LJM Asiatic Program: Joint Effort for Global Ecological Crisis

From June 6-8, 2024, following a three-year interval, the LJM Asiatic Program reconvened in Johor, Malaysia, gathering administrators and practitioners from centers across the globe. This auspicious convergence of timing and favorable conditions provided an invaluable opportunity to examine one of the most critical challenges of our time: the ecological crisis confronting our planet—a phenomenon that demands urgent collective understanding and action.

The most formidable challenges humanity face today are the unprecedented climate anomalies and widespread ecological degradation, creating an existential threat to all inhabitants on Earth. Global catastrophic events, including extreme weather phenomena such as storms, wildfires, floods, droughts, and disrupted seasonal cycles, have created conditions that fundamentally threaten species survival. These converging crises ultimately stem from the deluded human mind and a serious spiritual disconnection.

So, what has precipitated this global disorder? The answer lies in the five destructive afflictions, also known as “the five poisons,” with greed serving as a dominating cause. The proliferation of greed, aversion, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt generates conflicts and destruction, eventually disrupting the delicate ecological equilibrium. Greed depletes the ecosystem; aversion destroys the ecosystem; and ignorance undermines the ecosystem.

The global ecosystem is shared among all sentient beings and must not be diminished by these five poisons, nor destroyed through anthropogenic activities. When ecological systems collapse, resource scarcity inevitably leads to human competition for survival, culminating in conflict and warfare. Therefore, our fundamental imperative is ecological sustainability, for only through the preservation of ecological continuity can human survival and flourishing be secured.

It is a shared responsibility to ensure our survival. We must cultivate an understanding of spirituality through ecological awareness, thereby establishing a link between religious spirituality and ecological spirituality. Ecological spirituality, like all beings, derives from the spiritual source. All beings have the same spiritual source and it is critical to reconnect with such a primordial state of mind, furthermore, to recognize that all beings possess the same essence. This begins with transforming our consciousness into purity and virtues, therefore sustaining virtues through such consciousness.

Love serves as the fundamental principle underlying this transformative process. Through love, we establish meaningful connections and promote ecological awareness. By cultivating profound love for the ecosystem, we unite diverse communities in ecological advocacy, thereby enhancing collective well-being and encouraging individuals to recognize the intrinsic value of all beings. Our current initiative to establish the University for Life and Peace in Myanmar exemplifies this approach—utilizing institutional frameworks to amplify voices in ecological conservation while connecting individuals in their shared commitment to environmental stewardship. This collective force aims to prevent warfare and halt all forms of ecological destruction, making conservation our primary shared objective.

Through unified commitment to this vision, we can strengthen our interconnectedness and identify concrete pathways for planetary healing. Collaborative teams possess immense potential, a force that depends upon our connected efforts and love, thereby enabling everyone to become a seed for loving Earth and loving peace. These seeds of change will promote and spread the message and strive to raise awareness. With such dedicated and exemplary collaboration, we can contribute meaningfully to Earth peace and world peace.