The Buddhists believe the separate self is a construct, they focus on the interconnection of all living beings and they look to the source of life in nature, while recognizing that all things created and that we experience are impermanent, constantly subject to decay and change.. It is a way of looking at things that may help us to surrender more but sometimes the concept vies in my mind with fear of what happens if your sense of an independent ‘self’ is not strong enough for you to be able to keep anything of your self inside of you or for your own needs.
Never the less I do love the concept of nature as being full of divine substance, it was a topic under discussion in today’s episode of Soul Search a radio program that airs here in Australia on Radio National and deals with all things spiritual and religious.
I love the concept of green Buddhism, that said I am a meat eater so I do not always believe that we can spare the suffering of animals, but I do believe we must be mindful of how we treat them and all living beings and should try to do so with compassion and kindness.. My feeling is that in order for some energy to live some energy must die and the energy then is incorporated into us so that energy never disappears and for me, with my constitution I survive and thrive well on a diet that contains a small amount of meat protein and a majority of fruits, nuts and vegetables and foods with a minimum of processing.
I loved the part of this interview in which Stephanie Kaza spoke of the experience of the Buddha meditating under a fig tree and being assailed by all kinds of feelings and ‘demons’ during this experience as the Buddha allowed him to experience everything at one point he touched the ground and used earth as his witness.. I think we did a great disservice to nature when we humans tried to separate spirit out from it.. This happened after the middle ages and then pagan practices came to be seen as somehow unholy, but to my mind if God and Goddess exist anywhere then it is in nature the we see that force in all of its mighty and destructive splendor.. We cannot deny that nature has a dark side because when we do we cut ourselves off from one side of the polarity of life and become dualistic.
I wanted to share the interview today as it was timely with all of the planets in the sign of Venus (Taurus.. including transiting Venus) lately.. as Venus and the Earth are most intimately and intricately interconnected and April the 22nd was Earth Day. Without the earth we cannot live and if we hurt the earth and fall out of alignment with nature then we are most certainly on a path to destruction.. Hopefully some followers will enjoy listening to the podcast.. I certainly did.
Related :
Emerging From The Dark Night 