Buddhism and Ecology

Buddhism and Ecology: Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds
edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker & Duncan Ryuken Williams
Religions of the World and Ecology
Series Editors: Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim
Harvard University Press, 1997
ISBN 0-945454-14-7

Buddhism and Ecology is a rich collection of essays offering innumerable possibilities for anyone who takes the time to apply what they have read about how Buddhism and the world's environmental crisis are related. Although those employed in other fields would equally benefit from reading through some or all of this text, it is especially relevant for high school teachers. Every school library should invest in a copy to ensure that science teachers, economics teachers, political science and religion teachers could have access to this text. This volume is nothing short of a gold mine for curriculum development.

The volume is invaluable to high school teachers for three basic reasons. First, it is very carefully planned out and is broken down by cultural and thematic topics. This makes the different essays very easy to read individually or as a part of a larger thematic exploration. The systematic organization of topics allows teachers from many different departments to utilize some of the volume as a supplement to a variety of units. Second, there is a vast diversity of topics included in this volume. For example, the essays explore how Buddhism relates to nuclear waste, population growth, consumption, technology, and animal rights issues. In addition to the spectrum of topics, the essays include different philosophical views found in Southeast Asia, East Asia and North America. Finally, the essays are not uniform in their methodological approach- some are interpretative essays, some are descriptive and some are critical. The variety of methodologies opens up endless possibilities for discussions with students not only about the content, but also about the style and method of different kinds of essay writing.

The possible uses of this volume are extensive. The depth in which the different issues are explored by the various authors offers a very substantial exploration of the problems that make up the environmental crisis. Students could use one essay from this volume to scrutinize a single aspect of Buddhism's relationship to ecology. The volume is organized in such a way that while focusing in on one part of the problem the student would not loose sight of the larger context and the multi-dimensional reality of how and why it is necessary to explore the reasons for environmental degradation. A semester course devoted to ethics or religion could utilize this volume to engage the students on many levels with an endless medley of questions raised by the different essays. An English teacher may use this volume to discuss issues of perspective and how methodological approaches influence essay writing.

Duncan Williams states in the introduction that he hopes that this volume might spark a continuing inquiry about a more diverse understanding of Buddhist views and ecology. Both editors, Duncan Williams and Mary Evelyn Tucker, have achieved just that in this volume! This collection of essays will not only inspire future inquiry, but it provides a starting point for how high school teachers can use the world religions as a part of a multi-disciplinary approach towards understanding the complex world and its accompanying problems which face us all.

Bridgette Hajduk
Annie Wright School
Tacoma, Washington

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