To be a Buddhist is to be an Ecologist
In the 84,000 teachings of the Buddha, there is a specific teaching for each of the 84,000 different kinds of people and each teaching has the whole of the Truth for the person to whom it’s directed. The number 84,000 is used to mean innumerable and indicates that each individual with their distinct personality must assume responsibility for their unique journey to enlightenment. Yet, while Buddhism ultimately emphasizes personal responsibility, likeminded Buddhists come together to form sects based on broadly shared characteristics. All sects identify as Buddhist based on the universal truths of the Dharma.
Regarding the critical threat to our global environment, I believe Buddhism can be discussed as ecology. In his book “Hua Yen Buddhism,” the scholar Francis Cook accurately describes Buddhism as “cosmic ecology.”1 Such cornerstone teachings as interdependence (the mutual interpenetration of all phenomenon), emptiness, and non-duality enable us to see the fact that to be a Buddhist is to be an ecologist.
Ecology is a science and is analytical and descriptive. I think it is possible to compare it with the wisdom side of enlightenment or Buddhahood. The Buddha, however, has two sides: wisdom and compassion. This is graphically depicted in the hand gestures of Amida Buddha; the right, raised hand represents wisdom and the left, lowered hand compassion. I like to speak of wisdom as the vision of the Buddha and compassion as the living out of that vision. Thus, the Buddha as “The Great Physician” not only diagnoses our ailments but also compassionately effects a cure. In terms of the ecological vision of our global sickness, the cure is conservation. I suggest the following analogy as a kind of working hypothesis: ecology is to wisdom as conservation is to compassion. Whether or not this analogy holds up, we shall see as we examine the greening of Jodo Shinshu.
The Pure Realm Path of Jodo Shinshu
Jodo Shinshu is a Japanese Pure Realm sect of Mahayana Buddhism, which traces its lineage to Shinran Shonin (1173-1263). In order to understand Shinshu, you have to understand Mahayana as the Bodhisattva path as well as Shinran’s division of Buddhism into the difficult Path of the Sages and the easy Pure Realm Path. People mistrust what seems too easy so, for now, it is best to reserve judgment about the easy path. In his “Passages on the Pure Land Way,” Shinran quotes Shakyamuni Buddha, “It is the dharma that, for all people in the world, is most difficult to accept.” 2(CWS, p. 317)
In Mahayana Buddhism, the vows and practice of the Bodhisattva result from the non-dualistic insight that our enlightenment cannot be separated from the enlightenment of all other sentient beings in the universe. The true Bodhisattva joyfully re-enters the world of pain until even the blades of grass attain enlightenment. There are many Bodhisattvas with their respective realms and vows but one of the most succinct expressions of the difficult Path of the Sages is the Four Sacred Vows which members of many Buddhist sects solemnly take to begin their journey as a Bodhisattva:
1. Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them all.
2. Desires are endless. I vow to end them.
3. The gate of the Dharma is boundless. I vow to master it.
4. The Buddha way is supreme. I vow to attain it.
A modern equivalent of the first Bodhisattva vow is made by the Vietnamese Zen/Pure Land teacher Thich Nhat Hanh in terms of the Five Precepts of Buddhism. His rendering of the First Precept is: “Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals, and plants. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking and in my way of life.”3On the same page in his commentary on the First Precept, Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Vowing to practice this precept, we commit ourselves to protecting our planet and becoming bodhisattvas energized to practice love and compassion.”
In Jodo Shinshu, rather than identifying as a Bodhisattva, we identify as the ones the Bodhisattvas are trying to save. When asked, “Saved from what?” The answer is, “Saved from our deluded, attached self.” Actually, rather than “are trying to save” from a Shinshu perspective I should say, “has saved.” Thus, the Bodhisattva Dharmakara fulfilled his 48 vows and became Amida Buddha. Amida Buddha is the truth of Universal Enlightenment. Of the 48 vows, the “primal vow” is the 18th wherein Amida transfers his merit to us through his name. Devout Shin followers live with the assurance of “being grasped, never to be abandoned by the Buddha of boundless wisdom and compassion. Our joy is expressed naturally and spontaneously by “praising” Amida’s name in gratitude “Namo Amida Butsu.” In Japanese, this expression is called the “Nembutsu (Mindfulness of the Buddha)” and people often refer to the “life of the Nembutsu” meaning a mindful life of humility, gratitude and a sense of indebtedness for the incalculable benefits we constantly receive through the working of the “Other Power” of Amida Buddha. “Other Power” is the power of enlightenment contrasted with deluded “self power.”
Shin Buddhists who have entrusted themselves to the working of Amida Buddha live in this “burning world” with assurance – the assurance of their birth in the Pure Realm when they die. It is important to note that Shinran equates the Pure Realm with nirvana (liberation or the extinction of becoming), a view that sets Jodo Shinshu apart from most other Pure Realm teachings. In Japanese society in general, there is a keen awareness that, for the common, foolish person (bombu), to live is to live with attachment to our self - self-preservation. So pervasive is this attitude in Japanese society that a corpse is called “Hotoke (Buddha)” which indicates the person has given up their attachment to this world. For a Shin Buddhist, an ever-deepening awareness of the depth of our grasping leads us to an ever-deepening appreciation of the boundless depths of Amida’s compassion that embraces and transforms us just as we are. In fact, Amida Buddha is the Buddha specifically for those people who can’t gain enlightenment no matter how hard they try.
I’ve noticed in almost all introductory books on Buddhism in English, there is little or no reference to the easy Pure Realm Path although Jodo Shinshu may be the largest Buddhist sect in Japan. Introductory books almost exclusively present the Path of the Sages and the cultivation of pure wisdom and boundless compassion but rarely discuss humility, gratitude and indebtedness.
The Greening of Jodo Shinshu
So, what do we do with a self (ego), empty though it is, that will not go away as long as we are alive? One of the most inspirational traits of the devout Shinshu followers I’ve met is their self-effacing humility No Buddhist believes that other forms of life were put here to nourish and sustain us. Unfortunately, we must deliberately and consciously kill other forms of life for our own self-preservation. To live is to live interdependently and to live interdependently is to live at the expense of other forms of life.
Shin Buddhists don’t take the Five Precepts or the Bodhisattva Vows because we recognize we can’t keep them. In a sense, we are “Protestant Buddhists.”4 We protest, “Yes, it is a sublime sentiment to vow to save all sentient beings. But, can we then turn around and eat them?” This is the human predicament and is the very reason Amida Buddha exists. Chapter Four of the Tannisho (A Record in Lament of Divergences) addresses this dilemma. Here, Shinran is quoted as teaching:
Concerning compassion, there is a difference between the Path of Sages and the Pure Land Path.
Compassion in the Path of Sages is to pity, commiserate with, and care for `beings. It is extremely difficult however, to accomplish the saving of others just as one wishes.
Compassion in the Pure Land Path should be understood as first attaining Buddhahood quickly through saying the nembutsu and, with the mind of great love and great compassion, freely benefiting sentient beings as one wishes.
However much love and pity we may feel in our present lives, it is hard to save others as we wish; hence, such compassion remains unfulfilled. Only the saying of the nembutsu, then, is the mind of great compassion that is thoroughgoing.
Thus were his words.5
For Shinran, the saying of the nembutsu is the key to enlightenment because the common man is truly not very compassionate. This fact is both sadly and humorously expressed by the famous haiku poet Issa who was a devout Shin Buddhist. Issa’s love and protection of insects is legendary and wonderful but not without its limits. On one occasion, he wrote a poem, which every Japanese child knows even today:
Don’t kill that fly!
See how in fear it’s wringing
It’s hands and feet.
Yet, on another occasion, tested to his breaking point by a pesky louse, he produced the following:
The mouth that cracks the louse
Is the same mouth that says
“Namo Amida Butsu.”
The Shin Buddhist attitude of non-entitlement cannot really be expressed by one word. But, there are everyday expressions in Japanese that include feelings of unworthiness, self-effacing humility, considerateness, deference, personal responsibility and gratitude. These characteristics of the Japanese personality are sometimes chuckled at by foreigners (he who bows the lowest wins) and even scorned by many modern Japanese but, to the extent they persevere in Japanese society and language, they reflect the subtle and profound influence of Shin Buddhist attitudes. One such expression is “mottai-nai.” In his excellent article “Mottai-nai,” the late Rev. Chijun Yakumo explains, “Mottai-nai is written with the characters for ‘thing’ and ‘essence’ and a negating suffix. The literal and original meaning of mottai-nai is, therefore, ‘The essence or quality of the thing does not exist’…If we ignore the characteristics of these individual things and use them merely for our advantage, it means that we are killing the ‘life’ in them…mottai-nai refers to the astonishment we feel when we become aware of ourselves who are killing the essential quality of things. That is what gives rise to the thought, ‘What an unworthy person I am!’”6 Rev. Yakumo gives the following examples of mottai-nai behavior:
“Trees are looked at only for the lumber they produce, grass only for how many heads of cattle it will support.
Similarly, rather than considering a person as a person with his or her own characteristics, we evaluate him or her based on what kind and quantity of work he or she can do.
This attitude of looking at something only in terms of its utility can be said to be true not only in the world of nature or things that have forms, but also the formless world of the mind and heart.”7
Rev. Yakumo proceeds to bring out the Jodo Shinshu feeling of mottai-nai by honestly facing the impossibility of the common man living selflessly:
“But when we discover that we cannot do those things perfectly, or even if we fail to do them, we are further brought to realize what unworthy beings we are. But Amida Buddha’s Infinite Compassion and Wisdom exists precisely to cause the birth of such unworthy persons in the Pure Land…we are allowed to live solely because of the sacrifices of other living things…For me, there is no way to truly appreciate the lives I consumed other than to devote myself to becoming a Buddha; otherwise, my living this life sustained by their sacrificed lives would truly be mottai-nai.”8
Let’s turn to the Path of the Sages approach and see how it compares with Rev. Yakumo’s last statement about devoting himself to becoming a Buddha. Of course, devoting oneself to becoming is different from being a Buddha. Thich Nhat Hanh expresses the latter perspective in the following passage:
“In my tradition, every time I join my palms together to make a deep bow to the Buddha, I chant this short verse:
The one who bows and pays respect,
And the one who receives the bow
and the respect,
Both of us are empty.
That is why the communion is perfect.
It is not arrogant to say so. If I am not empty, how can I bow down to the Buddha? And if the Buddha is not empty, how can he receive my bow? The Buddha and I inter-are. Buddha is made of non-Buddha elements, like me. And I am made of non-me elements, like the Buddha. So the subject and object of reverence are both empty. Without an object, how can a subject be?”9
In the above passage, Thich Nhat Hanh certainly expresses the true heart of enlightenment. The Buddha is made up of non-Buddha elements like plants and animals, etc. The same can be said of me. However, let’s see what happens if we transform Thich Nhat Hanh’s short verse in the following way:
The one who eats another sentient being and pays respect,
And the one who is eaten (who doesn’t care about respect,
but tries to get away),
Both of us are empty. That is why the communion is perfect.
But, is the communion perfect? Only a Buddha could consume other forms of life and constantly transform their nourishment into enlightened action. Otherwise, as Yakumo sensei points out, it is mottai-nai and we should deeply bow our head and say, as Japanese Buddhists do before eating, “Itadakimasu” which means, “I humbly and reverently receive this (without any sense of entitlement).” Another representative of the Path of the Sages approach to Buddhism is the widely venerated Dalai Lama who has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In his “Ethics for the New Millennium,” the Dalai Lama emphasizes “Universal Responsibility.” “I am convinced that it is essential that we cultivate a sense of what I call universal responsibility…It is true that in Buddhist practice we constantly remind ourselves of our duty to serve all sentient beings in every universe.”10 A Shinshu Pure Realm approach to universal responsibility does not deny the Dalai Lama’s injunction. Rather, a Shin Buddhist looks at universal responsibility from a different perspective. Yes, we are responsible for the universe but the universe is also responsible for us. The implications of this shift in perspective is clearly presented by my close teacher, the late Rev. Philipp K. Eidmann:
“When we really understand our relation to the whole universe, it makes us very humble.
We realize that all our good fortune is due to the efforts of countless others.
When we realize this, our gratitude extends to everything in the universe. It is only with their help that we have ever been able to hear and realize the truth of Buddha’s teachings…Faith, then, according to the Honganji doctrine of Buddhism is an attitude of unselfishness. It causes us to realize our interdependence on every thing in the universe. Through the awakening of such faith, gratitude becomes the motivation of our life…We are grateful to the Buddha for showing us the path to end suffering. We are grateful to the whole universe, and this gratitude is part of our great happiness.”11
It is important to note that this grateful (arigatai) attitude can also be expressed for our misfortune as well. It would be expressed as gratitude for the working of Amida Buddha that becomes most compassionate and evident in adversity. The positive tone of Rev. Eidmann’s passage could be expressed in Japanese by “okagesama.” This expression reminds me of one in English, “behind the scenes.” There are many out of view behind the scenes who enable the drama of my life to go on and okagesama de have led me to encounter the Buddha Dharma. As was stated in my ordination ceremony, “You have been brought here by profound causes and conditions.” What those causes and conditions were, I will never truly comprehend until I become a Buddha. Intellectual and perceptual humility is another vital theme in Jodo Shinshu. In “A Record in Lament of Divergences" (Tannisho), Shinran is quoted as saying:
“I know nothing at all of good or evil. For if I could know thoroughly, as Amida Tathagata knows, that an act was good, then I would know good. If I could know thoroughly, as the Tathagata knows, that an act was evil, then I would know evil. But with a foolish being full of blind passions, in this fleeting world – this burning house – all matters without exception are empty and false, totally without truth and sincerity. The nembutsu alone is true and real.”12
Shinran’s use of the word “blind” reminds me of the famous Buddhist parable of the blind men and the elephant. The blind men shift from one erroneous, partial view to another and in Shinran’s words all of the views “without exception are empty and false, totally without truth.” It is humility to realize that we can’t help but approach things from our self-centered point of view. It is a mistake to think we have the right view and arrogance to insist on it.
Conclusion
Let us return to the analogy I proposed earlier – ecology is to wisdom as conservation is to compassion. I think this analogy certainly holds true for the Path of the Sages. Pure wisdom is to comprehend “cosmic ecology” and realize universal responsibility. Selfless compassion is to “serve all beings in every universe,” as the Dalai Lama enjoins us. However, in a universe of competing interests, is it really possible to serve all beings? When a cost/benefit analysis is done for a project, planners have to ask, “Who will it cost and who will it benefit?” Ironically, it usually turns out to be two different groups.
How about adding humility to the analogy? In terms of wisdom, humility would enable us to realize how truly ignorant and shortsighted we are regarding extremely urgent environmental issues such as global warming and catastrophic climate change. With our lack of ecological wisdom, if we are to make a mistake, let us err on the side of caution. The stakes are too high for everyone! If there is compassion in this statement, then it is mixed with self-interest for, as the Dalai Lama has written, “We must teach people that conservation directly aids our survival. If you must be selfish, then be wise and not narrow-minded in your selfishness…Ultimately, the decision to save the environment must come from the human heart. The key point is a call for a genuine sense of universal responsibility that is based on love, compassion and clear awareness.”13 Certainly, both Buddhism and Ecology or EcoDharma (Buddhism as Ecology) present a non-dualistic view. “Be wise and not narrow-minded in your selfishness” reflects an awareness that self cannot exist without other. We are each part of a larger sense of identity like individual cells within a body.
I agree with the Dalai Lama that “ultimately the decision to save the environment must come from the human heart.” However, as a Shin Buddhist, I disagree with his key point, “a call for a genuine sense of universal responsibility.” For a common man such as myself, I think the key point is a profound sense of humility and gratitude. It is only when the common man, the householder, embraces conservation that effective healing of the global environment can take place. As Householder Buddhism, therefore, I believe Jodo Shinshu has a vital role. Conservation has to be a mass movement and an integral part of the popular consciousness just as Jodo Shinshu has been in Japan. More fundamental than an environmental ethic, we need a conservation instinct and impulse that arises from an intuitive sense of the depth of interdependence.
By adopting a self-effacing mottai-nai perspective and attitude, the impact of humans on our planet would be greatly reduced. Mottai-nai is not stewardship or self-sacrifice. From the very beginning, there is no sense of being divinely appointed managers or giving up what we are entitled to. Because we don’t feel we deserve it, it is not self-sacrifice. The mottai-nai conservation impulse is the same urge that causes us to put our hands together in gassho, bow deeply and say “itadakimasu” and “gochisosama.” This is the attitude of the devout Shin householder. And, since Householder Buddhism has been so overlooked in the west, I wanted to present it here.
Shin Buddhists do not belittle or denounce other religions or forms of Buddhism. But, we enjoy debate in the hope that it will help us deepen our appreciation, resolve contradictions and broaden our horizons. We truly appreciate the fact that there is no failure in Buddhism. Shinran Shonin presents the easy Pure Land Path ,open to everyone, as an alternative to the elitist Path of the Sages. Through Amida Buddha’s Primal Vow, there is a vehicle for eventual enlightenment open to even the worst Buddhist.