Environmental Warriors: Buddhist Eco-monks and Tree Ordination

[Aloka]

I came across this article from 31st December 2020 on the Buddhist Door website:

https://www.buddhistdoor.net/feature...ree-ordination

Personally I found the term Environmental Warriors rather disturbing - and also was quite bemused by the idea of giving trees monastic ordination!

Any thoughts?

[Thinker]

I am very happy that people show concern over the environment, at least someone is trying in the now, instead of just sitting passively waiting for further bad news.

[Aloka]

I am very happy that people show concern over the environment, at least someone is trying in the now, instead of just sitting passively waiting for further bad news.

I think here in the UK there are a lot of people who are showing their concern by being involved with at least some of the following ways of helping the environment:

https://www.rainforesttrust.org/6-wa...ent-from-home/

.

[woodscooter]

It is a long-standing question without a simple answer, how should we divide responsibility between Religion and State?

There's a need to bring attention to environmental damage being done, especially when the state seems unable to stop illegal logging.

In the UK and in Europe, legislation allows some trees to become subject to a Tree Preservation Order, and these trees are protected by law. So to protect a tree by marking it out as special using religious symbols is not so very different, allowing for the existing differences in customs and culture of the East.

I feel a little uncomfortable with monks becoming engaged in activism as that doesn't seem to me what monks should be doing. But they have to follow their own convictions. I'm pleased to note that the term 'warrior' is not used in any of the organisations that have been formed to resist further ecological damage. The word is used only in the title of the article, and is simply the choice of the writer.