21_Living in Balance with The Enviroment

LIVING IN BALANCE WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

By

Bhikkhu Jotidhammo, Mahathera

Just as a beetle gathers honey from flowers without spoiling their colour and smell, so should a wise man wander from village to village

(Dhammapada 49)

            In an ecosystem, beetles not only take advantage of flowers, but also compensate for them by assisting with pollination. The beetle's behaviour inspires us on how to use this limited natural resource.

            The behaviour of greed will destroy the surrounding nature, as people take maximum advantage for the benefit of themselves or their groups, with absolutely no thought for the sustainability of natural resources. Although with the golden rain no sensual gratification can be obtained (Dhammapada 186), greed is insatiable even with the golden rain.

            Wisdom is needed to reduce or even eliminate greed, wisdom that starts with the principle of interconnected or interdependent life. My existence depends on the existence of others, and the existence of others depends on my existence. Looking at a grain of rice, we also see rice seeds, water, rice fields, farmers, rice pounders, even rice sellers, and so on. There is an interconnectedness of the farmer, the trader, the buyer, the eater of rice; that interconnectedness can be mutually enabling, or mutually negating.

            The Aganna Sutta explains the reciprocal relationship between human behaviour and the evolution of plant development. The first known type of rice (sali) was a clean grain with no husk. Plucked in the evening, the grain ripened again the next day. Picked early in the morning, the grains ripen again in the afternoon. Initially, people gathered enough rice for one meal. Then the thought came to man, wouldn't it be better to gather enough paddy for lunch and dinner at once? The next thought that arose was easy to guess - it would be even better to collect for two days, four days, eight days, and so on. Since then, people have been hoarding rice. The harvested grain did not grow back. So, as a result of their greed, people had to plant and wait a long time for the rice they had planted to bear fruit. The rice stalks began to grow in clumps. Then the grains of rice were husked. Thus, it is clear that human behaviour determines the evolutionary development of the environment, be it the condition of nature, rivers, mountains, beaches, and even our ecosystem.

            The attitude of humans who are selfish, want to use the surrounding nature, and even exploit the environment to improve the needs of life should be balanced with how humans protect and care for this natural environment, so that it does not experience damage and destruction even though humans use the environment.

            The environment has become unmaintained, damaged, and even threatens human life itself. This happens because the inner life does not have a proper place in the midst of life today. Buddhism teaches the need for balance between the fulfilment of physical needs and inner needs. The balance is due to being able to understand the beneficial impact of fulfilling physical needs and the benefits of fulfilling inner needs. Food, clothing, shelter, medicine and other necessities are really needed according to the benefits that humans need. Thus, these needs can be possessed without being greedy, without being excessive, and even giving others the opportunity to have the things they need as well. So that even if the population density increases because the death rate decreases or human life expectancy increases, people can still be well-fed.

            The dilemma of food consumed by humans, it turns out that 1/3 of the food is discarded as food waste, estimated at 1.3 billion tonnes annually, if calculated wasted food waste is estimated to be worth US $ 680 billion for advanced countries and US $ 310 billion for developing countries. On the other hand, there are approximately 795 million people in the world suffering from hunger. The total food waste generated each year could actually support 2 billion people. Whereas humans can use their wisdom to order food or eat their food, not the other way around with their greed and ignorance, it is so easy to order food, so that food becomes left over and wasted as food waste. Understanding "enough" in terms of ordering or taking food is necessary to avoid leftover food that eventually becomes waste. There are still many people who need food because of poverty, and food is also needed to overcome the problem of stunting and other health problems. Referring to data from the National Waste Management Information System, it turns out that in 2022, the composition of food waste is 40.2% of the total waste. This is the largest composition of waste compared to others such as wood / leaves, paper, plastic, etc. Therefore, a clear and deep realisation is needed that let's live a balanced life together with other people who also need the feasibility of this life.

            Civilisation requires the use of available natural resources. But since human life is not a parasite, it should strive to restore the natural resources it has utilised. Nowadays, environmental conservation is a very urgent need of human life, environmental conservation is a necessity of life with the whole universe.

Bhikkhu Jotidhammo, Mahathera; Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Theravada Sangha of Indonesia; lives at Mendut Monastery, Magelang Regency, Indonesia...