Buddhist Environmentalism in the Digital Age

RELIGION AND SOCIAL COMMUNICATION
Vol. 14 No. 2, 2016

Abstract

The environmental crisis is an ongoing problem facing humanity, and may be exacerbated in the digital age in which human preoccupation with the digital environment and cyberspace might trump care and concern for the natural environment. The environmental crisis is a complex issue that requires interdisciplinary approaches to address all of its dimensions—social, economic, political, and spiritual, etc. Religions have been enlisted in this e ort because they are seen as an e ective force in motivating people to change attitudes and behaviors that are environmentally destructive to those that are more benign towards ecosystems. Buddhism is among the world religions whose teachings have been perceived to be environmentally friendly. This paper sets out to consider the role of Buddhism in the e ort to address the environmental crisis in the digital age. It does so by: (1) describing the danger of human and nature alienation in the Asian social-cultural context, where Buddhism is most practiced and has the greatest direct and indirect in uence on the life of the people; (2) outlining basic Buddhist teachings that apply to nature; and (3) proposing that Buddhism can assert itself in the digital age in order to promote greater environmental well-being.

Keywords: Buddhism, environmental crisis, digital age, digital era, technological nature 

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