Knut Johan Øen

Self As Nature; Nature As Self: a Buddhist Perspective on Ecology Knut Johan Øen

In this paper I set out to investigate what Buddhism can offer a planet and we who inhabit it. In a time that need a different perspective on ecology and what it means to be human. Through investigating the nondual metaphysics of the Buddha-nature a view of nature and the human-existence is brought forth that reveal a human potential beyond needs and desires. And the life revealed is one of of harmony, compassion and joy. While not moralizing over the human condition the Buddhist philosophy speaks of how humans can transform themselves and their ways in light of Truth or Nature's selfless whole. According to Buddhism Reality or Nature is not-two, but how it is viewed varies and it varies according to three different views of the: Ordinary Person, Bodhisattva and Buddha. How Nature is viewed therefore conditions how we as humans relate to it, and how we relate to it can differ from self-centred needs to compassionate joy. Hence, in this book the aim is to present a Buddhist view of ecology that seeks to establish the importance of the human-existence in relation to ecology and that this needs to be addressed if a healthy ecology is to be established.