My Spiritual Journey by Dalai Lama (good books for 8th graders txt) 📕

of the external environment

And the internal world of human beings,

As described in the Tantras

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And in treatises on medicine and astronomy,

Has been verified by present experience.

The earth is the house of living beings;

It is equable and impartial to animate and inanimate alike.

Thus spoke the Buddha with a voice that speaks the truth,

Taking the great Earth as his witness.

Just as a noble being recognizes the kindness of a wise mother And shows gratitude to her,

So we should treat with affection and thoughtfulness The Earth, our universal mother, Who gives everyone equal nourishment. Let us abandon waste and pollution Of the clean, clear nature of the four elements, And let us stop destroying the well-being of peoples! Let us devote ourselves on the contrary to actions that benefit everyone!

Buddha, the Great Sage, was born beneath a tree, Then sat beneath a tree to complete his Enlightenment,

After having conquered his passions. And it is beneath two trees that he passed into nirvana. In truth, the Buddha held trees in high esteem. The place where the emanation of Manjushri, Lama Tsongkhapa,

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caused his body to be born, Is marked by a sandalwood tree

Whose leaves by the hundreds of thousands bear the effigy of the Buddha.

Is it not well known that certain transcendent deities,

Eminent divinities and spirits of place,

Establish their residence in trees?

Flowering trees clean the wind

And let us breathe an air that regenerates life.

They charm the eyes and calm the mind.

Their shade creates a welcoming place of rest.

In the Vinaya,

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the Buddha advises monks

To care for fragile trees.

This teaching teaches us that it is virtuous

To plant trees and protect their growth.

The Buddha forbids monks to cut down

Or to have others cut down living plants,

To destroy seeds or soil the green, fresh grass.

Should that not inspire in us

Love and protection for our environment?

It is said that, in the heavenly realms,

Trees emanate from the blessings of the Buddha

And echo his words,

Expressing his fundamental teaching of impermanence.

It is trees that bring rain

And retain the essence of the soil’s fertility.

The Kalpataru,

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the wish-fulfilling tree, Is supposed to grow on the Earth to help us accomplish all our goals.

Long ago, our ancestors ate the fruits of trees

And covered themselves with their leaves.

They learned to make fire by rubbing wood together,

And they took refuge under their branches in case of danger.

Even in this era of science and technology,

Trees provide shelter for us,

Chairs to sit down in and beds to sleep in.

When the heart is burning with the fire of anger, fed by arguments, Trees offer their fresh, welcoming shade. In trees reside the sighs of all life on Earth. When they have disappeared,

The continent called by the name of the Jambu tree

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Will be nothing but a gloomy, devastated desert. Nothing is dearer to the living than life. Having recognized this, in the rules of the Vinaya, The Buddha establishes prohibitions, Such as not using water that contains living creatures. In the remote lands of the Himalayas, In the old days, in Tibet, they forbade hunting and fishing And even construction work

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at certain times. These traditions are noble, for they preserve and cherish The lives of the humblest creatures, innocent and defenseless. Playing with the lives of other beings, without hesitation or feeling,

As in sporting activities like hunting or fishing, Represents senseless and useless violence,

Defying the solemn rights of the living.

While being attentive to the interdependent nature

Of all creatures, both animate and inanimate,

We should never relax our efforts

To protect and preserve the energy of nature.

A special day, in a special month of every year,

Should be dedicated to the planting of a tree.

Thus, we should take up our responsibility toward our brethren,

For our own greatest happiness, and the happiness of all.

May the force of observing what is right,

Abstaining from evil conduct and harmful actions,

Feed the prosperity of the world and increase it!

May such an attitude increase the vigor of living beings

And allow them to flourish!

May pastoral joy and natural happiness

Continue to grow and spread, embracing everything that lives!

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Our Planet Is

One World

The Buddha in the Green Party!

IF WE THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT IT, we come to the conclusion that if the Buddha Shakyamuni were to return among us and join a political party, it would be the Green Party! (Laughs.) He would be an ecologist! (Laughs.)

After all, the Buddha was not born in a paradise, but in a garden.26 When he became enlightened, it wasn’t in an office, a house, or a temple, but in the shade of a tree, the Bodhi Tree.27 And when he died, it was at the foot of two trees that the Buddha entered great nirvana.28

Human rights and the environment

IF I HAD TO vote, it would be for a party that defends the environment. One of the more positive recent developments in the world is the growing realization of the importance of nature. There is nothing sacred or holy about this. As human beings, our life comes from nature, and it is senseless to act against it. That is why I say that the environment is not a question of religion or ethics or morality, all of which are luxuries, since we can do without them and still survive. But we will not survive if we continue to go against nature.

We must accept this reality. If we throw nature off balance, humanity will suffer. Moreover, we who are living today must take into consideration those who will live tomorrow. A clean environment is a human right like any other. So it is our responsibility to hand down a world that is healthy, if not even healthier than we found it. This proposition is not as difficult as it may seem. True, our capacity to act as individuals is limited, but the commitment of everyone is not. Individually, we must do everything we can, no matter how little. Even if turning off the light when you leave a room doesn’t seem very consequential, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.

On this point, as a Buddhist monk, my