Green Buddhism and the Hierarchy of Compassion<\/a>, where he argues that Westerners all too commonly flee from the hierarchical\/developmental\/practice-oriented side of Buddhism because it skirts too near the hierarchical\/oppressive side of Western culture (my full synopsis is below).<\/p>\nThe idea of interrelatedness or \u2018all is one\u2019 can become a mere article of faith, which does no good for either the environment or the individual. Buddhism is, if anything, a call to action: \u2018just let go\u2019, \u2018be here now\u2019, \u2018beginner\u2019s mind\u2019. <\/span><\/span> These are all states of being to which we must aspire and then cultivate in ourselves.<\/p>\nOn a side-note, I wish I had re-read this article more often over the years, as it really does pin down the slippery aspects of Buddhism in the Western context. I can\u2019t tell you how often students have asked me, \u201cbut everything\u2019s already ok as it is, right?\u201d and I\u2019ve had to fumble with the relative\/absolute truths or ego-clinging or something like that to assure them that despite interrelatedness and Buddha-nature, we still must practice.<\/span><\/span> It\u2019s a great article, for Buddhist Ethics, Buddhist teaching, and Buddhist environmentalism.<\/p>\nGreen Buddhism and the Hierarchy of Compassion<\/a>, Dr. Sponberg argues that Western Buddhist reactively want <\/span>Buddhism to be anti-hierarchy because they are rebelling against their own cultural \u2018hierarchy of oppression\u2019 where progress leads to greater control over other forms of life. But Buddhism without hierarchy becomes flat, providing the mere metaphysical thesis of interrelatedness. Taken as such it is just an article for faith. Buddhist tradition, however, has always had its own hierarchy, the \u2018hierarchy of compassion\u2019 where progress entails reaching out and experiencing the bonds we have to all other life (and nonliving things). Green Buddhism must not lose this hierarchy, which is integral to Buddhism. This hierarchy contains the practices of ethics, meditation, and wisdom teachings that are just as necessary for Green Buddhism as they are for enlightenment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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