Buddhism and Ecology: Balancing Convergence, Dissonance, and the Risk of Anachronism

The review begins by locating the edited volume within the Harvard conference series on religion and ecology and assessing its geographical, doctrinal, and methodological scope. It then examines the risks involved in interpreting traditional Buddhist teachings through modern environmental categories, particularly the dangers of anachronism, revisionism, and conceptual oversimplification. Subsequent sections discuss the distinction between Buddhist metaphysical interdependence and scientifically verifiable ecological relationships, the role of Buddhist ethics and the First Precept, institutional and monastic environmental practices, Thai Buddhist environmental activism, Japanese animal-release rituals, and Buddhist representations of nonhuman animals. The concluding section evaluates the collection’s academic and pedagogical value, identifying it as a major but not definitive contribution to the study of Buddhism and ecology.