By Brother Pháp Lưu on
Will the age of humans be marked by radical culture change that restores balance to Gaia, or will we continue our addiction to consumption and extraction?
Thầy’s vow to help us wake up to our profound interconnection with each other and the Earth, our home,
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By Brother Pháp Lưu on
Will the age of humans be marked by radical culture change that restores balance to Gaia, or will we continue our addiction to consumption and extraction?
Thầy’s vow to help us wake up to our profound interconnection with each other and the Earth, our home, continues to roll like the sound of the rising tide, like waves crashing onto the shore of liberation. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Thầy experimented with community living in the Central Highlands of Vietnam at Phương Bối (Fragrant Palm Leaves) Hermitage. He supported the ecological social justice work of the School of Youth for Social Service in the mid sixties, and later, in 1971, the Đại Đồng Thế Giới (World of Great Togetherness) Movement and the Menton Message on the environment. He and the community planted the 1,250 plum trees that gave Plum Village—a continuation of Phương Bối—its name. And more: in 2007, Thầy introduced the Earth Peace Treaty, established Car-Free Days, and made a request for the community to stop serving animal-derived foods. These waves of action culminated in the love letter Thầy wrote to Mother Earth in 2011.
Thầy’s beautiful response to centuries of violence toward the Earth continues in the work of his students: the Earth Holder Community, the Happy Farm movement, and the book and online course Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet. In this issue, as we face ever more dire consequences stemming from our way of life, we give homage to Thầy’s vision of deep ecology and our role as its direct continuation. Mindfulness of what is going on in the present moment is what we urgently need: mindfulness that helps us take care of the difficult emotions—anxiety, fear, anger—that arise as we experience catastrophic climate change and the accelerated destruction of biological diversity.
Will the age of humans be marked by radical culture change that restores balance to Gaia, or will we continue our addiction to consumption and extraction? Every breath, every step we take with awareness brings us, along with our ancestors and descendents, into the world we all want to live in: a world of peace, of understanding, of harmony, and of balance—a world where all can thrive. We hope the visions shared in this issue will encourage each of us to engage with our world and each other mindfully and lovingly, as Thầy’s students and as his continuation.
Brother Pháp Lưu
Advisor and Editor
