Introduction
Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice – an introduction
Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice
“Just as we get sick physically, the Earth is sick too. When people are sick, they need to be treated and saved. When the Earth is sick, it also needs everyone to care of it and save it. To save the Earth, we must begin with environmental preservation. On
the other hand, protection of nature depends on humanity to self-awaken, which also starts with preservation of the spiritual environment”
– Venerable Master Hsing Yun, 2010
What is it?
The Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice (SEPP) is a plan for sustainability, a journey towards a viable way for human beings to live on planet earth, and a way to address the modern crises. It contains eight practice areas or ingredients required to take up this viable way of living. These are; setting out; keeping on; foundations; creativity; propagate; travel; equip; and community. The eight work together to support us to practice our spiritual path while actively engaging with environmental preservation.. We can see similarities with Venerable Xuan Zang, the Tang Dynasty monk who took the perilous and difficult journey from China to India. He had the vision to start off, the vow to continue against odds, the spiritual wellspring of Dharma to draw from, the flexibility to adapt on the journey, the support of community, all of which contributed to him completing the journey. Like Venerable Xuan Zang, we too must use the eight ingredients to navigate our modern-day journey of sustainability.
The Situation
On the one hand there is the modern crises. On the other, there are ways of viable living. These exist side-by-side, but apart from one another. The modern crises comprise such phenomena as; global warming, inequality, pollution, social isolation, land degradation. This is where we use what we want without heeding the consequences of our actions, short term or
Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice – an introduction
long term. Respect for all life is minimal. In contrast, viable ways of living encompass things like; spirituality, renewable energy, for Benefit Corporations, regenerative land use, and you can think of many more. At this time, the modern crises dominate. They arose from the current global systems that operate from an ego-driven, self-centred societal base, from working in isolation, from grasping for unlimited wealth and power and from ignoring the problems at hand. The effects of these crises make it plain that we are heading for an unliveable situation. The SEPP and its viable practice-concepts must become the new normal.
In addition to what is happening in the world, there is also the situation that is happening within us. On the one side it is how we feel about the crises, how we are affected by the crises. There can be grief, helplessness, despair, shutting out or anger. This can affect our capability to engage. On the other side, looking at the viable way of living, we can feel hope, optimism, have faith and be encouraged. Our emotion and thought shift between these two frames of mind. A bit of a roller coaster ride!
What Could Be
Utilising the viable ways of living that are currently available, we can keep the planet liveable. The spiritual aspect of the SEPP practice-concept was inspired by the talk ‘Spiritual and Environmental Preservation’ (Venerable Hsing Yun, 2010). The relationship between the spiritual and the environment is clearly laid out in this talk. As Venerable Hsing Yun says, “The purity of the mind is the greatest environmental preservation because Buddhism believes the establishment of the notion of environmental preservation should start from the human mind.” In addition, he imparts the spiritual message that we should say “I am a Buddha”. Explaining that, “Not only is “I am a buddha” helpful for oneself, because of “I am a buddha,” I will treat others and the world’s myriad phenomenon with compassion, and cherish it. This is spiritual preservation, which is saving the Earth” (Venerable Hsing Yun, 2010).
With the environmental aspect, we see that the 99% of what is needed to address the modern crises is at hand, ready to go, ready to be employed, with more successful initiatives being added day by day. The Global Opportunity Explorer directory shows an example of this (GOE, 2019). The 1% that is needed to activate the 99% can be found in the SEPP. In other words the causes and conditions required for viable living are at our disposal if we care to foster them through the SEPP. Thus, amongst many other initiatives, this SEPP is a path to actualising this sustainable viable way of living on the planet.
Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice – an introduction
Getting From Here To There – The Practice
This is the 1% that needs to be activated. This is the ‘how to’. The shifting from non-viable ways of living to viable ways of living, requires us to change.
Of course, there are many people, organisations and initiatives that are participating in this 1% already. No doubt you are participating in this in many ways at the moment. It may be through recycling, having solar panels on your roof, buying certified organic, going meat free some or all of the time. But, don’t we know in our hearts that there is more to be done? More, by more people. Deeper by more people. Shifting our consciousness, our capabilities, our heart. The SEPP is a pathway to travel on this journey from here to there. It is practised unashamedly from a spiritual wellspring: a spirituality inseparable from our earthly life.
As a practice, the SEPP assists us to align our actions with our intent, supports us in our efforts, motivates us to persist, emphasises a spiritual practice in everyday life, gives us confidence that our efforts will bear fruit, navigates obstacles, provides a foundation of
ethics, equips us for the journey. All in all, it creates the conditions for action. It examines how the 99% can be raised into action. It helps us come to terms with the rollercoaster of emotion and mindset. So whilst acknowledging our feelings about the crises, we are able to go forth with Dharma joy to bring the 99% to fruition.
Eight Ingredients to the SEPP
The SEPP practice-concept must be exercised continuously. It takes time to learn, to form new patterns, to put into action. A practice keeps the causes and conditions humming along in order to produce the result. The following are brief descriptions of each of the eight ingredients in the SEPP practice-concept.
Setting out
Accomplished by the three Vs, setting out is the start of the practice and fine tunes the starting point for our existing practice. We identify where we want to go. We harmonise our relationship with the modern crises. We level up our intention into a vow. Vision – Visualise the preservation of the pure land on earth.
Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice – an introduction
View – View the modern crises critically. To hold a dharma view of the crises and shift from aversion to having a heartful response to venture forth with. Vow – Make a vow that energises us. Embracing the vision and the view, a wish to address the crises may arise. Transforming the wish into a vow will set a strong foundation for going forth in the practice. As an example, “I Tom, vow to keep the planet liveable for all”.
Keeping on
Attaining the spiritual skill that will allow us to handle the situation of the modern crises and to travel the path with compassion and wisdom. For instance, we may apply the dharma lesson that for every obstacle there is a remedy, or we may simply say prayers.
Foundations
The knowledge and practice of Humanistic Buddhism dharma. This keeps the dharma close to us so we can readily apply it in our spiritual and environmental preservation practice. For instance the practices of, the five precepts: mindfulness; non self; impermanence; the eight fold path; heartfulness; and oneness and co-existence.
Creatively adapt
With circumstances changing we need to adapt and use creativity to adjust what we are doing. The flow of expressed wisdom and creativity is a natural talent of humans and can be fostered through practice. We can access this through practices like presencing (Scharmer, 2007). With presencing, a mindfulness technique, we can sense the future as it emerges and co-create and actualise the viable ways of living. We can adapt to the modern crises by responding to shifts like artificial intelligence or climate change. We can adapt the SEPP path to respond appropriately.
Propagate
By engaging others we gain the benefits of working as a community. For instance, we can use initiatives like Turning Points Stories (Turning Points, 2019) to attract others to participate, hold study groups, or create online programs.
Travel
Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice – an introduction
Oh finally we get to do something! This is the action part. The SEPP fosters the causes and conditions for us to actualise the pure land, the viable way of living and to live in symbiosis with the planet. This encompasses such practices as measuring our sustainability actions, determining right action and right livelihood, addressing consumerism in our day to day life, advocating for change, or co-creating and participating in sustainability projects .
Equip
Equip ourselves for the journey so that we have the skills, the energy, the knowledge. This means being healthy, meditating, having faith, building competencies and capabilities, studying alternatives, amongst other things.
Community
As a community we can put things into action that we couldn’t do individually. It is to provide support, to be neighbourly, to communicate heartfully and to be organised.
When to Enact the Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice
“If we do not wish to become refugees of climate and environmental changes, the most urgent task for humanity right now would be to ensure that environmental and spiritual preservation are well-practiced.” – Ven. Master Hsing Yun, 2010.
Taking action is, at times, easy to put off. However, compassion and wisdom knows no delay. Being proactive, based on the evidence available and the information we receive every day, empowers us to take action now!
In Conclusion
“Not only is the 21st century the era of environmentalism, it will also be a beautiful era of purified minds.” Ven. Master Hsing Yun,2010.
I once asked Venerable Master Hsing Yun, “how can I best explain what Buddhism is about to people?”. I was expecting a long complicated answer. He said, “Do no evil, do all good, and purify the mind”. The practise of Spiritual and Environmental Preservation fulfils this
Spiritual and Environmental Preservation Practice – an introduction
advice. The SEPP gives us the confidence to play our part in healing the modern crises and in contributing in a meaningful way to the pure land of viable living for humans.
In a proactive way it applies care to my family, my self, the community and the planet. It provides an effective way of consolidating our efforts as we work together in community
right here right now.
Spiritual and Environmental CoP 