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Religion is very important in shaping believers’ worldviews or cosmologies, so a religion like Buddhism holds the power to encourage a positive response to climate change.

In this presentation, I will analyze three case studies, in Tibet, India, and Nepal, to prove that Buddhist teachings of interdependence and emptiness, as well as the hierarchical and filial links between humanity, the divine, and nature, shape environmental consciousness, especially topical in the face of climate change. However, while its material effects are most observable, the respect for and connection to nature pervasive in Buddhist thought and teachings foregrounds the often-ignored psychological, spiritual, and emotional dimensions of climate change.

Photo from: https://img.freepik.com/premium-photo/tibetan-village-himalaya-mountains-morning-with-snowy-peak_285336-1525.jpg?w=2000

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Welcome to Tibet, part of the Tibetan Plateau, an autonomous region of China, and home to large mountains (ex. the Himalayas to the North) and glaciers! Tibet is known as the Third Pole because it houses the most ice and water after the Arctic and Antarctic.

Photo from: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2F2019%2Fsep%2F15%2Ftibetan-plateau-glacier-melt-ipcc-report-third-pole&psig=AOvVaw0qpEzRps5-btQsHmnYzNvl&ust=1670094086318000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CBAQjhxqFwoTCPDHlr7P2_sCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAN

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Tibet is the land from which several of Asia’s major rivers flow, including the Indus, Ganges, Yangtze, Mekong, Yellow, and others. If these major sources of water (rivers, as well as glaciers) were to overflow, dry up, or become contaminated, over a billion people would feel the effects. These examples showcase both how pervasive the ramifications of our actions are and how dependent we are on the world and the people around us.

Photo from: https://assets.weforum.org/editor/imdc1x3Zk-vghLAFbesOTX8cWp7txfUdyQxDsqJMb3w.jpg

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Interdependence consists of two basic ideas. First, all parts of an ecosystem are dependent on one another for survival. We are dependent on all plants, animals, and raw materials that form and create that which we consume. For example, the food we eat was grown, harvested, packaged, and prepared by people we will never meet, yet we benefit from their labor and time. They are as faceless as these AI-generated farmers, but provide the sustenance and care of a mother. In this way, it is clear that no one thing exists alone and no one thing can survive alone; we are all part of one compassionate world ecology.

Photo: https://www.craiyon.com/?prompt=tibetan%20person%20harvesting%20food

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Secondly, interdependence can be seen as a universal ecology in which all things are in a web of cause-effect relations. Human interventions that cause harm, violence, or are seen as negative will ripple throughout the web, negatively impacting both the source and those nearby. In Buddhist cosmology, reality is divided into three spheres: the individual, the institutions that form society, and the rest of the natural world. An action performed by an individual can affect all three realms, so anything that harms the environment also harms the individual, society, and everything around, and has massive karmic consequences.

For example, recycling paper can be seen as inefficient and bothersome, but because the paper exists in relationship to both the Earth and human society, recycling is ultimately more efficient and desirable than wasting. It is in this way that interdependence can be seen as the basis for environmental stewardship.

Photo from: https://www.craiyon.com

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a web of cause-effect relations between humans, nature, and society

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Emptiness can be explained by the Buddhist concept of self. Because the nature of self is impermanent and intangible (because we are constantly moving, absorbing, and shedding), the self is devoid of inherent self-nature. Buddhism teaches us that there is no distinction between the self and other, which allows us to be part of all phenomena. The earth should not be the "other," as it has recently become. If we accept and understand that we are not individuals but rather part of the whole of life on Earth, we cannot sit idly by as suffering and (environmental) injustice occurs.

Photo from: https://www.craiyon.com

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Tibet showcases just how many people, organisms, or land are affected by our actions. If the glaciers melted or the rivers became polluted, it would affect over a billion people. Buddhism stresses interdependence, the idea that all parts of an ecosystem are dependent on one another for survival, and that our actions exist in a web of cause-effect relations and impact ourselves and those around us. Buddhism also teaches us the importance of emptiness, the notion that there is no distinction between the self and other, meaning that we are part of the whole of life on Earth and responsible for its maintenance. A society that values interdependence, emptiness, compassion, and love would emphasize community, as well as ecological awareness and sustainable development.

Photo from: https://freetibet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hero-image-photos-4-1300x750.png

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Welcome to the Tingmosgang monastery and village in India's northwest region: Ladakh. Flanked by both glaciers and mountains, this village showcases important Buddhist relationships between the divine, nature, and man.

Photo from: https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-m/1280/1b/41/47/d4/kloster-tingmosgang.jpg

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During the ceremony for the first plowing of the season, forgiveness is asked of the earth spirits because it is their ground that is being plowed, thus emphasizing the Buddhist worldview as incorporating society and nature.

Photo from: https://c8.alamy.com/zooms/9/3f72305c687d416daf60dfd19a002500/2caf6dy.jpg

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According to Buddhist cosmology, spirits and deities inhabit areas surrounding the village, including the mountains and the glaciers, and oversee the connection between moral values and the environment. Glaciers specifically are seen as representative of moral wonder, meaning that their decay due to climate change signals moral decay.

Photo from: https://www.mountainprofessor.com/images/Karakoram-Mitre-Peak-2.jpg
https://skillfulmeansdesign.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/tulku_house.jpg

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Villagers depend on meltwater and runoff from glaciers both for crop irrigation and food security. Villagers even see the glaciers as male and the lakes their waters fill as female, symbolizing a mother and a father that take care of their children. The villagers understood this dependence, so they provided either deities or the mountain/glacier itself with love, care, and gifts.

In earlier times, the villagers in Tingmosgang performed a ritual meant to appease the stubborn protector, the zhidak, of the village’s main glacier. The zhidak will not let farmers carry out their activities until he has been paid tribute, forcing the villagers to acknowledge their interdependence. In a separate ritual, villagers would also bring charcoal into the mountains to grow Kangri Soma, the eastern glacier.

Their relationship with deities whether related to mountains, glaciers, or farming showcased their loving, respectful, filial, and interdependent view of nature.

Photo from: https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/man-carrying-coal-basket-head-bhairab-bazaar-river-bank-to-load-truck-one-one-their-lifestyle-52648455.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Drang_Drung_glacier_seen_from_the_Pensi_La_pass.JPG/500px-Drang_Drung_glacier_seen_from_the_Pensi_La_pass.JPG

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Tingmosgang showcases the interconnectedness between man, nature, and the divine. The Buddhist worldview clearly imbues nature with a sense of reverence which is connected to larger moral values. In the past, villagers have used rituals to demonstrate their interdependence on glaciers and deities, capturing the loving, respectful, hierarchial, and filial bond between humanity and nature that exists in Buddhism, but today this relationship has gradually disappeared stemming from climate change. The ceasing of traditional farming rituals and rituals surrounding glaciers suggests an erosion of the hierarchy of man and glaciers (or nature, more generally). Villagers grieving for the loss of glaciers are grieving more largely for the loss of their traditional way of life, illustrating climate change's material effects pervading into concepts of self and one’s place in the universe.

Photo from: https://cdn.himalayanglacier.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Valentines-Day-Special-Holiday-Tour-555x371.jpg

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Similarly to the Tibetan context, Buddhism in the Himalayas in Nepal teaches that deities live on the mountaintops, and concern about unleashing their wrath prevents pollution. This demonstrates that pollution can have karmic effects that, while occurring in the physical realm, also pervade into the moral and spiritual realms. Glacial recession in this context is seen as a moral reprimand resulting from a move away from traditional values and toward habits that generate pollution. Therefore, morality and relationships with deities are intertwined with respect for the quality of their place.

Photo from: https://peakvisor.com/photo/Nepal-Khumbu-valley-Solukhumbu.jpg

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More-Than-Material Effects of Climate Change 

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More-Than-Material Effects of Climate Change 

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Glaciers are written about extensively in relation to climate change because glacial recession perfectly showcases the material effects of this destructive process. However, this is not merely a material process, but has important emotional, spiritual, and psychological implications, including how local people understand themselves as well as their place in their surroundings.

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One’s conception of his/her place in the world stems from his/her community and surroundings. Practices of place-making, like rituals that venerate mountain deities, create subjective viewpoints that change as the climate and surrounding landscape change. Therefore, the loss of glaciers signifies a similar destruction of the social and moral fabric that makes up society. Because these communities see their existence as tied to their landscape, glacial recession has led to anxiety, alienation, disaffection, and community disruption. This proves that human societies are unable to be ontologically separated from their surroundings.

Photo from: https://www.climateandforests-undp.org/sites/default/files/img_1917.jpg

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The Nepal context makes it clear that humans and society are ontologically inseparable from their surroundings. The rupture in the social and moral fabric of society resulting from climate change can be likened to a similar rupture in Native American and Australian Aboriginal societies during colonialism, which had dislocating and long-lasting negative effects. Climate change can therefore lead to invisible losses including cultural and lifestyle losses, loss of identity, or health losses for local and indigenous people, which are traumatic but not necessarily recognized by others.

Photo from: https://www.craiyon.com

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tibetan people holding hands looking at a mountain at night

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Buddhist teachings of interdependence and emptiness showcased on the Tibetan Plateau, as well as the hierarchical and filial links between humanity, the divine, and nature illustrated in the Nepal and Ladakh mountains and glaciers, shape environmental consciousness, specifically regarding climate change.

While the material effects of climate change are most observable, especially in the changing glacial landscape of the Nepal and Ladakh contexts, the respect for and connection to nature pervasive in Buddhist thought and teachings foregrounds the often-ignored psychological, spiritual, and emotional dimensions of climate change.

Photo from: https://s.greattibettour.com/photos/2020/11/laigu-glacier-06-05643.jpg