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Buddhism and the web of life

Buddha’s life and teaching and thus the birth of Buddhism itself are deeply intertwined with nature. Many important events in the Buddha’s life took place in the natural forests of Northern India. It is said that the Buddha achieved enlightenment in Bodh Gaya under the Bodhi tree. This tree has become one of the most sacred symbols throughout the Buddhist world. Even today, natural surroundings are considered especially suitable for meditation practice.
All Buddhists live according to the Five Precepts. Within these guidelines about how to act properly, the first one states that Buddhists should abstain from taking any form of life. Instead, Buddhists should show compassion and loving kindness (metta) to all creatures. This compassionate empathy for all forms of life is the response to the acknowledgement of the universality of suffering. These ideas also appear in the "Four Immesurables" that often precede Buddhist rituals:

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May they all be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May they never be separate from the sacred happiness untainted by suffering.
May they abide in great impartiality, free from attachment to close ones and aversion to others.
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Buddhist monastics have to abide by even stricter rules regarding living beings. They should abstain from practices where living creatures could unintentionally be hurt. As a result, Buddhist monks and nuns retreat to their monasteries during the annual rainy season to avoid injuring worms and other insects that surface in wet weather as well as not destroying crops. 

The understanding of karma and rebirth also influence how Buddhists treat the environment and animals. Kindness to animals is a source of merit, which makes enlightenment more possible and leads to a better rebirth. Kindness to animals includes the construction and protection of parks, ponds, wells and natural habitats.

The need to protect our common nature is also expressed by the 14th Dalai Lama, a famous Tibetan Buddhist teacher:
“Because we all share this small planet Earth,
we have to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature.
That is not just a dream, but a necessity.”

© 2021 BEES FOR PEACE
Bees for Peace is a program of 
Pollinator Partnership Canada, a federally recognized charitable organization
(charitable registration no. 84169 5174 RR0001)
Validation of Pollinator Partnership Canada's charitable registration may be found here.

Bees for Peace acknowledges that it is operating primarily on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, in territory covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Why and How
    • Team
    • Achievements
  • Finding Value in the Web of Life
    • Bees in Religious and Cultural Traditions >
      • Buddhism and Bees
      • Christianity and Bees
      • The Gurung and Bees
      • Hinduism and Bees
      • Islam and Bees >
        • Unani medicine
      • Judaism and Bees
      • The Kawaiwete and Bees
      • The Mayas and Bees
      • The Ogiek and Bees
      • Bees in Indigenous Cultures
    • Web of Life >
      • Buddhism and Nature
      • Christianity and Nature
      • Hinduism and Nature
      • Islam and Nature
      • Judaism and Nature
      • Sikhism and Nature
      • The Golden Rule
    • Faith and Environmentalism >
      • Bees for Peace Israel
      • Islamic Help
  • Bee Protection Made Easy
    • Bees and Other Pollinators
    • Bee Hotels
    • Pollinator Gardens
    • COVID-19 and Community
  • Our Networks
  • Support us!
    • Contact and Privacy
    • Get Involved!