An ecological challenge

People come to Shen Phen Thubten Choeling – many of them from busy cities – for the peace, but not necessarily for the quiet. Birds sing, frogs croak, and sheep bleat. The cycles and seasons flow as they have done for centuries; the moon waxes and wanes, and snow, rain, and sun take their turn through the year. People stay for group retreats or individual retreat, and find the pace of life slowing down, supporting their meditation. Many find it a delight to be able to pick their own salad for lunch or fruit for breakfast, or to watch the full moon rising behind the oak trees.

Working in the garden is, for me, a daily Mandala offering to the Buddhas and to all beings, human and animal, who come to enjoy it. It is a daily practice of mindfulness to grow food and flowers while bringing as little harm as possible to the other beings (and there are many) who also live here. It is an opportunity to take responsibility for our own food and the way it is produced, while leaving space for birds, bugs, rabbits, hedgehogs and others to find their own food as well. We live in a cohabitation, which brings balance to the natural world, and keeps our vegetables healthy ...

Solar panels heat our water. It doesn't save us much money because we were frugal with hot water before we had the panels, but we wanted to make an example of reducing the use of fossil fuel because of the harm it brings to animals and people. The harm comes from pollution, global warming, and the wars that are used to ensure its continued cheap supply. For the same reason, in winter, we only increase the heating in the house after first putting on a thick sweater. Everything biodegradable is composted, partly because the plants need it, and partly because if it goes in landfill it harms other beings directly and indirectly, by producing the greenhouse gas methane, and toxic run-off into rivers ...

We are sometimes asked about this by people (even strict vegetarians!) who say that organic food is too expensive, so they have to buy 'conventional' food even if it has been produced by killing many beings. However, a closer look reveals that most food bought is highly processed, often out of season, and flown in by jet – and therefore very expensive. If we can let go of attachment to convenience and luxury, and live simply on local in-season produce, it is actually much cheaper to live on food that is not the result of harming such huge numbers of sentient beings ...

This article can be read in its entirety in Mandala