EcoSangha Perspectives: Profound Causes and Conditions

“You have been brought here by profound causes and conditions.”  These were the opening words of my ordination ceremony spoken by Patriarch Kosho Ohtani at our mother temple in Kyoto in 1975.  

With the ordination ceremony underway, there was no time to ponder all the “profound causes and conditions” that had to converge at that moment to produce the ceremony.  Actually, all of us that day were ordained by the entire universe.

When we think superficially, we get attached to “I” and “my.”  “I scored the winning touchdown!” The humble football player says, “It was a team effort.  If the linemen hadn’t blocked so well, I never would have made it.” The Buddhist football player might say, after many kalpas of meditation, “It was a cosmic effort.”

The Sanskrit term “pratitya-samutpada” is used to describe this dynamic, universal process of causes and conditions. This core Sanskrit term is variously translated as “interdependence,” “conditional arising,” “mutual co-arising,” etc.  

Usually, in Dharma School material, I believe the term “interdependence” is used, although there are many nuances of the other translations that are lost. The famous Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh coined the translation “Interbeing.” He stated that to be is to interbe with everything in the universe (see his wonderful books “The Heart of Understanding” and “Interbeing”). Along with the truth of impermanence, interdependence forms the basis of all Buddhist thinking and action.

In the ecology conservation movement, there is a school of thought called deep ecology that is greatly influenced by Buddhist thinking. Deep ecology involves looking at profound causes and conditions, not just in the moment, but over time; deep time. Only by looking at things over deep time can we address the issue of sustainability, a vital issue taken up by the United Nations (UN) in recent decades and religious leaders such as the late Catholic Pope Francis (see the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals).

There is a saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” It takes a sustainable village to raise a grandchild and great-grandchildren generation after generation. This is deep time; how can we live in such a way that people in the far distant future could live in the same sustainable manner?  

Isn’t this the essential theme of our upcoming Obon and Bon Odori observances — honoring the struggles and sacrifices of previous generations on our behalf? We, in our turn, are called to make the same commitment such that past, present and future generations are all united in the compassionate spirit of the Dharma.

In the various EcoSangha seminars I have conducted over the years, I have often heard the protest, “The environmental crisis is so great we feel there is very little we can do.”  

If we think this way, it can be very depressing. Instead, living with the integrity of our religious conviction, do what you can. Even on a small scale, we can make our temple a model of environmental responsibility.  

Our children are tuned in to the environmental crisis. If they see us being wasteful and negligent at the temple, they will reject the relevance of the temple and the Dharma in their life.

Taking the EcoDharma home deeply affects our lifestyle, causing us to think about issues in our personal life such as carbon footprint, food choices, travel plans, charitable contributions, etc.

There is no Buddhist commandment dictating, “You must do this or else.”  Rather, through our deep hearing of the Dharma, we are sensitized to take personal responsibility for our actions. While never perfect, we live in a spirit of mottainai, as the EcoSangha Resolution says. This personal responsibility is reflected in our Jodo Shinshu creed that states on the one hand, “I will reflect upon my imperfect self” but, not getting stuck there, it states on the other hand, “I shall respect and help my fellow beings and work for the good of my community.”