#contemplative ecology

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Art by Irene Chou

Contemplative Musings @ http://unityinplurality.blogspot.com/

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Sages have long cultivated the fields of awareness, employing imagery from their former careers as farmers in order to best convey the ecological qualities of meditation, tending the mind's fields with the utmost care and concern.

Continued: https://unityinplurality.blogspot.com/2020/02/sifting-soil.html

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Painting a portrait eerily reminiscent of the current state of our world, the Aggañña Sutta records an early Buddhist origin story, replete with Garden of Eden-like themes and imagery. The Buddha’s message enters the realm of social justice and engaged Buddhism, with implications for the climate crisis, civil rights, and civilization's collapse.

In light of current events, what would the Buddha do?

Continued ↔ https://unityinplurality.blogspot.com/2020/06/ground-sprouts-vanished.html

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A poet-painter of Edo period Japan, Buson was aesthetically-inclined in ways that bridged the ecological and the contemplative. His life and creations mirror the mix of challenges and privileges faced by many of us during the current pandemic.

Continued: https://unityinplurality.blogspot.com/2020/04/filling-ruts.html

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The world of dew is the world of dew. And yet, and yet — 露の世は露の世ながらさりながら

Kobayashi Issa

Continued: https://unityinplurality.blogspot.com/2020/04/world-of-dew.html

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The most prolific of poets in Edo period Japan, Matsuo Bashō set aside his aristocratic literary career in favor of a shaven head and rag robes during contemplative pilgrimage, his dreams wandering withered fields while sick and dying.

Continued: https://unityinplurality.blogspot.com/2020/05/wandering-dream-fields.html

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As the planet erupts in flames, most turn away from reality, distracted by shiny objects offering the illusion of comfort. Our house is on fire, much like a scene from the Lotus Sūtra, a transitional Buddhist text full of ecological parables. 

See↝https://unityinplurality.blogspot.com/2020/02/burning-house.html

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"Because all living beings are subject to illness, I am ill as well. When all living beings are no longer ill, my illness will come to an end." 

Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra

Imagine a sick man confined to a tiny room, visited by countless beings who somehow manage to squeeze inside. While obviously not practicing social distancing, the Buddhist story of Vimalakīrti's sick room is particularly relevant to our present pandemic.

Continued: https://unityinplurality.blogspot.com/2020/05/sick-room-contemplations.html