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From the Buddhafield Dharma Series I: Festival talks 2009-10
Citation preview
Akasati:
Ecology, Buddhism and Buddhafield: an introduction
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
Buddhafield Dharma Series I:
An introduction
These booklets have come out of the Dharma teaching on the
Buddhafield Festival , and the wider Buddhafield project.
Originally posted as audio talks on FreeBuddhistAudio at
www.freebuddhistaudio.com/browse?p=Buddhafield , they’ve now
been edited and published on-line to reach a wider audience. This
essay introduces the series as a whole - you’ll find the rest at
issuu.com/buddhafield .
Buddhafield itself is at www.buddhafield.com or on Facebook - and
in a field in the West of England!
Thanks to Akasati for the bulk of the work in preparing and editing
them for publication, plus for the vision that the time had come to
produce our first collection of Buddhafield Dharma.
December 2010
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 3/19
Akasati: Ecology, Buddhism and Buddhafield: an introduction
This is not primarily about Buddhafield but a collection of Dharma
teaching that has emerged from Buddhafield – it is intended to be
accessible to anyone interested in ecology and Buddhism, to include
people beyond the immediate circles of Buddhafield and Triratna.
In the last decades of the 20th Century, two movements of human
thought and practice emerged as significant influences in Western
society. One was the newly emerging environmental movement,
encompassing a broad range of concerns from the wellbeing of
indigenous peoples, rainforests and wildlife habitats to community
lifestyles, organic farming and ever growing issues about human use
of resources. Meanwhile, the 2 500-year-old Buddhist tradition has
become an increasingly familiar and respected presence in the
cultural landscape of the West, to the extent that it is no longer
unusual for its core meditation practices to be routinely used within
major organisationsi.
The fertile ground of this dialogue between urgent contemporary
issues and timeless Buddhist wisdom is the central theme of this
volume, which itself has its roots in Buddhafield, a collective running
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
a number of outdoor, eco-Buddhist projects including a festival,
itinerant vegan cafe, retreats under canvas and organic growing
projects. The talks and teachings on which these essays are based
were originally given at a Buddhafield festival or retreatii. Although
they are not primarily about Buddhafield, as that is the common
context which draws the different chapters together, some
background may be useful.
Buddhist practise on the land
In the twenty-first century west, an increasing number of people are
drawing inspiration from the teachings of the Buddha. We have an
ever-increasing volume of written teachings available in translation,
from the Pali texts of early Indian Buddhism to the sutras and
commentaries of later schools throughout Asia. However our
comfortable, push-button lifestyles are a long way away from the
profound simplicity of the Buddha and his early followers’ lives.
From the day he left his family home, the man destined to become
known as the Buddha lived outdoors: in forest groves, on the banks
of rivers and outside the villages and cities of northern India. At
times he penetrated deep into the jungle to confront his own fear,
or for respite from human society. Apart from taking shelter in huts
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 5/19
during the monsoon, Siddhartha Gautama and his followers slept in
the open: at the roots of trees, under the stars, close to the
elements and creatures of the non-human world. In keeping with
the culture of the time, they perceived the land as alive with
meaning, filled with sacred groves inhabited by local deities, spirits
of trees and brooks.
Some Western Buddhists have wished to explore not only the
written teachings of the Buddha but also the example of his pared-
down lifestyle, rooted in landscape experienced as alive and sacred.
Buddhafield is one expression of this exploration. Buddhafield is
what its name suggests: Buddhism in a field. Over the last decade or
so Buddhafield has given thousands of people interested in
exploring Buddhism the opportunity to experience Dharma practice
close to the elements, in a context of material simplicity.
Untamed Dharma: Festival Roots
Buddhafield’s distinctive style grew out of a network of influences.
In the mid 1990s when the seeds of Buddhafield were first
emerging, moves towards non-urban, simpler and more sustainable
ways of living were being explored by a much more widely and
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
festivals such as Glastonbury and the Big Green Gathering were a
focus for debate and sharing of ideas. The project that later became
Buddhafield began when members of the Western Buddhist Order
and friends went to teach meditation at Glastonbury Festival and
later the Big Green Gathering, supported by their ‘Green Buddha’
cafeiii.
As well as being a new context for connecting with people likely to
be interested in meditation and Dharma teaching, for those
pioneering the project these events were also a welcome escape
from city life and an opportunity to be part of the relaxed, counter-
culture vibes of the festival scene – a very different environment
from the comparatively restrained atmosphere of a city Buddhist
centre or retreat, which some people found restrictive. No path is
without pitfalls and in Buddhist circles a potential danger has been
noted: that the necessary application of restraint in the practice of
mindfulness and ethics can slide into a state of alienation, blocked
energy and denial of feelings and drives that seem not to fit into the
picture of a ‘good Buddhist’iv. Whilst many Buddhist practitioners
focussed on cultivating spiritual purity (and sometimes, human
nature being what it is, concerns about being seen to do so), others
were more interested in opportunities to explore energies that
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 7/19
were not so consciously controlled, in an environment which
encouraged free expression. Although hard-and-fast distinctions
between ‘conformity’ and ‘dissent’ can sometimes lead to unhelpful
polarisation, the presence of ‘counter-culture’ alternatives has
nonetheless provided many a liberating context for something fresh
and creative to be born. So it was for the pioneers of Buddhafield.
For dissenters and ‘bad boys’ who felt they did not fit into the
Buddhist ‘mainstream’, the festival scene was a gift. Glastonbury in
the nineties was a relatively uncontrolled environment, certainly by
UK standards, with all the opportunities for creativity and
underworld dealings one might expect. The festival scene typically
blended Eastern influences with New Age ideas; miscellaneous
shamanistic traditions of varying degrees of authenticity and holistic
healing methods, creating a potpourri of ritual and spiritual
practices – alongside plenty of rock music and recreational drug use.
Buddhist meditation, chanting and puja were readily absorbed into
the mix, to the extent that many festival goers did not -- and still
don’t - distinguish Buddhism from New Age ideas or the various
branches of Hindu belief and practice that made their way West via
the hippy trail.
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
The influence of the festival world went much deeper than
opportunities for Buddhists to let their hair down. Glastonbury and
the Big Green Gathering were a focus for activists, campaigners and
people following alternative, low-impact lifestyles. These people
were engaged in a serious critique of mainstream, consumer values.
Buddhafield from its inception has been serious about the ethical
imperative for low-impact living and has provided a context for
dialogue between the ecology movement and Buddhist teachings
such as non-violence and interdependence. This dialogue continues
to be a fundamental working ground for how all Buddhafield
projects are run. A radical critique of contemporary Western values
and lifestyles remains at the heart of the project.
Challenges and joys: community as practice
Buddhafield is a community - or rather a number of interlocking,
overlapping communities, from a small group working together
year-round in the South West of England to a variety of seasonal
communities that come together once a year, whether to put on the
festival, join the café team as it journeys through its summer of
festivals, or attend an intensive meditation or families retreat. It is
an ever-growing community. New enthusiasts get involved each
year and some responsibilities for the families retreat are now held
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 9/19
by young people who have been coming on the retreats throughout
their childhood. Central to the project are Buddhists who have
made an explicit commitment to shared Dharma practice, alongside
many people who make these projects possible, providing anything
from wind power, a sauna or live music, who would not consider
themselves as Buddhists. Differences of values can cause tensions
but can also create a live dialogue, not just in theory but in the most
hands-on sense, where members of a diverse community have to
communicate and negotiate with one another. One case in point is
that while festivals are more usually places where alcohol and drugs
are consumed in quantity, Buddhafield makes every effort to be
drug and alcohol free. Many people attending the Buddhafield
Festival have been surprised and delighted by how much enjoyment
they can have without recourse to mind-altering substances. In this
way they have direct experience of the ‘mindfulness clear and
radiant’ described in the positive formulation of the five key
Buddhist precepts.
Cooperating with other people is always, sooner or later, a
challenge. Views and egos bump up against one another. It’s all too
easy to talk about the Buddhist virtues of compassion, generosity,
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
truthfulness and so on and quite another thing to put them into
practice. The closer we live and work together, the more revealing
our day to day interactions are likely to be about where we actually
stand in relation to these precepts and practices. Like deepening
one’s meditation or ethical sensibilities, building sangha
(community based on Buddhist values) is a demanding practice,
requiring genuine willingness to change and bringing unexpected
joys.
Many times on Buddhafield events, a deeply satisfying sense of
community arises in adversity. On an event dominated by torrential
rain, levels of co-operation and mutual helpfulness tend to reach
their highest. As well as arising from the obvious ways in which we
need one another, difficult conditions can enable us to work
together against a ‘common enemy’ – in this case, the weather.
The practical demands of living outdoors, away from most of the
gadgets that make modern life so comfortable, frequently have
other unexpected benefits. It is surprising how satisfying it is to be
called upon to use our ingenuity rather than having everything laid
on as we have come to expect. I have been repeatedly surprised
how empowering it feels to rig up a shower-bucket from a tree or
simply chop wood for a fire. The vast majority of people who leave
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 11/19
comfortable lifestyles to spend even a short period camping out in
the elements are visibly more alive and ‘present’ within a few days.
Unconsciously we realise how dependant for our very survival we
are in the modern West on machines most of us don’t understand
and complex systems such as global agriculture and trade that are
beyond our control. The human capacity for specialisation has
created unprecedented wealth for at least some of us on the planet
at this time, but at a cost. In addition to the heavy and
unsustainable environmental costs of our current lifestyles, an
further individual cost is the underlying anxiety of being ill-equipped
to fend for oneself in the world. The theme of ‘survival’, explored in
Akuppa’s essay ‘Strive On’, seems to be part of our current zeitgeist,
on various levelsv.
The spiritual benefits of living and working together (at least for periods in our lives) have
been much emphasised by Sangharakshita, the founder of the Friends of the Western Buddhist
Order; a practical teaching which has been intensively followed within the Buddhafield
community.
Nature as Teacher
Living outdoors, even temporarily, it becomes obvious that
community extends beyond the human realm. Camping on a piece
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
of land and actively cultivating awareness, one naturally begins to
tune in with the creatures who already live there: insects, birds,
badgers, foxes and deer. The presence of elements in the form of
trees, a stream or the earth itself, becomes more vivid and alive.
Buddhist teachings on the conditioned and therefore
interconnected nature of all phenomena reveal themselves in
myriad new ways, especially to the great majority of us who have
grown up in urban environments, in some degree of disconnection
from the natural world. The experience of arriving in a field to set
up an event and having to find a source of water (whether from a
natural spring or connecting to the mains supply); to deal with one’s
own waste through earth toilets and composting can give us new
perspectives on some of life’s essentials that we normally take for
granted. Eating our own vegetables, we see how elements emerge
from the earth, move through the body and back into the earth,
ultimately as the rich compost that ‘humanure’, in time, becomes.
Food and excrement, those two ‘ends’ of the same process that
classically give us occasion for greed and aversion, are fertile ground
for reflection on the whole of life as a process of arising and passing
away that our own bodies are part of. From this more immediate
experience, it is easier to directly appreciate the importance of
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 13/19
balancing what we receive and what we put back in relationship to
the physical world.
In shamanic traditions the world over, the natural world is taken as
the great teacher. Qualities of strength, agility and far-sight are
learned from animals and birds. Through sustained contact with the
non-human world, adherents come to deep understanding of the
meaning and nature of life.
People coming to live on the land for a week or a month generally
notice how deeply they are affected by the presence of the
elements. Camping next to a great oak tree or brook and being
awoken by the building crescendo of the dawn chorus, our spirits
are nourished and regenerated. Of course the elements are always
present, whether we are in the remotest wilderness or the greyest
corners of the inner city. But when we are inside 4 walls, away from
the touch of the breeze or the sound of flowing water, we generally
feel less connected to this web of life we are intrinsically part of. We
do not need to look far to see what damaging and dangerous
consequences this perceived disconnection between human society
and the rest of the biosphere is having.
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
Unlike many religious and philosophical viewpoints, Buddhism sees
the whole of life as a continuum and does not separate human
beings into a special category in the way that mainstream Christian
and much philosophical thinking in the West have generally done.
The traditional Buddhist view does not even place humankind at the
‘top’ of the evolutionary tree, listing ‘devas’ – beings in subtle
bodies – as existing in more refined, happier realms than ourselves
(though the deva worlds, owing to the de-motivating effects of
sustained bliss, are not necessarily advantageous in the business of
attaining full liberation).
As the Jataka (Birth) storiesvi show, perhaps naively for
contemporary tastes, traditional Buddhism sees consciousness as
manifesting in a series of rebirths by which an individual (though
ever-changing) mind-stream might manifest now as a hare or a
monkey and now as a human being, with its nature and tendencies
in the present impacting on future manifestations. Buddhist ethics
link us humans very firmly in with other species. The first precept of
non-harm is towards all beings, not just other people. It is to be
applied as much as possible to the whole of life.
Thankfully, many people from diverse religious and philosophical
backgrounds have been seeking and drawing out grounds for
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 15/19
ecological sustainability that might be suggested, directly or
indirectly, within their system. Although the threat of the collapse
of ecological systems on a huge scale was not an issue the Buddha’s
time and so not addressed directly, it is not difficult to find
teachings that are relevant to the predicament we find ourselves in.
One of the key aims of Buddhafield and of this book is to explore
the relevance of Buddhist teachings to the urgent issues of our time.
It is no coincidence that several contributors are involved with the
Network of Engaged Buddhists, a group with a specific mission to
engage not just with the work of personal development, but also
with current social, ecological and political issues.
Elemental embodiment
Any attempt to bring about real transformation of the individuals
who collectively constitute society, however, must be grounded in
the self-knowledge that comes from a degree of introspection.
Retreats on the land allow people the opportunity to take time out
of hectic schedules for meditation and reflection, surrounded by the
beauty of nature. Meditating in a tent, seated on the lumps and
bumps of the earth beneath and feeling the cool touch of the
breeze, is different to meditating in a room. In a camp situation, we
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
use our bodies more than many of us would normally. Tents have to
be erected, water carried and wood chopped. We need to take care
walking over uneven ground especially on a dark night, far from the
glare of street lights. We are less protected from the elements than
we would be in a building; more likely to get wet when it rains, hot
when the sun comes out and cold when it goes down. Away from
our insulated lives and computer screens, we can begin to
experience ourselves as more deeply embodied. Barefoot walking
meditation, treading directly on the earth and with the expanse of
the sky above, we experience directly how connected we are,
energetically, to these great elements. Reflection on the six
elements (adding space and consciousness to the classic list of four
elements) is intended to deepen our insight into the profound
continuity between what we experience inside our bodies with what
we experience as ‘outside’, as explored by Kamalashila in ‘The Living
Elements’ chapter.
A capacity to extend our awareness to include not just the contents
of our head but the direct, non-discursive sensations of the body, is
a pre-requisite for entering more settled, meditative states of mind.
The importance of attention to the body has been emphasised since
the Buddha’s day when he urged his followers to cultivate sustained
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 17/19
mindfulness of the body and its functions: its posture and
movements in space; experience of temperature, pleasure, pain and
the substances that make it up. In spite of this unmistakable
emphasis, many of us have a tendency to disregard and even
denigrate our own bodies in our pursuit of spiritual growth.
Although we may feel some influence from the Buddha and his
teachings in our lives, most of us carry more powerful, less
conscious influences from our own culture. According to a Buddhist
critique, theistic religions tend towards an eternalistic view whereby
the body is regarded as fundamentally separate from the eternal
soul, which is seen as our essence: the most important part of our
being. From Greek philosophical influences through the Judeo-
Christian heritage which has dominated Western culture, the kind of
split whereby the body, and indeed the whole of nature came to be
seen as something separate, inferior and to be subjugated has been
a major cultural strand. Serious study of the Dharma by Western
students tends to lead back to an examination of our own received
views. A vigorous critique to such enduring views and an alternative
way of perceiving the world as radically interconnected may turn
out to be the most useful contribution Buddhism has to make to the
current ecological crisis.
AKASATI: ECOLOGY, BUDDHISM AND BUDDHAFIELD: AN INTRODUCTION
Mythic realms
This book is not intended to cover the main themes and influences
of Buddhafield in a comprehensive way. Readers who have been to
Buddhafield might miss the presence in this volume of the figures of
Padmasambhava, Tara, Amoghasiddhi and the archetypal Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas who are the focus of chanting and devotional
practice on many events. The practice of ritual, drawing not only on
Buddhist but also pagan, Celtic roots, is a vivid experience for many
of the people who come to Buddhafield. An exploration of the
meaning and power of ritual is not the province of this volume and
in any case is perhaps best left to direct experience.
Ultimately we can only fully experience the beauty and magic of
meditation and Dharma practice on the land, in community, not by
reading about it but by actually doing it.
BUDDHAFIELD DHARMA SERIES I: FESTIVAL TALKS 2009-10 PAGE 19/19
Appendix
i eg NHS mindfulness courses
ii This essay introduces the series as a whole - you’ll find the rest at
issuu.com/buddhafield
iii As well as the ‘eco’ inference, ‘Green Buddha’ refers to Amoghasiddhi,
the green Buddha of the Tantric mandala who symbolises fearlessness and
unstoppable energy.
iv Sangharakshita: ‘Alienated and Integrated Awareness’
v http://issuu.com/buddhafield/docs/akuppa-strive_on2?mode=a_p
vi A body of canonical and non-canonical stories relating the former lives of
the Buddha and his disciples, in some cases as animals