In The Greening of Heart, Mind and Body, I like to show how a contemplative meditation practice, like zazen, can lead to a fundamental shift of one’s perspective on the environment.
Environmental issues have become a football we kick around endlessly. At the same time, experts warn us of a catastrophe in the making. Self-interest is the dominant dividing factor and flies in the face of a mountain of evidence that tells us we are heading in the wrong direction. Divided against ourselves, we are paralyzed to act decisively. You can’t sell environmental concepts like preservation and conservation to someone disconnected from nature. Conceptual knowledge alone does not cross the divide because it insulates and separates us from life and our own hearts. What is called for is an approach that unifies beyond division and fragmentation.
Perceiving vs. conceiving.
To perceive directly is to see ‘what is’, and to conceive is to see ‘what you think or wish it is’. Immersed in a world of concepts, we are usually unaware of the difference between the two. As a result, we are just looking at the map instead of the territory.
In contemplative photography, we align ourselves with a deeper intelligence that manifests as a ‘flash of perception’ 1. Flashes or direct perceptions can surprise us at any time and anywhere as insights or creative ideas – provided we are fully present (with heart, mind and body) and observe closely. They can change our lives profoundly and do not depend on the practice of zazen. We all have had firsthand experiences of that kind. During these brief moments of openness, we connect with ‘what is’ while our sense of self is temporarily suspended. It allows creativity to shine through. To be at one with ‘what is’ or feeling whole energizes and makes us feel well and allows us to see clearly. Uniting heart, mind and body is a dynamic process powered by ‘green’ energy, which is no longer wasted on maintaining a separate and splintered self.
In contrast, living in a world of concepts closes the mind because it removes us from vivid and immediate experiences. Our endless capacity to conceptualize distracts and obscures what is natural. Crawford 2 calls our distractability the mental equivalent of obesity. Vividness and detail are lost. Consequently, the natural world feels flat and uninteresting and becomes a commodity we can exploit. Exploiting is misappropriating energy from a ‘green’ or self-renewable resource we all share.
Let me give you an example of how ‘direct experience’ can transform an exclusive conceptual world into an inclusive one.
Watching the fierce green fire dying in the eyes of a wolf.
Aldo Leopold, a pioneer in the environmental field, liked hunting. He never forgot the ‘fierce green fire dying in the eyes of a wolf’, a wolf he and his men had shot by mistake. This intimate moment with a wolf penetrated him deeply. It was a cognitive event, a turning point in his life: It flipped a mental switch and opened a new way of seeing. His book, A Sand County Almanac 3, is the result of this and similar events that transformed his life. It has become a classic in environmental literature and profoundly shifted our understanding.
Aldo Leopold first knocked at the door of understanding from the outside by allowing himself to be intimately involved with the land and wildlife. He enjoyed fieldwork and hands-on experiences form an early age. They strengthened his connection with nature.
Leopold knew that lasting changes in one’s attitude could only be accomplished with changes from within. Objective facts and formal education are essential, but only tell us half of ‘what is’. ‘The fierce green fire dying in the eyes of the wolf ‘ is the other half. It kept knocking at the door of understanding from without and from within, shaping Leopold’s relationship with the environment.
We are the environment.
“We are the environment”, D. Suzuki 4 reminds us forcefully. He tells us there is no environment “out there” separate from us. When this truth becomes one’s own, it is no longer a concept but a living reality in which divisiveness drops away.
For about 45 years, I have owned a small piece of land that I care about greatly. When possible, I spend time there and take pictures of the surrounding countryside. A contemplative meditation practice allows me to extricate myself from a mechanical, conceptual world and increases the occurrence of flashes of perception 5. They are as real as objective facts and open one’s eyes to nature. They can, for example, make weeds look beautiful! When you realize that even ordinary things have their own beauty and quality, you tend to be more protective of nature, more respectful, and more caring, and you see value in preserving and conserving ‘what is’. You may begin to treat nature like you would treat yourself. Direct experiences have the power to unite mind, heart and body unlike anything else. This unity we also call love.
Concluding comments.
The outer conceptual world separates us from the inner world of direct perceptions. Neither one of them on its own can find a lasting solution to our climate crisis.
The green energy of direct perceptions can unite both worlds. Their energizing and galvanizing power makes us see holistically. It is a self-renewable natural resource which is always available, can’t be exhausted, does not lose its quality and can neither be bought with money nor with degrees.
Awareness of direct perceptions starts from within ourselves. It undermines our self-interest or ego and provides a solution to our environmental crisis. Deepening our understanding sets us free and enables us to judge and act from a position based on genuine compassion for the environment. The less we are distracted by self-interest, utility and economic pressure, the more we can see not just with our eyes but also with our hearts.
Notes.
1 Karr Andy & Michael Wood, The Practice of Contemplative Photography, Boston & London: Shambala Publication, 2010.
2 Crawford Matthew B., The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction, e-book, 2016, p.294.
3 Aldo Leopold, The Sand County Almanac, 1949, Oxford University Press, e-Book, p.121.
4 Suzuki David, The Legacy, Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2010.
5 Mohelsky Helmut, The Contemplative Photography Journey in Seeing with your Own Eyes: The Zen of Photography, 2019, pp. 3-4.