The Basic Crises And The Remedy

There are a number of people who consider the Ecological to be the crisis of our time. This is Professor Rinpoche’s paper on this issue. In this he sets forth the authentic Buddhist spiritual standpoint. Speaking broadly, what is common to Buddhism as well as to Jainism and Vedanta is the insight that absence of ‘tattvajnana’ (Real Knowledge) is the fundamental reason for the perennial crisis encompassing the ignorant humanity. Only the dawn of wisdom abolishes all crises.

Editor

The unenlightened world is always under crises. The contemporary world is no exception, but it does not have any additional affliction which existence the world did not have before in other times. The misconception of the “Self” and the “Phenomena” as “independently inherent true existence” generates further misconception of the “Self” and the “Other” divisions upon which such false assumptions, attachments and hatred arise. Wherever there is the potential of hate and attachment there are bound to be contradictions and conflicts. So a crisis becomes inevitable. The form of crises may vary in accordance with the socio-cultural and economic disposition of a person as well as with the magnitude of the crisis, which may become pervasive under the virulence of human power in the field of science and technology. In ancient times conflicts were ingrained in persons or groups, but with the passage of time and new technologies of communications, and modern civilization conflicts also grew from nation to nation or among power blocks giving rise to the premonition of the possible destruction of the entire world. If one cares to look into the root cause of such possible catastrophic actually one will squarely find it in person’s mind is conditioned by defilements of “attachment” and “hatred”. That does hardly change in spite of the countless years of development of technology or all the devices of modern civilization which have accumulated enormous knowledge and which seemingly probe into every sphere of the “Knowable”. But that kind of superimposition of knowledge has totally failed to alter the basic conditioning of the mind which is rooted in ignorance of the true nature of the selflessness (anatman) and the interdependent origination of things (Pratiiya samutpada).

The basic foundation of the human mind is absolutely the same as it had been in the primitive stages. All accumulations of knowledge and information are superimpositions on this basic but rooted foundation. That is how modern knowledge of which human society is proud could not usher is into a state of existence free from one is rid of crises; instead it has landed us in the midst of such a terrible crises which threatens the very existence of this good earth and all its living species.

I need not dilate here the nature and the multifacedness of the crises, because we are all aware of it in our time more especially in the domain of the degradation of ecological balance, increasing pollution of environment and subtle depletion of “ozone layer”, about which there has been, of late, serious reflection by thoughtful men both in the world organizations and the elementary schools at the lower rung of social communication. The more it is discussed and the dangers ahead are explained, fear of its virulence intensifies insecurity. The whole situation is very alarming.

But let me assert with confidence that the external crises of which we are so mush aggrieved is not beyond remedy. It the world at large takes seriously its common ecological responsibility , and is ready to