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This is a clip from the episode of Spotlights featuring Jason Wirth, PhD, professor of philosophy at Seattle University, Soto Zen priest, and the founder and co-director of the Seattle University EcoSangha (www.ecosangha.net). He discusses his idea of “deep social ecology,” which integrates the insights of two ecological philosophies often considered to be in opposition to one another: deep ecology and social ecology. You can learn more about it be reading his article, “Deep Social Ecology,” in The Trumpeter 37.1 (2021). You can find the full episode here.
Posted 07/18/2022

This week's episode of Spotlights features Dan Smyer Yü, PhD, the Kuige Professor of Ethnology in the School of Ethnology and Sociology at Yunnan University and a Global Faculty Member at the University of Cologne. He discusses his multifaceted, interdisciplinary work with religion and ecology, including his work with trans-Himalayan studies, Buddhism and ecology, ecological indigeneity, commoning, and the role of affect in responding to climate change. Along the way, he talks about some of his books, like Mindscaping the Landscape of Tibet: Place, Memorability, Eco-aesthetics(De Gruyter 2015) as well as some of his co-edited volumes, including Religion and Ecological Sustainability in China (Routledge 2014), Trans-Himalayan Borderlands: Livelihoods, Territorialities, Modernities (Amsterdam University Press 2017), and Environmental Humanities in the New Himalayas: Symbiotic Indigeneity, Commoning, Sustainability (Routledge 2021).
Posted 05/02/2022

This week's episode of Spotlights features Aaron Weiss, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA. He talks about Tibetan Buddhism and philosophical perspectives on place, particularly in light of his recently defended dissertation, Buddhist Topology and the Practice of Lama Orgyan Khandro Norlha. Along the way, he also discusses questions of translation, cultural appropriation, and the complex challenges facing scholar-practitioners of Buddhism. More resources for studying the intersection of Buddhism and ecology can be found on the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology website.
Posted 02/14/2022

This week's episode of Spotlights is a clip from our interview with Dr. Mirei Takashima Claremon, a global citizen, behavioral scientist, and cross-cultural consumer insights expert based in Los Angeles. In this part of the interview, she reflects on the ways that Shinto and Buddhist values and animistic sensibilities shape Japanese culture and behaviors toward the environment. For more details about her work, go to the full episode here: https://youtu.be/RhubJW3hUYE.
Posted 11/08/2021

This week, the Spotlights podcast welcomes Dr. Mirei Takashima Claremon, a global citizen, behavioral scientist, and cross-cultural consumer insights expert based in Los Angeles. She discusses her work leading the Behavioral Sustainability movement, reflecting on the limits of analytical thinking and the importance of holistic and cross-cultural perspectives. She also talks about the important role that Shintoism and Buddhism play in her thinking. You can learn more about her work here. She blogs regularly here. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
Posted 11/01/2021

This week's episode of Spotlights is the second part of a two-part interview with Dekila Chungyalpa, Director of the Loka Initiative at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She discusses some of the ways that the Loka Initiative supports faith-led environmental and climate efforts locally and around the world by helping build capacity of faith leaders and culture keepers of indigenous traditions, and by creating new opportunities for projects, partnerships and public outreach.
You can find more information about the Loka Initiative by navigating here.
You can find details about the Healthy Minds Program app here.
Posted 04/19/2021

This episode features Christopher Key Chapple, PhD, Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and founding Director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He shares his perspective as a scholar and practitioner of yoga, particularly with regard to the connections between yoga and ecology. He discusses his new book, which explores elemental meditations across different traditions of yoga, Living Landscapes: Meditations on the Elements in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain Yogas (SUNY Press, 2020). More information about the book can be found here. You can find more information about Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain perspectives on ecology at the Forum Website.
Posted 02/22/2021.

Buddhism is often seen as an ‘eco-friendly’ religion with an expanded moral horizon encompassing not just human beings but also animals and the natural environment. But just how strong are Buddhism's ecological credentials? Is 'Green Buddhism' essentially a modern invention or do ecological values have a foundation in the earliest teachings? Adopting the role of sympathetic critic, Keown will explore the main approaches to this question, and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. He suggests that while the development of a Buddhist ecology is not as straightforward as it appears at first sight, there are nevertheless grounds for optimism.

Chris Ives discusses Buddhism and Ecology with Mary Evelyn Tucker.

Watch the whole “Conversations on World Religions and Ecology” series on the Forum on Religion and Ecology YouTube Channel.

This video is a clip of an interview with the meditation master and ecologically engaged Buddhist, Khamkhien Suwano. In essence he is a practitioner of spiritual ecology. He speaks about his experiences of when he was a young monk living and practicing meditation in the forest. He tells about his love for nature and how through his meditation practice in the forest, his love for nature became stronger. This clip is part of the Gaia Ashram project which is an multifaceted education center on Deep Ecology, Permaculture and Ecovillage Design Education. Gaia Ashram videoproject is to find inspiring elders who have a deep love and deep spiritual connection with nature and have done the work to help nature. We will be looking at people who have a Holistic worldview and are not stuck in the Mechanistic worldview.