2020 Winter School - Loving Earth in Action (II)

[continued interview questions from the RFA]
Q5:  After all the effort put in for protecting the environment in Myanmar, are you still seeing parts that are damaged?

Master: Myanmar is still relatively well endowed with natural forests. However, this might change in the future when industries and factories are welcomed to Myanmar. The environment would be in great danger with inevitable damages if the government doesn’t plan well. Besides, more should be done to the public awareness of environmental protection. People still do a poor job of recycling and waste management. They still dump garbage into the ocean or gutter. Public education on recycling needs a better push.

Q6: Are there actions being taken in protecting the environment in different professions?

Master: There is an organic and excellent agricultural method. We hope to make the soil healthier and sustainable. At the same time, we hope to propagate the knowledge of environmentalism. Planet Earth is in trouble now. The University for Life and Peace is the place to discover and work out these troubles. It is an institute to take action for solving ecological crises. We hope that the preservation and protection of the environment would also make a good impact on Burmese people. Raising their awareness and level of knowledge on environmentalism would be our ongoing mission.

Q7: How are you going to integrate the experience from the Naung Mon farm with the advice from the professors in this Winter School – to make the University for Life and Peace an institute dedicated to ecology and biodiversity?

Master: Naung Mon farm is a demonstration site on how sustainability and organic agriculture can be promoted. It is a platform for organic farming. The Winter School is a great start-up in developing the curriculum on organic agriculture. The knowledge and skills offered at the university are practical for immediate application.

Our planet is suffering lots of problems due to our incoherence with spirituality. Ecological crises are therefore generated. Buddhism is well-preserved in Myanmar. The Buddha had also taught us ways to preserve and respect nature. We hope to fulfill what the Buddha had taught us on biodiversity here in Myanmar. This is one of our objectives – to uncover the primordial awareness and realization through Dharma, which has already prospered in the land of Myanmar.