• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Buddhist Perspective on Sustainable Development of Environment with Special Reference to the Kula Sutta of Anguttara Nikaya”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Venerable Peramandiye Indarathana
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Contents
  
  
  I. Introduction to the Environment
  
  
  · What is meant by Environment?
  · Its nature and various kinds of environments
  
  
  II. Sustainable development of environment
  
  
  · What is meant by sustainable development?
  
  
  III. Kula Sutta and Its Factors
  
  
  · An Introduction to the kulasutta
  
  
  IV. Conclusion
  
  
  V. Bibliography
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  VI. Introduction to the Environment
  
  
  · What is meant by Environment?
  · Its nature and various kinds of environments
  
  
  
  
  It is very important to note that here the environment is a main place where all beings live and depend on. And also the earth is the place in which human beings can survive, there is nowhere else in the whole universe that is just as sustainable for human beings to live in. at least no such a place can be found at this moment. Therefore when taking about the environment it is much needed that to understand the meaning of environment and the kinds of environments which are surrounding us. When discussing the environment we come across some definitions which are very important to understand. The definitions can be noted down in this way.
  “The totality of surrounding conditions, the area in which something exists or lives, the external elements and conditions which surround, influence and effect the life and development of an organism or population. As the definitions have been mentioned it is said that environment is everything in the universe including flora and fauna. At the same time thare are two special environment ca be found. They are
  Natural Environment and
  Cultural Environment
  According to the Wikipedia of free encyclopedia the natural environment has been explained in this way “The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species. Climate, weather, and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components: and also according to the Cultural environment it is known as Cultural environment because it is a set of beliefs, practices, customs and behaviors that are found to be common to everyone that is living within a certain population. It is matter of fact according to the Buddhism, human relationship is being dependent in the environment, occur through the following three special factors.
  Physical environment
  Mental environment
  Social environment
  If it is simply said that physical environment of this universe is consisted as the sun, the moon, the sky, the wind, the vegetation and the earth. And also the mental environment is that apart from the physical environment which is meant for human habitation, man should have a good relationship for the spiritual development of this intellectual and moral conduct. Finally the social environment means that, man bears relationships with the social environment raised by himself. According to the above stated details people can understand the meaning of the environment and the kinds of environments.
  
  
  
  I. Sustainable development of environment
  
  
  · What is meant by sustainable development?
  
  
  According to the free encyclopedia the meaning of Sustainable development has been defined in this manner. “Sustainability can be defined as the practice of reserving resources for future generation without any harm to the nature and other components of it”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  When we discussing about the environment sustainability, the environment sustainability is the process of making sure current processes of interaction with the environment are pursued with the idea of keeping the environment as pristine as naturally possible based on idea seeking behavior. Sustainability requires that human capacity only uses nature’s recourses at a rate at which they can be replenished naturally. Inherently, the concept of sustainable development is intertwined with concept of carrying capacity.
  
  
  I. Kula Sutta and Its Factors
  
  
  · An Introduction to the kulasutta
  
  
  According to the Kula sutta of the Aṅguttara nikāya there are some factors which are very important to understand, has been defined by the Buddha with reference to the group of monks who was living in the jetavana. According to the explanation done by the Buddha, it says that some people who have come to the top of the financial development suddenly fall down to the lower steps because of not having a balance livelihood or sammā ājīva and right effort or Sammā vyā yāma. And also the Buddha say that the reason of having the wealth of the wealthy person for a long time in the same sutta. The Buddha explains that people should earn wealth and protect them without wasting those unnecessary ways. The Buddha has promulgated in that sutta, the reasons for the gradual decrease of the wealth of the wealthy person in a nicer way. The reasons are mentioned in as follow in the cannon.
  
  
  
  .Yāni kānici bhikkhave kulāni bhogesu mahantataṃ1. Pattāni na ciraṭṭhitikāni bhavanti, sabbāni tāni catūhi ṭhānehi, etesaṃ vā aññatarena. Katamehi catūhi?
  
  Naṭṭhaṃ na gavesanti, jiṇṇaṃ na paṭisaṅkharonti, aparimitapānabhojanā honti, dussīlaṃ itthiṃ vā purisaṃ vā ādhipacce ṭhapenti.
  
  Yāni kānici bhikkhave kulāni bhogesu mahantataṃ pattāni. Na ciraṭṭhitikāni bhavanti, sabbāni tāni imehi catūhi ṭhānehi, etesaṃ vā aññatarena.
  
  Yāni kānici bhikkhave kulāni bhogesu mahantataṃ pattāni ciraṭṭhitikāni bhavanti sabbāni tāni catūhi ṭhānehi, etesaṃ vā aññatarena. Katamehi catūhi?
  
  Naṭṭhaṃ gavesanti, jiṇṇaṃ paṭisaṅkharonti, parimitapānabhojanā honti, sīlavantaṃ itthiṃ vā purisaṃ vā ādhipacce ṭhapenti.
  
  Yāni kānici bhikkhave kulāni bhogesu mahantataṃ pattāni ciraṭṭhitikāni bhavanti, sabbāni tāni imehi catūhi ṭhānehi, etesaṃ vā aññatarenāti
  
  
  This is the Sinhala translation of this above sutta.
  ‘යානි කානිචි, භික්ඛවෙ, කුලානි භොගෙසු මහත්තං පත්තානි න චිරට්ඨිතිකානි භවන්ති, සබ්බානි තානි චතූහි ඨානෙහි, එතෙසං වා අඤ්ඤතරෙන. කතමෙහි චතූහි? නට්ඨං න ගවෙසන්ති, ජිණ්ණං න පටිසඞ්ඛරොන්ති, අපරිමිතපානභොජනා හොන්ති, දුස්සීලං ඉත්ථිං වා පුරිසං වා ආධිපච්චෙ ඨපෙන්ති. යානි කානිචි, භික්ඛවෙ, කුලානි භොගෙසු මහත්තං පත්තානි න චිරට්ඨිතිකානි භවන්ති, සබ්බානි තානි ඉමෙහි චතූහි ඨානෙහි , එතෙසං වා අඤ්ඤතරෙන.
  ‘‘යානි කානිචි, භික්ඛවෙ, කුලානි භොගෙසු මහත්තං පත්තානි චිරට්ඨිතිකානි භවන්ති, සබ්බානි තානි චතූහි ඨානෙහි, එතෙසං වා අඤ්ඤතරෙන. කතමෙහි චතූහි? නට්ඨං ගවෙසන්ති, ජිණ්ණං පටිසඞ්ඛරොන්ති, පරිමිතපානභොජනා හොන්ති, සීලවන්තං ඉත්ථිං වා පුරිසං වා ආධිපච්චෙ ඨපෙන්ති. යානි කානිචි, භික්ඛවෙ, කුලානි භොගෙසු මහත්තං පත්තානි චිරට්ඨිතිකානි භවන්ති, සබ්බානි තානි ඉමෙහි චතූහි ඨානෙහි, එතෙසං වා අඤ්ඤතරෙනා’’ති. පඤ්චමං.
  
  
  When we carefully look at the meaning of this Pāli quotation taken from the Aṅguttara nikāya it is obvious that those factors are very important to know by the people who lead a worldly life. The meaning is under that way.
  
  "In every case where a family cannot hold onto its great wealth for long, it is for one or another of these four reasons. Which four? They don't look for things that are lost. They don't repair things that have gotten old. They are immoderate in consuming food and drink. They place a woman or man of no virtue or principles in the position of authority. In every case where a family cannot hold onto its great wealth for long, it is for one or another of these four reasons.
  "In every case where a family can hold onto its great wealth for long, it is for one or another of these four reasons. Which four? They look for things that are lost. They repair things that have gotten old. They are moderate in consuming food and drink. They place a virtuous, principled woman or man in the position of authority. In every case where a family can hold onto its great wealth for long, it is for one or another of these four reasons."
  According to the above details all these can be noted as a summery.
  Reproduction
  Restoration
  Refraining limitless usage
  Assigning a virtuous person as a guardian of resources
  
  
  When we look at the current world, there are so many crisis can be seen. All these problems because of production process of the people. As a result of production process people have to suffer a lot, because they use them unnecessary ways. At the same time according to the teachings of the Buddha, the Buddha says that managing industries without harming to the living beings. By today people have incline to earn what they need harming to others. In Rāhulovāda sutta the Buddha say that when we are going to do something, we have to think first whether this action in good for me or others, both for me and other, such an actions are wholesome. In that way we should live. It is known as right effort, right livelihood. The Buddha says that a clever person collects wealth as a bee who takes honey from the flower. Even though he collects the wealth carelessly and harmfully could be able to collect mass of wealth, he will make discomfort able die
  
  
  I. Conclusion
  It could be argued that the teachings of the Buddha are 2600 years old; hence out of date and out of tune with the vast changes that have taken place in relation to mind and matter. Yet for all, in our search for the Buddhist path to sustainable development, many are the lessons that can be drawn from Buddhist teachings which have stood the test of time. Buddhism reiterates that other than Homo sapiens our planet is inhabited by a countless number of living beings of different forms, shapes and sizes. It emphasizes the intrinsic value and contribution of our planet and animal life in the preservation of ecological integrity and biodiversity. Further, it highlights the interrelationships and interdependencies between and among different ecosystems in maintaining the natural equilibrium so essential for environmentally sound and sustainable development.
  
  Even in the current context the teachings of the Buddha are of particular relevance because they are able to withstand rationalization as well as scientific examination. Buddhism does not accept the metaphysical concept of a creator God to account for the existence of a world of life and matter. Buddhism views world systems as well as living beings inhabiting them as being subject to a cyclic process of arising and ceasing to be. Thus the world goes through incalculably long periods of evolution and dissolution. The Buddha has spoken about relative origins of the universe as consisting of clusters of world systems extending over vast areas of space in an inconceivable manner. It is said that the birth of the Buddha in this world was just a flash of cosmic illumination through the vehicle of the Dhamma, (teachings). The Buddha himself did not expect the influence of his teachings to last long; may be a few millennia after the Buddha's demise. The fading of the Doctrine at hand is probably one of the symptoms of the onset of a period of moral degeneration characterized by the increase of fatalities, proliferation of weapons, threat of terrorism and the deepening spiritual crisis
  Bibliography
  http://www.gsba.lk/index.php/en/vesak-sirisara-2011
  http://www.greenfaith.org/files/buddhist-environmental-slides-stephanie-kaza
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development
  2016/ 02/ 4 time 9.55 PM
  Dr Ariyarathne Iromi: Buddhist Perspective of Man and Environment: Handout
  Kumaratne Savithri Dr.(2015) Joy and Happiness: Buddha’s Teachings for Lay persons. Nadimala. Godage and Brothera.
  Ambattha Sutta DN 3 (DN 1 PTS p-100)
  Kulasutta AN
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguttara_Nikaya2