Start with yourself

Religious thinker and scholar Karen Armstrong has written more than 20 books on the world’s religious traditions, and she is particularly concerned with exploring the role of religion and spirituality in the modern world. In 2009, Karen won the TED Prize, a $100,000 award given annually to support the vision of an exceptional individual and which gives that person a wish for a better world, which TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design: a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting ‘ideas worth spreading’) will try to make happen. As a result, Karen launched the Charter for Compassion, a document around which religious leaders can work for peace based on the principle of the Golden Rule: ‘Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you.’ TUNZA asked Karen what insight, if any, the teachings of the world’s religions can offer as we rethink our relationship with Earth in the run-up to Rio+20.

TUNZA: What do religious and spiritual teachings have to do with environmental protection and sustainable development?

Karen: All the world’s religions have, from their beginnings, been concerned about the Earth’s resources. Ancient peoples worried that the planet might run down if continually ransacked, giving rise to sacrificial rituals. Ancient cultures very rarely ate meat that hadn’t been sacrificed spiritually, honouring the animal. Even today, as a hunted animal dies, bushmen honour the fact that hunter and hunted depend upon one another and share the same predicament.

In China, in about the 8th century BC, aristocrats became aware that whereas there had always been plenty of wild game, species were declining. So a series of rituals arose that encouraged the nobility to live with restraint instead of killing and consuming with abandon. Not only were banquets less opulent, but teachings trained people to think, speak and behave more moderately and thoughtfully in all aspects of life. Centuries later, an industrial revolution that again plundered nature as well as a cycle of terribly destructive wars revived such thought, giving rise to Confucianism and Taoism.

And in Buddhist and Jain meditations, one radiates compassion to every single creature on the face of the Earth. All such practices remind us to be aware of and empathize with all life, to take as much care of it as we care for ourselves – that is compassion. Such a shift in perspective moves humans beyond the selfish, greedy, ‘me first’ mentality at the root of taking more than what is needed, which causes imbalance and suffering.

So you’re saying the Chinese understood that external laws weren’t going to make people stop hunting, but a change of heart and philosophy would?

Yes, and this is an important point. We do need laws if we’re going to save the environment – extensive regulation about how often we fly and drive. But this won’t get votes, so there must also be some kind of internal transformation that will enable people to give up privileges and comforts that they take for granted. That’s where the core teachings of the world religions come in.

I’m not talking about blindly accepting creed or doctrine. The idea of religion being about ‘belief’ only came in the late 17th century, skewing the way we understand religion in the West. Originally, all so-called religious doctrines were essentially programmes for action. You can’t understand what it is about unless you practise it, like any skill, such as dancing. You don’t learn to dance by reading a book. You must practise hard for years, developing the necessary skill to move with a grace that is impossible for an untrained body. In the same way, a religious teaching of myth only makes sense when you translate it into practical action; only then do you discover that it is telling you a truth about human nature.

So when Jesus asks his followers to believe, he’s not asking them to accept doctrine. He’s asking them to commit to working for the Kingdom of God, a world where rich and poor will someday sit down together at the same table. The five pillars of Islam prescribe fasting and giving alms – hunger reminds us how other people suffer, and that there are more important matters than personal comfort. Judaism is about putting the Torah into practice, Confucianism is about respect and courtesy while Buddhism has no time for belief at all!

The guide to behaviour central to all the faiths is encapsulated in the Golden Rule: ‘Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you.’ This rule extends not just to people, but to all species and the environment, because we are part of nature and must treat nature as part of ourselves.

So why have we lost sight of this teaching?

We have simply become caught up in the culture of the money-based economy we live in. Our brains were designed to help us survive in an environment where it was a huge struggle just to eat. Now, many of us live in plenty, yet we’ve still got those greedy impulses, grabbing as much as possible because we think we need it. The result is that we live in an economy that tells us we must keep spending money on stuff we don’t need.

Is scientific knowledge to blame for eroding our sense of kinship with nature?

On the contrary. Science shows us the intricacy of nature, and of human evolution. Science should fill us with absolute reverence for nature, and remind us of how much we don’t know – species yet undiscovered that all play a role in supporting our ecosystems, which we are busy destroying in our selfish or excited way.

Disciplined examination using science can help us go beyond our self-centred perspective by helping us experience fully the magnificence of our planet. The Buddhist prayer that goes with the compassionate meditation says ‘Let us cherish all creatures’ – all of them, without exception – as a mother does her only child. That’s the kind of concern we have to have. It leaves self behind.

The natural world is also one of the first things that gives humans a sense of the divine, inspires reverence. It’s about the sense of transcendence when you see a magnificent starry sky, the ocean, the mountains.

Young leaders all over the world are preparing for Rio+20. It’s another opportunity for the world to come together and catalyse a change of heart. What should they keep in mind?

As with any spiritual practice, it starts with yourself: you cannot ask other people to be more mindful of the environment if you’re not committed to taking action in your own life – walking instead of jumping in the car, asking whether this plane journey is really necessary. Can you make your coat last another season?

The main problem of our time is building a global community where human beings can live together peacefully and respectfully. This is a chance for young people all over the world to work together, whatever their creed or cause.