Environmental Revolution in Contemporary Buddhism: The Interbeing of Individual and Collective Consciousness in Ecology

• Main Author: Hui Ling Lim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-02-01
• Series: Religions
• Subjects: Buddhist environmentalism; spiritual awakening; environmental revolution; climate change; ecology; mindfulness; interbeing; Thich Nhat Hanh; contemporary Buddhism
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/2/120

A spiritual awakening is necessary to address the global ecological crisis and to bring about an environmental revolution. The aim of this paper is to bring together various passages from Thich Nhat Hanh’s works that refer to a collective consciousness and environmental revolution, in order to gain some insight into what the view of contemporary Buddhism might have been on the idea of Buddhist environmentalism. This paper is divided into three main areas: the concept of interbeing, the view on the interdependent nature of individual and collective consciousness, and the various interdependent elements influencing the transformation of consciousness that could bring about an environmental revolution in ecology. In using the concept of interbeing coined by Thich Nhat Hanh, I argue that this understanding of the interconnected relationship of everything in the world will enhance the awareness of a global environmental movement for a better future, which is possible.