Thich Nhat Hanh on Dealing with Climate Anxiety
The overwhelming climate anxiety is crippling a lot of us from taking action.
Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, we have been ignoring climate change for decades. Right now, we are in the middle of a climate crisis and there is doom and despair everywhere.
We are learning to cope with the changing climate. Our resilience is tested. The recent heatwaves in India and Pakistan, the drought in California, failing of crops in Iran, floods in Australia are some of the extreme events we have already witnessed.
We know that it is time to take collective action. But in the current scenario, it is natural for anxiety and despair to take over and paralyze us from taking any action. The apathy of leaders and politicians further makes us feel helpless and angry. Most of us do feel what can be referred to as climate anxiety or eco-anxiety.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s Approach to Dealing With Climate Anxiety and Taking Action
Late Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh worked extensively to raise awareness about climate change and environmental destruction. He relied on Buddhist meditation and mindfulness to bring this awareness about mother Earth. He talked about climate anxiety from time to time and gave advice on how to manage this anxiety so that it doesn’t paralyze you from taking action. He talked about acceptance of the situation as the first step to deal with climate anxiety.
In his book The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology, he tells the story of a senior nun who came to his monastery in France after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was given four months to live. She accepted her situation and decided to put all her energy into being fully present in each moment. She practiced awareness of breath and body movements throughout the day. She decided to live fully in the present moment.
Just when she wanted to return to Hanoi where she expected to die, she was persuaded to get a check-up in France before leaving. The doctors found that her metastasized cancer areas had receded to just one place. She lived for another 14 years!
The nun unknowingly treated herself by acceptance of the situation. Thich Nhat Hanh talks about this acceptance when it comes to Climate anxiety too.
We have to accept that this civilisation can be destroyed. Not by something outside, but by ourselves. In fact, in the past, many civilisations have been destroyed; if this civilisation is destroyed, that would not be something new. To accept that can already be helpful. -Thich Nhat Hanh
It is the act of acceptance that would take us out of our extreme despair and then only we can take some action while not getting bogged down by what will happen.
Once there is acceptance, we need to free ourselves from despair and anger through the act of being in the present. It can bring peace and clarity to our actions and paradoxically, give our actions a greater chance of success. It is also a reminder to live as deeply and fully as we can, knowing how fragile our existence on the planet is.
Thich Nhat Hanh talks about the role of meditation in managing the climate anxiety-
[M]editation plays a role: to meditate means to look deeply; looking deeply, you get the insight. With that insight you are free from despair and anger, and you are a better worker for the environment.
Nature can Heal Itself
If history is anything to go by, Nature can heal itself very well. In the long run, the earth can regenerate itself as it has done in the past.
One hundred years, two hundred years is nothing if you talk about geological time; this civilisation might be destroyed and it may take one billion more years to have another civilisation, and that already happened in the past.- Thich Nhat Hanh
So take refuge in Mother Earth and surrender to her and ask her to heal us, to help us. And we have to accept that the worst can happen; that most of us will die as a species and many other species will die also and Mother Earth will be capable after maybe a few million years to bring us out again and this time wiser. -Thich Nhat Hanh
Dealing With Anger Against Mega-Corporations and Capitalists
We feel angry about companies producing chemical-laden products, plastic, and fossil fuels but we don’t spend much time finding better alternatives. We hardly talk about reducing our dependence on things that harm our us and our environment. We continue using being consumers to big oil companies and consumer brands. They have vested interests. As per the late monk, the change can only come from consumers, and not the producers.
They should not continue to produce these things. We don’t need them. We need other kinds of products that help us to be healthier. If there is awakening in the ranks of consumers, then the producer will have to change. We can force him to change by not buying.
We need a grass-roots movement. But first, we need to deal with our own anxiety, anger, and fear rather than projecting them onto those we see at fault. Mindfulness is the way. Accept the situation, be in the present and do your bit for the environment.
Given how fragile our own existence is, all we can and should do is live deeply, fully present in the moment. Once we are able to do that for ourselves, we would be better equipped to help the environment and our future generations.
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