Sumeru News — Eco Action

The health of Tibet's environment is critical to billions of people who live downstream from its watershed in many of Asia's great rivers. While the Tibetan Plateau is suffering from excessive mining, deforestation, river damming, and biodiversity loss, it remains marginalized in most discussions about what to do with our environmental crisis. Out of sight and out of mind, rather like the Great Barrier Reef upon which so much sea life depends. This Fragile Planet: His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Environment, edited by Michael Buckley, makes the case for all of us to take action on behalf of the world's...

Just sent off Cataloguing in Publication applications for two books I'll be publishing in May, and I'm very excited about them. They're both by members of the Dark Mountain writers collective in England. Here's how DM describes itself: In 2009, two English writers published a manifesto. Out of that manifesto grew a cultural movement: a rooted and branching network of creative activity, centred on the Dark Mountain journal, sustained by the work of a growing gang of collaborators and contributors, as well as the support of thousands of readers around the world. Together, we are walking away from the stories...

Moving from good intentions and well-conceived mission statements to an effective organization is not easy. I recently had the opportunity to learn more about one of America’s most successful engaged Buddhist organizations, the Earth Holder Community (EHC), in several conversations to find out how they have thrived in that challenge. I spoke with John Bell, one of the founders. He has over 40 years of experience in the youth field as a teacher, counselor, community organizer, program developer, leadership trainer, director, and parent. He is also an ordained Dharma teacher in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Our conversation...

My most recent column for Buddhistdoor Global is called "The Good Ancestor" and it is about our role in the future. It begins with a reflection on the tragic fate of Canada's Indigenous Peoples at the hands of settler colonials, and then turns to our unhealthy relationship with Planet Earth in the Anthropocene, concluding with some hints about regenerative design for a sustainable future, being modelled by a variety of European communities. https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/the-good-ancestor

The editor and designer of our new book, This Fragile Planet: His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Environment got their proofs today, where they live in Asia. Here's the picture they sent me. I love it!