STORIES FROM ECOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHY 91
Ecophilosophers suggest ways to think differently as well as ways
to embrace paradigm change and to open ourselves to an experience
of reconnection with the world, with each other and with our
own souls. These are ways of compassion and hope. These ways of
reconnecting are overlapping and interwoven, and they embrace the
courage needed to practice nature-based expressive arts.
The way of compassion
As we walk silently by the Vietnam Memorial on the Mall in
Washington, DC, the presence of Thich Nhat Hanh is palpable.
Thich Nhat Hanh, activist, poet, artist and Buddhist monk, has
just spoken about his work confronting the atrocities and human
suffering during the Vietnam War. Born in 1926 and ordained in
the Zen Buddhist tradition by age 22, his gentle being and presence
have served as a model for nonviolent compassionate action for over
60 years (Hanh 1992, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2007). He was exiled
from Vietnam in 1965 for his opposition to the war and remained in
exile until 2005. Despite dislocation from his homeland, Thay, as his
students call him, continues his work of engaged Buddhism leading
to the creation of monasteries, schools and practice communities.
His teaching and writing continue to inspire many today. Through
mindfulness training and practice, Thay teaches that transformation
of the world around us must begin with our own inner transformation.
By attending to the present moment with compassion and without
attachment, we have the possibility to know and change our inner
landscapes in a way that allows us to bring peace and wellbeing to
ourselves and to the world around us.
Now in his 80s, Thay continues his work through his Order
of Interbeing, a monastic community guided by the ethics of
mindfulness precepts that teach us to find our own liberation
through compassionate action for all sentient beings. The word
interbeing suggests the essential interconnectedness of the universe
and challenges contemporary dualistic thinking and a sense of
separate self.