Resources available for Zen Buddhist meditation centers in Vermont
Do you know that the self-realization or conviction that everything is intrinsically one, whole, and complete that is central to the Zen Buddhist faith has been a driving force for them to lead by example and address environmental issues?
Zen Buddhist’s belief that all incidents and beings are interconnected, Buddhist thought compels one to treat all living and non-living things with respect; there is not an“Other” and “Self” dichotomy. As one body, care must be given for all. Buddhism also teaches the doctrine of karma, which is the law of cause and effect. Since Buddhists believe in the law of interdependent causality, therefore, they are inspired by their faith to will be careful not to cause pain to minerals, people, animals, plants, or anything embodied in the earth because it will, in turn, be hurting themselves. The five precepts that lay Buddhists observe (in the context of the larger ten) that embody the basic moral principles of Buddhism are largely the rationale or motivation for Zen Buddhist centers to be ecologically-inclined.
The belief in the karmic continuum and these five precepts are Zen Buddhists’ greatest resource to their ecological-mindfulness.
While smaller than many faith communities in Vermont, a number of Buddhist meditation centers in Vermont are at the forefront of environmental consciousness are currently trying to fulfill these aforementioned principles. Several interviewed by Middlebury College students in fall 2004 as part of a project with Vermont Interfaith Power and Light, provide suggestions for ways to do this.
The Green Mountain Dharma Center (for Nuns) in Hartland-Four-Corners follows the tenet that if one does not care for her surrounding environment and all therein (i.e. plants, mineral, animals), the human species cannot be preserved. They try to be conscious of how all actions have after-effects. Thus, they attempt to live as simply as possible to minimize their impact on the Earth by getting an efficient wood-burning furnace, using compact fluorescent light bulbs, recycling, shopping with cloth bags, eating everything on their plates, and using natural cleaning agents.
The Vermont
Zen Center in Shelburne also finds alertness and awareness about the interconnectedness
of humans and the environment central to their faith. As such, issues about
simplistic living and environmental preservation, sometimes specifically about
climate change, often arise in discussion groups. To embody the ideology of
their faith, the center has conducted an expansion that emphasized these environmental
concerns by having efficient radiant heating, compact fluorescent light bulbs,
locally-harvested wood, composting, recycling, and reusable dishware.
See resources for other religious groups:
American
Baptist
Episcopal
Jewish
Roman Catholic
Society of Friends (Quakers)
United Methodist
Unitarian Universalist
Zen Buddhist
Questions or Comments? Contact us!
Interfaith Environmental
Awareness and Action in Vermont:
A
Service Learning Project with Vermont Interfaith Power & Light