The Buddha’s Paṭiccasamuppāda: Addressing contemporary environmental development challenges through eschatological perspectives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61511/lad.v2i2.2025.1499Keywords:
buddha, development, dharma, environment, paradigm, paṭiccasamuppādaAbstract
Background: Religion is often considered as a cause of environmental problems. In response to this pessimism, Buddhism through the philosophy of Dharma comes up as revolutionary perspective in shaping contemporary environmental development paradigm, a counter for modern Cartesian-Newtonian paradigm. This philosophy is embodied in the concept of paṭiccasamuppāda applied as “scalpel” on existing environmental problems. Mehods: This study employs a qualitative approach using library research, analyzing philosophical, religious, and environmental texts. Through content analysis of Buddhist teachings, particularly paṭiccasamuppāda, the study explores its role as an alternative paradigm for addressing environmental challenges. Findings: The findings reveal that paṭiccasamuppāda, or the law of dependent origination, provides a holistic understanding of the interconnectedness between humans and nature. Unlike the Cartesian-Newtonian paradigm, which separates the observer from the observed, paṭiccasamuppāda emphasizes relational existence and balance, fostering ecological ethics based on interdependence. This perspective reduces environmental exploitation and encourages sustainable practices. Conclusion: The study concludes that paṭiccasamuppāda serves as a transformative framework for addressing contemporary environmental issues. By shifting from a dualistic worldview to an interconnected one, it promotes a sustainable development model. Integrating Buddhist ecological ethics into environmental policies and education can contribute to a more sustainable future. Novelty/Originality of this article: This study presents paṭiccasamuppāda as a fundamental principle for reinterpreting environmental sustainability. Unlike previous research that broadly discusses Buddhist ethics, this study specifically highlights paṭiccasamuppāda as a precise analytical tool for addressing environmental issues. By bridging Buddhist philosophy and contemporary ecological challenges, this study offers a novel perspective on sustainability rooted in spiritual wisdom.
References
Anālayo, B. (2021). Dependent arising and interdependence. Mindfulness, 12(5), 1094-1102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01544-x
Armstrong, K. (2002). Buddha. Phoenix.
Bandarage, A. (2013). The Buddha’s Middle Path: Lessons for sustainability and global well-being. Development, 56(2), 232–240. https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2013.31
Breyer, D. (2012). Freedom with a Buddhist face. Sophia, 52, 359–379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-012-0308-2
Byarugaba, G. W. (2017). Inter-religious discourse on climate change: Roman Catholic and African traditional perspectives. Ecumenical Review, 69(3), 327–335. https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.12296
Cairns, J. (2024). Phases of the Buddhist Approach to the Environment. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 31. https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/publications/phases-of-the-buddhist-approach-to-the-environment
Capra, F. (1997). The turning point: Science, society and the rising culture. Bentang Budaya.
Capra, F. (2015). The systems view of life: A unifying conception of mind, matter, and life. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 11(2), 242–249. https://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/503
Capra, F., & Luisi, P. L. (2014). The systems view of life: A unifying vision. Cambridge University Press.
Cavazza, E. (2014). Environmental ethics as a question of environmental ontology: Naess, Ecosophy T and Buddhist traditions. De Ethica: A Journal of Philosophical, Theological and Applied Ethics, 1(2), 23–48. https://doi.org/10.3384/de-ethica.2001-8819.141223
Cloutier, S., Berejnoi, E., Russell, S., Morrison, B. A., & Ross, A. (2018). Toward a holistic sustainable and happy neighborhood development assessment tool: A critical review of relevant literature. Ecological Indicators, 89, 139–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.01.055
Davis, L. S. (2016). Enacting the violent imaginary: Reflections on the dynamics of nonviolence and violence in Buddhism. Sophia, 55(1), 15–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-016-0524-2
Descola, P. (2013). The ecology of others. https://philpapers.org/rec/DESTEO-26
Dhammananda, K. S. (2002). Keyakinan umat Buddha. Ehipassiko Foundation.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2015). What is a circular economy?. Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Ellis, G. (2020). Dependent Origination as Emergence of the Subject–A cognitive-psychological Approach. Contemporary buddhism, 21(1-2), 263-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2021.1988214
Faris, S. (2009). Forecast: The consequences of climate change, from the Amazon to the Arctic. Henry Holt & Company.
Forrester, J. W. (2009). Some basic concepts in system dynamics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Gaerrang. (2017). Contested understandings of yaks on the eastern Tibetan Plateau: Market logic, Tibetan Buddhism, and indigenous knowledge. Area, 49(4), 526–532. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45172098
Gianarkis, R. (2013). Spiritual but not religious: On the collection of spirituality and the creation of spiritual narrative. Religious Studies Department of Hofstra University.
Gleick, J. (1988). Chaos: Making a new science. Penguin Books.
Gunderson, R. (2016). Anomie’s eastern origins: The Buddha’s indirect influence on Durkheim’s understanding of desire and suffering. European Journal of Social Theory, 19(3), 355–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431015599627
Guth, J. L., Green, J. C., Kellstedt, L. A., & Smidt, C. E. (1993). Faith and the environment: Religious beliefs and attitudes on environmental policy. American Journal of Political Science, 39(2), 364–382. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111617
Harvey, P. (2000). An introduction to Buddhist ethics: Foundations, values and issues. Cambridge University Press.
Jacoby, S., & Terrone, A. (2009). Buddhism beyond the monastery: Tantric practices and their performers in Tibet and the Himalayas. Brill.
Jones, D. T. (2024). Dependent Arising. St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology. https://www.saet.ac.uk/Buddhism/DependentArising
Kakoty, S. (2018). Ecology, sustainability and traditional wisdom. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 3215–3224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.036
Kanagy, C. L., & Willits, F. K. (1993). A greening of religion? Some evidence from a Pennsylvania sample. Social Science Quarterly, 74(3), 674–683. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1994-11882-001
Kardaš, G. (2015). On some doctrinal disputations in early Buddhist interpretations of Pratītyasamutpāda (Dependent co-arising). Synthesis Philosophica, 30(1), 113–126. https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/240207#page=113
Kaza, S. (2000). Overcoming the grip of consumerism. Buddhist-Christian Studies, 20, 23-42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1390317
Kenaphoom, S., Savatsomboon, G., Senawiang, P., & Pawala, T. (2025). Designed Techniques of Research Concept Frameworks Based on Concepts of Paṭiccasamuppāda-Buddhist Philosophy. Asian Education and Learning Review, 3(1), 5-5. https://doi.org/10.14456/aelr.2025.5
Kjellman, A. (2006). The crisis of contemporary science. Kybernetes, 35(3–4), 497–521. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920610653773
Koentjaraningrat. (2000). Introduction to anthropology. Rineka Cipta.
Kopnina, H., Washington, H., Taylor, B., & Piccolo, J. J. (2018). Anthropocentrism: More than just a misunderstood problem. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 31(1), 109–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-018-9711-1
LeVasseur, T., & Peterson, A. (Eds.). (2017). Religion and ecological crisis: The "Lynn White thesis" at fifty. Routledge.
Li, Y., Kong, Y., Tang, D., & Boamah, V. (2023). The Three Dimensions of Buddhist Ecological Ethics Wisdom. Religions, 14(9), 1170. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091170
Lim, H. L. (2019). Environmental revolution in contemporary Buddhism: The interbeing of individual and collective consciousness in ecology. Religions, 10(2), 120. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel10020120
Loy, D. (2019). Ecodharma: Buddhist teachings for the ecological crisis. Simon and Schuster.
Loyd, A. (2010). The healing code. Intermedia Publishing Group.
Meijers, E. J., & Burger, M. J. (2017). Stretching the concept of ‘borrowed size’. Urban Studies, 54(1), 269–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098015597642
Menahem, S., & Love, M. (2013). Forgiveness in psychotherapy: The key to healing. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(8), 829–835. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22018
Merchant, C. (1980). The death of nature: Women, ecology, and the scientific revolution.
Miller, G. T., & Spoolman, S. E. (2016). Environmental science (15th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Morgan, J. (2015). Emptiness and the education of the emotions. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47(3), 291–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2013.860873
Naess, A. (1973). The Deep Ecological Movement Some Philosophical Aspects, Philosophical Inquiry, 8(1/2). https://doi.org/10.5840/philinquiry198681/22
Ñāṇananda, K. (2015). The law of dependent arising (Paṭicca Samuppāda): The secret of bondage and release (Vol. I). Pothgulgala Dharmagrantha Dharmasravana Mādhya Bhāraya. https://seeingthroughthenet.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The-Law-of-Dependent-Arising_LE_Rev_1.0.pdf
Nasr, S. H. (1997). The spiritual crisis in modern man. ABC International Group.
Nyanatiloka, Bodhi, & Thanissaro. (2011). Paṭiccasamuppāda: Kemunculan yang dependen. Vijjakumara.
Ogata, K. (2014). System dynamics (4th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
Palmer, M., & Finlay, V. (2003). Faith in conservation: New approaches to religions and the environment. The World Bank. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/570441468763468377/pdf/269751Faith0in0Conservation010paper.pdf
Plumwood, V. (1993). The politics of reason: Towards a feminist logic. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 71(4), 436-462. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048409312345432
Prakash, G. (2018). Buddhist attitude towards sustainable development. Problemy Ekorozwoju, 13(1), 217–220. https://ph.pollub.pl/index.php/preko/article/view/5054
Razduev, A. V. (2018). Anthropocentric features of the scientific-technical term formation (case study of nanotechnology terms. Revista ESPACIOS, 39(02). https://www.revistaespacios.com/a18v39n02/18390221.html
Sadowski, R. F. (2017). The potential of religion in the promotion and implementation of the concept of sustainable development. Papers on Global Change, 24, 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1515/igbp-2017-0004
Sardar, Z., & Abrams, I. (2001). Kaos za početnike. Jesenski i Turk.
Schaefer, H. F. (1996). The Big Bang, Stephen Hawking, and God. Sídney. Lincoln Christian College and Seminary. https://www.chfpn.pl/new05/new05_schaefer.pdf
Setiawan, R. P. (2023). Reinterpreting Buddhist Environmental Ethics Through the Lens of Agential Realism. Satya Widya: Jurnal Studi Agama, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.33363/swjsa.v6i1.935
Shibley, M. A., & Wiggins, J. L. (1997). The greening of mainline American religion: A sociological analysis of the environmental ethics of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. Social Compass, 44(3), 333–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/003776897044003003
Simkins, I. M. (2008). The development of the INSIGHT METHOD: a participatory approach for primary school children to reveal their place experiences (Doctoral dissertation, University of Sheffield). https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/14923/
Talukder, M. (2016). Managing innovation adoption: from innovation to implementation. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315593609
Tanaka, K. (2010). Limitations for measuring religion in a different cultural context—the case of Japan. The Social Science Journal, 47(4), 845-852. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2010.07.010
Trizin, S. (2011). Freeing the Heart and Mind: Introduction to the Buddhist Path. Simon and Schuster.
Verhaeghen, P. (2017). Presence: How mindfulness and meditation shape your brain, mind, and life. Oxford University Press.
Vucetich, J. A., Burnham, D., Macdonald, E. A., Bruskotter, J. T., Marchini, S., Zimmermann, A., & Macdonald, D. W. (2018). Just conservation: What is it and should we pursue it?. Biological Conservation, 221, 23-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.02.022
Wang, J., & Tan, J. Q. (2024). Towards a Holistic Buddhist Eco-Ethics. Religions, 15(7), 844. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070844
White Jr, L. (1967). The historical roots of our ecologic crisis. Science, 155(3767), 1203-1207. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.155.3767.1203
Woodhouse, E., Homewood, K. M., Beauchamp, E., Clements, T., McCabe, J. T., Wilkie, D., & Milner-Gulland, E. J. (2015). Guiding principles for evaluating the impacts of conservation interventions on human well-being. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 370(1681), 20150103. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0103
Wu, J. (2013). Landscape sustainability science: ecosystem services and human well-being in changing landscapes. Landscape ecology, 28, 999-1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-013-9894-9
Yakup, A. (2024). Pratītyasamutpāda, the Doctrine of Dependent Origination in Old Uyghur Buddhism: A Study of Printed Texts. Religions, 15(12), 1432. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121432
Yang, N. G. (2017). Water politics and religious practices in Kangding. Himalaya: Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 37(1), 117–121. https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol37/iss1/16
Yokohari, M., Takeuchi, K., Watanabe, T., & Yokota, S. (2000). Beyond greenbelts and zoning: A new planning concept for the environment of Asian mega-cities. Landscape and urban planning, 47(3-4), 159-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(99)00084-5
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Hendro Putra Johannes
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
