Deforestation is a major threat in many Buddhist-majority countries, including Thailand and Cambodia. Decades of illegal logging have had a negative impact on the local economy, food security and biodiversity. However, a group of Buddhist monks and activists in Thailand and Cambodia are working together to protect endangered forests, integrating Buddhist principles with environmental awareness, consulting government officials on environmental issues and implementing sustainability projects. They are also involved in tree dedications, which have received media attention around the world in recent years for its innovative and inspiring message about the sacredness of the natural world.

In their campaigns, the eco-monks emphasize how the selfish and short-sighted desire for economic gain and accelerated development has led to the exploitation of resources. They see it as their duty to use traditional religious concepts and rituals for contemporary ecological needs.

For years, the monks have made a real difference by working with local NGOs to create sustainable development plans, develop education programs to encourage alternative farming methods that place less strain on the land, and provide farmers with knowledge, tools and financial support to improve economic conditions of the villagers.

Prominent eco-monk Phrakhu Sangkom Thanapanyo Khunsuri has founded a traditional agricultural school in his temple in Thailand’s eastern Chonburi province: the Maab-Euang Meditation Center for a Sustainable Economy. Phra Sangkom, which has many full-time students, teaches the Buddhist concepts of personal reflection and a theory called the Sufficiency Economy, which was developed by the late Thai monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej to promote subsistence agriculture, encourage self-sufficiency and learn about detachment from materialism and consumerism.

In Bangkok, another eco-monk, Phrakhu Win Mektripop, who has a master’s degree in environmental economics from Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, has been teaching for years about the interconnection between Buddhism and the environment. Many Thai universities and NGOs have followed in the footsteps of these monks by promoting environmental values based on Buddhist teachings to farmers and residents. The Bangkok-based International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) is one such organization that connects Buddhist and non-Buddhist social and environmental activists across Asia and the world.

Thai monks also teach their Cambodian counterparts to protect forests. For example, the Cambodian monk Ven. Bun Saluth, head of the Samrong Pagoda in Oddar Meanchey Province, is a pioneer in protecting forests in Cambodia. Ven. Bun Saluth grew up in a rural village, the son of a farmer, but left home at a young age to become a monk. He studied in Thailand for five years, where he lived with a group of eco-monks, and returned home in February 2002 with a vision to protect his country’s forests. Since then, he has managed to conserve 18,261 hectares of forest in Oddar Meanchey. For his work Ven. Bun Saluth received the Equator Prize from the United Nations Development Program in 2010.

The monks fighting to preserve Cambodia’s forests work primarily through two major groups: the Monks Community Forest (MCF) and the Independent Monk Network for Social Justice (IMNSJ). Both groups fight to preserve forests by demanding stricter government action against deforestation and lobbying lawmakers for better protection of trees.

The IMNSJ has more than 5,000 monks who teach local people how to use social media to raise awareness about illegal logging by uploading photos and videos and publishing articles. The monks also teach the local population what they can do to prevent deforestation. IMNSJ founder and leader Vene. Buntenh is a passionate advocate of preventing deforestation. Among his concerns is the threat to Prey Lang, one of Cambodia’s largest and oldest evergreen forest areas, comprising 3,600 square kilometers of forest, including giant luxury timber trees, and home to at least 20 endangered plant species and 27 endangered animal species. Large parts of Prey Lang have already disappeared to make way for plantations, and illegal loggers have cleared large areas of forest in protected areas.

Tree Dedication

Monks’ environmental and conservation activities in Thailand and Cambodia also extend to performing tree ordination ceremonies. Tree ordination, adopted from traditional Buddhist practices, is popular in many Buddhist-majority countries. Trees are given “monastic ordination” and wrapped in the iconic saffron cloth worn by Theravada monks, thereby making them sacred and protecting the trees from damage, destruction, and deforestation.

Although tree ordination did not exist in the Buddha’s time, it is clear that the dedicated teams of monks strive to create a “pure land” in the human realm. This committed effort has led to the organic development of the tree ordination tradition. A monastic robe wrapped around a tree symbolizes the aspiration to not only reduce deforestation, but also to establish a wildlife reserve in the area.

However, monks and activists in Thailand and Cambodia have also come under fire for their activities. Ven. Buntenh was charged with fraud along with two other civilian leaders in January 2018, prompting him to live in exile in the US. The same year, the top patriarch of Cambodia’s monastic sangha (community) turned against the activists, saying monks should not be involved in protests and calling on pagodas to close their doors to those who are.

On a more everyday level, eco-monks continue to receive criticism about their methodology. Some say that the prominent role of monks in worldly or political affairs will lead younger generations of monks to place less emphasis on their monastic life and practice. It is a tradition of the Thai monastic sangha to remain conservative on social issues, with monks rarely commenting on topics with political implications. Thai conservatives are convinced that the role of the monastic sangha should be limited to the spiritual domain. Less ideological and more pragmatic opponents worry about a hostile relationship between monks and the government due to repeated clashes. The role of Buddhism in Thai communities as a whole has also been called into question by increasing government involvement and control.

Nevertheless, the eco-monks maintain that they merely wish to promote the consciousness of dependent origination as taught by the Buddha. All things exist through complex causes and conditions, which in turn become the causes and conditions for other phenomena. From this perspective, the world is a vast web of interdependence, in which human well-being and the environment are inextricably linked. Individuals, communities, companies and governments must therefore take this reality into account in their daily work to prevent destructive acts against nature. This is the ultimate goal of the eco-monks: to protect the forests and trees for the good of the environment while eliminating mental defilements and relieving human suffering.

We live in a world full of thorny and complex issues that require nuance and sensitivity. We should not ignore the power of religion to address social issues such as environmental problems, war and peace, and so on. The activities of eco-monks remind us of the benefits of committed Buddhism. Each of us can participate in the struggle for eco-values and religious values.

Source: https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/environmental-warriors-buddhist-eco-monks-and-tree-ordination/