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Deforestation and Civilization: A Buddhist Perspective

Shuichi Yamamoto and Victor S. Kuwahara

1

IntroductionI

had the opportunity to visit the Amazon rainforest of Brazil withcolleagues in July of 2004. We chartered a small plane from the cityof Manaus to survey the rainforest from the sky. Deforestation is notprogressing nearly as rapidly in this particular area compared to otherareas. During our flight the vast broccoli like rainforest continued in all
directions to the end of the horizon. The rainforest was so expansive thatit felt like we were looking at the lungs of the planet Earth, figuratively.
We did observe, however, blank forest zones in some places. A developed rural road continued straight toward the direction of the horizon
and it was clear that deforestation was progressing along both sides.
We also had the opportunity to visit a small village 300 km south ofManaus city. What we saw at the village was surprising. Although modern houses in the village were scarce, to our surprise we saw a large
parabola antenna pointing towards the heavens. Our guides explained tous that the native people of the village are now watching television.
Since electricity lines do not lead to this remote village, they utilize anelectric generator source to power a refrigerator, a laundry machine andother home appliances. From the village we drove into the forest for 30
minutes and along both sides of the road large trees were cut down.
During our drive we also came across young individuals who weretransporting these large logs by truck. Our guides told us that it is very
difficult to stop the native people from cutting and selling the large logs
as it is often how they make a living and buy modern electrical appliances.
During our trip we also met with Professor Thiago de Mello who is aworld renowned poet residing in the city of Manaus. He claims that the
Amazon rainforest is first the inheritance and responsibility of theBrazilian people before it can be identified and characterized as theinheritance to the world. He is actively organizing deforestation opposition movements to protect the rainforest. Further, he is lobbying tosecure various profit rights for the native people by obtaining interna78

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tional patents for the ancestral knowledge and uses of medically relevant
herbs found only in the Amazon rainforest. Unfortunately, he said that
he is often physically attacked by the native people because they misinterpret his intentions. That is, some of the locally organized syndicatesare against anyone who tries to disrupt or prevent them from profitingby cutting down trees. The organized groups say that no one has the title
to control or take away their right to advanced technology, industrialization or monetary profit.
The present age is a time when human beings are enjoying the richestand most plentiful life in history. The current utopian existence is due toindustrialized advancements in sciences and technologies. On the other
hand, the destruction of our natural environment including deforestationof the Amazon rainforest is at an all time high. Never before in the history of the human existence have we seen unprecedented degradation of
ecosystems as we do today. To put it simply, we are recklessly destroying our environment.
Not only have we reached a potential threshold of no return, it
appears difficult if not impossible to stop this rampant process. At thecurrent rate, we can easily envision the serious implications to future
generation. The modern technological civilization can be viewed as a
product brought about by hierarchical Western philosophy that emphasizes a supreme entity or creator, people second and nature last. The
concepts of survival of the fittest and conquest are often linked to theseideologies. The concept of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are also often associatedwith Western philosophy. With so many implications, Western philosophy will be refered to as a ‘conquest of nature’ in the context of thispaper.
Xianlin, Zhongxin and Ikeda (2002) agree in the book, “Dialogues on
Eastern Wisdom” (1) to the concept of “heaven and humankind as one”
from ancient Chinese philosophy and the concept of “the non duality oflife and its environment” from Buddhism, (2) to the ancient oriental
thought similar to the idea of “heaven and humankind as one;” e.g. “Thenon duality of Brahman and Atman” of India and “the principle of allthings in the universe” from the Korean peninsula, originating from Chinese thought, (3) to the concept that Eastern philosophy is holistic andthat Western philosophy is analytical, and (4) to the importance of converting the present Western civilization of conquering nature to a civilization that harmonizes human beings and nature in line with Eastern
civilization.
From a philosophical point of view, the concept of ‘conquering
nature’ is associated with the degradation of the environment. In otherJ ̲Orient̲05 06.2.1 4:54 PM

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words, conquering nature implies the loss of natural resources, such as
deforestation, suggesting a collapse of our natural ecosystem. Furthermore, in the process of environmental degradation we lose the wisdomand culture cultivated from the symbiotic living with our natural surroundings. In Eastern philosophy, the integration of living beings andnature are deeply rooted. In this paper, we would like to examine themeaning of environmental degradation including deforestation from theviewpoint of Eastern philosophy, particularly Buddhist thought.

2

Deforestation in the WorldIn recent years environmental degradation is occurring at an unprecedented scale. Environmental degradation is occurring in many forms
including deforestation, desertification, destruction of the marine
ecosystem, chemical pollution of the polar areas, reduction of water
resources and frequent occurrence of floods, etc. Here, only deforestation will be described as part of the present condition according to “The
Earth Environment Report II” (Ishi, 1998) and “State of the World2004” (Worldwatch Institute, 2004).
The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is well known. For example, the forest area in the Rondonia state of Brazil has decreased from
99.8% to 78.8%. This is mainly caused by modern development. The
entire Amazon basin alone has lost 37 million hectares from 1974 to1996 which is approximately equivalent to the entire area of Japan. It isclear from this fact alone that the extent of deforestation is occurring at
a pace beyond our imagination. Deforestation from naturally occurringand controlled forest fires are also increasing in recent years. 1997 was
the worst year ever for forest fires. This is well documented in the report
titled, “The Year the Earth Burned” by the World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF). During this particular year forest fires occurred not only inIndonesia and Malaysia but in the Amazon of Brazil and Colombia as
well as in Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, and the Congo in Africa. Moreover, in Malaysia and on the Kalimantan Island of Indonesia, destruction
by forest fires amounted to about 3 million hectares. These areas areequivalent to 8% of area of Japan.
Why did such big fires occur? Forest fires were anomalously extensive that year due to unusual dryness in certain parts of the world influenced by the large El Nino Southern Oscillation event. In Papua New
Guinea, much of the forest area was cleared by Japanese companies that
had cut down trees for more than 20 years. The clearing of forest land
progressed to unusual dryness which became a forest fire friendly envi-

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ronment. Further, the direct cause of fires is the reclamation of large
plantations which burn hundreds of hectares of forest at once. Anotherlarge cause is incendiarism by exploited low-wage farmers. The exploited farmers also caused fires from careless smoking, cooking accidents,
accidental collier fires and recent incendiarism. In addition to thesecauses cutting down trees and controlled burnings were also problematic. The Kingdom of Thailand, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Peru have been
designated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as
critical ecosystem zones which require immediate attention and environmental protection. Although the forest made up 42% of the area in
Thailand in 1961, it is now reduced to 13% where 5 million hectares
have been lost. Precipitation is also decreasing from 1300 mm to 700 or
800 mm due to deforestation. In addition to those countries 42 thousand,
7.2 million, and 9.5 million hectares of the forests have disappeared byforest fires in the Philippines in 1998, in Northern China in 1987, and in
Mongolian in 1996, respectively. Based on these facts, it is estimatedthat about 20% of the tropical rain forests in the world have been lost
during the 30 years spanning from 1960 to 1990. Asia in particular has
lost more than 88% of its natural rainforests since the beginning of theAgricultural Age more than 8000 years ago.
The phenomena advancing this degradation are rapid urbanizationand the diffusion of the modern products and technology. According to
the population estimates of the United Nations, although the world population was about 2.5 billion in 1950 the world population increased 2.4
times to 6 billion in 2000. Furthermore, city population is also increasing rapidly. While city population was about 800 million people in 1950
(about 30% of the world population) it has grown 3.6 times to 2.9 billion people in 2000 which is about 47% of the world population. It has
been estimated that city population will increase to 50% of the world
population in 2010 and 60% in 2030. Thus, the world is rapidly urbanizing and this feature is estimated to increase even quicker in developing
countries.
The mass production of cars and home electronics as fruits of scienceand technology are also progressing simultaneously. For example,
although car ownership was 70 million in the world in the 1950s, it
increased 10 fold to 680 million in 1999 (Christopher, 2004). Car ownership increase is particularly formidable in developing countries where
urbanization of city centers is rapidly advancing in science and technology. Thus, while deforestation and environmental degradation are taking
place on a global scale, people are saturating cities simultaneously
where science and technology flourish.

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The primary cause of such phenomena lies in the increase in population and economic globalization. Increase in population stem fromadvances in agricultural production and decreasing mortality rates bydevelopment of medical treatments. Naturally, if the world population
increases consumption increases will follow. On the other hand, international companies are penetrating deeper into developing countries andeconomic globalization is rapidly progressing. Although the modern
concepts of economic globalization and unification of monetary value
and money are romanticized today, these ideas can be called into question. The current structure of economic globalization has forced developing countries to produce and sell precious natural resources at lower
prices while more developed countries sell at higher prices for profit.
Consequently, poor countries become still poorer and wealthy countries
become even wealthier. The balance of both rich and poor people wasfound in even developing countries in the past. The balance today, however, is for rich countries to maintain wealth by controlling and developing poorer countries. Thus, it becomes quite natural for developing
countries that are behind in modern industrial methods to sell natural
resources such as timber and marine products. The concluding sequence
becomes environmental degradation and depletion of natural resourcesin those countries. Today, the international community refers to thisprocess and structure as economic globalization.
Educating people of developing countries about the global consequences of environmental degradation appears to have little impact oreffect. Those people of developing countries are already desperately
trying to survive on a day to day basis so it is difficult for them to comprehend the consequences of global deterioration. For example, it is impossible for a farmer who is barely making a living to comprehend themeaning of protecting a forest by not cutting trees down. The natural
instinctive feeling in the farmers’ case is to take care of his/her
immediate needs first before considering the needs and wants of others.
Naturally the idea and principle that he is the most important and needs
to protect himself is at work. Furthermore, it is difficult for the farmer toconsider future generations when he is barely feeding his own children.
Consequently, society itself becomes intensely greedy where the present
civilization recklessly consumes all natural resources; those who consume faster, make more money and are considered successful.
Such a situation is an aspect equivalent to the defilement (impurity) of
the period (ko-joku), one of the five defilements (go-joku) of Buddhist
philosophy that views the relationship between time and civilization.
The five defilements (go-joku) consists of the defilement of period (ko-J ̲Orient̲05 06.2.1 4:54 PM

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83joku), the defilement of view (ken-joku), the defilement of evil passions(bonno-joku), the defilement of sentient beings (shujo-joku) and thedefilement of life (myo-joku). The defilement of period (ko-joku) isdefined as an impurity of an age and society which leads to the destruction of civilization. In the Hokke Mongu, T’ient-t’ai describes that thedefilements of evil passions and the defilements of views are fundamental principles of life. He also mentions that the root cause of the defilement of period (ko-joku) stems from the defilement of evil passions andthe defilement of view, which subsequently leads to the defilement oflife of sentient beings. Since the present age is already engrossed withvarious desires, it may be fair to say that the world is already invaded by
the defilement of evil passions which will consequently lead to the natural destruction of the environment. Zhongxin describes in the book,“Dialogues on Eastern Wisdom” (2002) that Buddhism categorizes
greed (ton) as the most important element of the three poisons (sandoku): greed (ton), anger (jin) and stupidity (chi). Furthermore, hequotes the opinions of Dr. Toynbee in the book “21 seiki heno taiwa(Choose Life)” (Ikeda and Toynbee, 1975) that “Our greed in the present age threatens future generations by using up irreplaceable
resources,” and describes that the restriction of greed must be the guiding principle for the entire human race. His opinion is concurrent withthe concept of the five defilements in Buddhism.

3

Deforestation and the Rise and Fall of Civilization

Recent research discuses the relationship between the rise and fall ofancient civilizations showing the clarity that civilizations are ruined bydeforestation, and when environmental change is severe, new civilization rise (Yasuda, 1996). The Mesopotamian, Minoan and Mycenae civilizations are examples of civilizations that were ruined by deforestation.
The reason the Mesopotamian civilization eventually fell to ruin is told
in the Old Babylonian heroic poem, Gilgamesh (Umehara, 1988). The
Mesopotamian region had few forests to begin with. In the upper area of
the Euphrates River in 2600 B.C., King Gilgamesh conquered the semi
divine and semi beast God Funbaba of the forest by cutting down a Levant cedar. Unfortunately, the tree was indispensable to maintain the civilization. The large scale development of the Mesopotamian civilization
can be attributed to the destruction of the forest. For example, many
trees were required for building shrines, trade ships, for burning bronze
ware and earthenware, and also for cooking. Before long, it is presumed
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source material.
It has also been suggested that the rise and fall of the Minoan civilization of the Mediterranean, which prospered in 2000 B.C., was related to
the forest. Crete Island, the center of Minoan civilization, was blessedwith rich forest when the southern region of Mesopotamia had lapsed
into a serious shortage of woodlands. And, the Minoan civilization prospered on the background of the rich forest resources. It has so far been
explained that the collapse of the Minoan civilization was based on a
volcanic eruption occurring on the small island of Santorini in the
Mediterranean. Recent studies, however, suggest that the civilization
might have been demised by the gradual loss of forest resources due tosize limitations of the island and time limitations for rejuvenation of
new trees. Consequently, Crete Island today is a bare island.
After the fall of the Minoan civilization, the Mycenae civilization
gained power around 1500 B.C. and is also considered to have been supported and developed by rich forest resources. Around 1300 B.C., theMycenae civilization prospered and the population rapidly increased.
The increase in population, large scale exploitation of the farming
ground, consumption of construction material and fuel and deforestation
progressed quickly. Historically, it has been proposed that a factor which
led to the ruin of Mycenae civilization was based on the invasion by the
Dorian culture from the north. In actuality, however, the cause of ruin isconsidered to be associated with a shortage of firewood from deforestation and a shortage of food stemming from degradation of the soil fromcold climate. Eventually, hunger and reduced physical strength led to thecollapse of the city. Yasuda (1997) concludes that the downfall of civilization is not merely the consequence of invasion and natural disasters
but profoundly linked to the loss of natural resources and deforestation.
He further states that, “... a country (civilization) is ruined when the forest is demised.”On the other hand, Yasuda (1997) also points out that new civilizations rise during times of severe environmental change, such as during
extremely cold climate conditions (glacial periods) or hot dry conditions(desertification). Wheat cultivation farming blossomed at a time whencold climate conditions prevailed about 10,000 years ago during theYounger Dryas time. This was the first glacial and desertification periodof the five extreme climate change periods. What we refer to today as
cities or centralized civilization was born during the end of the second
glacial period almost 5000 years ago. Monotheism was born at a time ofdesertification 3000 years ago (the third period). During the forth periodof cold climate and desertification change in the 15th century, forest

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resources were drained and European civilizations went in search ofresources to new continents. This period was a small glacial epoch andthe beginning of the period which Yasuda (1997) refers to as the “civilization of deforestation.” The present age is the fifth desertification
period. Not only are we faced with deforestation but civilization today
has added the artificial impact of global warming, a combination of
extreme risk. Regardless of whether civilizations are good or evil, pooror rich we can conclude that new civilizations are born from severe fluctuations in climate and natural resources.

4

Thought and Wisdom for the Maintenance of Nature

The link between deforestation and the rise and fall of prior civilizations
has been stated thus far. The previous examples show how civilizations
lost there means to live by the reduction of natural resources. Althoughlosing natural resources such as forests may be a critical link to thedemise of a civilization, their may be something even more importantly
lost in the process. More importantly, it is the loss of thought and wisdom gained from human symbiosis with nature. This loss is the equivalent to Buddhist expression of the defilement of view (ken-joku). Rather
than losing raw materials for the sustainability of civilization, losing thethought and wisdom from the relationship with nature may have significant meaning. We see this opposite outcome of the rise of a new civilization during or after the occurrence of severe climate change. That is,
as long as a culture maintains the thought and wisdom learned from living with nature, poverty of material resources for human beings
becomes a new opportunity or departure for revolutionizing civilization
once again.
Many examples of symbiosis between human beings and nature
through thought and wisdom are found in history. For example, in Japan
there are many regulations and maintenance protocols that stem fromsymbiosis with nature. Nomoto (1992) who advocates environmental
ethnology found many examples in various places in Japan of historical
tradition based on thought and wisdom gained from symbiosis nature.
For example, there are proverbs and traditions to prevent over hunting
and natural resource degradation. One such example is the proverb that
explains the foolishness of cutting a horse chestnut tree and planting a
new one. In other words, this proverb suggests it is foolish to cut thehorse chestnut tree which has provided food until now and to assume
that by planting a new one a harvest can be made in a short period oftime. It takes three generations to obtain good fruit from the horse chest-

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nut tree and the proverb warns people to take good care of the trees.
There is another tradition that says, “Leave the first and largest mushroom as a seed (Taneko) for future generations when you pick mushrooms.” This proverb suggests the largest mushroom will bear seeds fornext years harvest. Today, we generally venture into the forest to find thelargest, most edible mushroom we can find. The thought and wisdomfrom these traditions appropriately suggests that it is critical to allow
natural processes to unfold in time and that permission from nature is
warranted. Another thought, “opening the mouth (Kuchiake)” is typically used to begin or open the hunting or fishing season. Nomoto (1992)
points out that although the thought of “opening the mouth (Kuchiake)”directly aims at fairly distributing the resources of the mountain or sea
among community members, there is also the thought of “praying for agood harvest and waiting for the blessing and timing of resources” at thebasis of this tradition.
In addition, there are concepts of animals being the “master (Nushi)”of a lake, pond and waterfall in the form of a large eel, a trout (Yamame)and a Dragon God (Ryujin), respectively. If human beings polluted thewater of a pond or waterfall, the master (Nushi) left the ecosystem. And,
when the master leaves, it is explained that the pond or waterfall will
disappear leaving a village exhausted of fortune. This thought suggeststhat the “masters” were residents and keepers of the environment before
people were allowed to live as part of the “masters” ecosystem. These
analogies suggest that more important elements exist in nature thanhuman beings alone. Thus, the ethics of the symbiotic relationshipbetween people and nature revolves around the fact that people must not
infringe on the habitation place of other living things.
The thought of “sharing with other living things” is found in theslash-and-burn-land cultures living in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia (Takaya, 1992). The slash-and-burn-land cultures believe that
all living things contribute to all other living things in the environment,
including forest gods and deities. The annual slash-and-burn-landprocess starts by a farmer determining a suitable location to begin cutting and burning an area of forest. Once the arable location is determined, the farmer announces his/her intentions to work in that particularforest by ordering the dwelling gods or insects to leave. Rice seeds aresubsequently planted and a harvest term follows. The farmers care forthe area of land as a living entity, as if it has a soul. If the farmers forget
to properly care for the soul of the land, the soul will leave and the harvest will not bear fruit. Furthermore, there are protocols and a specificsequence of events associated with a harvest.

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The harvested rice load is first gathered, dressed with beautiful fabricand is then displayed on an alter in the best agricultural barn of the village, after which the ear of the rice is processed. The first batch of rice iscooked after the harvest is completely finished. Then, the speciallycooked rice is offered to the gods, ancestors, dogs, birds and eveninsects. After the village people finally finish eating their own servings,
they go into the field to burn in scents whereupon the altar in the barn isdismantled. Lastly, the villagers pay respect and gratitude to the forestfrom which the process began. The thought that humankind must not
infringe on the habitation place of other living things is also seen in thisexample. Moreover, we can see fundamental ethics that equally share
the harvest to other living things and the land.
On the continent of Africa there is a proverb describing intergenerational ethics that says, “We did not inherit the earth from our parents; weare merely borrowing it from our children” (Kenyan Proverb; Hoite,1992). There are many similar traditions and proverbs found between
civilizations that have common occupations such as hunting, gathering,fishing or slash-and-burn-land farming. That is, those civilizations are in
direct contact with nature and must live symbiotically with nature. Allof these traditions and proverbs were produced from a close association
with nature and created by an equality, fairness, humbleness and intergenerational ethics. Human beings and civilizations must understand thebalanced order and circulation of the natural habitat. We must come tounderstand that we cannot survive without protecting and respecting ourenvironment. Moreover, if we do not change our current ethical stancetowards nature, we will be faced with a life and death struggle for existence.
Although the reasons which ancient civilizations were ruined may bedirectly correlated with a drain of resources as described previously, we
can also conclude that a major reason for the demise of a particular civilization stems from the loss of thoughts and wisdom, as described earlier. Although the traditional taboo, “... you will be cursed if you go tothat forest” is told in the epic poem “Gilgamesh,” the Gilgamesh kingignores the tradition and conquers God Funbaba of the forest. Ji-Xianlin(Xianlin, Zhongxin and Ikeda, 2002) pointed out the significance of thefollowing three writings by Dr. Toynbee (Ikeda and Toynbee, 1975);
first, “the non-duality of life and its environment (Esho-funi)” of Buddhism is a similar concept to the view of Greece and Rome before
Christianity; second, the evolution of Judea monotheism was the beginning of a conscious invasion to the concepts of “the non-duality of life
and its environment (Esho-funi),” which was a common concept toJ ̲Orient̲05 06.2.1 4:54 PM

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human beings; third, as a result human beings were separated fromnature and the natural environment was divested to holy retention. These
are interesting revelations to the relationship between the rise and fall ofcivilization and deforestation.
Another important factor for the birth of any thought and wisdomfrom nature is that the region or environment must be lush and rich withnature. Although it may be obvious that such thought and wisdom areborn where nature is rich, not much thought is given to traditions after
the environment is depredated. Then, why do such traditions evolve
while nature is rich? We can conclude that traditions are the result ofconstant observation and management; i.e., always observing the stateof nature and immediately adopting measures to counter the balance ofdegrading effects. It is also because people are always dependent on
nature and must fulfill their knowledge to slight changes in nature.
Slight changes in nature effect the development of wisdom. Therefore,
the various wisdoms and artifices for maintaining nature are produced.

5

The Buddhist View of Civilization

From the idea that religion is produced by the natural features of theland, Suzuki (1978) describes, “There are two concepts of human logic,
that all things in the universe repeat metempsychosis forever or a continuous cycle, or that there is a beginning and an end from the top to thebottom. The former is the world view of Buddhism, and the latter is thatof Christianity. The forest induced Buddhism and the desert induced
Christianity.” Why is Buddhism referred to as a religion of the forest?
Buddhism is a product of the forest. Although Buddha Gaya in India
is covered by a rock surface now, it is thought that the place was a thickforest when Gautama Buddha first reached spiritual enlightenment.
Moreover, it is drawn in Buddhist literature that the animals of the forest
gathered at the time of Gautama Buddha’s Nirvana, and it is told in the“Jataka Tales” that he practiced continuously with animals in his past
life. Thus, Nakamura (1988) points out that only Buddhism draws the
anecdote which made the animal the hero in religious scriptures.
Let us consider the meaning of correspondence between the uniqueness of a forest and Buddhist thought. Various living things inhabit theforest. This is immediately clear if you venture into the jungle of the
Amazon rainforest of Brazil. Various living things are thriving such as
plants, fungi, bacteria, insects, animals, etc. It is important for these living organisms to maintain an ecological balance through complicatedrelationships with each other. In the forest, every living thing has a cer-J ̲Orient̲05 06.2.1 4:54 PM

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tain role to play that revolves around mutualism. The relationshipbetween these living organisms is so complicated that we cannot haphazardly decide the relevance or irrelevance of any of them. This mutualism is suitably expressed in the simile of Indra’s Net describing the
aspect of “arising from causation (engi)” in the Huayan or Flower Garland Sutra (kegon-kyo) in Buddhist literature. The simile describes agreat net that hangs in the palace of Indra, the God of Thunder. The net
has countless joints or knots adorned with jewels in a beautifully complex mesh. Each of these jewels clearly reflects all the other jewels in
the net, so that every part of the net reflects all other parts. The knots of
the net express each living entity, and the net is stabilized so that therelation is complicated. The reason each link or knot is expressed as ajewel implies that each living thing has value beyond imagination andprojecting other jewels signifies the mutual respect and deep relationship each living thing has towards one another. However, if parts of the
net are cut out or a jewel is removed, the stability of the mesh will be
lost. It is said that the mesh is so complex that it would even be difficult
to pinpoint the area that has been cut or removed and even more difficult
to determine where the next break may occur which would eventuallybring the entire net down. This parable correctly explains the process ofenvironmental degradation and collapse of an ecosystem. At present, we
often overlook the impact of the extinction of a few small animals innature. However, the simile of the sutra suggests that it is very difficult
to predict where and how this influence will appear in the future. Further, we are forewarned that the entire ecosystem could collapse by thedestruction of one link. Thus, we can read the appearance of the ecosystem and the process of collapse of the ecosystem from the concept of“arising from causation (engi).” Moreover, all living things that die will
return to nature and be reborn again and die again in a reincarnation
cycle, a concept that actually emerged from the natural processes occurring in nature. This is expressed as if the living entity itself repeats lifeand death. Setting aside whether reincarnation actually occurs, we canconsider this cycle as an expression of the transmigration of a living
entity. It is therefore easier to understand that the concept of “arisingfrom causation (engi),” the equality of life and the migration of life
which are the major feature and the basis of Buddhist thought are closely related with the forest. Buddhism is simply a religion that expresses
the natural processes of the forest. And simultaneously it is importantthat the feature of Buddhist thought relating deeply to the forest lead
into the thought and the wisdom of symbiosis with nature.
Then, how do we relate this concept to our modern age dazzled as theJ ̲Orient̲05 06.2.1 4:54 PM

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civilization of science and technology? Yamamoto (2001) examined therelationship between Buddhism and four assumptions of modern scienceand technology. Namely, where features of science and technology are(1) the product of technology is material (materialism), (2) excluding or
reducing labor (creating an easier existence), (3) shortening time (principle of efficiency), and (4) maintaining all controls (the possibility tocontrol). Buddhism expounds opposite features where (1) the mind orheart is more important than material, (2) the importance of evil passions being the source of enlightenment and that life and death arethemselves nirvana (effort and hardship are critically linked to happiness), (3) human growth and development need time and nurturing and(4) human nature and the environment are not factors that can be controlled.
Although we won’t go into details here, in short Buddhism first considers that the mind is important rather than material. This does notmean that material is naturally unnecessary, but emphasizes that themind should be respected. Naturally this leads also to respecting humanculture and education. Obviously, reducing labor through technologicaladvancements is attractive and has large benefits, but it is foolish tothink that the human existence will reach utopia without efforts andhardships; learning patience and effort are the fruit of a balanced life.
Thus, Buddhism reveals that the way of life as a true human being andtrue happiness are derived from, “evil passions are themselves enlightenment (bonno-soku-bodai)” and “life and death are themselves nirvana(shoji-soku-nehan).” Although science and technology propel efficiency,
human beings and natural growth cannot develop in a quick and efficientmanner. This concept is easier to understand when considering the
growth of a human being. At least twenty years is necessary for a baby
to become a fully mature adult both physically and mentally. The only
solution to this process is time as science and technology are powerless
to increase the growth rate of a natural human being. However, we are
apt to forget simple things by the progress of science and technology.
The paradox is that humans desire to control and optimize that which is
uncontrollable and has a natural process. We cannot control living things
that have in essence autonomy and biological structure.
Since the products of science and technology are centralized in cities,
and Buddhism finds its roots in the processes of the forest, it becomes
important to compare the life of human beings in cities and the forest.
Cities are places intentionally built by human beings where operationand functionality are efficient for daily living. In cities not only arebuildings, roads and vehicles structured intentionally, but trees, plants

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and environmental systems are also arranged intentionally. On the other
hand, the natural environment is intentionally structured in a disorderly
and intricate fashion so that human beings have a difficult time surviving and catching other living organisms. Simply, cities are designed foreasy control and manipulation while nature is designed intricately.
Therefore, when managing a forest, it is based on the premise of leaving
natural growth of plants, as seen in the thought of “care (Teire)” in a
Japanese village mountain (Satoyama). And it is fundamental to help
manage nature from over or inadequate growth. Although cities arefilled with various comforts such as various machines, elevators andcars, constant patience and constant efforts are required for Satoyama’s“care.” Moreover, although we have illusions that human beings are theonly living entities in the city, human beings are only one of many living
things in the forest. Thus, cities become places for human competitiveness and slight. However, all of nature is made up of a symbiotic relationship and harmony where the principles of competition are working
effectively between each living entity in the forest. The wisdom for thissymbiosis and harmony are found in the thought and wisdom fromancient civilizations described earlier. Thus, life of the human beings iscontrastive in the city and the forest.

6

Conclusion

The present destruction of our natural environment is so severe that we
do not even understand where to begin the replenishing process. All
degradation processes have already lapsed into a vicious cycle. At thepresent rate we are destined to catastrophe. The human race is now in its
final stage for either a hard landing or a soft landing (Ishi, 1998). The
hard landing is a new civilization being born as a result of a catastrophe,
and a soft landing is avoiding or overcoming a catastrophe through wisdom. Most people likely desire the soft landing. However, it is highly
more likely that we will find ourselves making a hard landing.
Ji-Xianlin takes up a Chinese proverb “Thirty years, river west; Thirty
years, river east,” and points out that there is no culture in human history
which follows either river direction forever. He goes on to say that Eastern culture must become the leader instead of the current “river west,”
e.g., western culture from the 21st century. Western science can nolonger rescue the serious results of environmental degradation ironicallybrought upon by Western culture. The most important thing now is forthe holistic Asian thought to inherit the hundreds of years of shining
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of our human race. Moreover, all human beings and the global civilization itself must develop into yet higher and still newer levels of thought
and wisdom (Xianlin, Zhongxin, and Ikeda, 2002).
The fundamental aspects of this new departure or revolution arethrough the spread of Buddhist thought and education. That is, Buddhism does not advocate a radical revolution in its purest sense, but a
gradual revolution of education and thought. As seen in the “The Five
Defilements,” the defilements of evil passions and view are the factors
for bearing the defilement of period, i.e., the destruction of civilization.
And we must lead the present civilization to a civilization based on thethinking of the forest through the revolution of the “the defilements ofevil passions and view.” However, as already described, “the defilementof evil passions” sweep across the world and natural destruction whichis represented by deforestation has already reached an unprecedented
point. Moreover the thought and the wisdom for symbiosis with humanbeing and nature, such as harmony, equality, and fairness are being lostby urbanization and the osmosis of science and technology on the global
scale. We may be faced with an even more serious problem for the
maintenance of human civilization rather than the loss of natural
resources alone. The natural aspects represented in the forest and thethought and wisdom which are rooted there are both closely connectedwith each other for the construction of a new civilization that canreplace the civilization of science and technology. The critical questionis whether we can awake to these traditional thoughts and wisdom tomaintain and advance towards the future.
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