Bhiksu True Dharma Sound
(Thich Chan Phap Thanh, Bernd Ziegler)

A Reflection and Mindfulness Training:

"Aware of our responsibility and love for ourselves and for our environment, we want to practice living in harmony with humans, animals, plants and minerals. Aware of our interrelatedness with all beings, we know that harming others is harming ourselves."

Our planet is under stress and our civilization in trouble, according to L. Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute and a highly honored scientist (page HI)3'. The majority of scientists nowadays agree that our planetary climate is heating up and that there is an urgency to act to prevent further damage. Rising temperatures, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, expanding deserts, shrinking forests, disappearing plants and animals, eroding soils and falling water tables are just a few signs and have the potential to lead to an immense amount of suffering through

We need the will and the concentration to work on global warming issues. We need to keep the focus with compassion, wisdom and patience. This can be a wonderful field for practice. The world that we are living in started in our own consciousness. We are called to changing our own consciousness and our collective consciousness, radically adjusting it to the current situation and what it asks for.

We can help people feel that every action counts. Every action has an influence on the planet. We need a spiritual awakening, an awakening of our minds, hearts, our volition, our actions. We need a collective awakening. People's attitudes, habit energies and behaviors will change when they gain spiritual insight into our interdependence with all beings.
At Deer Park Monastery in California, USA, we have reflected on the current global situation. We have reflected on how we as humans relate to our environment. Our environment includes other human beings, animals with whom we share our monastery grounds and beyond, plants that grow around us, and the minerals that this land is made of.

All of these elements are necessary for each of us individuals to be alive. We are not separate from any one of them. We cannot survive without the support of the plants that feed us and of the minerals that support the plants. We cannot survive without the animals that help to keep nature in balance. All of us are part of this immense and fascinating ecosystem where every element interacts with every other element and makes thus life possible. The harmony and balance of this ecosystem makes our human life possible.

We also become more and more aware that this complex ecosystem is fragile. Every action results in a change of the system, everything is affected by the action of one single person. Like in Indra's net, every action affects all other planetary beings.

It seems we humans are destroying more and more the balance of our ecosystem that has built up over millions of years. We are driving more and more species to extinction. We are living in an unsustainable

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For every kilowatt of solar power we have built, 1.8 tons of C02 emissions will be prevented annually. With our system, we are preventing 120 tons of C02 every year or the equivalent of driving 240,000 miles a year. Any solar energy that we produce is made available to the surrounding communities without charge.

• Energy Efficiency

We have worked with our local energy provider and a non¬governmental non-profit organization to undertake energy efficiency measures that have significantly reduced our energy use. In this context we have replaced our regular incandescent light bulbs and inefficient light tubes with very energy efficient fluorescent lights. This has reduced our energy consumption and therefore the needed size of our solar energy system significantly. We are also looking into replacing the motors of our food coolers with a more energy efficient type. Currently we are working on systems to preheat our hot water needed for kitchens and bathrooms with solar energy.

In our Sangha we are raising the awareness and are changing our behaviors to save electricity. We are for example reducing the use of our clothes dryers and are switching off appliances when they are not used.

• Car Free Days

Every Tuesday is Deer Park Monastery's Car Free Day. We also practice this at Plum Village and Blue Cliff Monasteries.

We do not drive except in emergencies. Whenever we drive we try to be mindful and reduce trips where we can. Many people have joined us and others can pledge their Car Free Days by signing up at www.carfreedays.org. Several thousand people have already been inspired by this and have pledged their Car Free Days.

• Electric Shuttle

We purchased two electric vehicles to shuttle residents, visitors and their luggage and heavy items through the monastery grounds. This reduces pollution and noise at our monastery and, with our solar system

Treaty to their specific needs and are publicizing it, therefore making it accessible to more people.

• Solar Cookers

We use passive energy solar cookers for some of our cooking and hot water boiling. Therefore we do not need to use electricity or gas for a portion of our cooking, which would contribute to the warming pf the atmosphere. The solar cookers are simple constructions, looking like a big satellite antenna dish made out of mirrors. These mirrors reflect and bundle the sun's rays, so a pot can be heated by using nothing but the sun's energy.

What We Eat

I would like to take a closer look at the topic of eating a vegetarian diet and the impact on our environment and global warming. I chose to deepen this topic, because changing to a less meat and dairy consuming diet is an action many people all over the globe can commit to, without having to invest large amounts of money (like for a solar energy system) and because it has a relatively significant impact on global warming. Cattle-rearing generates more global warming greenhouse gases, as measured in C02 equivalent, than transportation (page I)2. Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems," senior UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official Henning Steinfeld said. He continues "Urgent action is required to remedy the situation." (Page I) .

The situation of using resources for raising animals for food is especially alarming in the USA. But according to a recent UN report it is the case worldwide, that with increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution and loss of biodiversity. Livestock's contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally large, The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency" (page XX).

Land Degradation

Presently, livestock production accounts for 70 percent of all agriculture land and 30 percent of the land surface of the planet. Forests are cleared to create new pastures, and it is a major driver of deforestation, For example, in Latin America some 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing (page XXI)2. From these figures, we can see that the livestock business has destroyed hundreds of millions acres of forest all over the world to grow crops and to create pastureland for farm animals. Moreover, when the forests are destroyed, enormous amounts of carbon dioxide stored in trees are released into the atmosphere.

Climate Change

The livestock sector has major impacts on the atmosphere and climate. It is responsible for "18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, which is a higher share than transport." This means that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. The livestock sector accounts for 9 percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. It also emits 37 percent of anthropogenic methane, most of that from enteric fermentation by ruminants. This is an enormous amount, because every pound of methane is twenty three times as effective as carbon dioxide is at trapping heat in our atmosphere (23 times the global warming potential [GWP] of carbon dioxide). The meat, egg, and dairy industries are also responsible for the emission of 65 percent of anthropogenic nitrous oxide, most of that from manure. Nitrous oxide is about 300 times more potent as a global mindful eating. Going vegetarian may be the most effective way to fight global warming.

Outlook

Many Buddhist practitioners have practiced vegetarianism over the last 2000 years. At Deer Park Monastery we are vegetarian with the intention to nourish our compassion towards the animals. Now we also know that we eat vegetarian in order to protect the earth, preventing the greenhouse effect from causing her serious and irreversible damage. In the near future, when the greenhouse effect becomes severe, all species will suffer. Millions of people will die, and sea levels will rise and flood cities and land. Many diseases will result, and all species will suffer the consequences.
According to researchers at the University of Chicago, being a vegan is more effective in the fight against global warming than buying an eco-friendly car. The typical US diet, about 28 per cent of which comes from animal sources, generates the equivalent of nearly 1.5 tonnes more carbon dioxide per person per year than a vegan diet with the same number of calories. By comparison, the difference in annual emissions between driving a typical saloon car and a hybrid car, which runs off a rechargeable battery and gasoline, is just over 1 tonne. If you don't want to go vegan, choosing less-processed animal products and poultry instead of red meat can help reduce the greenhouse load {page 19)s.
Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet is possible for most people on our planet. People have to pay attention to a balanced diet though, that contains all necessary nutrients. When consuming a completely vegan diet, people might have to supplement certain nutrients like Vitamin В12. In some areas this might be difficult, so a completely vegan diet