Abstract
This Thesis examines the environmental crisis’s sources, consequences, and antidotes through the lens of Buddhists, Taoists, and Christian mystics. The teachings of the individuals from these three wisdom traditions, while distinct in many ways, describe the nature of the universe and the source of human suffering in a remarkably consistent manner. They say that while we perceive of everything in this world as independent, fixed, and knowable, it is in fact deeply interrelated, impermanent, and unknowable. The environmental crisis – the aggregate of detrimental ecological changes resulting in suffering and loss of life – is a symptom of this pervasive disconnect. It pits environmentalists against non-environmentalists, people against nature, and self against all “others”. It leads to a worldview in which we relate to everything and everyone based on utility, worth, and appeal, rather than the intrinsic value that the contemplatives avow is common to all of existence. They say that the antidote is intimacy with all things. Wonder, humility, trust, and perseverance prepare and encourage us along the journey to discovering who we really are and how to act compassionately in the world, such that divisions are healed rather than perpetuated. This Thesis explores the teachings of Buddhists, Taoists, and Christian mystics in four parts: (I) their understanding of the nature of the universe and humanity as interrelated, impermanent, and mysterious; (II) their diagnosis of the environmental crisis and barriers to addressing it; (III) their insights into living well, together on this planet; and (IV) the mindsets and states of being to cultivate on the journey to healing human and environmental suffering.