The First Environmentalist Essay -- Buddhism Environmentalism

â€Å"We are the same as plants, as trees, as other people, as the rain that falls. We consist of that which is around us; we are the same as everything. If we destroy something around us, we destroy ourselves† (Buddha). This quote from Buddha depicts the essence of Buddhism and its intimate relationship with the environment. Buddhism new and old is intertwined with nature and the environment. Buddhism is intrinsically, at its core, environmentalism. Environmentalism shines through many aspects of Buddhism: the middle way, Samsara, Karma, iconography, and impermanence. These facets led to Buddhism containing an underlying theme of environmentalism. When the Buddha first began Buddhism he was concerned with how people live their lives. Before he was the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was a wealthy prince and often lived a lavish lifestyle, but as a drive to become more spiritual took hold he renounced his excessive existence. He became an ascetic who lived in the woods. This was in stark contrast to how he was living before. The ascetic life was one of little to no means, which the bodhisattva led for a long time until he almost died from one of his practices. Having lived both of these lives the bodhisattva was lead to establish the middle way. The middle way is a way to live your life in such a way you do not live in excess or deprivation because each of these lead to destruction of yourself or others. If everyone could live within the middle way many environmental detriments would not happen. The middle way would quell consumerism, waste generation, and energy usage to name a few. As a populace we would no longer need to buy ev erything we see or think we need. Much of the waste and power used to manufacture goods would be offset by pe... ... start treating our world with more care because you never know if the millions of homeless children are really the vanishing trees being reborn as unwanted children (Snyder 188). Works Cited Babbit, Ellen C. "XV THE OX WHO ENVIED THE PIG." Internet Sacred Text Archive Home. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. Bloom, Alfred. "Buddhism, Nature and the Environment." The Eastern Buddhist. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. Nath, Jemal. "‘God Is a Vegetarian’: The Food, Health and Bio-spirituality of Hare Krishna, Buddhist and Seventh-Day Adventist Devotees." Health Sociology Review 19.3 (2010): 356-68. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. Prebish, Charles S., and Damien Keown. Introducing Buddhism. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. Snyder, Gary. The Practice of the Wild: Essays. Washington, DC: Shoemaker & Hoard, 2004. Print.