The New Kadampa Tradition is an international association of Mahayana Buddhist meditation centers that follow the Kadampa Buddhist tradition founded by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
Environment |
Preserving our environment and mindful consumption are a part of our practice |
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Lost in the Woods
The lovely midafternoon call of an olive-sided fly-catcher serenades my passage through these shadows, as they have for all the years, all the summers that I have been passing through these forests. It’s calling, I know, from some more light-filled place—a break in the canopy, a stream’s edge, a small meadow. The bird’s call keeps me company as I move slowly forward, crawling over giant fallen logs, slipping between spiky branches, inserting myself ever deeper into the heart of the basin. I’m bushwhacking through my home, northwest Montana, less than a mile from Canada. Not a single species has gone extinct in this wild little valley since the retreat of the last Ice Age. This matters hugely to me. I understand the importance of accepting impermanence, but just because I understand it doesn’t mean I’m any good at it. More » -
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Turning the Corner
It is time for us to evolve. We know well enough that species adapting to a changing environment survive, while those that do not go extinct. We also know our environment is changing and that our own activities are contributing to those changes. We therefore know enough to understand: we must either evolve or perish. For the first time in history, our challenge is not the implacable forces of external nature, but the inner toxins of our own nature. The radical changes in the ecosystem threatening our survival are not being thrust upon us from the outside but stem from the greed, hatred, and delusion lodged deep in our own hearts. We are our own greatest threat and are thus in the unique position of having to adapt both to ourselves and from ourselves. More » -
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Allegiance to Life
It’s no secret that our world is in a tough spot. The critical problems that we face today—political, economic, and ecological—can be overwhelming even to think about. Joanna Macy, Ph.D., however, believes we are in a moment she calls “The Great Turning”: a transition from a society shaped primarily by industrial growth to a society structured to be life-sustaining. In her workshops, Macy—a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology—encourages people to take part in this collective transition not by hiding from their pain for the world but by embracing it. In honoring our despair, Macy says, we discover our love for the world. More » -
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A Palace of Decay
I stand on the ice-black ground of December, tearing apart matted roots of coastal iris, preparing to sow dark chestnut redwood seed in deep wooden boxes. To my wicked delight, the last celebrated plants of summer have frozen to death and been carted off to our roaring compost heap. My mind is free to range the stark terrain of winter. More » -
Making Amends
Made a list of all those we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. How far were we to go in making our amends to those we had harmed? Should we move to a yurt in the woods? reduce our carbon footprint? become an advocate for third world countries whose environments had been decimated by our greed for cheap disposable products? And what was the purpose of such an exercise? Was it to assuage our guilt, or were we actually expected to right our ecological wrongs? More »
