Nature as religion

Does it not then follow that, if we want the natural environment, which contributes so much to humanity, treated in a friendly manner, given love and protective care, we need to see it as a religion?

Regarding ecology as a form of religion doesn’t mean we have to become fanatical environmentalists, only to love nature with the awareness it deserves. Without love for the environment, there can be no fulfilled, happy future for humanity.

In most Thai temples, the uposatha – the main hall – will have among its murals a depiction of the Lord Buddha attaining enlightenment under the holy bodhi tree. That event brought significant change not just to the Lord Buddha but to the bodhi tree – and to the history of humanity. While the Lord Buddha discovered the Noble Truth, the bodhi tree – that specific tree and its entire species – became the holiest flora in Buddhism and probably the entire world. 

Every temple in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos has a bodhi tree standing somewhere in the compound as an object of worship. Thailand has the annual tradition of presenting support poles to the tree to express gratitude.

Look at the other tableaux in the uposatha and you will see more of the Lord Buddha’s life illustrated. First there is a depiction of Queen Siri Maha Maya standing under the sal tree in Lumbini, holding onto its trunk and giving birth to Siddhartha Kumara while delightful and aromatic sal flowers bloom en masse. 

Then there is the scene of the Lord Buddha seated under another large tree in the heart of the Deer Park near Varanasi, surrounded by the five companions attentively listening to his first sermon, which set the Wheel of Dharma in motion.

And finally we see the Lord Buddha lying on his right side between twin sal trees in the forest outside Kushinara. He is ready to pass into parinibbana, the final deathless state, and a voluminous sprinkling of white-pink sal flowers provides a spectacular backdrop. 

So all the major events in the Lord Buddha’s life – birth, enlightenment and parinibbana – took place in forests resplendent with greenery, traversed by gentle breezes, the fresh aroma of diverse flora, and the sound of joyful bees and insects and songbirds, a symphony of the jungle. 

In such settings, full of resplendent natural beauty, one of history’s greatest personalities came into being, was enlightened as to the ultimate truth of life, announced the dharma principles he had discovered for the liberation of sentient beings, and passed into parinibbana peacefully following the completion of his self-assigned tasks. 

It is said that, having attained enlightenment, the Lord Buddha spent 49 days immersed in the fulfilment of his objective through perseverance, in a deep sense of happiness and liberation. During these seven weeks he sat in various shady spots around the bodhi tree. And he dedicated one week to just contemplating the tree – in deep gratitude for its hospitality during his most important time before attaining enlightenment. 

With such close ties to nature, Buddhism is perhaps the religion with the friendliest attitude toward the environment. “Anyone who sits or lies in the shade, and then pulls or cuts down the tree trunk, is hurting his own friend and is ungrateful,” the Lord Buddha declared.

He had discovered that all sentient beings are part of nature and it is part of us. The concept that humans are masters over nature and thus entitled to exploit it is completely wrong.

This is the first of a two-part article about regarding nature as a religion. See Part 2 next month.

 

This column by prominent Buddhist preacher Phramaha Vudhijaya Vajiramedhi, better known by his pen name V Vajiramedhi, appears on the first Sunday of every month.