생물종 다양성의 위기와 불교의 불살생계

Abstract

The history of civilization in general coincides with the successful control of nature or the instrumental use of nature. However, ecological crisis caused by civilization paradoxically threatens human beings. The development ideology, a characteristic of civilization, yields the desire for possession and consumption. The more human beings possess and the more convenient possessions are, the more miserable nature becomes and experiences in the end. Human possessions and convenience are gained at the cost of oher species’ lives. Human beings believe that we will have well-being if we possess and consume more. Human beings should change their total value system. If human beings keep living their lives in this way, human existence as well as every living creatures’ existence can be threatened and terminated. Human beings protect and recover nature for human existence. What is important to us is a life compatible with nature. Humans should not think of themselves as the lords of all creation in the universe anymore. Instead, humans should recognize themselves as cancer cells destroying the ecosystem of the earth and the universe. The teaching of mutual causality tells us of compatible lives. Buddhism teaches us accurately and kindly that human ignorance causes the reduction of biodiversity, the destruction of the natural ecosystem, and finally the disruption of human habitats. It is essential to convert to a new way of life based on the mutual causality theory in preventing the reduction of biodiversity. Not a change of unwilling behavior but a change of spiritual awakening - “a life for others can be a life for oneself” - is important. Practicing the precept of not killing to secure biodiversity presents “a practical life,” presupposing a change in life rather than jst a pretense of being a Buddhist practitioner.