November 28, 2012
PLRL 301

Nature in Buddhism

Buddhism is a way of life designed to eliminate human suffering. While, “Nature” means everything in the world that was not organized or constructed by man. To get a better understanding of Buddhism one must recognize the influences of Nature within the Buddhist religion. In general, Buddhism is to understand, “living freely with wisdom, without attachment to a self, and in harmony with nature” (Olson 95) Nature helps, remember how to reach dhárma, comprehend pratītyasamutpāda, one’s life based on karma, explain the idea of anātman. Buddhadasa used all of these aspects to modernized Nature and to spread world of Nature and it’s powers Dhárma is the teaching or truth concerning the ultimate nature of things. Dhárma is usually connected to the term dhamma which can be broken down into four different aspects. The four aspects of dhamma Nature itself, the Laws of Nature, the duties of living things according to Laws of Nature, and results that follow from performing duties according to the Laws of Nature. Santikaro Bhikkhu illustrates the meaning of Dhamma and how it relates to Buddhism. The first aspect of dhamma itself includes Nature as a whole. The earth, insects, air, water, and stars are all things nature and it is our responsibility to keep everything in harmony. Bhikkhu states, “Nature and humanity are not separated; human and all their creations are... a part of Nature” (Bhikkhu 160). Even though humans are making thing they are using Nature as a resource to make something. Things could be called man made, however, in Buddhist traditions it can be argued that artificial things can be traced back to Nature itself. All things are “Nature’s” meaning we belong to Nature. The second aspect of dhamma is the Law of Nature. The Law of Nature is compared to a God-like figure in Buddhism. In other religions people believe in one God or they believe in different aspects of Gods and Goddess. In Buddhism, people do not believe that Nature is a personal God, but instead they believe that it an impersonal God. Nature acts as a supreme thing, like God in Christianity. Like God, in some religions, Nature has the power to create, preserve, and destroy. Bhikkhu describes Nature with some of God’s characteristics, “it is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, and absolute, thus having all the necessary qualities of the ‘Supreme Thing’ ” (Bhikkhu 161). Within Buddhism the Law of Nature is worshiping Nature as a God. The third aspects of dhamma is our duty of living things according to Nature Law. Being a living thing we have to live with Nature and become one with Nature. Instead of believing that as human beings we are different from Nature Buddhadasa understood that we are not against or above nature, but we are a part of Nature, and we must fulfill its natural role or duty. Humans and Nature most coexist together because one cannot live without the other. The last aspect of dhamma is the results that follow from performing duty according to the Laws of Nature. If a good duty is down to Nature good things will be returned due to the duty that was performed. Achieving respect for Nature will bring one closer to nirvāṇa. In Buddhism it is important to follow the Law of Nature, and not abuse Nature. This explains why living closer to Nature will bring you closer to Bhamma. The concept of nature is everything can be related to pratītyasamutpāda. Pratītyasamutpāda is “everything that arises does so in response to other factors, and will in turn cause change in other things” (Amore 179). It is also known as dependent origination or conditioned co productions. Pratītyasamutpāda is the cycle of all things, meaning everything can be connected to one another. An example of pratītyasamutpāda is a text book. The physical book is not necessary a book, but instead it has different aspects of nature within it. When producing a book there are different things to take account of. For example,