Chapter 21

Do No Harm:

What is The Future of The Planet? When we are reborn into this human existence, we are afflicted by The Three

Poisons of craving/greed, anger/hatred, and ignorance/delusion (unknowing

of true reality), as described in a previous Chapter. Through life’s progression, The Three Poisons, our ego, and the protection of a self, all affect our relationships, interactions, decisions, and countless aspects of our life. Our decision making is influenced by the mind and what we have accumulated over the course of our current life. Currently, it is well known that the planet has experienced massive destruction from the human population and our daily decisions. The human population of the planet has drastically impacted the planet’s natural habitat. Pollution, waste, lack of food, water, and other resources plagues our ability to live in a healthy environment where all beings can thrive. The destruction of the planet is a direct result of the destruction of the mind of all of humanity. The pollution of the mind of all of humanity can be seen in the pollution of the planet. When a significant portion of humanity has accumulated craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) with ego and protection of a self in massive quantities, our decisions become tainted by the stains of our consciousness. We no longer look to take care of one another and our planet but instead focus on how to enrich our own lives at the peril of everything else. We no longer understand that we are part of a global society where all beings depend on one another and the planet for a peaceful coexistence. But instead, we focus on our own selfish “wants”, our own “cravings and desires” rather than focusing on how we can best live a life in harmony with all beings. These Teachings bring our focus to an independent journey where we apply effort to learn and practice Teachings that eliminate craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) while dissolving the ego and realizing non-self in our pursuit of Enlightenment to attain a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy.

We apply this practice as an independent journey through awakening the mind in an “independent practice” with guidance of Teachers. We know that we cannot change another being, we can only work to achieve our own peaceful and content mind.

However, our independent journey with these Teachings raises our

awareness that all beings are interconnected and depend on each other to sustain life. While we need to have an independent practice, an independent journey, and independent pursuit of Enlightenment, we realize through these Teachings that we cannot be selfish nor conduct ourselves in a manner that harms other beings nor the planet. Any harm that we cause will only be returned to us as we understand based on The Natural Law of Kamma.

Attaining a Higher Consciousness means that we realize our peaceful

coexistence requires healthy resources from the planet and that our daily decision making has a direct impact into the health and sustainability of our environment. We need to understand that we cannot cause destruction to the planet and expect that it will provide us a comfortable environment in which to exist. We cannot strain the planet through exhaustion of resources for the sake of “greed” and expect the planet will provide us a healthy environment in which to live. The “greed” that exists in the human mind has caused us to destroy the planet and we can see the Kamma associated with this through the massive pollution and unhealthy state of the planet. Attaining Enlightenment means that we are no longer reborn through The

Cycle of Rebirth, however, we have significant loving-kindness and

compassion for all beings. Even in realizing we have attained Enlightenment and are not returning to this planet, we feel a duty to all of humanity that as we leave this life, our last life as part of attaining Enlightenment, that we not only “do no harm” to other beings but that we also “do no harm” to the planet. By practicing harmlessness towards the planet, we will reduce any potential harm to other beings.

Through attaining Enlightenment, we will not experience any more rebirths,

but we know we are leaving a planet that needs to sustain life for the future of all beings who will come after us. We understand that the existence of this planet is over 4.5 billion years and we have been constantly reborn countless times over several eons. In our countless rebirths, it would be hard to find a being that exists today or will

exist after us that has not been our mother, father, sister, brother, child or some other relative at some point in the past. Through our countless rebirths, we are related and have been family members with every being that has existed, exists now, and will exist in the future. We have significant compassion towards all beings and the need to provide a planet that can sustain a healthy life so that all our “family members”, all of humanity, have the opportunity to cultivate the mind, attain Enlightenment, and escape The Cycle of Rebirth with a sustainable planet and its resources. The pursuit of Enlightenment focuses us entirely and solely on the mind and the elimination or destruction of “The Ten Fetters” through our independent journey. But we are wise enough to know that our independent journey is interconnected to countless other beings. One could not practice these Teachings of “causing no harm or harmlessness” without a focus on their individual decisions and how those decisions affect the planet in which we inhabit. We need to pursue Enlightenment with a focus on our independent journey and purification of the mind. We also need to focus on the purification of the planet through helpful decisions that lead to a revitalization of our planet’s resources. From the earth’s beginning of over 4.5 billion years ago, we have over fished our seas, scraped natural resources from the soil, built extensively, dumped waste, polluted the air we breathe, and have caused massive destruction beyond imagination or our willingness, for some, to admit. Through modernization, our civilization has lost its connection to the earth and mother earth is hurting. Oftentimes “greed” becomes a priority when many are looking for ways to become “wealthy in material possessions” for the sake of “ego” without regard to the devastation we are causing to humanity and the planet through unwholesome Kamma production. As craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) and our ego with the protection of a self rules the mind of each human, we destroy the planet without care or regard to what comes next. If we do not attain Enlightenment in this life, we will be reborn back into another existence until we extinguish all our unwholesome Kamma from this life and our previous lives. This means, we can never run or hide from our unwholesome Kamma and the destruction of the planet. Destroying the planet now and not attaining Enlightenment means we will be reborn to deal with the destruction of the planet. Destroying the planet now

and attaining Enlightenment means we leave an unhealthy environment for our family members to inhabit for the remaining time of earth’s existence. We are currently at the lowest point of humankind and our existence on the planet. There has never been a time in the evolution of this planet that has seen such massive destruction of the planet and each other. This is a direct result of the destruction of “the mind” of all of humanity. The solutions to the world’s problems lie within these Teachings. Every problem that exists in the world today can be resolved by all of humanity attaining Enlightenment and a Higher Consciousness.

Through eliminating craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality)

while dissolving the ego and realizing non-self, cultivating generosity, loving- kindness, and compassion for all beings by all humans, while practicing sympathetic joy and equanimity we can drastically improve the condition of humanity and the condition of the planet. We can create a more gentle, calm, and peaceful humanity through learning and practicing these Teachings. We must start with our own independent practice to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings. Humanity has countless problems that we have caused. But because we caused these problems, we can also eliminate these problems. We have 100% ability to resolve the unwholesome condition of the mind, the unhealthy planet, and reverse the destruction of humanity. We can only apply effort to attaining our own Enlightenment while encouraging those around us to do the same. But continuing on the current path of destruction and disregard will only create more destruction. This book and book series provides us a guide in three primary Teachings:

1.) Universal love for all beings 2.) Do no harm, and, 3.) Be a good moral

person. “Do no harm” relates to harmlessness of other beings and the planet. Through harming other beings or the planet, we harm ourselves due to the harm we cause being returned to us. This is The Natural Law of Kamma from which we cannot run nor hide. We must experience all unwholesome Kamma from our previous lives in this life or in future births until we extinguish all unwholesome Kamma through the attaining of Enlightenment.

It is in our best interest and the best interest of all of humanity, that we all pursue Enlightenment while also caring for the planet. In order to sustain life and allow humans the opportunity to live and attain Enlightenment, we will need to have a planet that can support human life. Our individual decisions each day and each moment contribute to the health of the mind and the health of the planet. What we have done in the past, is in the past. Now, we must focus on this current moment and what is needed to clean up the mind and clean up the planet.

Food

One aspect of reaching Enlightenment is to consider your food intake ensuring that you are ingesting healthy foods, rather than processed foods. Eating wholesome and nutritious food will ensure you are providing the body with all the nutrients needed to sustain a healthy and fit body. What we ingest into the body is to nourish and sustain “the body”, not to please “the mind”. Today, some food systems rely on packaged and preserved foods that have an extensive amount of chemicals and other unnatural substances. To ensure the body has the best quality foods, you should focus on a plant- based food supply that does not include preservatives which can cause unfortunate effects in the body and mind. Animal flesh has an extensive amount of drugs, hormones, toxins, animal emotions, and other unhelpful qualities that can make you sick or mask your true thoughts and emotions. To have the best chance to observe the mind and know the thoughts and emotions residing within the mind, eliminating preservatives and animal products would be the best approach for the body and the planet.

Significantly reducing or eliminating stimulants like caffeine, sugar, alcohol,

drugs and other products will also help you to observe the true mind rather than falsely associating the effect of these substances as coming from the mind. Drinking as much water, fresh fruit juices, plant-based milks, teas without caffeine, and other natural products while reducing or eliminating the chemicals associated with drinks you ingest, will all be helpful to purifying the body so that you can observe and purify the mind.

It is suggested that you consider the elimination of products such as fluoride, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and other similar products from being used as these contribute to affecting the mind in a way that would not allow you to observe its true nature, and to purify the mind through active training of the mind. Through the elimination of these products and others that have similar effects to the mind, you can observe the improvements to the clarity of the mind for yourself and eliminate any negative effects from these sorts of substances. You will be able to see the truth for yourself as a Practitioner gradually eliminates unbeneficial substances from being ingested that the condition of the body and mind improves. The best thing you can do to “save this planet” is to “not waste food”. Forty percent (40%) of all food is wasted. The production, transportation, packaging, preparing, and disposal of wasted food causes great harm to the planet. Next, eat vegan and you will be contributing enormous benefits to reducing the destruction of our home - mother earth. All these choices and others are helpful to you, helpful for the planet, and helpful to all those yet to come. You can implement adjustments slowly and over time. The body and the mind will be more pleased with gradual and slow, but steady, progress. Too many changes too quickly can have unsettling results. We all need to find our own unique ways, based on wise decision making, to ensure that we have the least amount of impact to the planet. As conscious and concerned individuals, we can find our own unique ways of ensuring we leave a planet that can continue to thrive for many years to come.