“Environment restoration for  harmonious coexistence”  

Bhikkhu Sanghasena,  Founder and President, Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre Ladakh, India

My warmest Greetings to all from the high mountains of Himalayas!

 would like to thank WBSC headquarters  for inviting me to write a short article on the topic “ Environment restoration  for harmonious coexistence”  I think  WBSC has very wisely and appropriately taken up this very important issue to address the very serious challenges  faced by the current world.

 Buddhism has the largest number of ordained Sangha members in the world and that is why have a great power and potentiality to influence and change the human behaviour and their attitude toward these issues.

As I come from Ladakh, located in the high Himalayas, I wish to share the specific and serious challenges that we are facing in this environmentally sensitive and geographically important region. "Him' means snow and "alaya' means mountain. These "mountains of snow` have also been called the *third pole", since they are the third largest body of snow and ice on our planet, after the Antarctic and the Arctic

The glaciers of the Himalayas, the "third pole", feed the giant rivers of Asia, and support half of humanity. The Himalayas support and provide water to nearly half of humanity; The Greater Himalayas hold the largest mass of ice outside the Polar Regions and are the source of the 10 largest rivers in Asia: the Amu Darya Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, Yelow, and Tarim rivers. Collectively, these basins provide water for about 1.3 billion human beings and countless animals

 Ladakh region of Himalayas, climate change has profound effects. Snow and glacial melt water runoff are the only sources of water in Ladakh, and about 90 percent of the farmers depend on these to sustain their farms and livelihoods. Agriculture needs water on time, especially during the short growing sea-

son. Glacial meltwater runoff from the Himalayas is the largest source of fresh water for northern India and provides more than half the water in the Ganges. For centuries, snow and glacial meltwater has enabled human survival in Ladakh

Climate change is affecting this! Glaciers are retreating back to higher altitudes, where they only start melting around mid-June. As a result, there is a critical shortage of water between the months of April and July, which has a damaging effect on agriculture. The question that many are already asking is: What happens when all the glaciers finally disappear? Reduced snowfall also means less snow accumulation on the glaciers, and less stream flow as a consequence. 'The shorter period of snowfall that we are experiencing each winter prevents what snow does fall from turning into hard ice crystals. Therefore, more of each glacier is liable to melt when the heat of the summer months arrives. Climate change has also resulted in rain, rather than snow, falling at higher altitudes. This also accelerates the melting of glaciers. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall, which was previously unknown in the high altitude desert of Ladakh, has become more frequent, causing flash floods, washing away homes and fields, trees and livestock.

Some of the most devastating effects of glacial meltdown occur when glacial lakes overflow and the phenomena of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) take place. Climate change thus initially leads to widespread flooding, but over time as the snow disappears, there will be drought in the summer. In the Ganges, the loss of glacial meltwater runoff would reduce July – September lows by two thirds, causing water shortages for 500 million people and 37 percent of India's irrigated land.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and if the present rate continues, the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035, and perhaps sooner, is very high if the earth keeps getting warmer at the current rate'. According to the IPCC report, the total area of glaciers in the Himalayas

will shrink from 1,930,051 square miles to 38,000 square miles by 2035.Climate change may have serious consequences in the region. If not addressed promptly, it could be a catastrophe. The lives of billions are at stake!

There is no greater threat or challenge to our current and future generations than climate change. When floods strike, clouds burst, climate change occurs, we call them natural calamities. 'They are not natural calamities though; they are man-made calamities! The serious threat that climate change poses to our very survival is the direct result of human interference in nature. In the relentless pursuit of our desires, striving to satisfy our greed, human beings have and continue to mercilessly destroy the purity of the natural world: polluting water and the atmosphere, destroying forests of trees for commercial agriculture, and creating unnatural jungles of high-rise buildings made of steel, concrete, plastic and glass.

We have all become aware of the need for development. Everyone, from the poorest to the richest, from the illiterate to the most highly-educated from the remotest villages to the largest cities; they and wishing for modern development. They would like to be "fully are all talking about Developed", like in Germany or Japan, but what it truly means to be developed" is still a big question?" What we are yet to learn is how to appropriately distinguish between the desire for development on the basis of need as opposed to greed. What we call "development", such as high-rise buildings, sophisticated technology and so forth, which is coming at a high cost to the natural environment certainly cannot be considered *development': Ecosystems and our place within the natural world is under threat. Human ' communities are also fragmenting and collapsing due to the very advancement that we are seeking; causing insecurity, fear and conflicts across the world.

As human beings become more and more the appendages of modern technology and the global market, we face an even more serious, existential crisis as we struggle to define our place and purpose in this 'brave new world". The fundamental challenge before us is one of cultivating an integrated and harmonious balance between what appear to be, superficially at least, conflicting forces and priorities; to cultivate an integrated and harmonious balance between ethical, social and psychological development; to cultivate an integrated and harmonious balance between the material world and the spiritual world; to cultivate an integrated and harmonious balance between science and religion.

Today's ill-considered economic development is destroying the very fabric of life-air, water, trees, earth. Any kind of development that threatens the very fabric of life must not be considered *development". All our efforts should be focused on halting such "development"

The "Middle Path" of the Buddha:

The Buddha is proven to have been the greatest environmentalist and ecologist. He was born under the trees, and practised meditation in the forests. He attained enlightenment under the trees, and spent his entire life, with his thousands of followers, under trees. He demonstrated the very highest respect for nature; cherishing animals and protecting the environment. He instructed his disciples not to waste even a drop of water, nor to cut even a leaf without any strong and valid reason. The Buddha’s teaching of the fourth Noble Truth lies at the very heart of his entire philosophy and enlightened way of being. This is known as the 'Middle Path' (Majjhimā-patipadã) because it avoids two extremes: One extreme being the search for happiness through the pleasure of the senses, which is considered low, common, unprofitable and the way of ordinary people; the other being the search for happiness through self-mortification and the adoption of different forms of asceticism, which is considered painful, unworthy and unprofitable. Having, himself, first experienced these two extremes, and having found them to be futile, the Buddha discovered, again through his own personal experience, the "Middle Path", which gives rise to vision and knowledge, and which leads to calm, insight, enlightenment, nirvana. This 'Middle Path is generally referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya Atthangika Magga) because it is comprised of eight categories.

The Buddha came to the "Middle Path' through his own life experiences first as an heir to a royal throne, living the life of sensual pleasures; later as a spiritual seeker experimenting with self-mortification. Having realised that neither extreme - neither indulgence nor self-denial - provided true contentment, he advocated the "Middle Path': a superlative way of inner and outer balance and moderation based on living by the Noble Eight-fold Path'", which encompasses righteousness in view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. Identifying greed, hatred and delusion as the fundamental problems of the individual, family, society, nation and the

World, the Buddha advocated non-attachment to the "self* and the cultivation world, of the wisdom, generosity and compassion as the foundation for human well-being While the Buddha's teachings and the "Middle Path' are directed towards individual enlightenment. They also have direct relevance and a practical role to play in the social transformation that many see as being so necessary today.

The Buddha's teachings non-violence, tolerance, moderation, generosity and compassion are not limited to followers of Buddhism. The basic principles and ethics of the "Middle Path' are applicable and suitable for the entirety of humanity. The great scholar and American Buddhist monk, Bhikkhu Bodhi, writes. "The 'Middle Path' is not a compromise between the extremes but a way that rises above them, avoiding the pitfalls into which they lead" The "Middle Path'" is an alternative to extremist ideologies. Sustainability and well-being, by definition, required balance and moderation, not one-sidedness, whether it is over-consumption or under-consumption, economic stasis or frenetic growth.

The Buddha's Middle Path' emphasises righteous intention: the ethics of generosity, compassion and wisdom, which can illuminate decision making on issues of modern development, production, and consumption, including the adoption of appropriate technologies that are environmentally friendly and ecologically sound, in another word, "sustainable". Let us apply the formula of the Buddha's "Four Noble Truths"' (Cattari Ariyasaccâni) to the serious issue of climate change and environmental degradation: 

First noble truth is suffering

Second noble truth is the cause of suffering

Third noble truth is the cessation of suffering

 Fourth suffering noble truth is the Path or the technique that leads to the cessation of sufferings.

Now, the suffering of our present age is climate change and environmental degradation: This is the first noble truth. The second noble truth, the cause of our environmental crisis or suffering, is human greed: In striving to satisfy their greed, human beings are polluting and destroying the natural environment. The third noble truth is the genuine assurance that there is indeed a solution that will eliminate our environmental crisis and all the associated suffering arising from it.

The climate change crisis that besets the world is created by human beings. Therefore, anything created by human beings can be stopped, and it is possible to stop them. The fourth noble truth is the path, technique method or ways and means to stop the human behaviours that are causing the climate change crisis. To understand the way that leads to the cessation of environmental degradation and climate change we must distinguish between greed and genuine need. We have to understand greed/selfishness is always a cause of suffering. Our suffering is now climate change and environmental degradation caused by human greed. 'Therefore, all those kinds of development activities that are causing climate change and environmental degradation must be stopped immediately.

May virtuousness, contentment and generosity prevail and spread

May al the ghostly greed, and all ecologically and environmentally unfriendly activities cease and disappear.

May all develop genuine respect, care, love, generosity and compassion towards mother earth, water, air, trees and animals

May all never use the precious natural resources more than is strictly necessary.

May wisdom prevail on all to work together to save this beautiful planet!

May the objectives of this Sustainable Development Summit 2015 succeed!

May humanity grow physically strong

May humanity grow mentally brilliant May humanity grow culturally rich May humanity grow morally lofty.

May humanity grow spiritually enlightening

May humanity grow socially harmonious

May humanity grow materially prosperous

May humanity grow globally friendly,

May humanity grow environmentally peaceful.

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