Journal of Global Resources

Volume 3

July 2016
Page 59-67
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

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BUDDHISM, ETHICS, ECONOMICS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT: A PRACTICAL
PRECAUTIONARY INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO ECOLOGICAL ISSUES
Mary Rose Kaczorowski
M.T.S., Fort Bragg CA 95437 USA
Email: mrkaczorowski@gmail.com
Abstract: This paper examines various aspects of Buddhism to a growing call for an ethicalapproach toward the intersection of economics and environmentalism. Discussions of key
concepts as utilized by the disciplines of economics and ecological sciences in parallel with
Buddhist scholarly research are employed in order to forge a framework that embraces a
hybrid social, political, ecological, and economic interrelationship with the quest for humanwell-being and environmental responsibility. In order to avoid the path of civilizations that havefollowed the road to ruin mainly by depleting or destroying the natural resource base (Dale andCarter 1955) through inattentive economic pursuits, Buddhist ethics presents a pathway to asustainable economics that protects and conserves our eco-system services.
Key words: Buddhism, Ethics, Economics, Environment, Ecological Issues
Well Being and Eco-Reliance
Just as biodiversity and ecosystems have a symbiotic relationship, the human species is also
dependent on the complex systems (eco-system services) that support life on our planet. Our
well-being and [economic] development strongly depend on the biodiversity existing in theseecosystems. Whether we manage a household, run a small business, or manage Fortune 500
corporations we are engaged in some kind of economic activity. Jim Stanford points out in his
book (Stanford 2008, 20) Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics ofCapitalism, “Just by walking around your neighborhood, you can identify the crucial factors
determining economic affairs in your community.” The problem has been poor management of
resource use coupled with skewed economics that has disregarded our interactions withecosystem functions. Dale and Carter in their book ‘Top Soil and Civilization’ maintain,“economic maladjustment including concentration of wealth and or concentration of land
tenure in relation to decline of civilizations has been prevalent in the decline of many
civilizations and it is doubtful that this is more of a cause than an effect.” Dale and Carter
further argue that, “means of correction be it revolution, taxes, or other means to redistributewealth were usually found.
As we engage in economic activities, we tend to look at concerns through a humancentric lens of how our own species is affected. With all negotiations, trades, and transactions,
we are caught up in them (initial) on how those transactions occur and how they affect ourwell-being as individuals, as organizations firms or as nation states. We tend to forget that weare beholden to the earth and all her resources and systems-- not only for all that we do-- but
59also for our very survival. It is apparent that economic systems do not have built-in standards
that embrace social or environmental ethics. Ecosystems and the species that they harborcannot advocate for themselves. The human community is responsible for integrating
economic and ecological considerations in all aspects of decision-making from individual
choices, to decision making by local communities and all the way through the variety of
institutions that comprise the global arena. Our Living Earth is the sum total of all places(Schwartzman 1999) in which organisms live and depend upon.
The Trans disciplinary Journal of the International Society for Ecological Economics(ISEE) makes the case, “the management of nature's household (ecology) and humankind's
household (economics) have been mired in their conceptual and professional isolation that
has in turn led to economic and environmental policies which are mutually destructive rather
than reinforcing in the long term” (Howarth n.d.).
Economics: Rethinking Definitions
One of the earliest and most famous definitions of economics (Ozgur 2011) was that ofThomas Carlyle, who in the early 19th century termed it the "dismal science." 19th century
English economist, W. Stanley Jevons, defined economics as “the mechanics of utility andself-interest (Jevons 1879, 23)." Economics is also defined as the study of (Stretton 1999)theproduction and consumption of goods and the transfer of wealth in order to produce and obtain
those goods. Economics attempts to explain the practical aspects of how people interact withinmarkets and how actors within markets (consumers, firms and governments) behave.
Economists Robert Costanza and Herman (1992) Daly use the terms natural capital,
human capital and manufactured capital to correspond roughly to these traditional economic
production factors, whereby ‘natural capital’ included land, air, water, sea and ecosystems,
and manufactured capital encompasses all material goods generated through economic
activity and technological change. If we are to achieve sustainable use of our (critical) natural
capital, it is therefore essential to address not only the ecological, but also the socio-culturaland economic dimensions (De Groot, et al. 2003).
Understanding Our Environment
Many important ecological functions take place without our economic and cultural
acknowledgement and they beg a better approach. Granted that nature’s intrinsic value (HMGovernment (UK) 2011) is recognized in various scientific communities, the scientists fromaround the world have now developed assessment tools by which we can more accurately
measure the value of natural world. Government and society need to account better for thevalue of nature, particularly the services and resources it provides. This inter-disciplinary
approach requires adopting a keen awareness.
Making the Connections-Buddhist View: Responsibility, Economics and Ecology
Life on earth is interactive –a complexity of systems as never understood in Buddha’s time.
Hari Bansh Jha, in Buddhist Economics and the Modern World, (1979, Nepal Press,
Kathmandu) writes: “In order to understand the Buddhist view of economics it would be
essential to study the socio-economic structure of the society in the age of the Buddha. The
majority of the population depended on agriculture for their livelihood (as well as an60

occupation). The state paid special attention for the betterment of agriculture and disallowed
agriculturalists to be effected by war or other disturbances.”
Our cultural concerns, systems of economics and scientific knowledge, coupled with
unprecedented world population growth did not exist at the time of the Buddha. However,Buddha gave very important tools to apply to our current problems, which includes specificways in how to look at the cause and effect of our actions. This cause and effect approach isapplicable to how our current economics systems intertwine with and impact earth’s ecologicalsystems.
Buddhism speaks about the cultural aspect of engaging virtue-based ethics and putting
it into an actionable practice. James Miller has argued for the need for a “cultural justification”
for sustainability (Clippard 2011, 240). Miller (2009) notes: “with the right cultural framework,
the right set of beliefs, values, habits and orientation, sustainability moves from the arena of
discourse to the arena of practice. When sustainability is embedded culturally, it unconsciously
shapes the habits of thinking and the patterns of behavior in the way that people barely notice.
In short, it comes to define our way of life, our civic values, and our sense of identity.”(Miller2009).
Environmental problems such as pollution are issuesa of the modern age, which
didn’t exist during the time of the Buddha. Nevertheless, as Buddhism is a full-fledged
philosophy of life reflecting all aspects of experience, it is possible to find enough material in
the Pâli canon to delineate the Buddhist attitude towards nature.”
Every creature on this earth has a role in sustaining human lives. We need to cultivate
an attitude and a sense of gratitude to other living beings, however small they may seem, andhowever alien they may appear to a particular tradition (Burnier 1997, 11)or enterprise.
Buddhism deals precisely with the universal responsibility toward all beings (Burnier 1997, 11).
Buddha taught essentially two fundamental teachings: rebirth and the cause and effectof Kamma [wholesome or unwholesome action] (Ariyaratne 1999, 5) (Rahula Revised ed.
edition 1974). Buddha argues that elimination [or extinction: nibbāna] of the belief in the self[attā] [as in self-centeredness] should inevitably bring about happiness to mankind(Dissanayake 1977, V). The pragmatic components or steps to this goal of extinction of
suffering are by way of the Eightfold Path [aţţhangika-magga]. Via the Eight fold Path one
takes part in those values constitutive of enlightenment, namely morality (sīla) and insightful
knowledge or wisdom (pañña) (Keown 2001, 107)
The Eightfold Path and Three Fold Training
In his first sermon, Buddha declared that those laypersons wishing to lead a pure life should
avoid both the extreme of self-indulgence and asceticism; rather a person should select the
Middle Way (Pryor 1990) which is exemplified by the Eightfold Path (aţţhangika-magga).

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Three Fold Training

Eightfold Path
Right Speech

Sīla (Refinement of Physical & Verbal Conduct*)

Right Action

Right Livelihood

Right Effort

Samādhi (Calmness of Mind/Focus*)

Right Mindfulness

Right Concentration

Right View
Paññā (Insight or Wisdom*)
Right Intention
Source: (Bhikkhu, Culavedalla Sutta: The Shorter Set of Questions-and-Answers (MN 44), 1988)* American Buddhist Seminary

Oxford trained economist E.F. Schumacher, in his classical call for the end ofexcessive consumption --Small Is Beautiful- Economics as if People Mattered --starts his
chapter on Buddhist Economics with the words: “Right livelihood is one of the requirements of
the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. It is clear therefore, that there must be such a thing as
Buddhist Economics” (Schumacher 1973).
Phra Payutto states that “environmental problems must be addressed on the threelevels: “behavior,” “the mind,” and “understanding” (Payutto 1995, 91). These three levels(Clippard 2011, 222) correspond to the three parts of the eight-fold path—sīla (behavior),
samādhi (the mind), and paññā (understanding). From this example, we see the degree towhich Payutto, although responding to a contemporary social and ethical problem, returns to
the very foundation of Buddhism to construct a response (Clippard 2011, 222).
Buddha addresses “Right View” [and in MN 9 Sammaditthi Sutta] in his teaching to themonks by ststing, "Monks, when right view is supported by five factors, it has awarenessrelease as its fruit, awareness-release as its reward; it has discernment-release as its fruit,discernment-release as its reward. Which five? “There is the case where right view is
supported by virtue, supported by learning, supported by discussion, supported by tranquility,
supported by insight. “When supported by these five factors, right view has awareness-releaseas its fruit, awareness-release as its reward; it has discernment-release as its fruit,
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discernment-release as its reward." [AN 5.25 Anuggahita Sutta) [Anguttara Nikaya fourth bookof the Sutta Pitaka].
Buddha also taught that the four sublime states (Digha Nikaya 13) are an answer to all
situations (Thera 2011). Those four states are as under:
1. Metta-loving kindness (Karaniya Metta Sutta: Good Will *)2. Upekkha-equanimity
3. Karuna- compassion
4. Mudita- sympathetic joy (Mettā or loving-kindness is another concept commonly used as thebasis of a Buddhist environmental ethic (Clippard 2011, 220).)
Seth Devere Clippard points out in his writings that, “Mettāis often connected to ahisā,and the doctrine of non-harm. Because one is enjoined to not harm…this precludes actions
that may cause harm. In other words, if ahisā is the goal, mettā is the method” (Clippard,2011).
We need to keep in mind that Buddha did not teach economics (Ariyaratne 1999, 5)nor
did he address ecological ethics. Neither existed as specialized disciplines back then. As
indicated, the Buddhist concept of human morality, besides suggesting a code of conduct has
direct bearing on our living in the natural environment and can be extrapolated to Jevon’sframework of"the mechanics of utility and self-interest." However, Buddha's Words on
Loving-Kindness (mettā) is a direct indication of Buddha’s concern for all beings. He said “Sowith a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings; radiating kindness over the entire
world: spreading upwards to the skies, and downwards to the depths;”“The directives on the Eightfold Path concerning ethics (sīla) are likewise intended tolimit the harm one might do. Right speech, right action, and right livelihood provide guidelines
for living that are intended to diminish the harm done to other beings in the course of daily life
(Clippard 2011, 220).”This construct of avoiding harm rooted in practical actions is notseparate from economic behaviors that in turn can create conditions that can conserve andprotect ecosystems.
A.T. Ariyaratne points out in his book Schumacher Lectures on Buddhist Economics,“The economic life of a human being cannot be separated from his/her total life and living” [onPlanet Earth!]. Ariyaratne stresses further, “In fact the entire living world is treated from aholistic perspective. Buddha showed that economics is only a fragment of life and living:
therefore, moral and social implications of economic activity cannot be considered apart from
economics” (Ariyaratne 1999).
The initial response by Buddhism to the changing natural resource pattern in sixth
century B.C.E. became more pronounced as exploitation of nature intensified during the
succeeding centuries where overharvesting and deforestation created erosion of the resourcebase (Pathak 2004). In Piya Tan’s translations (Tan n.d.) of the Cakkavatti Sutta[Cakkavattisihanada Sutta] The Wheel-turning Emperor of the Cakkavattisihanada Sutta, ismentioned that this Sutta “Using mythical language, gives us an insight into the early Buddhist
view of kingship and governance, especially how moral virtue is closely linked with63

socioeconomic conditions, and of how crime arises in society. Ultimately, conditions will
deteriorate to the point of a "sword-interval," in which swords appear in the hands of all humanbeings, and they hunt one another like game. A few people, however, will take shelter in thewilderness to escape the carnage, and when the slaughter is over, they will come out of hiding
and resolve to take up a life of skillful and virtuous action again (Bhikkhu, Cakkavatti Sutta:
The Wheel-turning Emperor 2012).
The Anguttara-nikaya Sutta contains that which is similar to the Aggañña Sutta:
degeneration of man and natural conditions due to human ignorance and greed, in turn, breed
more desire, selfishness and distrust. The overall message of these is ethical-- where theactions discussed are caused by willful heedlessness and exploitation. Lily Di Silva explains
further that according to Cakkavattisihanada Sutta when human morals undergo further
degeneration, all delicacies such as ghee, butter, honey, etc. will disappear from the earth;what is left is considered the poorest coarse food of the day that will become the delicacy ofthat day. This maintains that there is a close link between human moral actions and theavailability of natural resources (Kaza, Stephanie; Kraft, Kenneth 2000, 93-94). S.K. Pathak in
Buddhism and Ecology explains that the Cakkavattisihanada Sutta acknowledged andaddressed the result of the ecological imbalances occurring at that time. According to
Cakkavattisihanada Sutta, “When humanity is demoralized through greed, famine is a natural
outcome; when moral degeneration is due to ignorance, epidemic is the inevitable result; when
hatred is the demoralizing force, widespread violence is the ultimate outcome”.
The application of Buddha’s teachings can be integrated into any economic system.
This application can take a practical approach. Ecological harm and negative impacts that our
economics systems have not taken into account can now reflect upon and account for the fullsocial cost of ecological harm.
The Four Noble Truths as an Economic Equation
The Four Noble Truths makes the case that 1.There is Suffering, 2.Cause and Effect Equal
Suffering, 3. Suffering Can End, 4. The Path to End Suffering is the Eightfold Path. A concise
entry point for approaching Buddhism is The Four Noble Truths according to the Dharmakaya
Trungram Gyaltrul Rinpoche’s Dharmakaya Retreat Center. “The Four Noble Truths constitutea complete equation inside of which one can find all the ideas of Buddhist teaching. The
equation works as follows: 1) recognize the problem (suffering); 2) locate its root cause(mental clinging); 3) know that the problem can be solved; and 4) prescribe a solution (thenoble eightfold path) (Dharmakaya Retreat Center 2012).”Many of the Buddhist Suttas, [Suttas: Pali; Sanskrit: sūtra refers to a "discourse" in thePali canon attributed to the Buddha or one of his disciples] reveal addressing the notion ofexperience, examination, results of cause and effect and illustrate more than a list of virtues toapply to the economic and environmental challenges of our modern age, for example, “He who
has understanding and great wisdom does not think of harming himself or another, nor of
harming both alike. He rather thinks of his own welfare, of that of others, of that of both, and of
the welfare of the whole world. In that way one shows understanding and great wisdom.”[Angutara Nikaya4/186].

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Conclusion: Buddhism, Ecology and Economy- A Threefold Relationship
It is now commonly agreed in many circles that the growth of world trade and investment has
trans-formed the ground rules for economic policy (Krugman, Cooper and Srinivas 1995). E.F.
Schumacher also writes in Small is Beautiful- Economics as if People Mattered,“Buddhist
economics must be very different from the economics of modern materialism, since theBuddhist sees the essence of civilization not in multiplication of wants but in purification ofhuman character. Character, at the same time, is formed primarily by a man’s (and women’s !)work. And work, properly conducted in conditions of human dignity and freedom, blesses
those who do ii and equally in their products”.
E.F. Schumacher goes on to say, “From an economist's point of view, the marvel of the
Buddhist way of life is the utter rationality of its pattern--amazingly small means leading to
extraordinarily satisfactory results. For the modem economist this is very difficult tounderstand. He is used to measuring the ‘standard of living’ by the amount of annual
consumption, assuming all the time that a man who consumes more is ‘better off’ than a man
who consumes less. A Buddhist economist would consider this approach excessively
irrational: since consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be toobtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption.”
In her introduction to Ecological Responsibility: A Dialogue with Buddhism –A collection
Of Essays and Talks—Julia Martin points out: “The Earth is being exploited along with hercreatures (humans and other species).The Earth is suffering. All beings are suffering. The way
out of suffering begins with rediscovering our interconnections with livings systems, anunderstanding that liberates us from the illusory world of self and other through a
compassionate commitment to relieve suffering.”
We can interpret all these esteemed discussions plus the collective knowledge that we
now possess and understand about the biosphere and the environment into new economic
pathways. We have created a body of environmental laws based on scientific knowledge. As
we carry out our economics activities in the U.S. (or elsewhere), we are called to abide by laws
enacted (Right Action- Right Effort- Right View). In the U.S. to protect human impacts upon
the environment we have the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Endangered
Species Act. Economics as practiced, whether it be in households, or communities or in larger
arenas can incorporate a commitment to protecting our Earth’s ecosystems.
According to the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development,“Sustainable development which implies meeting the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, should become acentral guiding principle of the United Nations, Governments and private institutions,organizations and enterprises…” (Report of the World Commission on Environment andDevelopment, 96th plenary meeting, 11 December 1987 United Nations General Assembly).
The Buddhist approach of Cause and Effect to end the suffering caused by human actions canbe a guidepost to actions that are rooted in an economics that lacks mindfulness. It is where
the Deep Ecology Movement embarks upon Buddhist environmental and economic ethic
where the self is integrated into “a Great Self” (Cooper and James 2005, 148) which “operates
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out of a deep-seated respect and even veneration for ways and forms of life and accords them‘equal right to live and blossom’ (Weber 2001, 350-351).”
This of course is not to say that Buddhism has all the answers to our ecological andeconomic problems. However, at this critical time when political will, economic goals andenvironmental needs are clashing, we have a call for a practical revision, a Buddhist ethic thatreflects on our responsibilities as part of the living earth community. We can turn our economic
systems toward a middle way of actionable behaviors that embrace virtues that uphold thereality of our species as a keystone species that can ensure the flourishing of the many
communities of living organisms on this planet.
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