A Visit to the Tzu Chi Environmental Action Center
“Common understanding, consensus, and collective action. Let’s reduce everyone’s material desires and promote love, love ourselves, love others and love earth by taking practical action . This is the only effective cure to eliminate the earth’s crisis.”
Master Cheng Yen
Visiting the Tzu Chi Environmental Action Center in Hong Kong was informing and a great experience for awareness, not only of environmental issues, but also of how social classes are affected different by our impending collective doom we know as climate change, thought-provoking to say the least. The center offers an insightful look at environmental action and the current challenges facing our planet. The only explicit mention of religion during the tour came at the beginning, when the guide explained that the center was able to open thanks to Buddhist philanthropy. However, this post is in fact about the 3 minutes shoutout, this visit made me reflect on how faith, philanthropy, and social responsibility intersect in ways I had considered before as a child raised in a christian boarding school, but not in ways to sit down and write them.
Established by the Hong Kong branch of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, the Tzu Chi Environmental Protection Campaign Hall aims to deepen public understanding of environmental protection through exhibitions and activities, encouraging visitors to cherish the earth and help slow the global warming crisis (Tzu Chi Environmental Action Center, n.d.). The center’s history is closely tied to Buddhism. As Master Cheng Yen, the founder, teaches, “Since 1990, at the end of one lecture, Master Cheng Yen encouraged everyone to protect the environment by their clapping hands. A gentle call, a wish to turn the mission into practice has started a cycle of positivity of 30 years. […] To co-exist with the earth” and “human well-being depends on the well-being of the earth” (Tzu Chi Environmental Action Center, n.d.)
Dharma Master Cheng Yen, a Taiwanese Buddhist nun, founded the Tzu Chi Foundation in 1966 and has become a prominent figure in Buddhist environmental initiatives. Scholars have explored Buddhism’s inherent environmental principles. Natadecha-Sponsel (2016) notes that “in the teachings of the Buddha, ‘beings’ refers to all living creatures, seen and unseen. Therefore, ecological and environmental concerns are inherent in Buddhism. It is through these principles that Buddhist environmentalism has been developing, most markedly in the last couple of decades, in Asia as well as in the West.” Some studies, however, debate the connection between Buddhism and environmentalism and question the perception of Buddhism as inherently peaceful or nature-focused (Soeung & Lee, 2017; Harris, 1991; Sciberras, 2010). While there is no full consensus, what is clear is that religious organizations often act philanthropically in alignment with their beliefs, extending beyond environmental causes.
Multiple studies support the positive social influence of religion. Grönlund and Pessi (2015) note that “several studies (e.g., Hodgkinson, Weitzman, & Kirsch, 1990; Morgan, Goddard, & Givens, 1997; Lunn, Klay, & Douglass, 2001; Putnam & Campbell, 2010; Pessi, 2011) find a positive correlation between religion and different forms of prosocial behavior, including blood donation (Healy, 2000), volunteering (Lam, 2002; Yeung, 2004; Musick & Wilson, 2008), and donating money (Clain & Zech, 1999).” In a cross-cultural study of 145 countries, Smith and Stark (2009) found that religious attendance was statistically connected to philanthropic giving in 90 percent of the countries and to volunteering in 87 percent (Grönlund & Pessi, 2015). These findings reflect the enduring principle common to all religions: loving, caring, and treating others as one wishes to be treated.
It is also important to acknowledge the darker side of religion. Throughout history, faith has been used to justify acts of violence and oppression, including slavery, wars, residential school systems, and contemporary terrorism (The Guardian, 2019; Vardy, 2010). As Vardy observes, religions can appear self-justifying: believers may view their own faith as inherently good and other religions as bad, while outsiders may perceive the same faith as negative based on incomplete understanding. Religious texts and teachings are therefore open to interpretation, and intentions shape how they are applied in the real world.
In conclusion, my visit to the Tzu Chi Environmental Action Center sparked reflection on the complex role of religious institutions in society. They can drive significant social good through philanthropy and environmental initiatives, yet the impact ultimately depends on the intentions and interpretations of their adherents. Religion provides a framework of beliefs and moral guidance, but its influence, whether positive or negative, is determined by those who practice it.
Reference:
Grönlund, H., & Pessi, A. B. (2015). The influence of religion on philanthropy across nations. In The Palgrave handbook of global philanthropy (pp. 558-569). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Harris, I. (1991). How environmentalist is Buddhism?. Religion, 21(2), 101-114.
Natadecha-Sponsel, L. E. S. P. (2016). Buddhist Environmentalism. Teaching Buddhism: New Insights on Understanding and Presenting the Traditions, 318.
Sciberras, C. (2010). Buddhist Philosophy and the Ideals of Environmentalism (Doctoral dissertation, Durham University).
Soeung, B., & Lee, S. (2017). The revitalisation of Buddhist peace activism in post-war Cambodia. Conflict, Security & Development, 17(2), 141-161.
Tzu Chi Environmental Action Center (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved October 29, 2024, from https://tzuchieac.org.hk/
Vardy, P. (2010). Good and bad religion. Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd.Woodlock, R., Loewenstein, A., Caro, J., & Smart, S. (2019, February 17). Doesn’t religion cause most of the conflict in the world? Australia News | the Guardian. https://amp.theguardian.com
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