DeepSummary
This podcast episode is an interview with Dr. Daniel Capper about his book 'Roaming Free Like a Deer: Buddhism and the Natural World' published by Cornell University Press in 2022. The interview covers Dr. Capper's research on ecological experiences across various Buddhist traditions spanning ancient India to the modern West, providing a comprehensive analysis of Buddhist environmental ethics.
Dr. Capper critically examines theories, practices, and real-world outcomes related to Buddhist perspectives on vegetarianism, meat consumption, nature mysticism, and spirituality in non-human animals. The conversation delves into the complexities of these topics, highlighting the limitations and strengths of Buddhist environmental ethics in addressing issues like climate change.
The discussion covers key concepts such as 'relational animism,' which explores how different Buddhist traditions accord personhood to non-human entities, and the 'three touch points' of vegetarianism, non-human religiosity, and nature mysticism. Dr. Capper provides examples from diverse Buddhist cultures, including Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Japan, Tibet, and the modern West, to illustrate these concepts.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The book provides a comprehensive analysis of Buddhist environmental ethics across various traditions, spanning ancient India to the modern West.
- It critically examines Buddhist perspectives on vegetarianism, meat consumption, nature mysticism, and spirituality in non-human animals, highlighting both strengths and limitations.
- The concept of 'relational animism' explores how different Buddhist traditions accord personhood to non-human entities, shaping their relationships with the natural world.
- The book identifies three 'touch points' for comparing Buddhist traditions: vegetarianism, non-human religiosity, and nature mysticism.
- Examples from diverse Buddhist cultures, such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Japan, Tibet, and the modern West, are used to illustrate key concepts and perspectives.
- The book acknowledges the limitations of uncritically accepting Buddhist ideals without assessing practical impacts and the lack of communication among Buddhists hindering coordinated responses to issues like climate change.
- Despite these challenges, the author suggests that Buddhism's flexibility and personhood relationships with nature give it potential to adapt and contribute to addressing climate change.
- The book appeals to those concerned about human-nonhuman interactions and offers an accessible style with a focus on personhood ethics.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Buddhism is the religion with which I am most familiar. And so I use Buddhism and science dialogues to create environmental ethics.“ by Daniel Capper
- “Mainline Buddhism says that only humans can become enlightened, that only humans can realize the religious goal of nirvana. That being said, there are a gajillion apocryphal stories and so on that run around the buddhist world in which non humans are taken to practice religion in their own rights.“ by Daniel Capper
- “China offers this really fascinating counterposition of vegetarianism, concerned to eat more plants on one hand, and on the other hand, a philosophical respect for plants as enlightened.“ by Daniel Capper
- “Besides that, in traditional tibetan culture, people are taught that from birth we share our soul with natural beings around us, like an eye, a bird, a lake, a mountain, a tree. And the idea here is while we're sleeping, our souls travel, right? And this is what gives us dreams.“ by Daniel Capper
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Episode Information
New Books in Environmental Studies
Marshall Poe
2/5/24