The Green Awakening: Touching Earth with Our Hearts

Years ago a Buddhist monk, called me "kusala". This comes from the Pali word meaning wholesome and skillful. Also "Kusala karma" or "kamma" is characterized by this moral, foundation or speech bound to result in happiness.

Four days ago I arrived at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia to reuse and e-cycle their electronic waste. Now this same monk, Bhikkhu Buddharakkhi recruited me to help him draft his speech for a presentation at a conference called, “Addressing Climate Change by Awakening to Oneness."

On Monday December 7th, World Spiritual Leaders Gather for the COP15 – The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Global Peace Initiative of Women in New York are meeting: “for deeper understanding of interconnection is to know that all that is comes from a single source. To harm one part is to harm the whole. By knowing this we will naturally create a more conscious and caring way of living on the earth.”

So below is what resulted from this collective "kusala" or skillful effort;

The Green Awakening: Touching Earth with Our Hearts- Following the Noble Eight-fold Path

The Buddha name means the awakened one; his awakening happened during his own climate crisis when he touched the earth to bear witness! Today’s climate crisis requires a “Green Awakening” so that we are ONE with all things.

The Buddha offered practical guidelines on how to respond to our present crisis in his teachings of the Noble Eightfold Path. Let’s us build a new green mind-set or house. This blueprint provides clear instruction as to how to awaken and best respond. Climate change can be addressed using this profound wisdom with simple environment-friendly Eightfold techniques.

We are all interconnected as one when we minimize waste and maximize well being.

Eightfold Path basics are below in three groups;

• FOUNDATION - 1) Virtue/Ethics Group: Skillful Speech, Action and Livelihood:

• WALLS - 2) Concentration Group: Skillful Energy, Mindfulness and Concentration

• ROOF - 3) Wisdom Group- Skillful Understanding and Thought

This mental home will protect us from the harsh weather elements caused by climate change.

FOUNDATION: Cultivating Virtue– Skillful Speech, Action and Livelihood are the ethical basis and support for developing this home.

Our foundation becomes solid with right speech, actions and livelihood translating into virtuous practices and wholesome deeds. Ethical conduct happens when we treat all things and ourselves with compassion. We cultivate virtue when we care and respect for all things are one.

Skillful Speech: We must speak the truth with heart and meaning so as to unite. Carefully listen so as to clarify the facts from fiction. Speak what is of benefit.

Skillful Action: Show reverence for all things, we must protect and preserve all forms of living beings. We must end instead end whenever we can.

Skillful Livelihood: Living in an eco-friendly way. Living simply so others can simply live- thus insuring future generations. Causing no harm with your life or creating future problems.

WALLS: CONCENTRATION GROUP- Skillful Energy, Mindfulness and Concentration: All these factors work together. - Walls hold or cherish this place and create sacred space.

Skillful Energy: Prevent, Preserve, Protect and Prosper. Prevent climate change, preserve our resources, protect ourselves and prosper from these deeds. At our Buddhist Centre, we employ numerous conservation and best management practices to show our reverence for our earth and ourselves from composting to solar heating.

Skillful Mindfulness: Remembering and observing what is happening now. It is non-judgmental, present moment awareness. So mindfulness is the new mental blueprint to securely build our sacred mental house.

Skillful Concentration: Unifying your intention so you pay attention in the moment. Focus clearly to a wholesome mind-set increasing your mental power. This mental power will cultivate wisdom and understanding to penetrate into the problem of climate change. Getting the walls squared requires concentration.

3) ROOF: WISDOM Group - Skillful Understanding and Thought: Interconnecting it all together. SEPARATION = SUFFERING

Now that we have the foundation (virtues) and walls (concentration) what are we missing? We all need protection from Climate Change or a cap for our head. The roof encloses our home. Wisdom via skillful Understanding and Thought caps this structure. It interconnects the walls and foundation together.

Skillful Understanding: The Buddha laid down the teaching on “Dependent Co-arising” - nothing is independent in the world- “everything is interconnected”. For instance if your mindless your roof will leak and damage your walls and foundation.

Skillful Thought: Friendliness, generosity, and compassion. These are roofing materials safeguarding the home.

Call for Action
To address climate change, we must skillfully think before we act. Virtuous thoughts will secure our Foundation through skillful speech, actions and livelihood. Our Walls of Concentration create skillful energy, mindfulness and focus. Our Roof brings it together through skillful understanding and thought.

Remember you awaken when you minimize waste and maximize well-being.

• Show reverence with generous ways, right action and speech securing a firm foundation cultivating virtue;

• Concentrate on harmonizing by holding or creating space creating the walls of loving kindness. Love for earth and ourselves as one with an attitude of gratitude.

• Finally, Compassion balances our Wisdom by understanding our interconnection and also generous nature.

We can respond to climate change with the tools to overcome GREED, HATRED AND DELUSION WITH NEED, LOVE AND VISION.

Take the word EARTH and take the H from the end of it and put it to the front. It spells HEART. Now let us touch our hearts together to express ONE response to our GREEN AWAKENING. TOUCH OUR EARTH WITH YOUR HEART on the Noble Eightfold Path.