The Tree of the deceased: Integrated Buddhist Conservation for Sustainable Environmental Development

Abstract

This article aims to present an integrated Buddhist conservation approach for sustainable development of the environment through planting trees for the deceased. It is synthesized from the concept of natural law in Buddhism and sustainable development of the environment. It consists of three essential elements: 1) the principle is that life originates from nature, belongs to nature, and ultimately must return to nature, the body after death should benefit the world as much as possible, human beings should be mindful in their lives; 2) The value of the Tree of the deceased is threefold: as an educational tool for the living to learn the laws of nature, as a memorial to the deceased and their representatives, and as planting more forests and solving the problem of global warming; and 3) the method is to use tree wreaths to honor the corpses and then plant them in private or public areas by mixing the ashes of the deceased people with the soil in the planting pit.  In this way, the human body returns to the soil in a beneficial way for the environment. It is a new form of merit making for the deceased that has empirical effects in terms of sustainable environmental development.