ECODHARMA: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis
Book Review
David Loy is one of our most prolific, profound and all-encompassing writers about Zen Buddhism and its import for taking care of ourselves and our world today. In his latest book, ECODHARMA: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis,” Loy gives laser-point focus to the imperative for taking action on behalf of the immanent climate crisis.
The central thesis of the book is not merely that Buddhist teachings have something to say about climate change. That is, as he puts it, the mere tip of the iceberg. For Loy, a careful reading of those teachings takes us not only into the ecology crisis, but into the entire intersectional panoply of “environmental issues with social justice concerns such as racism, ethnicity, gender, neocolonialism and class.”
In other words, Loy takes the Four Vows of the Bodhisattva with utmost sincerity, indeed, with passion!
He is upfront with the seriousness of the current state of affairs in the world. The title of his Introduction is “On a precipice?” where he immediately plunges us into a careful reading of the term “apocalypse” as “uncovering,” in this case, “revealing the ominous consequences of what we have been doing to the earth and to ourselves. He goes on: “’global warming’ is only part of a much larger environmental and social crisis that compels us to reflect on the values and direction of our now global civilization…Recently it has become clearer that the ecological problems and the inequities and hierarchical structures of most human societies, are not separate issues...the ecological crisis is something more than a technological problem, or even an economic problem or a political problem. It is also a collective spiritual crisis, and a potential turning point in our history.”
The formula for making the needed changes, according to Loy, are “practicing in the natural world, exploring the eco-implications of Buddhist teachings, and embodying that understanding in the eco-activism that is needed today.”
Loy’s ECODHARMA, more than most of his previous books, is sprinkled throughout with pithy, memorable quotes, which he urges us to tuck away in our minds for ongoing recall. He also has four appendices that contain eminently succinct formulations of both the problem and the cure, and a final appendix that describes where Loy has manifested the principles he just spent 200 pages articulating: The Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center in Colorado (currently open for ecological practitioners to embody his first recommendation of practicing in nature).
As I thumb through the pages I have read in ECODHARMA, I see that I followed my usual mode of reading that I learned years ago from Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book: I underline the important points. As I did so in this book, I see that I underlined almost everything! There are no frills, no unnecessary words or phrases. This is not a leisure read: it is a manual for deepening our understanding and taking appropriate action. It is wholeheartedly engaging, whole body and mind, on and after being on, the zafu.
He once again plumbs into the depths of the meaning of Buddha dharma to expand our understanding of the relevance of fundamental Buddhist thought to contemporary issues. Taking the ecological crisis as a starting point, he not only makes the connection to Buddhist teachings, but through the same teachings, expands our understanding of the ecological crisis to encompass the plethora of interconnected social justice and peace issues termed intersectionality.
The central thesis of the book is not merely that Buddhist teachings have something to say about climate change. That is, as he puts it, the mere tip of the iceberg. For Loy, a careful reading of those teachings takes us not only into the ecology crisis, but into the entire intersectional panoply of “environmental issues with social justice concerns such as racism, ethnicity, gender, neocolonialism and class.”
In other words, Loy takes the Four Vows of the Bodhisattva with utmost sincerity, indeed, with passion!
He is upfront with the seriousness of the current state of affairs in the world. The title of his Introduction is “On a precipice?” where he immediately plunges us into a careful reading of the term “apocalypse” as “uncovering,” in this case, “revealing the ominous consequences of what we have been doing to the earth and to ourselves. He goes on: “’global warming’ is only part of a much larger environmental and social crisis that compels us to reflect on the values and direction of our now global civilization…Recently it has become clearer that the ecological problems and the inequities and hierarchical structures of most human societies, are not separate issues...the ecological crisis is something more than a technological problem, or even an economic problem or a political problem. It is also a collective spiritual crisis, and a potential turning point in our history.”
The formula for making the needed changes, according to Loy, are “practicing in the natural world, exploring the eco-implications of Buddhist teachings, and embodying that understanding in the eco-activism that is needed today.”
Loy’s ECODHARMA, more than most of his previous books, is sprinkled throughout with pithy, memorable quotes, which he urges us to tuck away in our minds for ongoing recall. He also has four appendices that contain eminently succinct formulations of both the problem and the cure, and a final appendix that describes where Loy has manifested the principles he just spent 200 pages articulating: The Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center in Colorado (currently open for ecological practitioners to embody his first recommendation of practicing in nature).
As I thumb through the pages I have read in ECODHARMA, I see that I followed my usual mode of reading that I learned years ago from Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book: I underline the important points. As I did so in this book, I see that I underlined almost everything! There are no frills, no unnecessary words or phrases. This is not a leisure read: it is a manual for deepening our understanding and taking appropriate action. It is wholeheartedly engaging, whole body and mind, on and after being on, the zafu.
He once again plumbs into the depths of the meaning of Buddha dharma to expand our understanding of the relevance of fundamental Buddhist thought to contemporary issues. Taking the ecological crisis as a starting point, he not only makes the connection to Buddhist teachings, but through the same teachings, expands our understanding of the ecological crisis to encompass the plethora of interconnected social justice and peace issues termed intersectionality.
