Continued from Protecting the earth discussion page

There's another question. Does doing something on a personal level to try to save the planet have all that much to do with being a dharma protector? The answer, "Just do it," may seem intuitively obvious, but is there a logical thread that leads through the teachings to a conclusion that yes, using less stuff is the same as protecting the teachings? I can only speak for myself, so I look at my own ancient history as a dharma protector. I find an enthusiastic young Kasung who thought the dharma was a thing that could be protected by placing it on a high shelf or a throne, then guarding it with a perimeter of awareness, followed by a de-briefing. Now that I'm old and not so prickly, I think it's a fallacy to regard the dharma as a thing. It's like saying a dharma book is the dharma, but it's not, it's just a book. Some people have issues with that statement, but if all you needed was a book, things would be so much easier. Working through the various shades of what one is actually protecting is part of the protector path and one more thing is certain: our teachers trained and continue to train us completely in how to be protectors, so much so that even when everything else falls away the protector mind haunts us like a shadow.

One bit of protector-awareness training we've received is that once you notice something's not quite right, you can't look away. When a protector sees a perversion of the teachings taking place it's like picking through your dried beans and finding a rock; you'll never trust dried beans again. Another example, say that after 25 years of service your cannon blows up and luckily nobody gets killed. Cannons will be treated differently from now on. It's the same with the planet. Now that we know our volitional actions are causing harm to other sentient beings, we must embody the change ourselves. As practitioners, protectors or as Great Symbols, we must now protect the Earth.

I find that some of the most potent environmental protector teachings we have come to us from the lineage of the Sakyongs and from the great Nyen, Magyal Pomra. How one lives at Magyal Pomra Encampment is a fruition example of how to live on the Earth. One uses things appropriately and without excess, disposes of trash properly and lives simply and basically, close to the sky and Earth, without needless ornamentation. One gets healthy and one would never toss one's cigarette butt onto the ground, onto the Earth. Oriyoki service in our sangha began at Magyal Pomra Encampment and is the story of how one could live. The ground is good, clean and empty at the beginning, filled with right activity in the middle, then clean and empty again at the end. Oryoki leaves no footprint. One sits under the sky at encampment, under the clouds, with the wind blowing through one's eyes and one smells the sap in the trees, or one sits on the ground like a rock, slithers like a snake or stares at the cold stars on early-morning guard shifts. One also stands to attention, puts on parades and displays oneself properly to the parade platform's occupants, the rocks and the pines. Magyal Pomra's utter protection training seeps into us and when things fall away, encampment-style is the shadow that haunts us.

Janet and Hudson Shotwell at the Sakyong Wangmo Empowerment, Halifax, July 2008 photo by Marvin Moore

This brings me to the last part of my argument which is the most difficult to convey without seeming self-righteous and preachy. At a certain point something flipped inside and I decided to be a fool. On a basic level, if we don't have a planet worth living on we won't be able to have interesting debates about dharma topics, or talks, or meditation halls. If we really care about sentient beings, here's a really good chance to help a few billion by changing our personal lifestyles. I say that at a certain point, we, Shambhala warriors, have to stop using the Vajrayana car and get on a Mahayana bicycle or use our Hinayana feet, stop using the Maha Ati electric clothes drier and hang out our laundry on a Hinayana clothesline, grow some Paramita food and get involved with an environmental group, any environmental group, including our own, Touching the Earth. (the Shambhala working group on the environment and sustainability).

One could make one simple lifestyle change for Earth Day, 2009 and the protection level rises nicely. Riding a bicycle to a feast may look like something only a fool would do, but the shadow knows. We're joining the action. The bike helmet is armor, like a Shambhala lapel pin, and you wear it with vajra pride. The laundry line out there is a warrior's weapon. Yes, Rinpoche, it's come to this.

On May 5, 2009, Hudson Shotwell accepted a national award on behalf of the Ecology Action Centre (EAC), a Nova Scotia advocacy group for environmental action. Shotwell has been a volunteer and board member of the EAC for many years. The award is the 9th annual Arthur Kroeger College Awards for Public Affairs. The event took place at Carleton University, in Ottawa. More information is available on the EAC web site