“If we want to remember our connection with nature and the cosmos, we have to somehow touch those truths regularly, preferably every day. We have to put on our wider perspectives and wear them until they become our most familiar views of the world.” Wes Nisker, Buddha Nature
Joanna Macy Joanna is perhaps the best known teacher, organizer and thinker on the intersection between Buddhist thought and practice, and the environment. Her work helps “transform despair and apathy into constructive, collaborative action.”
One Earth Sangha “To support awakening and responding to climate change and other threats to our shared home through education, sustainable living and advocacy. We explore the teachings of the Buddhist path and how they can inform, support and motivate this work.”
Buddhist Peace Fellowship “Shapes movements for ecological and social justice by sharing spiritual-political practices and resources. ”
Sacramento Insight Meditation Climate Sangha “A supportive community using Buddhist practice to face the future with on-going climate change. It provides a place to discuss hopes and fears openly and address ways to take skillful action.”
Zen Centers 2019: “Responses to the Climate Crisis” Collection of Zen sangha responses to the climate crisis posted in 2020
Recorded Events
Starting in 2013, Spirit Rock hosted what became an annual Earth Day event focused on climate change, with speakers including Jack Kornfield, Joanna Macy, Paul Hawken, to name a few. One Earth Sangha formed around that time to support teachers in the insight meditation community to teach with more confidence about climate change and the need for action.
Dharmaseed is a repository if thousands of free talks recorded at retreat centers in the insight meditation community internationally. All the links below, except the last, are on housed Dharmaseed.
“One Earth Sangha” Collection (https://dharmaseed.org/collections/23673/)
Spirit Rock Earth Day 2013 (audio)
Spirit Rock Earth Day 2014 (audio)
Spirit Rock Earth Day 2014 (video)
Spirit Rock Climate Day 2015 (audio)
Spirit Rock: No Time to Lose 2019 (video) (available via the teacher page of James Baraz on spiritrock.org)
Some Recommended Reading
A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency – Edited by John Stanley, David Loy and Gyurme Dorje
Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy – Joanna Macy with Chris Johnstone
Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery – Mark Coleman
Braiding Wheatgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Buddha’s Nature: A Practical Guide to Discovering Your Place in the Cosmos – Wes Nisker
Coming Back to Life: the Updated Guide to the Work that Reconnects – Joanna Macy with Molly Young Brown
The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture – Mary Pipher