Comments on: Environmental Buddhism, landscape architecture and the Gyama Valley mining disaster in Tibet

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:19:11 +0000

In reply to Christine. I did not know about the pandas either. While I fully accept that Tibet has had links with China since ancient times it has also had strong links with India. What I regret about the present situation is that Tibetan culture, which has something very valuable for the whole world, is being overhwhelmed by Chinese culture. Like most people, I like to see differences between cultures and dread spread of grey globalisation. My guess is that the pandas agree with me!

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 03:44:39 +0000

My biggest surprise was to learn from a Tibetan monk that the giant panda is not Chinese at all, but rather endemic to Tibet!
[ http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/02/08/2003435562 ]

The panda’s drink water from the rivers and streams. For this reason the pollution of the waterways of Tibet are a serious threat to their survival too. [ http://www.pandasinternational.org/giantpanda.html ]

It would be a wonderful gesture of peace and harmony between Tibet and China if the Pandas were returned to Tibetan care and then the Tibetans assisted the Chinese with establishing habitat and reintroducing them back into China.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:58:07 +0000

In reply to jerry. I think the reasons for the popularity of hunting are similar around the world. And I think Buddhists are generally opposed to hunting. I know that the Qing dynasty rulled China but since they used Manchu as the court language one could question whether it was a Chinese dynasty.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:48:35 +0000

In reply to jerry.

There is definitely a lot of scope for the world to be a better place and I will be very happy if the Chinese lead the way to this happy state of affairs.
But I do not think the man the world regards as the leader of Buddhist culture is expecting the world to benefit from Chinese leadership. He seems to associate it with environmental desctruction.
Please could you say more about the Chinese concept of the cosmos – and also about the English conception of the cosmos.

By: jerry

jerry — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:53:02 +0000

I have done lots of research about the differences between the English and the Chinese. The basic difference is on their concept of the cosmos. The Chinese have a deeper understand about ‘human and nature relationship’ then the English.
There is an old saying: rich in 3 generations, people will have good taste in wearing clothes; rich in 4 generations, people will be good taste in making food. In Buddhist culture, riches are not about money – which is the most important thing in capitalism. Anyway, if China had not closed its door to the outside world for a long time it would now be leading the world and the world would be much better – because the Chinese have a deep understanding about harmony.

By: jerry

jerry — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:46:02 +0000

I have been reading the history of one of the kings in Qing dynasty. His name was Kangxi. His grandson, Hongli, could answer your question about the reason the Chinese love hunting. The reason is that hunting is linked to the nature of survival ability of human. As my usual idea, reading about buddhist philosophy is much more important than learning any theory of urban planning or landscape planning. There is much more wisdom in Buddhist culture, not only about garden design. This is my real interest.