” Journa l o f th e Histo ry o f Id ea s 51, no . 4 : 625–645.

Harding , Walter Hard ing and Mich ael Mey e r. 1980. The New Tho reau Handboo k. New Yo rk : New Yo rk Un iv ersity P ress.

Halifax , Jo an. 1990. “Th e Third Body : Buddh ism, Shaman ism, and Deep E colog y.” In Dharma Ga ia : A Harvest o f E ssa ys in Buddh ism and Ecology, edited by Allan Hunt Bad ine r, 20–38. Berk eley, Calif.: P arallax P ress, 1990 .

Harris, Ian . 1994 . “Cau sation And // Telo s//: Th e Problem Of Buddhist Env ironmental Ethics.” Jou rna l o f Buddh ist E thics 1: 45–56.

Harris, Ian . 1995 . “Getting To Grips With Buddh ist Environmen talism: A P rov ision al Ty po log y.” Journa l Of Buddh ist E thics 2 : 173–190.

Harris, Ian. 1997. “Buddhism and th e Discou rse of Environmen tal Con cern : So me Methodo logical P rob lems Consid ered .” In Buddh ism and E colog y: Th e In terconn ectedn ess of Dharma and Deed s. Ed ited by Mary Ev elyn Tu ck er and Dun can Ryuken Williams. Pp. 377–402. Camb ridg e, Mass.: Harv ard Divin ity School Center for th e S tudy o f Wo rld Relig ion s.

Jung, Hwa Yo l, and P etee Jung. 1990 . “Gary Snyder’s E cop iety.” En vironmenta l History Rev iew 41 , no. 3 (1990): 75–87.

Kaza, Steph an ie. 1991 Summe r. “A Commun ity of Atten tion : Green Gulch F arm, a Z en Buddhist co mmun ity and retreat cen te r, embodies a d eeply eco logical and hu mane way o f life.” Living Tog eth er 29 , p. 32.

Kaza, S teph anie. 1997. “American Buddhist Respon se to th e L and: E co logical Practice at Two West Co ast Retreat Centers.” In Buddhism and Eco logy: Th e Interconnectedn ess o f Dharma and Deed s. Ed ited by Mary Ev elyn Tu ck er and Dun can Ryuken Williams. Pp. 219–248. Camb ridg e, Mass.: Harv ard Divin ity S chool Center for th e S tudy o f Wo rld Relig ion s.

Kellert, Steph en R. 1991 . “Jap an ese P erception s o f Wi ldlife.” Con serva tion B iolog y 5, no. 3: 297–308.

Kern, H. [Hendrik], tran slato r. 1963 (1884 ). Saddha rma-Pundarka or Th e Lotu s of the Tru e Law. Th e S acred Books o f th e E ast, vo l. 21 . Edited by F. Max Mü lle r. Rep rinted . New Yo rk : Dov er Publication s.

Lan caste r, L ewis. 1997 . “Buddhism and E cology : Collectiv e Cultu ral Perception s.” In Buddhism and E colog y: Th e In terconn ectedn ess o f Dharma and Deed s. Edited by Mary Evelyn Tuck er and Dun can Ryuk en Williams. Pp . 3–18. Camb ridg e, Mass.: Harvard Div inity S choo l Cen ter fo r th e S tudy o f Wo rld Relig ion s.

Leopold , Aldo. 1966 (1949 , 1953 ). A Sand Coun ty A lmanac: With E ssays on Conservation fro m Round R iver. Illustrated by Ch arles W. Sch wartz. New Yo rk : Oxfo rd Un iversity Press.

Lovelock , James E . 1979 . Gaia : A New Loo k at L ife on Earth. New Yo rk: Ox fo rd Univ ersity P ress.

Macy, Jo ann a. 1988. “S elf Realization : An E colog ical Appro ach to Being in the Wo rld .” In Th inking L ike a Mounta in : Towa rd a Coun cil of All Beings, ed ited by John S eed, Joann a Macy, P at Fleming , and Arne Naess. Ph ilad elphia: New Society Pub lish ers.

Macy, Jo ann a. 1990 . “Th e Green ing o f th e S elf.” In Dharma Ga ia: A Ha rvest o f E ssa ys in Buddhism and E co log y, edited by Allan Hunt Bad in er, 53–6 3. Berk eley, Calif.: P arallax Press, 1990.

Macy, Jo ann a. n .d. “ Tak ing Refug e in E arth.” Based on “Su mmon ing the E arth to Witness” by Cyn thia Ju rs. Av ailable on-lin e: http ://ww w.jo an namacy.n et/html/buddhism/refug e.html

(accessed 2007 Augu st).

Miwa Hisae Ñ گ Þ ̞ . 1990. “‘The Preaching of Buddha’ ni tsuite: The Dial keisai to Thoreau ” (“Th e P reaching o f Buddha” Ȼ ȴ Ȟ ȶ: The Dial ͱ ڬ U Thoreau). Shkygaku ron sh ɤ Γ ɚ ٥ ܼ 16: 192–179 [from back].

“Moun tain s and Riv ers S esshin s.” n .d. Av ailable on-line at th e web site o f th e Berkeley Zen Cen ter: http ://ww w.b erk eley zen cente r.o rg /M&R_sessh in.shtml (accessed 2007 Augu st).

Muelle r, Rog er C. 1977 ( Win ter). “A S ignifican t Bud dhist Tran slation by Tho reau.” Th e Tho reau So ciety Bulletin: 1–2.

Riep e, Dale. 1967 . “The Indian In flu en ce in American Philosophy : Emerson to Moo re.” Philo soph y East and West 17 : 125–137.

Seed, John. 1988 . “Beyond Anth ropo cen trism.” In T hinking Like a Moun tain : Towa rd a Council o f A ll B eings, ed ited by John S eed , Jo anna Macy, P at F leming , and Arn e Naess. Philad elphia: New Society Pub lish ers.

Seed, John, Jo ann a Macy, P at F leming, and Arn e Naess. 1988. Th in king Like a Moun ta in: To wa rd a Coun cil o f A ll B eings. Ph ilad elphia: New Society Publish ers.

Snyde r, Gary. 1969 . Earth Hou se Ho ld : Techn ical Notes and Qu eries to Fellow Dha rma Revolu tionaries. New Yo rk : New Direction s Book s.

Snyde r, Gary. 1974. Tu rtle Island . New Yo rk : New Directions Book s, 1974.

Snyde r, Gary. 1977. Th e Old Wa ys: S ix E ssa ys. S an Francisco: City L igh ts Book s.

Snyde r, Gary. 1980. Th e R eal Wo rk: In terviews and Ta lks, 1964–1979 . New Yo rk : New Directions.

Snyde r, Gary. 1985 . “Buddh ism and th e Po ssib ilities o f a P lanetary Cultu re.” In Deep Eco logy: L iving A s If Na tu re Mattered, ed s. Bill Dev all and Geo rge Sessions, 251–53 . Salt Lak e City, Utah: P eregrin e Smith Books, 1985. Reprin ted in Th e Pa th of Compa ssion : Writing s on So cia lly Engag ed Buddhism, ed . F red E ppstein er, 82–85. Berk eley, Calif.: Parallax P ress, 1988.

in Buddh ism and Eco log y, edited by Allan Hunt Badin e r, 193–194. Berk eley, Calif.: Parallax Press, 1990 .

Snyde r, Gary. 1995. A Pla ce in Spa ce: E th ics, A esth etics, and Wa tersh ed s: New and Selected P ro se. Wash ing ton, D.C.: Coun terpo int.

Sponberg , Alan. 1997 . “Green Buddh ism and th e Hierarchy o f Co mpassion.” In Buddhism and Eco logy: Th e Interconn ectedn ess of Dharma and Deeds. Ed ited by Mary Ev elyn Tu ck er and Dun can Ryuk en Williams. Pp. 350–376. Camb rid ge, Mass.: Harvard Div inity S choo l Cen ter for th e S tudy o f Wo rld Relig ions.

Swan son, P aul L . 1993 . “‘Zen is no t Buddhism’: Recen t Jap anese Critiqu es of Buddha-Natu re.” Numen 40 , no . 2 : 115–149.

Swearer, Don ald K. 1997. “Th e Hermen eu tics of Buddh ist E cology in Con temporary Thailand: Buddhad sa and Dh ammapi tak a.” In Buddh ism and E colog y: Th e Interconn ectedn ess of Dharma and Deed s. Ed ited by Mary Ev elyn Tu ck er and Dun can Ryuken Williams. Pp. 187–217. Camb ridg e, Mass.: Harv ard Divin ity S chool Center for th e S tudy o f Wo rld Relig ion s.

Swearer, Don ald K. 2005. “An Assessmen t of Buddhist E co-Philo soph y.” Prep ared for th e CSWR-Dongguk sympo sium on Buddh ism and Eco log y, Decemb er 9–10 , 2005 . Av ailable on-lin e at the website o f Harv ard Un iv ersity Center fo r the Env ironment, FORE: Fo rum on Relig ion and E cology : http ://environmen t.h arv ard .edu/ (accessed 2007 Augu st).

Thoreau , Hen ry Dav id . 1839. A Week on th e Conco rd and Merrima ck R ivers. Av ailab le on-lin e fro m Pro ject Gutenb erg as “7 cn cd10.tx t” (E text #4232 ): h ttp://www.gutenb erg.o rg / (accessed 2007 Augu st).

Thoreau , Hen ry Dav id. 1854. Wa lden . Av ailable on-lin e fro m P roject Gu tenberg as “waldn10.txt” (Etex t #205 ): h ttp://www.gutenb erg.o rg /

Thoreau , Hen ry David . 1862 . “ Walk ing.” Rep rin ted 1863 in E xcursion s. “ Walking ” is av ailable on -lin e fro m Pro ject Gu tenb erg as “wlkng10.txt” (E tex t #1022): http ://www.gutenb erg .o rg/ (accessed 2007 August).

Thoreau , Henry Dav id. 1863. Excu rsions. Av ailab le on-lin e from P roject Gu tenb erg as “7 ex cr10 .tx t” (E text #9846): h ttp ://www.gu tenb erg .o rg/ (accessed 2007 Augu st).

Thoreau , Hen ry Dav id, ed ito r. 1844 Janu ary. “Th e P reaching o f Buddh a.” Th e Dial: A Magazin e fo r L itera tu re, Philo soph y, and R elig ion 4 , no. 3 : 391–401. Un sign ed .

Timmerman , P eter. 1992. “It Is Dark Outside: Western Buddhism fro m the En ligh tenmen t to the Glob al Crisis.” In Buddh ism and E co log y. Ed ited b y Martin e B atch elor and Kerry B rown . Pp. 65–77 . London: Cassell.

Tu ck er, Mary Ev elyn , and Dun can Ryuk en Williams, ed s. 1997. Buddh ism and Eco log y: The Interconn ectedn ess of Dha rma and Deed s. Camb ridg e, Mass.: Harv ard Div inity S choo l Cen ter for the S tudy o f Wo rld Relig ion s.

Tweed , Thomas A. 2003 a. “Op en ing the To mb o f th e Buddh a: Buddhism and th e E arly Ye ars o f the American Orien tal So ciety.” Newsletter o f th e American Orienta l So ciety 21. Av ailab le on -lin e: http://www.umich.edu /~ao s/news21.h tm (accessed 2007 Augu st).

Tweed , Tho mas A. 2003b. “Un ited States.” In En cyclopedia of Buddh ism. Ed itor in chief, Robert E . Bu swell, Jr. Vo l. 2, pp . 864–870 . New Yo rk : Macmillan Referen ce US A.

van Anglen , K. P., ed . 1986 . Transla tion s in th e Writing s o f Hen rey Da vid Tho reau. Prin ceton: P rinceton Univ ersity Press.

van Gogh , Vin cent. 1888. S elf-Po rtra it Ded ica ted to P aul Gaugu in. Oil on canv as, 60 .5 x 49.4 cm. Camb ridge, Massachu setts: Fogg Art Mu seu m, Harv ard Univ ersity.

van Gogh , Vin cen t. 1889 . Self-Portrait with Bandag ed Ea r. Oil on canvas, 60.5 x 50 cm. London: Courtauld Institu te Gallery.

Williams, Dun can R. 1997 . “Buddhism and Eco logy Bib liog raph y.” Bibliog raphy by Dun can R. Williams and anno tation s by th e Foru m on Religion and Eco log y. 42 p ag es. Av ailab le on-lin e at the website o f Harv ard Un iv ersity Center fo r the Env ironment, FORE: Fo rum on Relig ion and E cology : http ://environmen t.h arv ard .edu/ (accessed 2007 Augu st).

Yu y ama, Ak ira. 2000 . Eugèn e Burnou f: The Ba ckg rou nd to h is R esea rch in th e Lo tu s Sutra . Biblio theca Philo logica et Philo sophica Buddhica, vo l. 3. Hach ioji, To kyo : Soka Un iv ersity.

Comment

i

My ma in sources o f informa tion will be my own inte rviews w ith Buddhist teacher s in the Un ited State s. I also w ill dra w on three recent books: Badine r 1990; Ba tchelor and Brown 1992; and Tucker and Williams

1997. Toge ther these three books provide a comp rehensive ove rview of the ways tha t Buddhist ideas and practices have influenced environmenta l e thics in contempora ry North A merica.

ii

My approach to the re lationship between Buddhism and the se mo vements is indebted to Timme rman 1992 .

iii

It appeared in the news letter The D ial: A Magazine for Literature , Philosoph y, and Religion (vol. 4, no. 3, pp . 391–401) under the title “ The Preaching of Buddha.” Th e unsigned introduction begins as fo llow s: “The fo llow ing fragments are extracts from one of the religious b ooks of the Buddhists of Nepa l, entitled the ‘White Lotus o f the Good La w.’ The or igina l work , wh ich is wr itten in Sanskr it, makes part of the numerous collec tion of the Buddhist books , discove red by M. Ho dgson, the English res ident at the Court o f Katmandou, and sen t by him to the As iatic Socie ty o f Par is . M. Barnof examined , some years s ince, th is collection, wh ich includes a grea t pa rt of the canonic al books o f the Buddhis ts , and of wh ich trans lations are found in a ll the nations wh ich ar Buddhists , (the people of Th ibet, China, and the Monguls .)”

It is clear f rom this in troduction tha t the English ver sion in the Dial is based on the French trans lation by Eugène Burnouf (1801–1852). But who trans lated it in to Englis h? How did that person acquire access to Burnouf’s wo rk? These ques itons have prompted much muc h confus ion and specula tion . Burnouf ’s complete transla tion of the Lotus Su tra was published in 1852, e ight years after the appearence of the D ial’s English vers ion. R ick Fie lds (1992, 61) sta tes that Thoreau “ha d himse lf trans lated it f rom the French of Eugene Burnouf’s L’Introduc tion a l’his toire du Buddhisme indien, which had just appeared in Pa ris .” In fact Burnouf ’s 1844 his tory of Buddhis m in Ind ia contains n o corre sponding exce rpt from the Lotus . Thomas Tweed (2003a note 4) cites Thomas Mueller (1977) as the first person to correc tly iden tify the source as Burnouf’ s 1843 jou rnal ar tic le titled “ Frag ments des Prédications de Buddha” (note tha t the D ial introduction a lso beg ins with the wo rd “ fragments” ). This attr ibution has been va rif ied independently by Yu yama Akira (2000, 1–2 & 67). It he lps to account for the odd sequence of the Dial’s trans lated tex t — in which the second half of the chapter appears before the f irs t ha lf — because Burnouf ’s 1843 article (bu t not his 1852 comp lete trans lation) exhibits this same reverse orde r. Thus, Dia l pp . 392–398 (and Burnouf 1843, 520–529) corresponds to Kern pp. 128–136 (and Bu rnouf 1852, 81–89) while D ial pp. 398–401 (and Bu rnouf 1843, 529–534) corresponds to Kern pp. 122–128 (and Burnouf 1 852, 75–81).

Th e id entity of th e translato r is still uncertain. For a d e tailed ov e rvie w, see Miwa 1990. Th e tr a nslation a pp e a r e d in th e Dial as p a rt o f a s e rie s d edic a te d to “s ele c tion f rom th e old est e thic a l and r eligious w ritings o f m en , ex c lusiv e o f th e H e b re w a nd G r e e k Sc riputre s ” w hich at th at tim e w a s und e r th e e ditorial sup e r vision o f Tho r e a u . Th e r e c an b e no doubt th at h e w a s r e sponsible fo r its s ele c tion a nd th e introdu ction. Did h e tr a nslate it himself ? I n 1885 G e o rg e W. Cook e (1848–1923 ) a ttributed th e tra nslation to Eliz ab e th Palm e r Pe abody (1804–1984; se e Miw a 1990, 46 ). In his massiv e An Historical

and Biographical Introdu ction to Ac c o mpan y th e Dial (2 vols., 1902 ), ho w e v e r, Cook e c h a ng e d his

attribution to Tho r e a u. H e e xplain ed in his p r e f a c e th at h e h ad ex a min ed th e p e r son al copies o f th e Dial own e d by Tho r e a u and by R alph Wa ldo Em e rson (1803–1882 ) in which e a c h ind ep e nd a ntly h ad w ritten th e n am es o f m any c ontributo rs ( Miw a 1990, 47–48 ) . Samu el A . Jon es (1834–1912 ) , ho w e v e r, c r iticiz e d Cooke and attributed th e tr anslation to Em e rson (Miw a 1990, 49 ). Non eth e less , Cooke ’s 1902 attribution to Tho r e a u w a s follow e d by m any subs equ e nt autho rities su c h as A uthu r Christy (1932, 219 ) , Wa lte r H a rding and Mich a el Me y e r (1980 , 36 ). Mo r e r e c e nt s c hola rs , ho w e v e r, h a v e r e v e rte d to Cook e ’s o riginal attribution and c r e dit Pe abody: Raymond R. Bo rst (19 82, 191 ), K . P. Va n A ngle n (1986, 159 ), a nd Tw e e d (2003b, 864 a ) . As noted by Miw a , ho w e v e r, it is n ot cle a r w hy Cook e ’s 1885 attribution h as g ain ed f a vo r ov e r his re vis ed 1905 on e .

iv

My desc ription is ba sed primarily on the undated webpage on the website o f Joanna Mac y, titled “ Tak ing Refuge in Earth” ; ava ilable on- line: h ttp://ww w.joannamac y.ne t/html/buddhism /refuge .htm l (acce ssed 2007 Augus t) .

v

My desc ription is ba sed primarily on the undated webpage on the website o f Joanna Mac y, titled “The Council of A ll Beings”; available on-line: http://w w w.joannama c y.ne t/h tml/deepecology/essa y.htm l# (accessed 2007 Augus t).

v i

My desc ription is ba sed pr imar ily on the undated webpage on the website o f the Berkeley Zen Cente r, titled “ Mounta ins and Rivers Se sshins” ; ava ilable on-line:

http://w w w.be rkeleyzencente r.o rg /M&R_ses shin.shtml (acce ssed 2007 Augus t) .

v ii

The phrase “th inking like a mounta in” has become a s logan for the deep ecology movemen t. It is the title o f a short essay by Leopold in A Sound County Almanac (19 96, 137–141) where he reflec ts thus on the time when he killed a wo lf and wa tch the green fire of life disapp ear f rom its eyes: “I thought tha t fewer wolves meant more dee r, tha t no wo lves would mean hunte r’s paradise. Bu t a fter see ing the gre en fire dire, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with me .” A f ter subsequently observ ing the ecological damage caused by ove r-popula tions of dee r, he conc luded: “I now suspect that just as a deer heard lives in mor tal fea r of its wor lves, so does a mountain live in mor tal fear of its dee r.”

v iii

Schmithausen’s scholar ship is cited by Ec k el ( 1997, 337–346 ) . A lso s e e L a n c a ste r 1997 a nd Sw a r e r 1997.