The Ecology of Awakening Adrin Villasenor-Galarza living-flames.

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Nowadays, the word ecology (from oikos, household and logos study of) and its associated worldview have powerfully entered our everyday lives. Be it in the form of eco-products, green technologies, sustainability campaigns, environmental philosophies or ecological spiritualities, ecology is a buzzword with many meanings and applications. The more than 200 ecological perspectives on the natural world available to us attest its assorted meanings and potentials.1 With the great variety of approaches and developments found today, it is no mystery why theres no single encompassing definition of ecology. However, its possible to say that a common thread among the numerous approaches to ecology is its focus on relation. Having been trained in ecology, I have always wondered about relations. Ive always reflected on the fact that while studying relations, I was forced to focus on the workings of some subtle and largely invisible forces. These forces influenced the creatures under study to the point that they shaped their very essence and appearance. The effect of the rains, soil, air, sun, and other fellow creatures upon the organisms under study enabled them to flourish and manifest their uniqueness and presence in the world. I believe that we are only becoming aware of the relevance that an ecologically wisdom may offer us to unfold our potential, especially in these times of change and environmental challenge. What does ecologywith its focus on relationhave to offer for the sustainable expression of our human capacities on this planetary-time?

To attempt answering this question, let us first look into the history of ecology itself. The endeavor of pinning down a specific event responsible for ecologys emergence is close to impossible, since its origins are manifold and scattered through time and space. Yet, we do know that the word was coined by German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866 and defined it as the comprehensive science of the relationship of the organism to the environment.2 There are more sophisticated definitions, but Haeckels still does a great work in conveying the gist of it. Ecology gained public recognition with the rise of the environmental movement of the 1960s and from then on, it has been more and more present in our awareness as the devastation of the Earth increases. I will like to propose that ecology has deeper roots than what we are normally led to believe and that one of its main and first proponents was no other than Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. After prince Siddhartha resolved to leave his life driven by the spell of materialism, six years had to pass until he found himself sitting under the Boddhi tree. He vowed not to leave his sit until he attained final liberation and gained insight on the termination of suffering. The night before attaining the sought-after state, Mara the destroyer appeared to prevent him from reaching his objective. Mara coaxed Siddhartha to go back to his family and life as a prince and tested him with desire, death, and fear, claiming that the seat of enlightenment didnt belong to him. Siddhartha remained calmed and unmoved. Finally, Mara mockingly asked the prince whom did he have as his witness, who would speak for him. As the myriads of monsters and goblins that accompanied Mara growled and chuckled, Siddhartha touched the Earth with his fingertips and said, the Earth is my witness. The Earth itself shook in agreement and with its roar drowned the cries of Maras helpers. Mara himself left, defeated. As the morning star

rose in the sky, Siddhartha Gautama realized enlightenment and became a Buddha, an awakened one. It is said that what Siddhartha awoke to was the essence of existence and its functioning. He awoke to a fractal landscape of never-ending relations in which everything, including himself, was depending on something else in such a fundamental way that each being permeated and rippled throughout the whole. Reality was a sea of relations in which every thing, deed, or thought, was connected to the rest. This vision, according to some traditions, conformed the basis of samsara and nirvana; the first being the realm powered by suffering and the latter a state full of infinite bliss. The difference between the two states stemmed from the degree of awareness from which one engaged the world. The teaching that encapsulates the radical interdependence of all that is known as paticca samuppada or dependent co-arising, commonly regarded as the central notion of the Buddhist teachings (dharma). One who sees dependent origination sees the Dhamma; one who sees the Dhamma sees dependent origination,3 the Buddha tells us. The deep realization of the interdependence of reality enabled the Buddha to formulate and gift us the four noble truths and the eight-fold path as a roadmap to achieve the realization of our essential nature. But what does dependent co-arising have to do with ecology? Both ecology and the vision of the Buddha rest in their emphasis on relation. One can say that what makes ecology distinct from other approaches to knowledge is its study of relations, whereas the salient trait of the doctrine of dependent co-arising is its shift from autonomous entities (substance) to a web of interconnection (relation) as the ground of reality. Siddhartha embarked in a journey to find the cessation of suffering (dukkha) and achieved it by piercing the veil of separativity and fully

understanding the interdependent functioning of the web of existence. From then on, the Buddha dharma has aided thousands of people in their inner search toward betterment, fulfillment, and the realization of their true nature. Ecologists, on the other hand, have offered us a great deal of valuable knowledge about the functioning and development of the ecosystems of our great planet. By doing so, ecology has helped us orient ourselves in the world and learn less harmful ways toward other beings and the environment. What if ecologyas we know it todaywould share a similar goal than that of the Buddha? Can you imagine what ecology would look like if it recognized the sacred in all? Arguably, it can be said that the Buddha and his vision of the depend coarising of reality laid out the foundations that two thousand years later would be consider ecological. It may well be that while ecologists study the connections of the organisms to their environments they are actually gaining crucial understandings of natures workings that point at the essential truths that the Buddha realized. Ecologys largely unspoken core is that we live in an interdependent universe. As naturalist John Muir put it, when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.4 At any given time and place, we are enmeshed in am infinite net that inextricably binds us with our enemies, loved ones, strangers, toads, rainforests, and mountains. The essence of who we areour most private joys, longings, and sorrowsswim in the shoreless ocean of relation. An ecology that tends the full spectrum of our humanity and honors all our relations while dispelling any sense of alienation is necessary, an ecology that helps us be aware of our intimacy with the essence of reality and all of life. What I am proposing is a reinvention of ecology, a fundamental flip in the way it is commonly understood and practiced. It entails an opening and recognition of

the subtler ecologies within us and around us that shape and inform us by way of symbols, stories, connections, dreams, visions. This approach demands the transformation of the world in connection with ourselves while the change within us is seen in the world around us, a transformation of people and world by way of mindful relation. I believe we can achieve the above-mentioned flip by meditating on the relevance of the Buddhas teachings in the context of the great planetary being, commonly known as Gaia, that holds us dearly in her creative matrix. Ecology, imbued with depth and heart, holds great wisdom for our times. It provides us with vistas of the fundamental interdependence that conjures life itself into existence, shedding light to our planetary role and aiding us in our quest for wakefulness, meaning, and respect for all beings.
1

For a comprehensive study of the variety of ecological schools available, see: Sean Esbjorn-Hargens, and Michael Zimmerman. Integral ecology: Uniting multiple perspectives on the natural world (Boston, MA: Integral Books, 2009). 2 In: Colin Towsend, Michael Begon, and John Harper. Essentials of ecology (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 4 3 In: Bhikkhu Bodhi. The middle length discourses of the Buddha: A new translation of the Majjhima Nikaya. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1995), 283 4 John Muir and Galen Rowell. My first summer in the Sierra. (New York: Mariner Books, 1998), 181