How do we move beyond hope and fear with the Six Paramitas as a guide? A weekend of talks, workshops and practice exploring how we as Buddhists can respond to the climate and ecological emergencies.
The conference will include papers, workshops, guided meditations, puja, poetry and the visual arts. We will present perspectives of particularly affected communities and show what Buddhists can do in this current time of multiple crises.
Who are we?
A group of Triratna Order members, Mitras and Friends worldwide who are deeply concerned about the climate and ecological crises we face and see it as part of their practice to do something about them. We are all too painfully aware of the Buddha’s core teaching that actions have consequences. The accelerating destruction of ecosystems in the natural world caused by greed, hatred and ignorance is causing untold suffering to beings of many kinds, and we feel that it is our duty as Buddhists to do what we can to raise awareness of the plight of the planet, demonstrate an alternative way of life based on stillness, simplicity and contentment and act to relieve suffering where we can. Facebook group, Slack channel.
COP29
We’re holding this conference at the same time as governments around the world are coming together in Azerbaijan for COP29 to tackle climate overheating. While we respect and support the efforts of the people involved, these agreements are non-binding and in our view unlikely to keep average temperature rise below 1.5 degrees. We still need to act individually and collectively to bring this about! See COP29 website
Videos from the Conference
Programme
(for speaker bios see below)
Scroll up for more of the programme on mobile ↑
The speakers
David Loy, Boulder, Colorado, USA
David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is a prolific author, whose essays and books have been translated into many languages. Website: davidloy.org
Jem Bendell, Bali, Indonesia
Jem Bendell is a British professor, author, and sustainability expert known for his work on climate change and 'Deep Adaptation', which explores the inevitability of societal collapse due to climate change. He is the founder of the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) and has published extensively on sustainable leadership and climate resilience.
Maitridevi, Shropshire, UK
Maitridevi is chair of Taraloka Buddhist retreat centre for women in Shropshire, UK. Steeped in her love of both the natural world and the Dharma, Maitridevi has recorded 38 'nature-thought-for-the-day' reflections and short meditations, connecting us with the burgeoning environment at Taraloka.
Paul Hoggett, Bristol, UK
Recently retired from his practice as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, Paul Hoggett was co-founder of the Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) and was its first chair in 2012. His most recent book in this area is Paradise Lost? The Climate Crisis and the Human Condition (Simplicity Institute, 2023). He is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at UWE, Bristol, UK.
Rodashruti, San Francisco, USA
Rodashruti's practice has focused on living with autoimmune disease, turning toward suffering, and engaging with the world. She is inspired by engaged Buddhism, and the balancing influence of meditation and study on action, and is a founding member of the San Francisco Green Sangha.
Danamaya, San Francisco, USA
Danamaya Gorham was ordained in 2002 and practices at the San Francisco Buddhist Center, though she lives across the bridges in Richmond CA with her partner, where they are rehabbing an old house and garden to be environmentally as neutral as possible and full of native plants. She has been retired these past 7 years from her long time work as a Family Nurse Practitioner, and freer than ever to focus on practice, community and art
Dhivan, Bristol, UK
Dhivan was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2004. He has a background in studying and teaching philosophy as well as Buddhist Studies, and leads study retreats in Triratna. He has recently also been teaching retreats on Buddhism and animism at Danakosa retreat centre in Scotland, with Nayaka.
Santacitta, Brighton, UK
Santacitta is an ordained member of Triratna. In recent years she has become increasingly concerned about world leaders’ lack of action on climate change and the unfolding ecological crisis. She has found the work of Joanna Macy particularly helpful in dealing with the tumult of emotions that are engendered while trying to grapple with this existential threat. She is a retired GP and currently works as a Jungian Analyst.
Nick Clarke, London, UK
Nick is a member of XR Buddhists and offers ongoing monthly climate circles. He practises Tibetan Buddhism and has integrated Buddhism, meditation and activism for the last six years.
Sanghasiha, London, UK
Sanghasīha has led Buddhism and Deep Ecology residential and camping retreats, workshops and retreat days for over ten years. He has a particular interest in Deep Listening as a way of connecting deeply with the natural world and believes that environmental activism is an essential activity for the engaged Buddhist.
Joe Mishan, Bishops Stortford, UK
Joe is a psychotherapist, mindfulness teacher and practitioner in the Vipassana tradition, and a long-time member of Extinction Rebellion Buddhists, previously Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement.
Andy Wistreich, Somerset, UK
Andy has been studying, practising, teaching and leading retreats in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, mainly in FPMT, for 43 years. He is a Dharma activist with XR Buddhists, and an active participant in the Deep Transformation Network. Recently he helped plan the FPMT Planetary Crisis Summit.
Akasaraja, Shrewsbury, UK
Akasharaja was ordained in 2001 and lives with his family in Shrewsbury, UK, where he is the chair of the local Buddhist centre. His climate activism journey has taken him through the worlds of Extinction Rebellion and XR Buddhists – and, at one point, perilously close to burnout. He believes that Awakening needs a functioning planetary system to be realised and wants his and all other children to inherit a viable world.
Christine Meirion, North Wales
Christine is a member of and TES local convenor for the Triratna North Wales Buddhists group and also a member of XR Buddhists. She is a retired psychotherapist and trainer of psychotherapists and began meditating in the early 1980s as part of her psychotherapy training. With Nick Clarke, she facilitates a monthly climate circle for XR Buddhists.