Gautama Buddha's environmental outlook

"How to keep humans and nature healthy?"

This is the most important question of the present era. Gautama Buddha says- 'Humans should keep the water clean either it is fresh water or saline water and should protect the trees - plants and all animals of nature, only then humans can keep themselves healthy.

Gautama Buddha(Siddhartha Gautama)

The connection between Buddhism and nature is very old and inseparable. Buddhism is among those religions which is incomplete without nature. They have a special attachment with nature because their founder Lord 'Gautama Buddha' attained enlightenment under a 'Bodhi tree' in Bihar,India in a forest on the bank of river 'Neranjara' and he delivered his first sermon in the 'Deer park'. He spent quite a significant part of his life in between nature and animals. Nature is never absent from the 4 main events of the Buddha's life - birth, enlightenment, first sermon and death. Moreover he always appreciate nature and encouraged others also to do the same.

2500 years ago, Gautama Buddha also emphasized the purity of environment and ecology in building construction along with geographical, natural and social environment, it is amazing. He believed that misuse of water was prohibited. In the Chulavagga of Vinayapitaka, he states that the ocean is respectively deep and situated in religion. The ocean never leaves the shore, does not stain the water from the dead, but throws them out with the waves. He mixes rivers and makes them oceanic. He remains the same and with the one juice (saline juice) and contains multifarious gemstones. He gives shelter to small creatures as well as to giant creatures. This shows how deep the geographical and natural environmental knowledge of the Gautama Buddha was.

Buddha believed that pollution would have to understand and stop at two levels. First, at a person level and second, at the community level. He believed that if a single person brought improvement and began to behave and become sensitive for the surrounding trees, plants, animals, organisms, automatically environmental improvement will come in the community and society. He gave the principle of 'Panchsheel' to society. The principals are - Do not violent on any organism, do not take the object without being given, avoid sexual appetite, avoid falsity and abusive words, stay away from alcohol and other drugs and gambling places. This is a formula format for the establishment of a healthy human society. After this, Gautama Buddha said that there are species in animals, birds, trees, plants, worms, spiders in the world, which can be identified from far away, but by seeing human we can not identify their caste. Therefore, there is only one caste 'Human caste' in the world. There is no separation in it. His second establishment was that no person is neither inferior nor superior on the basis of birth. From their deeds a person is superior or inferior. 

Monk housing vihar should be made between trees, plants, gardens, forest and along riversides where birds chirps and sound of flowing water of rivers can be heard, avoid making it near noisy places such as cities and villages. This rule was made by Buddha. Today remains of thousands of Vihar(monk house), Mahavihar, stups are found in forest, gardens and along riverside.
Things that should be taken care during the construction of vihar are - air and light should reach at each and every corner of Vihar, a courtyard in the centre, a well in the corner of vihar, a proper drainage system to remove all dirty water from the Vihar. The rule for people coming from outside was that they would enter the Vihara by washing their hands and feet, for which separate water was available. 

Monk vihar

On the other hand 'Pushkarini'(a tank) was also must required for the Vihara. It is known from the Vinayapitak that for the purity of the environment, this rule was made that no one should urinate or defecate on greenery, he/she is advised to find a place that has no fresh grass or fresh leaves to minimize the destruction of the environment, do not urinate and defecate in the water and even while standing, it is forbidden to urinate and defecate. Gautama Buddha has emphasized on the proper use of water. One of the reasons for his abdication was the emergence of a war between Shakya and his neighboring state of Kolis for sharing of Rohini river water.

Buddha also said that the natural surrounding are the suitable location for meditation practice. For meditator's spiritual development nature is helpful because of the quiet surrounding that helps their meditation practice. Thus we see that the Buddha and his monastic disciples often spend their lot of time doing meditation in the forest away from the hustle and bustle of the busy cities and villages.

Meditation practice in the lap of nature

Must see: Nature is the biggest religion. 

Gautama Buddha about animals

Once a person named Kootdant came to the Buddha and asked- Lord, what is your opinion about the Yajna(yagya)? Buddha said - In any yajna where innocent animals are sacrificed, such a yajna cannot be praised. 'Gautama Buddha was the first person who emphasized the safety of cows in 'Sutanipat '. Describing the qualities of granger(Gopalan), he said that cow helps in increasing vegetation and giving food and strength to humans. From the early days Buddhism proclaimed a prohibition on animal sacrific. Buddha was a great advocate for animal rights. He tried hard stop violence towards animals as widespread as possible. For that purpose, the first of the 5 Buddhist moral precepts of 'not taking life' concerns all living beings not just human beings. The Buddha instead claimed that all living beings deserve kindness and compassion. The rational is that every living being desires happiness and is afraid of death; therefore we should not harm any being. 

Due to his teachings people stopped animal sacrifice, it increased the animal resource and benefited agriculture. Thus, Buddhism inspires us to develop an awareness for a harmonious relationship with nature and animals by showing the inter-relationship between humans and his surrounding nature. Gautama Buddha explained the importance of plantation through his teachings and inspired his followers to live life by reconciling with nature.

Conclusion 

After all, I would like to conclude by saying that, considering the unlimited resources that nature is providing us, we have only to be grateful and try our best to do the least harm to our Mother Nature. So, it can continue to grace us. It is also very important for us to save other living beings life such as animals, birds, etc for our earth's eco-system as we are all inter-dependent. Let us try to preserve nature as a means to develop our spirituality, just as also Gautama Buddha wants.

Thanks for reading.