symbiosis

“According to Buddhist thought, universality is a symbiotic order in which humanity, nature, and the cosmos coexist, and microcosm and macrocosm are fused in a single living entity. In Buddhism, the idea of symbiosis is conveyed by the idea of ‘dependent origination.’ Whether in human society or in the realm of nature, nothing exists in isolation; all phenomena are mutually supportive and related, forming a living cosmos. Once this is understood, then we can establish the proper role of reason.” 

Ikeda D., 1994. “Magnificent Cosmos” a speech delivered at Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University, May.

inner motives & benevolent deities

"When a man leaves family life and enters the Buddhist way, it is because he hopes to attain Buddhahood through the teachings of the Buddha. But attempts now to move the gods fail to have any effect, and appeals to the power of the Buddhas produce no results. When I observe carefully the state of the world today, I see people who give way to doubt because of the lack of understanding [on the part of eminent priests]. They look up at the heavens and mouth their resentment, or gaze down at the earth and sink deep into despair.

I have pondered the matter carefully with what limited resources I possess, and have looked a little at the scriptures for an answer. The people of today all turn their backs upon what is right; to a person, they give their allegiance to evil. This is the reason that the benevolent deities have abandoned the nation and departed together, that sages leave and do not return. And in their stead devils and demons come, and disasters and calamities occur. I cannot keep silent on this matter. I cannot suppress my fears."

Nichiren. On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land.

"These inner motives spring from a deep source that is not made by consciousness and is not under its control. In the mythology of earlier times, these forces were called mana, or spirits, demons, and gods. They are as active today as ever. If they go against us, then we say that it is just bad luck, or that certain people are against us. The one thing we refuse to admit is that we are dependent upon "powers" that are beyond our control."

Jung K.G. 1964. The archetype in dream symbolism. Man and His Symbols, p.71

the four-rayed herb for curing

It was in the Moon of Shedding Ponies [May] when we had the heyoka ceremony. One day in the Moon of Fatness [June], when everything was blooming, I invited One Side to come over and eat with me. I had been thinking about the four-rayed herb that I had now seen twice--the first time in the great vision when I was nine years old, and the second time when I was lamenting on the hill. I knew that I must have this herb for curing, and I thought I could recognize the place where I had seen it growing that night when I lamented.

After One Side and I had eaten, I told him there was a herb I must find, and I wanted him to help me hunt for it. Of course I did not tell him I had seen it in a vision. He was willing to help, so we got on our horses and rode over to Grass Creek. Nobody was living over there. We came to the top of a high hill above the creek, and there we got off our horses and sat down, for I felt that we were close to where I saw the herb growing in my vision of the dog.

We sat there a while singing together some heyoka songs. Then I began to sing alone a song I had heard in my first great vision: "In a sacred manner they are sending voices."
After I had sung this song, I looked down towards the west, and yonder at a certain spot beside the creek were crows and magpies, chicken hawks and spotted eagles circling around and around.

Then I knew, and I said to One Side: "Friend, right there is where the herb is growing." He said: "We will go forth and see." So we got on our horses and rode down Grass Creek until we came to a dry gulch, and this we followed up. As we neared the spot the birds all flew away, and it was a place where four or five dry gulches came together. There right on the side of the bank the herb was growing, and I knew it, although I had never seen one like it before, except in my vision.

Black Elk Speaks by John G Neihardt

dung beetles may attain Buddhahood

The scripture known as the Nirvana Sutra lists the beings that have been able to attain the way through the Lotus Sutra, and the list includes such filthy creatures as dung beetles, vipers, and scorpions. To express the wonderful power of the Lotus Sutra, Bodhisattva Nagarjuna says that it enables even such creatures as dung beetles to attain Buddhahood.

Nichiren,1999-2006. Bodhisattva Hachiman. The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 2 vols. Ed. and trans. by The Gosho Translation Committee. Tokyo: Soka Gakkai.

stormy rain :::: Dharma rain

The equality of the Buddha's preaching

is like a rain of a single flavor,
but depending upon the nature of the living being,
the way in which it is received is not uniform,
just as the various plants and trees
each receive the moisture in a different manner.

The Buddha employs this parable
as an excellent means to open up and reveal the matter,
using various kinds of words and phrases
and expounding the single Law,
but in terms of the Buddha wisdom
this is no more than one drop of the ocean.
I rain down the Dharma rain,
filling the whole world,
and this single-flavored Dharma
is practiced by each according to the individual's power.
It is like those thickets and groves,
medicinal herbs and trees
which, according to whether they are large or small,
bit by bit grow lush and beautiful.

The Lotus Sutra, trans. Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993),104

the song far from its bird

In the deep regions of the green leafy shades,
 
One listens to the oriole singing ;

The oriole's song is in an even deeper place.

(unknown Tseu chinese poet of the IXth century, translated from a "non-translation" of Armand Robin)

life & death = the adaptive cycle

C.S. Holling described four characteristics phases for the dynamic of  ecological systems :

• growth (r) :  readily available ressource, accumulation of structure, the resilience is high,
•accumulation/conservation (K) : net growth slows, the system becomes increasingly interconnected, less flexible, and more vulnerable to external disturbances,
•following disturbance, the next (Ω)  phase releases resources and the structure collapses,

•reorganization (α) phase,  leading to a new growth phase (r) similar or different to the previous one.

(from Walker & al., 2006)

These four phases are similar to the periods of time, or kalpas,  that describe the four stages in the cycle of formation, continuance, decline, and disintegration of the planets and systems in buddhist cosmology. 

They also describe "the transience of all phenomena"  : everything change continuously until its destruction, life and death are the two phases all living beings must pass through. As a consequence each of us shall not forget the Latin phrase "memento mori".

This promise of death at our personnal level contains also the potential for inner transformation and freedom.

Our lifetime is an accumulation of moments, our body is a symbiotic cooperation of cells.

Each moment of our lives knows life and death, each cell of our body knows momentary life and death.

Each birth and death at a micro level is necessary for the continuation of life at a greater level.

As William Blake reminds us, if we assume them, each moment of our life contains unlimited potentialities.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 
And Eternity in an hour.

From moment to moment, it is our inner state of life that determines the overall course of our lives.

O land I love you green

O land I love you green


Green


an apple dancing in water and light


Green


your night green, your dawn green


so plant me with the tenderness of a mother’s hand


in a handful of air


I am one of your seeds 


Green …

The Dice Player, Mahmoud Darwish, Mural,  Translated by John Berger and Rema Hammami, Verso, musique by Trio Joubran

command and control

Control is a deeply entrenched aspect of contemporary human societies: we control human behavior through laws, incentives, threats, contracts, and agreements; we control the effects of environmental variation by constructing safe dwellings; we control variation in our food resources by growing and storing agricultural products; we control human parasites and pathogens through good hygiene and medical technologies. All contribute to stable societies and human health and happiness, and within certain arenas this desire to control is undeniably to our individual and collective benefit. This approach to solving problems may be collectively referred to as “command and control”    in which a problem is percived and a solution for its control is developed and implemented. The expectation is that the solution is direct, appropriate, feasible, and effective over most relevant spatial and temporal scales. Most of all, command and control is expected to solve the problem either through control of the processes that lead to the problem (e.g., good hygiene to prevent disease, or laws that direct human behavior) or through amelioration of the problem after it occurs (e.g., pharmaceuticals to kill disease organisms, or prisons or other punishment of lawbreakers). The command-and-control approach implicitly assumes that the problem is well-bounded, clearly defined, relatively simple, and generally linear with respect to cause and effect. But when these same methods of control are applied to a complex, nonlinear, and poorly understood natural world, and when the same predictable outcomes are expected but rarely obtained, severe ecological, social, and economic repercussions result.

Holling, C. S., and G. K. Meffe. 1996. Command and Control and the Pathology of Natural Resource Management. Conservation Biology 10, no. 2: 328-37.

attachement to distinctions

An “attachment to distinctions” is a contemporary interpretation for the concept of “fundamental darkness” that lies at the base of all earthly desires. People have a tendency to desperately cling to their “lesser self” of a shallow consciousness, discriminating others as the poisons of greed, anger, stupidity and distrust rule their behavior. Buddhism explains the reason why people cling to this “lesser self” is because of their fundamental darkness. Fundamental darkness refers to ignorance of the existence of a fundamental law (Dharma) of the universe that underlies all things.
[...]
So how was Shakyamuni able to overcome his fundamental darkness, his “attachment to distinctions”? How was he able to pull out the “arrow of earthly desires”?
Shakyamuni’s meditation took him further, deeper, beyond the realm of humanity’s consciousness to the level of the life and death of planets, and then even further to the cosmos itself—and he became one with the life of the universe at the deepest extremity of consciousness. By doing so, he was able to realize the eternal fundamental law of all things (Dharma) within the depths of his own being, and was able to overcome his fundamental darkness. He reached nirvana. He found “a dwelling- place for [him]self”.

Kawada Yoichi, 2010. Buddhist Thoughts on Symbiosis - And its Contemporary Implications. The Journal of Oriental Studies, 20, 88-107.

the power that’s in the universe

Think of the power that’s in the universe – moving the earth, growing the trees. That’s the same power within you, if you’ll only have the courage and the will to use it.
 
Charlie Chaplin, Limelight

consciousness

Consciousness is always going to be selective. When you get the other two, the sacred and the aesthetic, which are very closely related, you are partly standing off to see a whole. Consciousness is tending to focus in, whereas notions like the sacred and the beautiful tend to be looking for the larger, the whole. That is why I distrust consciousness as a prime guide.

Bateson, Gregory (1991). A Sacred Unity: Further Steps to an Ecology of Mind. R. Donaldson, ed., Harper Collins, New York.

Buddha nature & insentient beings

A plant, a tree, a pebble, a speck of dust—each has the Buddha nature, and each is endowed with cause and effect and with the function to manifest and the wisdom to realize its Buddha nature.

Miao-lo, The Diamond Scalpel

dependent origination & non-substantiality versus the reifying quality of language

Judy Napangardi Watson

The Buddha taught that the nature of dependent origination is not extinguished or produced, it does not exist momentarily or eternally, it is not single or compound, it does not come and does not go; it transcends the vanity of words and is the ultimate bliss.

Nagarjuna, Mulamadhyamakakarika (The Middle Doctrine)

interaction with nature

[The quality of] interactions between humans and the world around us can first be understood to depend on the subjective qualities of the person. It is through our various interactions with the world that we develop in a fully balanced manner. That being the case, the world around us, nature in particular, can truly be our enlightener, our guide, our consoler. Forging a variety of interactions with nature is essential in enabling us to meet and deal with the limitless vicissitudes of life. Our happiness in life can indeed be said to be proportional to the extent and intimacy of our interaction with nature.

Makiguchi, Tsunesaburo. 2002. A Geography of Human Life. Trans. by Katsusuke Hori et al. Ed. by Dayle M. Bethel. San Francisco: Caddo Gap Press.

the land is sacred

[The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra] says “Since the Law is wonderful, the person is worthy of respect; since the person is worthy of respect, the land is sacred.” 

Nichiren,1281.The Person and the Law. [http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=1097&m=1&q=person%20law]

life

Life at each moment encompasses the body and mind and the self and environment of all sentient beings in the Ten Worlds as well as all insentient beings in the three thousand realms, including plants, sky, earth, and even the minutest particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the entire realm of phenomena and is revealed in all phenomena. 

Nichiren, 1255. On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime. 

the infinite extent of our relations

Several times, when a visitor chanced to stay into evening, and it proved a dark night, I was obliged to conduct him to the cart-path in the rear of the house, and then point out to him the direction he was to pursue, and in keeping which he was to be guided rather by his feet than his eyes. Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations.

Thoreau Henri-David, Walden

wisdom : correcting the distortions of conscious purpose

Finally, it is appropriate to mention some of the factors which may act as correctives—areas of human action which are not limited by the narrow distortions of coupling through conscious purpose and where wisdom can obtain. 

(a) Of these, undoubtedly the most important is love. Martin Buber has classified interpersonal relationships in a relevant manner. He differentiates “I-Thou” relations from “I-It” relations, defining the latter as the normal pattern of interaction between man and inanimate objects. The “I-It” relationship he also regards as characteristic of human relations wherever purpose is more important

than love. But if the complex cybernetic structure of societies and ecosystems is in some degree analogous to animation, then it would follow that an “I-Thou” relationship is conceivable between man and his society or ecosystem. In this connection, the formation of “sensitivity groups” in many depersonalized organizations is of special interest.

The arts, poetry, music, and the humanities similarly are areas in which more of the mind is active than mere consciousness would admit. “Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point.”

Contact between man and animals and between man and the natural world breeds, perhaps—sometimes—wisdom.

(b) There is religion. 

Bateson Gregory, 1972. Steps to an ecology of mind. Chandler Pub. Co.

speaking in images

The evolutionary stratification of the Psyche is more clearly discernible in the dream than in the conscious mind. In the dream, the psyche speaks in images, and gives expression to instincts, which derive from the most primitive levels of nature. Therefore, through the assimilation of unconscious contents, the momentary life of consciousness can once more be brought into harmony with the law of nature from which it all too easily departs, and the patient can be led back to the natural law of his own being.

Jung Carl Gustav, 1933. The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man.

buddhist humanism

Recognizing that all is change within a framework of interdependence, we of course see harmony and oneness as expressions of our interconnectedness. But we can even appreciate contradiction and conflict in the same way. Thus the struggle against evil-- a struggle that issues from the inner effort to master our own contradictions and conflicts-- should be seen as a difficult yet unavoidable trial that we must undergo in the effort to create a greater and deeper sense of connection.

If we experience connection positively as a sense of harmony or oneness, we experience the same connection negatively in conflict. In that they are both aspects of connection, they can be understood as bearing an equal value. To the degree, however, that we recognize the reality of life as a struggle and understand that it is through struggle that our humanity is tempered and strengthened, a courageous engagement with conflict is even more crucial. In the Buddhist tradition, this is the mark of honor of the bodhisattva. Refusing to discriminate on the basis of stereotypes or imposed limitations, we can recognize the underlying oneness of positive and negative connection, and engage with the full force of our lives in the kind of dialogue that will transform even conflict into positive connection. It is in this challenge that the true contribution of a Buddhist-based humanism is to be found.

Ikeda Daisaku, 2005 peace proposal, 

http://www.daisakuikeda.org/main/peacebuild/peace-proposals/pp2005.html

inner universalism

[I]nner universalism is a method for searching the inner self to find a universal value within it. As a matter of course, Buddhism is a method of probing the depths of life, addressing the levels of human life, race, nation, biosphere and earth, leading to an understanding of original life force as ultimately fused with the universe itself. [...] The search for universal values in the depths of life corresponds to Buddhist wisdom (prajna) while the transcending of the self to reach out to external existence corresponds to the practice of compassion (maitri-karuna) in Buddhism.

Kawada Yoichi, 2001. The Importance of the Buddhist concept of Karma for World Peace. in Buddhism and Nonviolent Global Problem-Solving: Ulan Bator Explorations, Edited by Glenn D. Paige and Sarah Gilliatt. Center for Global Nonviolence.

Universal value is assumed to be inherent in each and every person, who must seek and develop it within his or her own life. This value is, by its very nature, one that cannot be imposed by force from outside. The strategy that logically derives from this concept of inner universalism is characterized by gradualism, as opposed to radicalism. Whereas radicalism is driven by force, gradualism is propelled by dialogue. The use of force is invariably a product of distrust; dialogue, by contrast, is based on mutual trust and respect.

Ikeda Daisaku, 1989. Toward a New Globalism,  Peace Proposal. Tokyo,  Soka Gakkai.

unity-of-means-and-ends

[T]wo axioms […] summarize Gandhism : unity-of-life and unity-of-means-and-ends. […]The conclusion drawn by Gandhi from these two axioms was respect for the sacredness of all life (hence vegetarism) and acceptance of the precept 'take care of the means and the ends will take care of themselves'. Thus the unity-of-life doctrine is very different from a doctrine of 'ecological balance', since it means enhancing all life, not just human life ; and all human life […]. And the unity-of-means-and-ends would lead to a doctrine of synchrony, calling for work on all issues simultaneously rather than the diachrony of one big step that is assumed to trigger the force motrice. Archetype : the Buddhist wheel where elements of thought, speech, and action tend to be at the same level of priority […].

Galtung Johann, 1996. Peace by peaceful means. Prio. pp 207-208.

deep-level consciousness

Deep-level consciousness transcends reason and can operate with great acuteness, speed, and accuracy. Though this ability is inherent in life itself, the civilizational development of mankind has weakened it. As a consequence man has come to believe that he can function satisfactorily even if his deep-conscious abilities are inactive. In other words, surface human consciousness, especially reason, has suppressed deeper human consciousness.

Ikeda Daisaku, Toynbee Arnold, 2008. Choose life : a dialogue. Tauris.

plants

Plants awaken the aesthetic feeling within us, soften our murderous tendencies, inspire us to poetry, and thus nurture our hearts and minds.


Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, 2002. Geography of human life. Caddo Gap Press .

the parable of the medicinal herbs

The equality of the Buddha's preaching
is like a rain of a single flavor,
but depending upon the nature of the living being,
the way in which it is received is not uniform,
just as the various plants and trees
each receive the moisture in a different manner.
The Buddha employs this parable
as an excellent means to open up and reveal the matter,
using various kinds of words and phrases
and expounding the single Law,
but in terms of the Buddha wisdom
this is no more than one drop of the ocean.
I rain down the Dharma rain,
filling the whole world,
and this single-flavored Dharma
is practiced by each according to the individual's power.
It is like those thickets and groves,
medicinal herbs and trees
which, according to whether they are large or small,
bit by bit grow lush and beautiful.

The Lotus Sutra, trans. Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993), 104

in the shadows of the mountains

As children we grow up in the shadows of the mountains and come to love them almost as we love our parents. Their presence grows within our minds and deeply affects our lives and personalities, unconsciously.

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, 2002. A geography of human life, Caddo Gap Press, San-Francisco.

deeper & slower movements

The things that make good headlines attract our attention because they are on the surface of the stream of life, and they distract our attention from the slower, impalpable, imponderable movements that work below the surface and penetrate to the depths. But of course it is really these deeper, slower movements that, in the end, make history, and it is they that stand out huge in retrospect, when the sensational passing events have dwindled, in perspective, to their true proportions.

Toynbee Arnold, 1946. Civilization on trial

pure land

The Vimalakirti Sutra states that, when one seeks the Buddhas’ emancipation in the minds of ordinary beings, one finds that ordinary beings are the entities of enlightenment, and that the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana. It also states that, if the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds.

Nichiren,1999-2006. On Attaining Buddhahood. The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 2 vols. Ed. and trans. by The Gosho Translation Committee. Tokyo: Soka Gakkai.

mind in nature

This universe is the entity of the Buddha and all phenomena are manifestations of the Buddha’s compassion. Or it may be more apt to say that compassion is the original nature of the universe. The existence of the sun, the moon’s light, the mutual pulling together and relating of stars, the wind and storms, the growth of grasses and trees-are all manifestations of compassion, and it is simply we who have arbitrarily decided that there is no heart or mind in nature.


Toda Josei, 1983. Jihiron [Theory of Compassion]. In Toda Josei Zenshu [The Collected Works of Josei Toda] vol. 3, (Tokyo: Seikyo Shimbunsha,), p. 44.

dependent origination

Buddhism uses the term "dependent origination" (Jpn. engi) to describe symbiotic relations. Nothing--no one--exists in isolation. Each individual existence functions to bring into being the environment which in turn sustains all other existences. All things, mutually supportive and related, form a living cosmos, what modern philosophy might term a semantic whole. This is the conceptual framework through which Mahayana Buddhism views the natural universe.

Daisaku Ikeda, 1993. Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-First Century Civilization, Delivered at Harvard University, September 24.

It is manifested that the consciousness which appears on the surface always affects the depths on the basis of dependent origination, and the surface consciousness and the subsurface consciousness are always changing fluidly. In the same way, subject and its environment have close relation still more at the depths as well as relation which appears as phenomenon at the surface. Therefore, the phenomenon and the consciousness, which appear at the surface, are only the tip of the iceberg floating on the water. There is a vast world that extends under the surface of the water. That vast world is developed with the depths of the consciousness and the phenomenon in Buddhist thought.

Yamamoto Shuichi, 2001. Mahayana Buddhism and Environmental Ethics : From the Perspective of the Consciousness-Only Doctrine. IOP. The Journal of Oriental Studies, 11, 167–180.

In Buddhist thought, recognizing the occurrence of any phenomena is first justified by the doctrine of Origination in Dependence where everything is somehow connected.../...
This mutualism is suitably expressed in the simile of Indra’s Net describing the aspect of “arising from causation (engi)” in the Huayan or Flower Garland Sutra (kegon-kyo) in Buddhist literature. The simile describes a great net that hangs in the palace of Indra, the God of Thunder. The net has countless joints or knots adorned with jewels in a beautifully complex mesh. Each of these jewels clearly reflects all the other jewels in the net, so that every part of the net reflects all other parts. The knots of the net express each living entity, and the net is stabilized so that the relation is complicated. The reason each link or knot is expressed as a jewel implies that each living entity has value beyond imagination, and projecting other jewels signifies the mutual respect and deep relationship each living entity has towards one another.

Yamamoto Suichi & Kuwahara Victor S., 2006. Symbiosis with the Global Environment : Buddhist Perspective of Environmental Education IOP.The Journal of Oriental Studies, 16, 176-185.