The Lotus Sutra-Historical Development and Contemporary Issues; Printed in the United States of America; From the 36th International Congress of Asian and North African Studies (ICANAS 2000)
In this article, I describe Buddhist views of nature and environment, and the contribution of the Consciousness-Only doctrine of Buddhist psychology to solving environmental problems. In particular, I emphasize an important role of the alaya consciousness in the deeper layer of our minds from the perspective of the Consciousness-Only doctrine. The alaya consciousness is the root entity that forms the framework of all existences, i.e., our own bodies, our minds, and our environments. To put its important role concretely, the concept of alaya consciousness is able to give accounts of the enlargement of human desires as the cause of environmental problems, responsibility as environmental ethics, and the effects of products of science and technology on our minds. Finally, I discuss a methodology for reforming the alaya consciousness through social movements and the bodhisattva way, and the solution of environmental problems at its most basic source.
