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Green Buddhism: Practice and Compassionate Action in Uncertain Times
At a time of growing environmental crisis, a pioneer of Green Buddhist thought offers challenging and illuminating perspectives.With species rapidly disappearing and global temperatures rising, there is more urgency than ever to act on the ecological crises we face. Hundreds of millions of people around the world—including unprecedented numbers of Westerners—now practice Buddhism. Can Buddhists be a critical voice in the green conversation? Leading Buddhist environmentalist Stephanie Kaza has spent her career exploring the intersection of religion and ecology. With so much at stake, she offers guidance on how people and communities can draw on Buddhist concepts and practices to live more sustainable lives on our one and only home.
263 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 12, 2019
24 people are currently reading
311 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 11, 2019
Green Buddhism is a good book in Buddhism and sustainable living. The climate is changing and the ecosystem is being destroyed at such a fast pace. I would recommend this to my friends to read.
March 10, 2021
Green Buddhism: Practice and Compassionate Action in Uncertain Times by Stephanie Kaza is an amazing book about Buddhist practices and the environment. The author is a professor emerita of environmental studies at the University of Vermont and her book reflects her passion, enthusiasm, and suggestions for taking Buddhist principles and applying them to climate change.
Her book is amazing because it is more than a conversation about how, for example, the Buddhist concept of global interdependence can be used to arouse the concern for reduced biodiversity and the health of the environment. Instead, the book is infused with her own experiences as a Buddhist that convinced me of her sincerity and realistic approach to her Buddhist practices and the environment. As she states in her Introduction: “For me, green Buddhism has been a practice field for personal insight and social activism, as well as intellectual engagement.”
Kaza’s book is divided into three sections and also includes information about other leading Buddhists who have impacted her thinking and practice:
Part One: Intimate Relations
Part Two: Envisioning Green Buddhism
Part Three: Acting with Compassion
With each section, my understanding of how Buddhism and its practices (ex. mindfulness and compassion) began to build, chapter by chapter. By the time I was reading Part Three, Chapter 17, I was hooked. In this chapter entitled, “Acting with Compassion: Buddhism, Feminism, and The Environmental Crisis,” I was on board with her explanation of how the “feminist compassionate has long been addressed by Buddhists of many cultures to relieve human sickness, grief, and poverty of the spirit.”
She links this feminist compassion to addressing “the current sweep of environmental destruction.” At the same time, she acknowledges that Buddhism, for the most part, is transmitted through patriarchal cultures, weakening the support for concerns over ecological devastation and interdependence and thereby missing the link between oppression of women and our environment. Male socialization development leans on rules of justice and individual rights, while the female model “supports an environmental ethic of care and responsibility.”
This book has given me a wider berth to explore my own desire and (com)passion to be part of the solution to Mother Earth’s devastation and I believe that women are the key (also explained by Jane Fonda’s new book, “What Can I Do?”), because of our inherent nurturing and need for cooperation and the recognition of our interdependence.
You don’t have to be a Buddhist to adopt many of these common-sense, heartfelt principles that impact our understanding of interdependence and compassion in order to save the planer from annihilation. However, if we don’t learn to live with Nature instead of dominating Nature and raping the planet, we may not survive our only home, Planet Earth. According to Kaza, the Three Poisons in Buddhism are: greed, aversion, and delusion. The author writes: “The challenge of the green practice path is to be aware of these feelings…staying present…” and “conserve our own energy.”
Instead of wringing our hands in anxiety, I believe Kaza is saying we each can make a difference with the green (Buddhist inspired) values of “practicing non-harming, being with the suffering, and embracing the deep view…” She also writes about intention, a very important step on the green practice path. She quotes a Buddhist teacher, Maha Ghosananda, who’s word ring with intention, that “If we protect the world, we protect ourselves. If we harm the world, we harm ourselves.”
After reading this book, I feel stronger in my intention to do whatever I can within my own abilities, and also join with others with similar intentions on what Stephanie Kaza calls “our spiritual journey to a sustainable world.”
Green Buddhism is published by Shambhala (www.shambhala.com) and is available as a paperback book for $18.95, with 20 pages of Notes from the chapters. Well-written!
Her book is amazing because it is more than a conversation about how, for example, the Buddhist concept of global interdependence can be used to arouse the concern for reduced biodiversity and the health of the environment. Instead, the book is infused with her own experiences as a Buddhist that convinced me of her sincerity and realistic approach to her Buddhist practices and the environment. As she states in her Introduction: “For me, green Buddhism has been a practice field for personal insight and social activism, as well as intellectual engagement.”
Kaza’s book is divided into three sections and also includes information about other leading Buddhists who have impacted her thinking and practice:
Part One: Intimate Relations
Part Two: Envisioning Green Buddhism
Part Three: Acting with Compassion
With each section, my understanding of how Buddhism and its practices (ex. mindfulness and compassion) began to build, chapter by chapter. By the time I was reading Part Three, Chapter 17, I was hooked. In this chapter entitled, “Acting with Compassion: Buddhism, Feminism, and The Environmental Crisis,” I was on board with her explanation of how the “feminist compassionate has long been addressed by Buddhists of many cultures to relieve human sickness, grief, and poverty of the spirit.”
She links this feminist compassion to addressing “the current sweep of environmental destruction.” At the same time, she acknowledges that Buddhism, for the most part, is transmitted through patriarchal cultures, weakening the support for concerns over ecological devastation and interdependence and thereby missing the link between oppression of women and our environment. Male socialization development leans on rules of justice and individual rights, while the female model “supports an environmental ethic of care and responsibility.”
This book has given me a wider berth to explore my own desire and (com)passion to be part of the solution to Mother Earth’s devastation and I believe that women are the key (also explained by Jane Fonda’s new book, “What Can I Do?”), because of our inherent nurturing and need for cooperation and the recognition of our interdependence.
You don’t have to be a Buddhist to adopt many of these common-sense, heartfelt principles that impact our understanding of interdependence and compassion in order to save the planer from annihilation. However, if we don’t learn to live with Nature instead of dominating Nature and raping the planet, we may not survive our only home, Planet Earth. According to Kaza, the Three Poisons in Buddhism are: greed, aversion, and delusion. The author writes: “The challenge of the green practice path is to be aware of these feelings…staying present…” and “conserve our own energy.”
Instead of wringing our hands in anxiety, I believe Kaza is saying we each can make a difference with the green (Buddhist inspired) values of “practicing non-harming, being with the suffering, and embracing the deep view…” She also writes about intention, a very important step on the green practice path. She quotes a Buddhist teacher, Maha Ghosananda, who’s word ring with intention, that “If we protect the world, we protect ourselves. If we harm the world, we harm ourselves.”
After reading this book, I feel stronger in my intention to do whatever I can within my own abilities, and also join with others with similar intentions on what Stephanie Kaza calls “our spiritual journey to a sustainable world.”
Green Buddhism is published by Shambhala (www.shambhala.com) and is available as a paperback book for $18.95, with 20 pages of Notes from the chapters. Well-written!
March 5, 2021
This book was given to me as a gift by one of my bestfriends a year ago. I decided to make it part of my TBR in the ending of February 2021 because I am currently taking college courses that make me miss a little more humanistic perspectives on life. I am currently taking 9 credits of pure math. I obviously needed some good religion/social justice/environmental literature to keep my focus on what I truly want to study, which is environmental economics and this book... really has it all. It is beautiful to read.
There are a couple of chapters that really were not bad, it just that they did not engage with me and I believe it is because of the particular way they were written, but they are the least and there is much to learn about them still. The majority of this book was so enlightening into what Buddhism can do for the environment. I am a Catholic, but I truly appreciate and see the value that Buddhism can create by applying its philosophies in anyway. I don't think that this book is limited to only Buddhist practitioners. It is a book that I think anyone with an interest in studying different philosophies and religions and how they can help the current state of the world should read. I loved it! Aside from that, there were some chapters that I thought "Oh no, this does not sound interesting." But, as I kept reading I was obviously wrong.
Another thing that I love of this book is that it not only mentions the problems, it gives collective and individual solutions, but also, it preaches so much about two key things that intrigue me and they are: mindfulness and compassion. These two things, no matter your religion, I believe, we should all practice. Even the author mentions it, how seculars have practiced mindfulness because of its benefits, which are incredible.
Overall I LOVED IT. I wish I could have taken courses with her. She can be seen by her writing as extraordinarily wise and humble.
There are a couple of chapters that really were not bad, it just that they did not engage with me and I believe it is because of the particular way they were written, but they are the least and there is much to learn about them still. The majority of this book was so enlightening into what Buddhism can do for the environment. I am a Catholic, but I truly appreciate and see the value that Buddhism can create by applying its philosophies in anyway. I don't think that this book is limited to only Buddhist practitioners. It is a book that I think anyone with an interest in studying different philosophies and religions and how they can help the current state of the world should read. I loved it! Aside from that, there were some chapters that I thought "Oh no, this does not sound interesting." But, as I kept reading I was obviously wrong.
Another thing that I love of this book is that it not only mentions the problems, it gives collective and individual solutions, but also, it preaches so much about two key things that intrigue me and they are: mindfulness and compassion. These two things, no matter your religion, I believe, we should all practice. Even the author mentions it, how seculars have practiced mindfulness because of its benefits, which are incredible.
Overall I LOVED IT. I wish I could have taken courses with her. She can be seen by her writing as extraordinarily wise and humble.
July 19, 2022
This foray into acting with compassion to our world’s environmental crisis is my first spiritual ecology book. It is a series of essays divided into three parts. The essays appear to be written for different publication platforms and over a wide span of time. I especially related to a chapter on Gary Snyder, the Zen poet. The author contends that “it is Snyder’s sense that if we as humans have a proper understanding of where we are in place and time, we will then be motivated to behave in a more harmonious and respectful way with all beings.” Similarly, the chapter entitled The Greening of Buddhism gives a solid report on the background and history of Buddhist environmentalism. In a later chapter the author explores the role Buddhists can play in addressing climate change denial. It is a thought provoking book.
March 22, 2022
This book is a collection of essays focusing on the intersection of the practice of Buddhism and activism for climate change. The essays were written for numerous publications over a number of years. There was some repetition which might have been more annoying if I had a keen understanding of Buddhism. However, because my knowledge is limited, I appreciated some of the repetitions.
July 11, 2022
Amazing book, but felt the flow at time wasn’t clear, lovely overall though :)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews