Buddha the Unsung Environmentalist

Buddha the Unsung Environmentalist

Posted on December 11, 2010

I often wondered
Why Buddha
Did not
Utter
A terse verse
On the mother nature?

Then again
He is one
Who lived
Half of his life
Under the shade
Of trees and caves
That mother nature
Had plenty then
Even in India
One who shed attachment
To dwellings of
All kinds
 
Be that it may be
Physical or psychological
He was wise
Not to trod on
To Climate,
Global Warming
A debate which illustrates
The fickle
And transient
Nature of
Material World
But where did he
Attained
The Enlightenment
Of all?
Was not
Under a bright floral tree
Knowing
Even the flora is transient
But under a Bo tree
Which gave
Shelter
From harsh elements
But bears tiny fruits
The avian fauna
Love to eat
When hungry
Didn’t he
As a gesture of gratitude?
Gazed at the very
Bo Tree
In solid contemplative mediation
For a week on stretch
I wonder, I wonder
How can I say
He is not
An environmentalist?
Not by preach
But by precept
And practice
Asoka