Recently I watched several new environmental documentaries. They were full of the stories of the challenges we face: climate change, energy resources, water shortages, hunger, and disappearing species. Yet it was not fundamentally depressing; it overflowed with the stories of people making a difference, in small ways and large. People saving birds, feeding the hungry, advocating for fewer chemicals, creatively recycling a huge city's wastes.
I came away with a great appreciation for our Sangha, our community, and the Monastery. We do inspiring things all the time, and not because we should or we want to be right or good. We do it because we recognize and practice non-separation, everything is one, everything is the Buddha. We are careful because we see that what is done to one affects all.
I see this in how we eat and shop for food. We eat organic food as much as possible because we know its importance for our health and for the environment. The organic growing process cares for the soil and the creatures that depend on it. The food is fresh and healthy, without chemicals or genetic modifications. The Monastery does grow some of its own food, but can't produce the amounts and variety it needs.
So we shop for organic food in a local natural foods store. We support good agriculture and a locally owned business. We've developed good relationships with the store and its staff. We pile beautiful produce in a cart and carry it home in sturdy cloth bags, bypassing plastic almost totally. Where we can, we buy beans and grains and flours and nuts in bulk, minimizing packaging that would be headed for the landfill. Paper goods are purchased recycled. Cleaning supplies are natural and safe for the environment.
And, brilliantly, recipe amounts are calculated precisely to feed the number of residents and guests for every meal, making for minimal food waste. What can't be eaten goes onto the compost pile and eventually the Monastery gardens.
Full of care at every step of the way. The soil is the Buddha, the fruits and vegetables are the Buddha, our community and world are the Buddha, our bodies are the Buddha. One way of seeing with multiple ways of caring.
Gassho,
Mickey