sustainable development; sustainability; development; buddhadharma; Master Sheng Yen
摘要
Sustainable Development is a very important modern concept and practice for solving global problems. There are many frameworks for sustainable development which are useful for us to understand the world and put our efforts into actions. But I find there is a very important element which is missing in these frameworks. If we want to effectively solve social, economic, and environmental problems, we should have a healthy mind first. Hence, I think that the Buddhist doctrine, which is about the teaching of the mind, should be added into any models. If so, we not only have a better understanding of the roots of problems but also can effectively solve the global problems. Then people can enjoy higher well-being, having genuine happiness. This paper explores the sustainable path for development in accordance with the essence of Buddhist doctrines. Firstly, we introduce the principle of the modern concept of sustainability, and showing the inherently damaging and unsustainable features in our economic system. We then reason that the principles in Buddhism are sustainable in nature. The paper also offers an integrated framework of sustainable development by combing the material and spiritual aspects together. The resulting model possesses very desirable features that can simultaneously deal with human’s problems from the inside and outside of people and Buddhadharma and Sustainable Development guarantee sustainability and higher well-being for every human and nonhuman species right now and in the future.
