Green Buddhist Thought of the Day

On a certain day, month and year one should observe the ceremony of tree-planting. Thus, one fulfils one’s responsibilities, serves one’s fellow-beings which not only brings happiness but benefits all.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, October 1993

Papel Ecology

The more I read Buddhist Philosophy the more I recognize Christianity. With the right Pope the Catholic Church can stay closer to the these universal principals than anyone can imagine. It looks like the Church has the right Pope.

Whispers in the Loggia: On the Environment: A VP's "Inconvenient Truth" = The Vatican's "Inescapable Reality"

The fourth Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, the 54 year-old prelate's two direct predecessors were brought back to Rome and given red hats at the end of their UN days; before Migliore's 2002 arrival, the post was held for 15 years by then-Archbishop Renato Martino, now on double duty as cardinal-president of the Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace and Migrants and Itinerant Peoples. In a recent speech in Columbus, the Observer cited the "inescapable reality" of the "degradation" of the cosmos and offered some tips on how to combat climate change:

It comes down to "working less, wanting less, spending less," thus reducing the impact each person has on the environment,

Archbishop Celestino Migliore told participants gathered in Columbus for the second in a series of regional Catholic conversations on climate change April 14. [In the interests of context, the full quote was "In the States this movement is often expressed in terms of so-called voluntary simplicity, that is, a way of life that tends to involve patterns of working less, wanting less and spending less. In other parts of the world, it focuses on a radical criticism and opposition to the current economic and market systems."

Technorati Tags: environment, catholic church, christianity, buddhism

Helping Myself to Help Others

I read a lot of Buddhist philiosophy and as I see it, the prime directive is that by living better you will affect change all around you. I struggle with this, one because it's hard but also because sometimes it doesn't seem to be enough. I just finished the essays in Someday We'll All Be Free by Kevin Powell. He lays out, in a very personal way, that things are fucked up. The realities he presents are a downer and they make my attempts to become a better person, to spread the light by being the light, trite, selfish, and even silly. As I have digested this I have to say, where else to you start? If you can't commit to change of and for your self then how the hell are you gonna help change anything else.

One of my favorite blogs has a list of 29 Happiness Hacks to Feel Better Now:

• Hack One: Goals
• Hack Two: Chores
• Hack Three: Laugh
• Hack Four: Aid
• Hack Five: Socialize
• Hack Six: Inspiration
• Hack Seven: Exercise
• Hack Eight: Posture
• Hack Nine: Music
• Hack Ten: Nature
• Hack Eleven: Hug

I encourage you to go to Scott's blog and read through the other 18 hacks and well as all of the other incredible info. And recognize that when you engage yourself and encourage yourself to make your world better you will in essence be working to making the world of everyone around you better and at that point you are socially conscious.

Technorati Tags: socially conscious, self-impovment, buddhism, kevin powell