Mouma Jash
Volume-XIII, Issue-III, April 2025 > Volume-XIII, Issue-IV, July 2025
Volume-XIII, Issue-IV, July 2025 |
Received: 16.07.2025 | Accepted: 18.07.2025 | ||||
Published Online: 31.07.2025 | Page No: 124-132 | ||||
DOI: 10.64031/pratidhwanitheecho.vol.13.issue.04W.013 | |||||
The Middle Path to Sustainability: Buddhism and the Environmental Crisis Mouma Jash, Independent Research Scholar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
This paper considers the ways that Buddhism, through important principles of Buddhist thought could help contribute to the resolution of the contemporary environmental crisis. For instance, while some firmly believe that nature is for enhancing human enjoyment via the laws of nature as resources, (Buddhism) cultivate an understanding of interdependence with nature and extending compassion to all living things through its mindful living. These ideas evolve from basic foundational aspects, such as, ÐPratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination), Ahimsa (non-violence), karma, and the Middle Way which are helpful to understand of ecological or environmental responsibility from a Buddhist perspective, therefore creating a more balanced relation with the planet as such. In contrast it rejects all dominant perspectives that claim that humans are more important than nature. That is to say, while Buddhism offers a complexly interrelated view of the world that promotes ethical living and care about all beings. The paper investigates examples of these principles turned into actions, including voluntary simplicity, mindful consumption, and spiritual activism. Emphasis will be placed on examples of recent Buddhist movements such as Engaged Buddhism, and forest monasticism that demonstrate how ecological ethics of responsibility become a lived practice. A Buddhist perspective offers a non-anthropocentric way of thinking to sustainability; and one that offers an opportunity for a deeper, more lasting ecological transformation, compared to other religions who have done so. | ||
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