Buddhism, a spiritual tradition with about 500 million adherents today, teaches its followers the path to achieving enlightenment, or nirvana, through consistently exercising morality, wisdom, and meditation.

Buddhism has a commitment to non-violence. It teaches selflessness, mindfulness, compassion, love and wisdom, and places great importance on protecting the environment and recognising our interdependence with nature for our survival. It teaches that the idea of separateness is an illusion. In Buddhism, all beings are connected.

“Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.”

– Secretary of Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 1933

“When we respect the environment, then nature will be good to us. When our hearts are good, then the sky will be good to us. The trees are like our mothers and fathers, they feed us, nourish us and provide us with everything; the fruit, leaves, the branches, the trunk.”

– Maha Ghosananda

This respect for nature compels Buddhists to live in appreciation of nature through adopting a simple lifestyle. When life is stripped back, only then can people appreciate and be conscious of the interconnectedness of all living things on this planet.

“Without life, there is no environment; and life is created and supported by its environment.”

– Buddhist scriptures

Buddhists are encouraged to seek jobs that do not harm others, and that do not involve the trading of items which cause hurt, like weapons, meat and alcohol.

Additionally, Buddhism teaches its followers to stay away from wasteful habits, to embrace simplicity and moderation, and to be conscious of human greed. Through this self-reflection, perhaps humans can realise that the solution to the world’s environmental problems lie within themselves.