Buddhist teachings provide a means of evaluating the nature and direction of global development. The significance of the approach is that it entails a consideration of the extent to which social and economic policies tend to contribute to or diminish human suffering. This aspect is often obscured in the quest for modernization and westernization.
The present course of economic development has enhanced disparities in wealth, depleted natural resources, devastated the environment and alienated people from their culture. It is directed by the profit motive embodied in the corporate culture and is oblivious to the extent of the discontentment that is generation.
Buddhism teaches that the causes of suffering are greed，hatred and delusion. These conditions remain unbridged in contemporary society and have produced a consumer culture in which the dominate value is the acquisition of goods. The earth vision of the pure land requires that we rediscover that characterizes our civilization is a product of our having forgotten the interrelatedness of our being. The pure land would entail communities predicated upon this understanding. They would be governed by compassion rather than competitiveness.
The pure land requires an individual recognition of freedom and responsibility. I have attempted to approach this through projects, which redirect us to a consideration of the spiritual dimension of existence.
An alternative to consumerism is a project，which recognizes that we must confront the new demonic religion and strive to reestablish standards of value derived form the community. Gatherings are organized which afford people from diverse communities. The opportunity to exchange stories and share experiences.
Spirit in education movement is an educational project that seeks to integrate spiritual teachings into our understanding of the world. It offers and alternative to the narrow unconnected approach of modern education. These projects are informed by the fundamental wisdom of the noble truths. They demonstrate the manner in which the application of this wisdom to social condition can generate the earthly pure land.
