Lecture abstract

​Yogacara doctrine attributes all phenomena to karmic seeds in our “store consciousness” which have both an individual and collective nature.  We can see this playing out dramatically in the present day, in intersecting crises of environmental stability, community cohesion and individual wellbeing.  Rather than a scientific, reductionist approach, implying an instrumental nature to be conserved for the benefit human beings, “Deep Ecology” encourages the emergence of “ecological identity”, embedding the “small self” in the greater web of life. Inspired by the ethics of the Satyagraha movement, Buddhist thinking on interdependent co-arising, and Gaia Theory, contemporary Deep Ecology has much to offer in our current crisis, but also much to gain from further dialogue with Buddhist thought and practice.  In particular the related concept of “anoka” or “non-dwelling” may have useful significance.