Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje on the necessity of regulating our desires

[Ajay0]

Insightful speech by Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje on the necessity of regulating our desires for environmental protection. 

https://kagyuoffice.org/buddhism-and-the-environment-living-in-harmony-with-the-planet/

Quote

 

Drawing conclusions from all this, the Karmapa stated, “So I see that the issue of protecting the environment is basically an issue of our mind. How human beings act is based on their motivation, so the environmental issue is a mental issue; it is based on how we see things. “And these days, our seeing is permeated by an insatiable desire. It has gotten to the point that whatever we see, we want. We resemble a silk worm spinning its cocoon with material that comes from within itself. Our desire is just like this: It comes out from our mind, and then one desire gives rise to another and another in a continuous stream, so that our whole lives are overrun with desire. We live in a cocoon made of our constant craving.

These days, wherever we go, we see advertisements on TV, in the newspaper, on our mobiles, or walking down the street. All the time, these ads urge us to buy this or that, creating more desire and more greed. This leads to the overuse of our limited resources and puts unsustainable pressure on the environment. This is why it is crucial to work with our minds and take real responsibility for our desire. The actual cause of environmental degradation is human greed.

We live in a time of great materialism that leaves no time for satisfaction. Companies promise that their product will change our lives and make us happy. They almost pray that our desire will be huge while as Buddhists we are praying to reduce ours. When politicians campaign, they also make many promises. All these ads and promises are illusions. They are not based on facts. Believing them is like walking around with our eyes closed so we don’t see the real situation. Our stomach has a natural limit, but our minds’ desire is so big that it could consume universes. Clearly, it is not possible to satisfy our desires by pursuing them. Is there another way to fulfill them? This is a very important question.

 

 

[Ajay0]

Spiritual teacher Joan Tollifson had similarly spoken on the correlation between capitalim-consumerism and addictive behavior...