Religion and Ecology in India and Southeast Asia

by Gosling; David L.

• ISBN13: 9780415240314
• ISBN10: 041524031X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-03-02
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Religion and Ecology in India and Southeast Asiaexamines how Hindu and Buddhist traditions could play a crucial role in solving ecological problems in those regions. Considering these traditions from both a historical and contemporary perspective, Gosling bases his arguments on extensive fieldwork and frames it by the socio-political context of religious change in India and Southeast Asia.

Author Biography

David L. Gosling trained as a nuclear physicist and more recently was the first Spalding Fellow in Religions at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, where he is currently based. He was Director of Church and Society at the World Council of Churches in Geneva and has published extensively on environmental issues in south Asia

Table of Contents

List of figures	x
Foreword	xi
Acknowledgements	xii
Introduction	1	(15)
The Asian viewpoint	2	(2)
Ecology	4	(2)
Religion	6	(2)
Methodology	8	(2)
Main arguments	10	(3)
Religion at Rio	13	(3)
Ecology and Hindu tradition	16	(18)
Modes and habitats	17	(1)
Nomads and settlers	18	(3)
The early Vedic period	21	(3)
The Upanishads	24	(3)
The post-Vedic period	27	(2)
A contemporary approach	29	(5)
Ecology and modern India	34	(17)
Extracting resources	35	(1)
The Reformers	36	(4)
The impact of science	40	(2)
Indian scientists	42	(1)
Jagadish Chandra Bose	43	(2)
Gandhian ethics	45	(6)
Struggles for the forests	51	(17)
The Himalayas	52	(2)
Colonial forestry	54	(2)
Early opposition	56	(2)
Chipko and Appiko	58	(3)
Sunderlal Bahuguna	61	(2)
Anna Hazare	63	(5)
Ecology and Buddhism	68	(18)
Early Buddhism	69	(3)
The Mahayana	72	(2)
The spread of Buddhism	74	(2)
Southeast Asia	76	(2)
Ladakh	78	(4)
Bhutan	82	(4)
Thailand: a case study	86	(24)
Environmental parameters	88	(1)
Ashoka's legacy	89	(2)
Monastic reforms	91	(1)
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu	92	(4)
Social and environmental activities	96	(4)
Urban sects and movements	100	(3)
The culture of gender	103	(7)
India since Independence	110	(26)
The secular state	111	(2)
`Abolish poverty'	113	(3)
Patterns of resource use	116	(2)
Environmental politics	118	(4)
The Hindu Right	122	(4)
Restructuring society	126	(5)
Beyond liberalization	131	(5)
Signs of hope	136	(23)
Global-level initiatives	137	(3)
Personal initiatives	140	(8)
North India	143	(2)
South India	145	(3)
Points of view	148	(11)
Karan Singh	148	(2)
M. C. Mehta	150	(3)
Amartya Sen	153	(2)
Sacred groves	155	(4)
Expanding our horizons	159	(17)
Priorities and perceptions	159	(1)
Religious misconceptions	160	(2)
Continuities	162	(3)
Transformations	165	(4)
Public-interest science	169	(2)
Environmentalists at the crossroads	171	(2)
Secular India	173	(3)
Appendix A: Medicinal plants identified in Thailand	176	(5)
Appendix B: Indian non-governmental organizations	181	(7)
Select glossary	188	(2)
Notes	190	(11)
Select bibliography	201	(4)
Index	205