Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the world’s leading spiritual teachers, is a man at great peace even as he predicts the possible collapse of civilisation within 100 years as a result of runaway climate change.
The 86-year-old Vietnamese monk, who has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, believes the reason most people are not responding to the threat of global warming, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, is that they are unable to save themselves from their own personal suffering, never mind worry about the plight of Mother Earth.
Thay, as he is known, says it is possible to be at peace if you pierce through our false reality, which is based on the idea of life and death, to touch the ultimate dimension in Buddhist thinking, in which energy cannot be created or destroyed.
By recognising the inter-connectedness of all life, we can move beyond the idea that we are separate selves and expand our compassion and love in such a way that we take action to protect the Earth.
Look beyond fear
In Thay’s new book, “Fear” he writes about how people spend much of their lives worrying about getting ill, ageing and losing the things they treasure most, despite the obvious fact that one day they will have to let them all go.
When we understand that we are more than our physical bodies, that we didn’t come from nothingness and will not disappear into nothingness, we are liberated from fear, he says; fearlessness is not only possible but the ultimate joy.
“Our perception of time may help,” Thay told me in his modest home in Plum Village monastery near Bordeaux. “For us it is very alarming and urgent, but for Mother Earth, if she suffers she knows she has the power to heal herself even if it takes 100m years. We think our time on earth is only 100 years, which is why we are impatient. The collective karma and ignorance of our race, the collective anger and violence will lead to our destruction and we have to learn to accept that.
“And maybe Mother Earth will produce a great being sometime in the next decade … We don’t know and we cannot predict. Mother Earth is very talented. She has produced Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great beings.
“So take refuge in Mother Earth and surrender to her and ask her to heal us, to help us. And we have to accept that the worst can happen; that most of us will die as a species and many other species will die also and Mother Earth will be capable after maybe a few million years to bring us out again and this time wiser.”
Excerpted from the Guardian On Line with thanks
Amazing photos of our beautiful home, Earth.
A very thoughtful post and interesting comments. I agree – no Plan B and when you see the news today that we have wiped out half of wildlife in the last 40 years because of our non-sustainable lifestyles it is very depressing! We must hope beyond fear for positive change soon!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29418983
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thanks for the comment. Eve 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Hunt FOR Truth and commented:
Look beyond fear
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I have no faith that the world’s political systems and their leaders will do what is necessary to prevent a global environmental crisis. For just so long as the corporates fund, manipulate and ultimately determine the policies of governments, then such a crisis is not so much a potential threat, but an assured inevitability.
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Yes, i agree. There is no real change in the world regarding large corps, big business, and the oil industry. Oil is still king! I just cannot understand what sort of human beings would not be concerned, and would not want change. I once heard this little big of wisdom from a naturalist, he said: “When the Titanic went down, it took the first class passengers down with it, as well as steerage. I believe he is right. The elite are not going to survive this, as there is no Planet B to fly off to.
thanks for your comment… Eve
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‘. . . there is no Planet B to fly off to.’
I think that’s why the elites are all buying giant yachts and private islands Eve. You’re right though, they’re still not going to be safe; (wo)man cannot live on caviar alone. And besides, when everything starts to collapse, there’s going to be a lot of people to answer to, and they aren’t going to be happy people either. . .
Hariod. ❤
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hey, we noticed the yatchs – hah ha! also good for tax evasion as well.. Private islands most likely would be low and at sea level, so not safe. I noticed Obama has put extra land aside on the island of Hawaii – his future home, so he is looking after his own back garden.. I wonder often where these dark souls come from, and will they ever be allowed to reincarnate again on the Earth? – any thoughts? Eve
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I can’t say anything helpful about religious cosmology Eve; though I am to some extent familiar with such Buddhist conceptions. All I recognise experientially is that consciousness is conditioned, and so if one is not a philosophical Physicalist or Hard Materialist, then the dissolution of the body need not necessarily cause an interruption to that same conditioning. Those identical parameters apply for me with respect to moral cause and effect of course. Consequently, it’s best to lead a morally virtuous life, because you never know . . . 😉
Hariod. ❤
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hmm. i won’t walk on the wild side, just in case. 😉
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