One common focus of Secular Buddhism is the natural world, the understanding and acceptance of our interdependence upon one another and the environment in which we live. One’s contemplative aspirations may extend into ideas about ending rounds of rebirth, but the simple fact remains: we do have this life, we are living on this world, and how we treat it is materially reflective on who we are. Caring for the Earth and the future of our environment may be difficult, and facing the realities of its fragility are critical to our ability to take action — today.

John Negru

John Negru (Karma Yönten Gyatso) is the founder of Sumeru, a publisher of Buddhist books. He also hosts Canada’s leading Buddhist news blog and national temple directory. He has worked, published and taught in the design field for more than 40 years. John came to Dharma practice in 1968. Over the years he has served on the boards of several temples, and has been involved in a variety of community development projects, including having acted as coordinator for the Toronto Buddhist Federation, Toronto coordinator for the Buddhist Council of Canada, and consultant to the University of Toronto’s Buddhist Psychology and Mental Health program. His most recent project, with the University of Toronto Department for Religious Studies, was a two-year sociological survey of Canadian Buddhist organizations, key findings of which were published in the Journal of Global Buddhism in 2013.

Michael Glantz

Dr. Michael H. Glantz is a Social Scientist and Director of the Consortium for Capacity Building (CCB) at the University of Colorado-Boulder. His most recent activities have focused on “Lessons Learned about Lessons Learned about Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Risk Reduction.” CCB is now focusing on the concept of El Niño Ready Nations (ENRNs) and El Niño Ready Cities (ENRCs) is a 15 country study. He has written and edited over 30 books as well as numerous articles. His books include “Climate Affairs” (Island Press 2003) and “Usable Thoughts on Climate, Water and Weather in the 21st Century” (UNU Press 2010). In 2008 Glantz was a recipient of the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative.

So, sit back, relax, and have a nice Earthly Delight tea.

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Books

Web Links

• Plot to Save the Earth
• Sumeru Books
• Episode 221 :: Tanya McGinnity and John Negru :: Writings by Canadian Buddhist Women
• Canadian Buddhism
• Alliance of Religions and Conservation
• Research & Degrowth
• Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey

 

Music for This Episode Courtesy of Rodrigo Rodriguez

The music heard in the middle of this podcast is from Rodrigo Rodriguez. You can visit his website to hear more of his music, get the full discography, and view his upcoming tour dates.