Buddhism and Environmental Protection

Environment is the aggregate of surrounding things. The surrounding things may be air, water, minerals, organism etc. It includes social and cultural forces that shape a life of person or entire population 1 . Good environment is essential for a balanced life. Lack of Environmental protection due to different types of pollution threatens the life of the people. Environmental protection generally relates to the protection of physical surroundings i.e. forest, trees, plants, wetlands, animals etc. But overall Environmental protection also needs to include the social, psychological and the moral values. With out protecting those aspects complete Environmental protection will not possible. Therefore it is simultaneous protection of surrounding of out side and the norms, morality and inner heart of people. Only then the peace and prosperity will be possible benefiting the universe

Now a day's world is facing serious problems of environmental destruction. Most of the forests, trees and plants are destroyed causing disappearance of several types of rare. Smoke and dust from the chimney of Industry is making air pollution. Rivers and seas are getting polluted from the human and industrial waste. Increment of carbon dioxide is depleting ozone layer, creating acid rains in several places, soil is  losing nitrogen, global warming is increasing etc. In this way deteriorating total environment of the world is destructing health and wealth of the human beings. People expert in this field are threatening that the environment destruction will result bad consequences as it increase land slide, flood, scarce of water, lack of oxygen, disturbance in rain etc. So people are indeed needed to be aware of the consequences of environment destruction. The people are feeling proper knowLEDge and education is inherent for them in making conscious in protecting environment to make the earth a safe place to live in.

Now a day's protection of environment is becoming the important agenda for government and people. Several organizations are emerging for making aware about the protection of environment. But they focus only to the protection of physical environment and pay less attention toward the role of bad mentality. They are not aware that environmental destruction in not merely cause of technological development but also due to the ego centeredness of people.  So it is getting late to be aware also on the importance of protecting mental factor for environmental protection. An attempt is made here to discuss on the theme with help of Buddha's theory and practice.

Buddha a great teacher can be said as the pioneer in protection of the physical as well as mental environment. According to Buddha actual up-grading the life of people is possible only by protecting physical and mental environment of the people.

Buddha has given importance of proper environment to get success in physical as well as spiritual development. According to him the overall development of a people start from the environment he is living in. In Mangala (Auspice) sutta, Buddha had said that "patirupa desh vaso ca etam mangala mutttamam" 2 The meaning is ''It is auspice to live at the proper place''. Proper place here means the place with good environment. Good environment include less polluted place, with protection of nature, having necessary opportunity of good education, medical cure, employment facilities and opportunity of spiritual practice. It is obvious that one can live and get success easily physically as well as spiritually, if he is inhabitants of good environment.