Flowers are good in the way all Nature is. They have no evil in them. They just naturally do their good work, to create seeds, produce more flowers and be beautiful about it. This warm pink represents loving kindness in Buddhist meditation.
Overview
Buddhism teaches that we humans are made of love – deep love is our foundation. There is no division of good and evil. even those who act very badly – even the worst of tyrants, are essentially good. they are just deluded and confused. They are made of love, albeit caught in the suffering of greed, hatred and delusion.
every animal has to eat. animals that live by killing others are simply seeking nourishment, they are not evil – only part of the way life is. dark of night, and light of day are all good by nature. All of nature is sacred.
Nature is not our enemy. she is not simply a commodity for our species to exploit. She is not like a woman as patriarchy sees her, to be opened up, her virginity taken. As a consequence of these industrial-era and patriarchal ideas about nature, our Mother Nature is sick. And as she is ill, so are we. Taking care of her is taking care of ourselves. we need to bring her to good health.
So, for ourselves and all that lives we really do need to address climate change and other environmental problems, and to move towards way of living that is kind to our mother and ourselves. For the world to go down a truly healing trajectory, we humans need to trust that everyone is good and so is nature, and that all can be healed.
Personal and spiritual practice
Elements
Refuge
Nature
Deities
Waterfalls
Action
Behaviours to build an awareness that we are all good like nature help to heal the self, community relations, society and our environment. Here are some suggestions:
- Treat people as good. Interact knowing people are good.
- Bring out the good in people. develop the skills for this. active listening can help reflect people’s good qualities back to them.
- Develop your communication skills. Good negotiation and conflict resolution skills are essential, as are active listening skills and consensus building skills.
Summary