108 things we can do.

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108 things we can do.

Postby muni » Tue Apr 03, 2012 7:45 am

Make aspiration prayers. We make aspiration prayers for all sentient beings. This should also include the earth, which sustains us and gives us life. We can pray for a more harmonious world where humans recognise how their actions have harmed the earth and change their behaviour.

Read, discuss and develop an understanding of environmental issues and how they affect you and your community.

Go vegetarian. Not only will you practice compassion for all sentient beings, but you will decrease the resources you use up. It takes about 100,000 litres of water to produce a kilogram of beef but only 750 litres of water to produce a kilogram of wheat.

Live simply. Practice your vinaya vow and live as simply as possible, without unnecessary possessions.

Educate people on environmental values. Whenever possible, teach stories and Buddhist traditions that illustrate harmony between people and nature.

Use less paper. A lot of trees are cut down simply to produce paper. Even a small choice such as printing on both sides of the paper makes a big difference.

When making offerings, make healthy choices. Buy fruit rather than sweets, or plants rather than cut flowers.

Create a mandala of nature. It should be a special place in your monastic lands that is an offering of all the wonderful things in nature: flowers, trees, water, recognising that the earth itself is an offering. This will be in keeping with our own Kagyu tradition since Tsurphu monastery is known as the celestial palace and even as Chakrasamvara’s mandala. If you do not own enough land for such a project, please consider a rooftop garden.

Don’t buy many vehicles. There is a trend right now that senior lamas should have a car but this is not necessary. Keep in mind how harmful vehicles are for the environment; they emit carbon and contribute to global warming greatly.

http://www.gyalwangkarmapa.org/download ... _To_Do.pdf

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