Relevance of Buddhist Environmental Thought in the Present Era

The respect and love that people had for nature in ancient times has come to the bottom. Many times, in the history of human civilization, it has been seen that in the name of progress, efforts have been made to debase all the contributions of ancient times. Such attempts can be observed at various stages of history. Greek age, medieval Europe, renaissance is no exception. In the post-Industrial Revolution era, this mindset became more popular with the incredible advances in technology. ‘Present centrism’ has re-emerged at various times in the course of history. It is undeniable that in the world of knowledge, in the world of thought, human beings have made tremendous progress. But at the same time there has come a kind of arrogance among people whose power has made all past thought very trivial. One result of this arrogance is the current horrific form of environmental pollution. The extreme crisis of environmental pollution is one of the most important international problems in the context of the present time. Human societies guided by science and technology are driven in their way of life by excessive needs and greed; the crisis of the natural environment due to excessive use of underground natural resources, excessive deforestation due to urbanization and excessive population growth, etc. continues to affect the current situation. It is not possible to get rid of this man-made natural crisis by using only science and technology; in that case the practice of moral discipline is also essential. The concept of environmental problems was unexpected in ancient period, as the human community was bound by a moral and cordial bond with the environment. The moral teaching of ancient period can be very relevant in solving this environmental crisis. In this paper, an attempt has been made to explain the very brief identity of environmentalism based on Buddhism and its relevance in today’s world.