Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds (Religions of the World and Ecology)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent introduction to Buddhist environmentalism
Review: This is a first rate academic introduction to Buddhist environmentalism. 'Buddhism and Ecology' is one of a series of volumes on world faiths and ecology produced by the Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions. It contains 19 essays from a variety of perspectives, all seeking to make a Buddhist contribution to the ongoing discussion of the environmental crisis.

While a number of essays are philosophical in nature, practical outcomes are not neglected. The essays consider Buddhism as practised in Thailand, Japan, India, America and elsewhere. Theravada, Mahayana and Zen traditions are specifically considered, as is 'engaged Buddhism'.

I would recommend this work as an excellent introduction to a continuing discussion, with only the following two reservations. First, most of the essays are written by American, or American based, authors. This is not necessarily a problem, and it reflects the nature of the conference which produced the papers presented here. But given the wealth of writers on Buddhism around the world, a greater breadth could have been represented. This leads to my second minor gripe, which is that there are no essays specifically on Tibetan Buddhism. This is a great shame, although, clearly, not everything can be considered, even in a fairly weighty tome such as this.

There is an extremely useful bibliography, and I now recommend this book to interested people, alongside 'Dharma Gaia', which covers similar ground, but in a more populist, less academic way. 'Dharma Rain' is another recent work covering similar ground in a slightly less academic fashion.