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While we are seeking rebirth in the Pure Land, we can also try to create a Pure Land on Earth.

我們在求生淨土時也可以試著創造一個人間淨土

How many people have watched An Inconvenient Truth?

多少人注意著這個令人困擾的真相呢？

It shows how our current human lifestyle is destroying the world – icecaps are melting and ocean will rise 20 feet and flood many highly populated areas – if we don’t change our lifestyle. This is certainly the Saha world and not the pure land.

現代人的生活方式正在摧毀這個世界，我們再不改變生活方式的話，冰山會融化，海洋會升高20英呎，海水將淹沒人口密集的地區。這真是娑婆世界而非淨土了。

Al Gore suggests 10 things you can do to stop global warming (地球暖化) and reduce CO2 emissions 二氧化碳:

艾爾．高爾建議您做十件事以停止地球暖化和減少二氧化碳廢氣排出：

Change a light           Drive less         Recycle more            Check your tires

Use less hot water     Avoid products with a lot of packaging                Adjust your thermostat

Plant a tree              Turn off electronic devices

1.改用省電燈泡。   

 2.少開車。     

3.多回收。      

4.檢查輪胎 。   

5.少用熱水 。   

6.避免使用大量包裝材料。 

7.調整恆溫器。

8.種一棵樹。     

9.關掉電器設備。

But actually, CO2 emissions are not the main cause of global warming. Many other greenhouse gases trap heat far more powerfully, the most important is methane甲烷, which is 21 times more powerful than CO2. The number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture, which produces 100 million tons of methane per year, and rising because global meat consumption has increased fivefold in the past 50 years. Conclusion: The best way to reduce global warming in our lifetimes is to reduce or eliminate consumption of animal products by becoming vegetarian or vegan.

事實上二氧化碳廢氣排出物不是造成地球暖化的主要原因。很多其它的溫室放出更強大的熱氣，最重要的是比二氧化碳:強21倍的甲烷。畜牧業可說是全球製造甲烷的頭號來源；一年製造十億噸甲烷，而且年產量還在增加中，因為全球肉品消耗量在過去50年增加了五倍。結論：減少地球暖化最佳方法是我們終生吃素來降低或至斷絕肉品消耗。

How can a Buddhist philosophy help bring about a change in thinking and lifestyle towards the earth?

佛學哲理如何改變地球人的觀點和生活方式呢？

Whereas the Western Christian attitude was that man dominates nature and nature exists to serve man’s purposes, the Buddha taught that human beings have also reincarnated in other (e.g. animal) forms, and that we should respect all forms of life because they have the potential to become enlightened. Moreover, all living things are fundamentally interconnected, and to harm any living thing, not to mention an entire ecosystem, is to harm oneself.

西方基督教認為人類操控自然，而且自然界是為人類而存在的。佛陀教導人類會轉世成其它生命形態，例如轉世成畜生，而我們應尊重所有眾生，因為眾生皆有佛性，皆能成佛。再者一切眾生皆息息相關，別說損害整個生態環境，就是傷害一個眾生也等於傷害自己。

The moral precepts of Buddhism can be applied to ecological circumstances, e.g.:

佛教戒律可應用在生態環境，例如：

Killing: To release toxins into the air, water, or land is to kill living beings slowly.

殺：釋放毒素到空氣、水或土地是慢性謀殺眾生。

Stealing: To cut down forests or to develop pristine regions is to rob many living beings of their homes and lives.

盜：砍伐森林或開發原始地區是剝奪許多眾生的家和它們的生活

Lust: To excavate and consume giant quantities of oil, coal and other minerals and resources, is to rob the earth of its treasures, which have been developed over millennia and could be used sustainably to support many more generations into the future. The scars left on the land from mining are comparable to scars left from violence done to a human being with a knife. Some have called the recent bill to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling the “Rape the Earth” bill.

淫：大量開採消耗石油、煤炭和其它礦物質及天然資源等於強奪地球寶藏，原本這些能源可以持續地供應未來許多世代所需物質。被開採過礦產的土地留下的傷痕好比人類被他人用刀子在身上切割留下的傷痕。曾有人把石油開採稱為「強暴地球」個案，列入極北國家原始庇護名冊。

Lying: Some politicians, supported by special interest groups or big business that wish to exploit nature, will fabricate lies or ignore the truth of environmental devastation as they pass bills allowing environmental standards to be waived, weakened, or violated. This amounts to lying and cheating the earth.

妄：某些由特殊嗜好團體或大企業支持的政治人物會杜撰謊言或忽視破壞環境的事實來通過那些容許減免、降低或違反環保標準的法案。這等於欺騙地球。

Intoxicants: The toxins poured into lakes, streams, and the groundwater could be considered intoxicants that actually kill living beings, and injure ecological health.

酒：毒質污染了湖泊河流，含毒質的地下水事實上在殘害眾生並損害健全的生態環境。

The Venerable Master compared the earth to a human body, with streams as its blood veins, vegetation as its hair, geothermal energy as body heat, and earthquakes and other natural disasters as symptoms of illness. If people regard the earth as a living being or system, they will certainly treat it with respect and avoid activities that harm it.

上人曾把地球比喻成人的身體：河流好比血管，植物如同毛髮，地球熱能恰似體溫，地震和其它天災有如疾病的症狀。如果人類把地球當成眾生或生命系統，他們會尊重它及避免任何傷害它的活動。

As more people adopt a Buddhist value system and approach to life, they will avoid the above actions and not seek to find ways to extract nature’s resources to gain profit. Instead, they will live simply and in harmony with nature and all living beings. In order to protect ecosystems, they will prefer local community-based economies using locally produced food and resources.

當更多人採用佛教價值體系來探索生命時，人們會避免上述行為並且不尋求開採自然資源來謀取利益。相反的，他們會過簡單的生活並與自然界和眾生和諧相處。為了保護生態環境，人們將會偏好當地商業圈，使用當地出產的能源和食物。

As such, CTTB is like a Pure Land in that we have a wild, natural, organic farm that not only grows organic food but also supports wildlife, we do not need to drive on campus, we try to reuse and recycle nearly everything. Most important, everyone here is trying to purify their own mind.