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Public Talk in Denver - Our Environment - Touching the Gift of Life
Breathing in, I feel alive; breathing out, I smile to life in me and around me. Mind and body rely on each other—without mind, the body is a corpse—and the practice of Buddhist meditation trains us to bring mind consciousness (mano-vijñāna) back from autopilot store consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) into every moment—breathing, walking, eating, drinking—so that body and mind are truly present, and life manifests fully. Our actions—thoughts, speech, and deeds—are karma: compassion, forgiveness, loving-kindness bring healing to ourselves and the world; fear, anger, and despair bring harm.
Mind and body “inter-are,” and nothing is born from nothing or dies into nothing—their true nature is no birth, no death. Our continuation manifests in two aspects of retribution:
- the five skandhas—form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness
- the environment, which is also shaped by our actions
We must transcend dualities—body and mind, in-here and out-there—by looking deeply into impermanence and taking care of both our inner seeds (bīja) and the social and natural environment that waters them. Appropriate attention (yoniso manaskāra) arises when our environment supports mindfulness and joy rather than fear and craving.
US agriculture’s impact on land, water, pollution, deforestation, and resources:
- Land: 87 % of US agricultural land raises animals for food—45 % of national landmass
- Water: over half of US water goes to animal agriculture; 2,500 gal to produce one pound of meat vs. 25 gal for a pound of wheat
- Pollution: livestock excrete 130 times the waste of the entire US human population (97,000 lbs/sec), much contaminating waterways
- Deforestation: 260 million acres cleared to grow feed crops; one acre lost every eight seconds; 55 sq ft of rainforest per quarter-pound burger
- Resources: animals consume over 80 % of US corn and 95 % of oats; the world’s cattle eat food equating to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people
