Abstract
Science becomes an important perspective in human life. Without science, people are difficult to move forwards and develop their ideas towards quality life. However, religious perspective plays the role in encouraging and guiding people into correct path, especially towards environmental. Therefore, human required development in science and technology, and include the religious perspective in sustaining environmental from destruction.
Keywords: Science, religions, quality, environmental, destruction
Citation of Article:
Hua, A.K. (2016). History and Philosophy of Science: An Analysis. International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 2(1), 21-30.
Introduction
There are many environmental problems. The global problems include the global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer, the deforestation, and the decrease of biodiversity, desertification, acid rain, and the seawater pollution etc. These problems become the biggest task in the world because it means the destruction of the living base of the human race at the present and the near future. Various countermeasures have been taken for the environmental problems. One of the solution is by looking forward on religious perspective on the environment and discuss in the religious consciousness can play a role in creating environmental awareness. Before we enter the main discussion in religious on the environment, the meaning of the environment is ‘environment is the sum total of water, air, and land interrelationships among themselves and also with the human being, other living organisms and property’ (News Age Publisher, 2015). The general meaning of the religious is a collection of belief systems, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to spirituality and sometimes, to moral value (Merriam-Webster Official Portal, 2015). The religious perspectives on the environment can be describe into three main religious, which is Islamic perspective, Buddhism perspective, and Hinduism perspective.
There is some Islamic viewpoint made a relatively insignificant contribution to the subject of the environment. Akbar states that technological progress is responsible for disturbing the equilibrium in nature. He also says that, “The present ecological crisis is an outward manifestation of a crisis of mind and spirit”. He underlines the importance of changing beliefs and traditions so that human beings live responsibly with the rest of the creation. While describing the roots of Islamic environmental ethics, he mentions the principles of unity, trusteeship, and accountability. Chapra traces the ethical foundations for the protection of the environment under the principle of ‘No Injury’. According to this principle, Muslims are prohibited from harming others. He contends that the environmental degradation harms both the present and future generations. Therefore, it is an obligation of an individual and a society to protect it. Husaini provides valuable insight to the understanding of the problem. He believes that Islam is the natural religion of everyone in the universe. A Muslim grows by submitting himself to the will of Allah. The universe has been created as a necessary environment in which recognize the right of all creatures to the environmental resources. He argues that the environmental disruption of any kind must be avoided for two reasons. First, it is an ethical command of Shari’ah and second, it is essential for protecting the public interest and universal common good of all mankind and other ‘people’ of Allah. Llewellyn presents an Islamic legal methodology relating to the use of land, water, vegetation, and animals. He says that the ultimate purpose of sharia is to seek the welfare of the entire creation because each element of this creation serves its ordained role by contributing to the cosmic design and purpose. He claims that all beings are united in aim and benefits the whole universe. He discusses some principles derived from the Quran, Sunnah, and Islamic Fiqh to protect the environment. He opines that appropriates rules can be designed under the principle of ‘No Injury’ to check the environmental degradation. He assigns the task of managing public ownership of scarce resources to the state.
Discussion
From the view points above, we can consider that different forms of environmental hazards as outcomes of the growth process. This can be shown in the example of factories emitting smoke on a massive scale (the burning of oil, gas, and coal in power plant, and in millions of prime movers are releasing billions of tonnes of poisonous gases, including carbon monoxide and various components of nitrogen and sulphur) and industrial waste containing acids and metal is polluting the water, which in-turn causing human disease and also threatening species in the water. The large scale cutting of forests throughout the world is further aggravating air pollution. To overcome various problems towards the environment, Islamic perspective is needed in this section.
The Islamic perspective on the environment rests on the belief that Allah (swt) is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. The whole universe along with all of its factors has been created with perfect wisdom (hikmah). Each factor plays its ordained role. Everything created by Allah has a just purpose which must be fulfilled. Moreover, nothing is permanent; everything exists for a fixed period.
The Holy Quran, says:
“We created not the heavens and the earth and all between them, but for just ends, and for a
term appointed: but those rejecting Faith turn away from that whereof they are warned.”
For the sustenance of His creation, Allah has placed a measured quantity of the environmental resources which matches the total demand of the resources in the universe. This implies the existence of environmental balance in the natural ecosystem. Hence, Islam looks at the environment from the standpoint of balance. It envisions the environmental balance as a part of the universal ‘grand balance’. The Quran describes the notion of the environmental balance in various term like ‘adl’, ‘qadar’ and ‘mouzoon’. The term ‘adl’ literally means acting justly, rightly, or equitably. While explaining the meaning of ‘adl’ is the universe has been created in balanced form. The term of ‘mizaan’, ‘haq’, and ‘qist’ have the same meaning with the ‘adl’. The Quranic term ‘qadar’ gives even more direct meaning of the environmental balance. The literal meaning of ‘qadar’ is a specified measure or amount either of quantities or qualities. This term corroborates the notion of balance in the following ayah:
“Verily all things We have created in proportion and measure.”
The above ayah makes a general statement about the existence of equilibrium in everything. The process of creation and growth of all things follows the principle of balance which referred to as ‘proportion and measure’. Islamic scholar has noted that the balance is maintained through a negative relationship between the rate of reproduction of the organisms and their age. The organisms having an excess rate of reproduction have shorter age. The term ‘mouzoon’ in the notion of environmental balance can be described in the ayah :
“And the earth We have spread out, set therein mountains firm and immovable and produced
therein all kinds of thing in due balance. And We have provided therein means of sustence fir
you and for those whose sustenance you are not responsible.”
According to above ayahs, all kinds of provisions have been made for the sustenance of human and non-human beings in a way that the quantity demanded of these provisions equals their supply. There is no question of relative shortage or surplus in the divine plan regulating these provisions. The plan ensures that an excess demand of a thing by one creation is eliminated by an identical excess supply of the same thing by another creation. Islamic behavior covers all aspects of human life. This life rest on three fundamental principles, which is tawhid, khilafah and al-akhira. The three principles are the conceptual basis of the Islamic life.
Tawhid (Unity) is the foundation of the Islamic faith. It implies that the whole universe is created, controlled and sustained by One Supreme Being. It guides God-man, man-man, and man-universe relationships. This principle provides a Muslim unitary vision. With the help of this vision, he can see that Man and ecosystem are parts of the same universe and both are regulated by the divine law. Environmental protection becomes his religious duty. This principle thus creates moral and religious motivation for environmental protection and security.
Khilafah (Vicegerency) means man is a vicegerent of Allah on earth. 20 Allah has created him to submit to His will in all aspects of life. He has endowed him with moral and physical resources to perform his functions on the earth. Shari’ah enjoins him to make efficient and equitable use of these resources and improve the quality of life.
Al-akhira (Hereafter) is one of the fundamental beliefs of Islam. It implies the Islamic doctrine of accountability, which is wider than the counterpart secular concept of accountability. A Muslim believes that every atom’s weight of good and every atom’s weight of evil will be weighed in al-akhira. This belief broadens his vision. He evaluates the likely impact of his worldly choices in his life in the Hereafter before making decisions. Practically, this belief acts as a monitoring system inside the mind and the heart of a Muslim and thus helps him to do good deeds and avoid bad deeds. Islamic life has strong favorable implications for the environment.
The discussion of Islamic perspective towards the environment show the religious is concern with the environment problem in the human life. However, the Buddhism perspective view of the environment is different with the Islamic perspective. Natural phenomena or nature was considered in early Buddhist teaching as suffering (ku, italic terms in parentheses is a Buddhist term in Japanese), void (kuu), impermanence (mujo) and non-self (muga), and the incomprehensibility of natures transitory state. Moreover, the concept of the nature is not referenced to as an object of attachment, but rather as part of an ascetic training of Buddhism to escape or remove oneself from any devotion to nature as a whole. So, as a result, early Buddhism was basically not interested or focused on the nature in this regard; rather, it accepted that the everlasting truth of nature was its impermanence and natural cycle of destruction and formation.
In Mahayana Buddhism, is acknowledges nature in parallel to previously early Buddhism, it also recognizes the environment as essential to life. There are two concepts, the application of the Non-Duality of Life and its Environment (e-sho-funi) and the Origination in Dependence (engi) are commonly referred to. The Non-Duality of Life and its Environment is the concept that life and its environment are two distinct phenomena but non-dual in their fundamental essence. The concept of Origination in Dependence indicates that an entity does not exist and induce independently, but that every entity due to its relations with or conditions pertaining to other entities. The essence of this concept recognizes the value of nature and the environment. These concepts from Mahayana Buddhism properly evaluate the environment as part of a balanced system. Because the destruction of the environment is interconnected to personal destruction by the Non-Duality of Life and its Environment, preventing environmental destruction becomes critical. In Mahayana Buddhism explains that the eighth alaya-conscious (alayashiki) in the realm of the human’s deep consciousness is connected to the physical world, i.e. mountains, rivers, the Earth, etc. So, the ruination of the environment will affect the human’s deep consciousness; and this show that Mahayana Buddhism is pointed to deeper relationship, beyond consciousness between the human existence and the nature surrounding.
Environmental destruction and pollution cause biological extinction and deteriorate the ecosystem as a whole. This process, in turn infringes the spirit of a Bodhisattva’s compassion towards all living things from the viewpoint of the Origination in Dependence which attaches importance to every relationship. Thus, the actual destruction and pollution of the environment becomes a goal for Bodhisattva’s to overcome. Human desire of material things is a necessary condition for the maintenance and the development of the socioeconomic system in society. Thus, environmental problems are not an appearance of negative or evil passions and desires (bonno), but also causation and a manifestation of amplifying negative passions. It is necessary in the theoretical way of the practicing Bodhisattva to overcome negative passions and to change the socioeconomic system in motion that further fuels negative and evil passions.
Hinduism religion also concern on the environment. The principle of the life in Hinduism religion represents God has absolute sovereignty over all creatures, thus human beings have no dominion over their own lives or non-human life. Consequently, humanity cannot act as a viceroy of God over the planet nor assign degrees of relative worth to other species. The idea of the Divine Being as the one underlying power of unity is beautifully expressed in the Yajurveda:
“The loving sage beholds that Being, hidden in mystery,
wherein the universe comes to have one home;
Therein unites and therefrom emanates the whole;
The Omnipresent One pervades souls and matter like wrap
and weft in created beings (Yajurveda 2.8)
The sacredness of God’s creation means no damage may be inflicted no other species without adequate justification. Therefore, all life, human and non-human, are of equal value. According to the Atharvaveda, the earth is not for human beings alone, but for other creatures as well:
Born of Thee, on Thee move mortal creatures;
Thou barest them – the biped and the quadruped;
Thine, O earth, are the five races of men, for whom
Surya (Sun), as he rises spreads with his rays
the light that is immortal (Atharvaveda 12.1-15)
From the view above, show that Hinduism is concern for the environment and there are some principles that need humanity to follow, which is:
(1) Pancha Mahabhutas (The five great elements) create a web of life that is shown forth in the structure and interconnectedness of the cosmos and the human body.
-Hinduism teaches that the five great elements (space, air, fire, water, and earth) that constitute the environment are all derived from prakriti, the primal energy. Each of these elements has its own life and forms; together the elements are interconnected and interdependent. The Upanishads explains the interdependence of these elements in relation to Brahman, the supreme reality, from which they arise: “From Brahman arises space, from space arises air, from air arises fire, from fire arises water, and from water arises earth.”
-Hinduism recognizes that the human body is composed of and related to these five elements, and connects each of the elements to one of the five senses. The human nose is related to earth, tongue to water, eyes to fire, skin to air, and ears to space. This bond between our senses and the elements is the foundation of our human relationship with the natural world. For Hinduism, nature and the environment are not outside us, not alien or hostile to us. They are an inseparable part of our existence, and they constitute our bodies.
(2) Ishavasyam – Divinity is omnipresent and takes infinite forms.
-Hindus worship and accept the presence of God in nature. For example, many Hindus think of India’s mighty rivers – such as the Ganges – as Goddesses. In the Mahabharata, it is noted that the universe and every object in it has been created as an abode of the Supreme God meant for the benefit of all, implying that individual species should enjoy their role within a larger system, in relationship with other species.
(3) Protecting the environment is part of Dharma
-Dharma, one of the most important Hindu concepts, has been translated into English as duty, virtue, cosmic order and religion. In Hinduism, protecting the environment is an important expression of Dharma.
-A number of rural Hindu communities such as the Bishnois, Bhils and Swadhyaya have maintained strong communal practices to protect local ecosystems such as forests and water sources. These communities carry out these conservation-oriented practices not as “environmental” acts, but rather as expressions of Dharma. When Bishmois are protecting animals and trees, when Swadhyayis are building Vrikshamandiras (tree temples) and Nirmal Nirs (water harvesting sites) and when Bhils are practicing their rituals in sacred groves, they are simply expressing their reverence for creation according to Hindu teachings, not "restoring the environment." These traditional Indian groups do not see religion, ecology and ethics as separate arenas of life. Instead, they understand it to be part of their Dharma to treat creation with respect.
(4) Our environment actions affect our karma.
-Karma, a central Hindu teaching, holds that each of our actions creates consequences -- good and bad -- which constitute our karma and determine our future fate, including the place we will assume when we are reincarnated in our next life. Moral behavior creates good karma, and our behavior toward the environment has karmic consequences. Because we have free choice, even though we may have harmed the environment in the past, we can choose to protect the environment in the future, replacing environmentally destructive karmic patterns with good ones.
(5) The earth-Devi- is a goddess and our mother and deserves our devotion and protection.
-Many Hindu rituals recognize that human beings benefit from the earth, and offer gratitude and protection in response. Many Hindus touch the floor before getting out of bed every morning and ask Devi to forgive them for trampling on her body. Millions of Hindus create kolamsdaily -- artwork consisting of bits of rice or other food placed at their doorways in the morning. These kolams express Hindu's desire to offer sustenance to the earth, just as the earth sustains themselves. The Chipko movement -- made famous by Chipko women's commitment to "hugging" trees in their community to protect them from clear-cutting by outside interests -- represents a similar devotion to the earth.
(6) Belief in reincarnation supports a sense of interconnectedness of all creation.
-Hindus believe in the cycle of rebirth, wherein every being travels through millions of cycles of birth and rebirth in different forms, depending on their karma from previous lives. So a person may be reincarnated as a person, animal, bird or another part of the wider community of life. Because of this, and because all people are understood to pass through many lives on their pathway to ultimate liberation, reincarnation creates a sense of solidarity between people and all living things.
-Through belief in reincarnation, Hinduism teaches that all species and all parts of the -earth are part of an extended network of relationships connected over the millennia, with each part of this network deserving respect and reverence.
Most of the religious are concerned for the environment, with principles and concepts that human need to follow. The religious consciousness can play an important role in creating the environmental awareness. In the Islamic perspective, Islamic life has strong favorable implication for environmental. There are two aspects of this life, which is environmental consciousness and simplicity. Islamic life is sensitive to the cause of environment. It is based on a set of values that enhance environmental consciousness of the Muslims. An Islamic society produces environmental-friendly behavior which is quite helpful for maintaining the environmental balance.
Islamic teachings attach high importance to cleanliness. Muslims observe cleanliness as a part of their religious duty. The cleanliness generates hygienic conditions in and around the residential premises. The hygienic conditions, apart from protecting the people from many diseases, enhance their physical health and productivity. This in turn promotes the cause of economic growth. The basic environmental elements: water, air, cattle, crops, pasture, and forests occupy vital importance in the Islamic value system. The Quran and sunnah stress on the preservation of both the quantity and quality of these elements. For instance, water has been regarded as a basic source of life. The traditions of the Prophet (pbuh) particularly emphasize the conservation and purification of water. The Prophet (pbuh) directed the Muslims to use less water even at the bank of a flowing stream. He also prohibited urinating in the water and in the holes of animals. This prohibition in fact symbolizes Islamic concern about pollution of critical resources and environmental degradation, in general. Similarly, air as a key element of human life performs many useful functions including purification and fertilization. It brings the blessing of rain which fertilizes the soil. The cattle serve many useful functions for human beings. Likewise, Islamic teachings underscore the importance of growing crops, planting of trees, and raising of gardens. Exhorting the Muslims for these activities, the Prophet (pbuh) said:
“there is no Muslim who plants a tree or sows a field, and a human, bird or
animals eats from it, but it shall be reckoned as charity from him.”
The companions of the Prophet (pbuh) adhering to these values had established friendly relations with the environment. It was out of this affiliation that Abu Bakr (ra) instructed his general, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan, to strictly observe the environmental values even in the enemy territory. He wrote, “Do not cut down a tree, do not abuse a river, do not harm crops and animals, and always be kind and humane to Allah’s creation, even to your enemies”. 30 This instruction reflects the level of importance attached to the environment by the early Muslims and the Islamic state.
From the above discussion, it follows that Islamic teachings increase environmental-sensitivity of an Islamic society. More trees and crops are grown for the benefit of human and non-human beings. In addition, there is a general tendency to avoid creating different forms of pollution and environmental hazards. These efforts favorably affect both the supply and demand sides of the environmental balance.
When looking towards the simplicity context, simplicity is an important feature of Islamic life, having far-reaching implications for the environmental balance. Simplicity occupies key place in the Islamic pattern of social life. The Quran, sunnah and caliphate precedents strongly support leading a simple life. The Holy Quran has ordained such a life by proscribing extravagance. It says:
“Do not be extravagant, surely Allah does not like extravagants.”
The Prophet (pbuh) lived an extremely simple life. Umar (ra) narrates some glimpses of his simplicity after visiting the house of the Prophet (pbuh). He saw a leather pillow filled with date-material under his head and the leaves of trees were spread under his feet. A leather bag was also hanging near his pillow. He saw the marks of the mat on the back of the Prophet (pbuh). Umar (ra) started weeping when he saw this.
The four rightly-guided Caliphs lived very simple life. Abu Bakr (ra) had only two sheets of cloth for his use and ate simple food. Umar (ra) lived an austere life. He had instructed his governors not to ride horses of Arab breed, or eats fine flour, or wears fine clothes or post guards at their residence. Usman (ra), the third Caliph, lived a simple life in spite of being one of the richest persons of Madinah. Similarly, the personal and family life of Ali (ra) was very simple. (The stress on simple living may create the wrong impression that Islam undervalues economic activities. That is not true. On the contrary, Islam favors brisk economic activities and accords high status to those engaged in economic enterprises. It urges a Muslim to seek his share from the bounties of Allah through active efforts. He is under obligation to earn his/her family’s livelihood. The Prophet (pbuh) declared the earning of lawful livelihood as an obligatory duty for every able-bodied person).
As a matter of fact, the Islamic moral system induces every Muslim to work hard. At the same time, it discourages him not to squander his income in any form, particularly on purchase of fashion or luxury goods. In a secular society, the fashion goods are considered to be status symbols. The people buying these good adopt abnormal behavior. It has been found that the demand curve of these goods is positively sloped. The Islamic economy does not encounter such type of abnormality because the demand for fashion and luxury goods is reduced to the mini-mum on account of moral and legal restrictions. The stress on simple living also raises the question of why a person should work more when he needs to spend? But this does not pose a problem. By living a simple life, a Muslim releases some of his income for the spending of others to please Allah. Moreover, he saves to make bequeath. The Prophet (pbuh) said: “It is better that you leave behind you your relatives well off rather than obliged to beg alms of others.”
The environmental implications of simple living are significantly favorable. These implications occur through two channels. The first channel operates through the reduced input demand for the natural resources due to the reduced consumption of the final goods. Consequently, a substantial amount of saving of the natural resources takes place which tends to augment the existing supply of these resources. The second channel controls the quantity of waste material which occurs as a result of reduced consumption. The small amount of waste material reduces the scope for bacterial exposure. This helps improve health conditions and also saves a substantial amount of expenditure incurred on recycling and garbage disposal. Both of these channels thus generate favorable implications for the environmental balance.
When talk about Islamic consciousness on environmental awareness, how can Buddhism help to solve environmental problems? The social revolution that Buddhism suggests is not a radical one but a gradual, sustained revolution. There is a famous sentence by Mahatma Gandhi that Good travels at a snail’s pace. The accomplishment of a social revolution starts from one person and the Human Revolution. In order for individual people to begin acceptance of environmental problems as their own personal concern, education becomes vital. Only education can provide the driving force for such a renewal of awareness where environmental problems become personal problems. Three aspects are essential for environmental education;
1) Deepening Our Understanding and Awareness of The Environment;
2) Re-Examining Our Current Life Styles and Sustainability;
3) Taking Personal Responsibility and The Empowerment of The People.
These aspects are basic steps towards sustainable development and critical for environmental education. These three points states out with the respect to Buddhism.
(1) To learn and deepen our awareness of environmental problems and realities
It is important to deepen our understanding and awareness of environmental problems. Currently, modern natural and social science research provides sufficient explanations pertaining to natural occurrences and predications of environmental problems. From a Buddhist perspective, it is sufficient to leave the research to scientists. Buddhism, on the other hand, is not particularly concerned with environmental issues from a scientific perspective, rather, Buddhist philosophy proposes unique perspectives to the root causes of environmental problems by concepts such as the Non-Duality of Life and its Environment (e-sho-funi) and the Origination in Dependence (engi) as mentioned before. Here, we would like to discuss how the concepts of Origination in Dependence and the Five Defilements (go-joku) apply to the perspective of time from the perspective of Buddhism.
In Buddhist thought, recognizing the occurrence of any phenomena is first justified by the doctrine of Origination in Dependence where everything is somehow connected. Therefore, the key principles for maintaining our world are inherently linked to bio-diversity and symbiosis in nature. This mutualism is suitably expressed in the simile of Indra’s Net describing the aspect of “arising from causation (engi)” in the Huayan or Flower Garland Sutra (kegon-kyo) in Buddhist literature. The simile describes a great net that hangs in the palace of Indra, the God of Thunder. The net has countless joints or knots adorned with jewels in a beautifully complex mesh. Each of these jewels clearly reflects all the other jewels in the net, so that every part of the net reflects all other parts. The knots of the net express each living entity, and the net is stabilized so that the relation is complicated. The reason each link or knot is expressed as a jewel implies that each living entity has value beyond imagination, and projecting other jewels signifies the mutual respect and deep relationship each living entity has towards one another. But, if parts of the net are cut out or a jewel is removed, the stability of the mesh will be lost. It is said that the mesh of the net is so complex that it would extremely difficult to pinpoint the area that has been cut or removed, and even more difficult to determine where the next break may occur which would eventually bring the entire net down. This parable correctly explains the process of environmental degradation and collapse of an ecosystem. At present, we often overlook the impact of the extinction of a few small animals in nature. However, the simile of the sutra suggests that it is very difficult to predict where and how the potential extinction will influence the ecosystem in the future. Further, we are forewarned that the entire ecosystem could collapse by the destruction of one link. The parable distinctly reveals the meaning of the concept, “arising from causation.”
In Buddhism there is also the concept of the Five Defilements (gojoku) that elucidates the perspective of time and civilizations. Environmental problems in general can be attributed to an aspect equivalent to the defilement (impurity) of the period (ko-joku). The Five Defilements
(go-joku) consists of the Defilement of Period (ko-joku), the Defilement of View (ken-joku: impurity of thought), the Defilement of Evil Passions (bonno-joku: impurity in instinctive greed, anger and stupidity), the Defilement of Sentient Beings (shujo-joku: increase of sufferings as a result of the defilements of view and evil passions) and the Defilement of Life (myo-joku: weakness of life force and shortening of longevity of living beings). In the Hokke Mongu (Volume 4), T’ient-t’ai describes that the Defilements of Evil Passions and the Defilements of Views are fundamental principles of life. He also mentions that the root cause of the Defilement of Period (ko-joku) stems from the Defilement of Evil Passions and the Defilement of View, which subsequently leads to the Defilement of Life and of Sentient Beings.
Society becomes intensely greedy where the present civilization recklessly consumes all natural resources; those who consume faster, make more money and are considered successful. As Gandhi pointed out, “Earth provides enough to satisfy everybody’s need, but not everybody’s greed.” The other causation of environmental problems is the devotion to the self (ga), i.e. devotion to material things and devotion to the false view (akken), which is thought to be connected to happiness. This is another way to explain the Defilement of View (ken-joku). Supporting this concept, Gandhi refutes the machine-civilization describing, “What I object to, is the craze for machinery, not machinery as such.” He does not argue against technological advancement in machines per say, but refutes the allegiance to machines and the false ideology connected to the satisfaction generated by machines.
(2) Re-Examining Our Current Life Styles and Sustainability
When we deepen our understanding and awareness of the environment and causation of environmental problems, we begin to not only re-examine our daily life styles but also cultivate ethical values and a sense of responsibility towards nature, other people and future generations. What we attempting to discuss in this section is how two fundamental principles in Buddhism, the wisdom of the Dependence in Origination and the wisdom of the middle way, offer an ethical framework that can be used to arrive at a solution for environmental problems. An understanding of the functionality and workings of these two concepts should work as a driving force to expand and educate fundamental Buddhist precepts for maintaining a balanced environment.
We must consider how to sustain the capture of wildlife (hunting) and forest degradation (deforestation) for cultures that depend on these actions to survive. This paradox for some remote cultures corresponds to the Buddhist concept of conducting environmental degradation with justifiable “reason” versus “intentionally (without reason).” Moreover, according to the ethics of the Buddhist middle way, the destruction and capturing of living things is acceptable as long as the creative potential of an ecosystem is not destroyed. However, in order to secure the protection of ecosystems it is important to have reliable surveillance and management systems put in place.
The wisdom and ethics of Buddhism should also augment the ethical norm. This is what is meant by keeping the precepts. In this paper, we will describe the precepts of “not killing” and “not stealing” from the viewpoints of environmental problems. Buddhism forbids “killing” and “stealing,” because killing any living entity itself is an offense against the precepts of not killing, and stealing natural resources and habitats from ecosystems or by exploitation from developing countries is also an offense against the precept of not stealing. However, precepts in Buddhism are not absolute. The Brahma-net Sutra propounds on the First Major Precept on Killing,13 “He should not intentionally kill any living creature,” and on the Second Major Precept on Stealing14 states, “He should not intentionally steal any valuables or possessions and even those belonging to a needle or a blade of grass.” These precepts forbid killing and stealing without apparent reason “intentionally” in the both precepts.
In Buddhism, eating a living entity is equivalent to stealing the body of the living entity. But since this is the minimum requirement for supporting human life, the condition of “without reason” or “intentionally” attached to the precepts of “not killing” and “not stealing” need not apply here. Therefore, in principle, a code of conduct in Buddhism is maintaining the precepts of “not killing” and “not stealing” except when necessary for supporting human life. The ethical norm in this logic is based on wisdom from the concept of Dependence in Origination and the Buddhist middle way. In addition, the precepts of “not killing” and “not stealing” in Buddhism are similar in meaning as of Ahimsa (non-violence) and Asteya (non-stealing) in the eleven vows of Gandhi.
(3) Taking Personal Responsibility and The Empowerment of The People
An important point for resolving environmental problems and applying Buddhism to education is the action of taking personal responsibility with concrete action toward a solution, and critical to simultaneously give “courage” and “power” to other people and society to act in the same manner. We should take action to resolve environmental problems utilizing the way of the Bodhisattva. The basic spirit of a Bodhisattva is to put on the “Buddha’s clothes (nyorai-no-koromo),” to sit on the “Buddha’s seat (nyorai-no-za)” and to enter the “Buddha’s room (nyorai-nositsu)” in the three rules for propagating sutras (gukyo-no-sanki), chapter ten of the Hossi-bon in the Lotus Sutra.
Putting on the “Buddha’s clothes,” sitting on the “Buddha’s seat” and entering in the “Buddha’s room” respectively mean maintaining patience (ninniku), meditation on intangible phenomena (kuu) and having compassion (jihi) for others. Here, maintaining patience (ninniku) means ceaselessly confronting negative or evil passions (bonno), practicing to preach the Buddhist doctrine at the risk of ones life (practicing of Fushaku-shinmyo) and enduring any shame. Moreover, meditation on intangible phenomena (kuu) indicates the wisdom of Buddism expressed in the thought that “all things of this world are non-substantial,” which can be linked to the theory of Origination in Dependence, where admitting the mutual relation of the two as inseparable. The last is compassion to give easiness to all living beings and to extract their suffering.
Since we have discuss the Buddhism consciousness on the environmental awareness, the Hinduism also have the role in the environmental awareness. In Hinduism, there are two ways, which is Sanyasa (asceticism) represent a path to liberation and is good for the earth and Gandhi is a role model for simple living.
In Sanyasa (asceticism) represents a path to liberation and is good for the earth, Hinduism teaches that asceticism (restraint in consumption and simplicity in living) represents a pathway toward moksha (liberation), which treats the earth with respect. A well-known Hindu teaching --Tain tyakten bhunjitha -- has been translated, "Take what you need for your sustenance without a sense of entitlement or ownership." Besides, Gandhi's entire life can be seen as an ecological treatise. This is one life in which every minute act, emotion or thought functioned much like an ecosystem: his small meals of nuts and fruits, his morning ablutions and everyday bodily practices, his periodic observances of silence, his morning walks, his cultivation of the small as much as of the big, his spinning wheel, his abhorrence of waste, his resorting to basic Hindu and Jain values of truth, nonviolence, celibacy and fasting. The moralists, nonviolent activists, feminists, journalists, social reformers, trade union leaders, peasants, prohibitionists, nature-cure lovers, renouncers and environmentalists all take their inspirations from Gandhi's life and writings.
Conclusion
Conclusion, human population increase will cause the demand towards environment is increase. So, to sustain the environment, policy and law is not the last answer to keep the environment, but also need the religious as a role in creating environmental awareness.
References
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