About DDM
Four Kinds of Environmentalism
1. Protecting the Spiritual Environment
Protecting the spiritual environment means keeping our mind stable and pure.
Pollution in the environment is mostly man-made and human behavior is dependent on human mind. If we practice spiritual environmentalism with sincerity, humility, and loving-kindness, if everyday we clear our mind of unwholesome thoughts, we would lift the character of humanity and live in a pure land.
Practices
Chan Meditation
The Fivefold Spiritual Renaissance Campaign
2. Protecting the Natural Environment
Protecting the natural environment means maintaining the co-existence and co-prosperity of the whole earth community.
From the Buddhist point of view, the natural environment everywhere is the home village to sentient beings, and everything in the environment is needed for the livelihood of some sentient being or other. The whole earth is the common resource that current and future generations rely and subsist on. The faster we deplete earth's resources the sooner we destroy it. We therefore call on everyone to cherish our blessings, protect and sustain the earth's water and natural resources by careful usage, nonpolluting and not wasting.
Practices
Recognizing blessings
Cherishing blessings
Nurturing blessings
Sowing the seeds of blessings
3. Protecting the Living Environment
Protecting the living environment means keeping our life orderly and simple.
Our needs are little; our wants are great. Take only what we need, and what we want is unimportant. In our daily life, cultivate the habits of contentment and few desires, diligence, leanness, and tidiness. Do not waste energy and resources and minimize the generation of garbage and pollutants.
Practices
Our wants are many
Our needs are few
Pursue only what you can and should acquire
Never pursue what you can't and shouldn't acquire
4. Protecting the Social Environment
Protecting the social environment means being dignified and humble in society.
Courtesy must arise in the mind and manifest in behavior; it is not just a formality. Protecting the social environment starts with individuals: being dependable, taking responsibility, and behaving properly. Through purifying the actions of our body, speech and mind, we can purify ourselves as well as society.
Practices
The Six Ethics of the Mind
Buddhist-Style Joint Weddings
Buddhist-Style Joint Birthday Celebration for the Elderly
Buddhist-Style Joint Natural Funerals
DDM's vision is to "uplift the character of humanity and build a pure land on earth,to be achieved through concrete programs for The Three Types of Education. In "the Common Ethos of Dharma Drum Mountain," the phrase "to promote comprehensive education" refers exactly to The Three Types of Education. And "to extend loving care to all" is practiced through the four kinds of environmental protection: protecting the spiritual environment, protecting the social environment, protecting the living environment, and protecting the natural environment.