How Much is Enough?: Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment
The massive outpouring of consumer products available today might alone lead one to ask "How much is enough?" But at the same time, if we allow ourselves to see the social, political, economic and environmental consequences of the system that produces such a mass of "goods," then the question is not simply a matter of one's own personal choice, but points to the profound interconnectedness of our day to day decisions about "How much is enough?" The ease with which we can acquire massive quantities of food, clothing, kitchenware, and various electronic goods directly connects each of us with not only environmental degradation caused by strip mining in West Virginia, and with sweat shops and child labor in India or Africa, but also with the ongoing financial volatility of Western capitalist economies, and the increasing discrepancies of wealth in all countries.

This interconnectedness is the human environment, a phrase intended to point toward the deep interconnection between the immediacy of our own lives, including the question of "How much is enough?," and both the social and natural worlds around us. This collection brings together essays from an international conference jointly sponsored by Ryukoku University, Kyoto, and the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley. The effects of our own decisions and actions on the human environment is examined from several different perspectives, all informed by Buddhist thought. The contributors are all simultaneously Buddhist scholars, practitioners, and activists - thus the collection is not simply a conversation between these differing perspectives, but rather demonstrates the integral unity of theory and practice for Buddhism.
1112696761
How Much is Enough?: Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment
The massive outpouring of consumer products available today might alone lead one to ask "How much is enough?" But at the same time, if we allow ourselves to see the social, political, economic and environmental consequences of the system that produces such a mass of "goods," then the question is not simply a matter of one's own personal choice, but points to the profound interconnectedness of our day to day decisions about "How much is enough?" The ease with which we can acquire massive quantities of food, clothing, kitchenware, and various electronic goods directly connects each of us with not only environmental degradation caused by strip mining in West Virginia, and with sweat shops and child labor in India or Africa, but also with the ongoing financial volatility of Western capitalist economies, and the increasing discrepancies of wealth in all countries.

This interconnectedness is the human environment, a phrase intended to point toward the deep interconnection between the immediacy of our own lives, including the question of "How much is enough?," and both the social and natural worlds around us. This collection brings together essays from an international conference jointly sponsored by Ryukoku University, Kyoto, and the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley. The effects of our own decisions and actions on the human environment is examined from several different perspectives, all informed by Buddhist thought. The contributors are all simultaneously Buddhist scholars, practitioners, and activists - thus the collection is not simply a conversation between these differing perspectives, but rather demonstrates the integral unity of theory and practice for Buddhism.
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How Much is Enough?: Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment

How Much is Enough?: Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment

by Richard K. Payne (Editor)
How Much is Enough?: Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment
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How Much is Enough?: Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment

How Much is Enough?: Buddhism, Consumerism, and the Human Environment

by Richard K. Payne (Editor)

Overview

The massive outpouring of consumer products available today might alone lead one to ask "How much is enough?" But at the same time, if we allow ourselves to see the social, political, economic and environmental consequences of the system that produces such a mass of "goods," then the question is not simply a matter of one's own personal choice, but points to the profound interconnectedness of our day to day decisions about "How much is enough?" The ease with which we can acquire massive quantities of food, clothing, kitchenware, and various electronic goods directly connects each of us with not only environmental degradation caused by strip mining in West Virginia, and with sweat shops and child labor in India or Africa, but also with the ongoing financial volatility of Western capitalist economies, and the increasing discrepancies of wealth in all countries.

This interconnectedness is the human environment, a phrase intended to point toward the deep interconnection between the immediacy of our own lives, including the question of "How much is enough?," and both the social and natural worlds around us. This collection brings together essays from an international conference jointly sponsored by Ryukoku University, Kyoto, and the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley. The effects of our own decisions and actions on the human environment is examined from several different perspectives, all informed by Buddhist thought. The contributors are all simultaneously Buddhist scholars, practitioners, and activists - thus the collection is not simply a conversation between these differing perspectives, but rather demonstrates the integral unity of theory and practice for Buddhism.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780861716852
Publisher: Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date: 03/09/2010
Pages: 248
Product dimensions: 6.40(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.61(d)

About the Author

Richard K. Payne is Dean and Yehan Numata Professor of Japanese Buddhist Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. A member of the doctoral faculty of the Graduate Theological Union, he is also a collaborating researcher with the Open Research Center for the Humanities, Science, and Religion at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, Japan. He is an ordained Shingon Buddhist priest.

Table of Contents

Editor's Preface "How Much Is Enough?": Buddhism and the Human Environment Richard K. Payne xi

Acknowledgements xii

Introduction Just How Much Is Enough? Richard K. Payne 1

Global Perspectives on the Environment 3

Contents of the Collection 4

Final Thoughts 14

Buddhist Environmentalism in Contemporary Japan Duncan Ry&ubar;ken Williams 17

"To the Honorable Mitsui Real Estate Company: Plants and Trees Have Buddha Nature" 17

Establishment Buddhism and Sect-Wide Environmentalism: The Case of the S&obar;t&obar; Zen "Green Plan" 20

Japanese Engaged Buddhism and the Search for an Alternative Paradigm: The Case of Juk&obar;in Temple 23

Conservative Japanese Buddhist Environmentalism in Local and Global Contexts 28

Conclusion 33

How Much Is Enough?: Buddhist Perspectives on Consumerism Stephanie Kaza 39

Introduction 39

The Scope and Impact of Consumption 40

Traditional Critiques of Consumerism 45

Buddhist Critiques 46

Buddhist Methods for Liberation 50

Buddhist Consumer Activism 57

Pure Land Buddhism and Its Perspective on the Environment Mitsuya Dake 63

Introduction 63

Pure Land Buddhism and the Environment 64

The Ecological Perspectives Seen in the Idea of the Pure Land 68

The Tension between the Ideal and the Actual in Buddhism 71

Shinran's Radical Understanding of the Pure Land and the Environment 73

Postscript 76

Gary Snyder's Ecosocial Buddhism David Landis Barnhill 83

Buddhism, Environmentalism, and Politics 84

The Anarchist Tradition 86

The Nature of Reality 93

Snyder's Buddhist Ecosocial Critique 99

The Ideal: Eco-Buddhist Anarchism 102

The Path 104

Conclusion 111

A Buddhist Economics to Save the Earth Shinichi Inoue 121

Borrowing from the Cosmos 121

Environmental Education 122

The Environmental and Social Assessment of Industries 123

Agriculture as an Earth-Friendly Industry 125

Unrestrained Consumption 127

Competition 127

The Buddhist Approach to Money 129

Avoiding Waste by Recycling 130

The Noble Eightfold Path as a Prescription for Sustainable Living Tetsunori Koizumi 133

Introduction 133

The Manifest versus the Latent World 134

The Manifest World as a Space for Interdependent Systems 135

The Noble Eightfold Path as a Set of Complementary Principles 137

The Noble Eightfold Path as a State of Systemic Balance 138

The Noble Eightfold Path as a Law of Conservation of Matter-Energy 140

Conclusion 142

The Debate on Taking Life and Eating Meat in the Edo-Period J&obar;do Shin Tradition Ikuo Nakamura 147

Taking Life and the Idea of the Karmic Wheel 147

The Conversion of the Human-Animal Relation 149

The J&obar;do Shinsh&ubar; Discussion of "Taking Life and Eating Meat" 151

H&obar;onji Temple's Manaita-biraki 155

Is "Buddhist Environmentalism" a Contradiction in Terms? Malcolm David Eckel 161

The Early Buddhist Tradition and Ecological Ethics Lambert Schmithausen 171

Preliminary Considerations 171

Nature in the Context of the Ultimate Evaluation of Existence 177

Origination in Dependence and Ecological Ethics 179

Early Buddhist Spirituality and Ethics in Relation to Ecological Ethics 181

Intramundane Evaluations of Nature 189

The Status of Animals 193

Conclusion 197

Index 223

About the Contributors 229

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