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Flushed Away: Water Conservation and Buddhist Philosophy By Laura DiFiore

Buddhist Philosophy Professor Bender 14 December 2006 Word Count: 3,043

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Flushed Away: Water Conservation and Buddhist Philosophy After four weeks (in the Outback), weve reached Cooper Pedy and I never thought Id be so happy to see civilization in my life! Although its a stretch to call this civilizationeverything is so run down and dusty, but its cool how the buildings are 3/4th buried. We got out of the Jeep and bought fresh bottles of water at a corner store nearly $5.00 for a liter! but never has anything tasted so good! We were standing outside laughing as we drank, and for some reason, I splashed some of my water at Mike. This woman walked out of the store just as I did so, with a little boy holding her hand, and she looked at me horrified, shouting What are you doing? Thats precious drinking water! I mean, after four weeks of living on three liters of water a day per person I know damn well how precious drinking water, especially ice-cold, fresh, unboiled and unsterilized water is, but sheesh! To get all bent out of shape over a small splash! I think that was over the top for her but still somehow, I feel, um, I dont know ashamed. Personal Diary Entry, December 2, 19931 Australians, especially Aboriginal Australians, understand the significance of water in a way the average American may never know. Their understanding of waters importance to life, much less the frailty of the earths still-abundant water supply, along with their attitude of preciousness towards water is distinctly Buddhist, although it is unlikely they would ever claim it as a Buddhist viewpoint. More likely, Australians would say they are simply being smart and pragmatic. From ultra-low-flow toilets to grey-water recycling, Australians use
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I spent four months traveling throughout Australia in 1993-1994, four weeks of that in the Outback. Six of us traveled together, and carried 3 liters of water per day per person for all water needs cleaning, cooking, drinking - on our journey. When I checked into the hostel in Cooper Pedy, I was stunned to learn that we were limited to 1.5 liters per day per person!

DiFiore 3 technology in simple and ingenious ways to best use and preserve their limited water supply. While their reasoning may be simple survival, their attitude and outlook towards water is not only distinctly Buddhist, it is one that should be emulated by Americans, if not all of the world. While it may be obvious why Australians must be concerned about their water use, why would Americans need to be? Dont we have a virtually unlimited supply of safe, clean, fresh drinking water? Well, yes, we do today but that is unlikely to last forever, and it is most definitely not unlimited. It is, in fact, likely that within our lifetimes, there will be a serious worldwide water crisis. Water is, contrary to popular belief, not necessarily a renewable resource especially ocean water. To the extent that it is renewable, the costs are quite often prohibitive. According to the Christian Science Monitor2, 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water 4,700 people die every day due to lack of potable water (mostly children under the age of 5) Per-person water use more than doubled compared to the rate of population growth during the last century. Not only is clean drinking water inaccessible to nearly 16% of the worlds population, we are using up our supply of drinkable water at an unsustainable rate. This is not only obvious in desert regions of Australia and Africa, it is happening right here in America. Aquifers throughout the country are drying up. The High Plains Aquifer, covering and supplying water to parts of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, New Mexico, Wyoming and Texas provides 30 percent of the water used for agriculture within the United States.3 From 1940 to
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Backstory: Tapping the World. Christian Science Monitor. Online edition of the March 22, 2006 article found at http://www.csmonitor.com. 3 United States Geological Survey. Water Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 1994. USGS, 4 March 1996.

DiFiore 4 1980, the level of this aquifer dropped as much as 100 feet in many places thats 100 feet of water covering an area of several thousand square miles gone forever to the high demands of modern agriculture. Gone forever because much of this water was poisoned with heavy metals, fertilizers, and other poisons commonly used to increase agricultural yields at the expense of the future sustainability of the ground wells the water came from. We are not only hurting our water supply, we are destroying it and ultimately our own survivability. The average Americans attitude towards water use is unfathomable to a Buddhist. Americans are just five percent of the worlds population yet we use 15 percent of the worlds water supply annually.4 For such a small set of the population to consume and abuse such a large amount of available drinking water is contrary to basic Buddhist principles. For starters, by hurting our water supply, we are hurting our planet, ourselves, and every other living and nonliving creation. We are creating a state of suffering in a world where all life is suffering to such an extent that we risk our own ultimate demise because we grasp more and more water everyday. We use drinking water to flush our toilets: that is simply obscene! We use drinking water to water grass simply to improve the appearance of our front yards up to 30% of our drinking water is used on front lawns. We wash our cars and trucks with drinking water we use drinking water to fill up our radiators and hose down our streets. To use precious drinking water for such non-life-vital purposes is not only obscene, it violates virtually every precept of the eight-fold path5. By no stretch of the imagination is flushing our toilets (often with up to four gallons!) with fresh drinking water a good example of right action, much less right living.

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Christian Science Monitor. Olson, Carl. Original Buddhist Sources: A Reader. 2005. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London.

DiFiore 5 For Buddhists, water is not only essential to life, it is a elemental symbol of life, one that is used throughout Buddhist practices. Buddhists consider water one of the five basic elements (earth, water, fire, air, space6) and much Buddhist symbolism revolves around water. The cone portion of many stupas represents water, and the cone portion is usually the uppermost portion of a stupa7. This uppermost portion the highest-reaching part of a stupa serves to highlight the importance of water to not only all other elements, but to all of life. Water is one of the Eight Offerings, offered to cleanse ones mouth, face, or feet.8 We are created in our mothers womb in a water-filled sac, without water we could not exist much less end the cycle of rebirth! The lotus, another important Buddhist symbol, can only grow in water9. It is not by accident that Buddhists chose the lotus flower as one of their more important and prolific symbols. Like a human growing in a mothers water-filled womb10, the lotus grows in water, as do all fish (the Golden Fish is a symbol of good fortune for Buddhists)11. Many insects and animals require water to grow frogs, for example, start their lives out as water-living tadpoles. All mammals gestate in water, many reptiles spend part of their lives in water, often their eggs are laid in water or near water. The water-growing lotus is such an important symbol to Buddhists that Buddha is routinely represented as sitting on the bloom of a lotus.12 Water, especially clear, pure, tranquil water is often a symbolism for a untroubled mind, a symbol of not only mindfulness, but a symbol of nibbana, the

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Sometimes the elements are listed as only four space being excluded. I dont know why. Harderwijk, Rudy. A View on Buddhism. http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org. Stupas can be small, to sit on a desk, or very large, as when an entire temple is built in the form of a stupa. Stupas represent the enlightened mind of the Buddha. 8 Harderwijk. 9 Kumar, Nitin. The Lotus in Buddhism. Exotic India Arts. Reprinted at ReligionFacts.com. http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/lotus.htm 10 Levitt, Peter. An Intimate View. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 93-96. 11 Harderwijk. 12 Kumar.

DiFiore 6 cessation of all that poisons our mind, the Buddha-nature.13 Water is not just a sacred symbol to Buddhists, its use as a symbol is common throughout most world religions.14 From Orpheuss reformation of the Dionysian religion to modern-day Christianity, water is used in sacred rites worldwide.15 The sacred symbolism of water is nearly universal. Buddha recognized the importance of water conservation; in fact, he set down rules forbidding his disciples to contaminate water resources.16 Monks are forbidden from throwing waste, trash, food and other contaminants into water, and they were extolled to protect the lives of all animals (obviously, including humans) that rely upon any water supply for survival17. The Vinaya Pitaka explains how to safely build toilets (so as not to contaminate local water supplies) and recognizes water and the ocean as the home of other sentient beings, that being fish.18 Anyone who damages water supplies does so at great karmic peril.19 For a Buddhist, to damage essential water is not only to cause (and increase) suffering of all life, it puts ones own future life and future enlightenment at risk.20 Why is it that Americans use so much water more than 420 liters a day compared to the 30-50 liters generally considered the basic daily amount of water necessary for cleaning, cooking, and drinking?21 Why do we believe it absolutely necessary to flush our toilets with drinking water? Suggest to the average American that they reuse their shower water to flush their toilets and you will likely get a very squeamish response, along the lines
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Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Heart of Buddhas Teachings: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation. New York: Broadway Books, 1999. Pp. 236-140. 14 Abraham, Ralph. Orphism: The Ancient Roots of Green Buddhism. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 39-49. 15 Abraham, p 44-45. 16 Kabilsingh, Chatsumarn. Early Buddhist Views on Nature. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. 17 Kabilsingh, p 11. 18 Kabilsingh, p 11. 19 Kabilsignh., p 11. 20 Kabilsignh. 21 Christian Science Monitor.

DiFiore 7 of eww, thats gross. Ask yourself as you read this: How many times today did you flush your toilet with drinking water? Does even one of those flushes contain more water than you drank today? Very likely. At between 1.5 and four gallons per flush, most of us flush much more water than we drink. It seems at first that, for a Buddhist, this would be a prime example of grasping, but Americans abuse and misuse of water cannot simply be explained as simply grasping. It is not caused by greed or hatred, or even delusion22 (that water is a renewable, endless resource): all are convenient explanations but not enough. Our abuse of our water supply is truly an example of mindfulness, rather, lack of mindfulness, and our inability to recognize the essential interdependence of all beings including water. We simply do not recognize that we are hurting other beings, our planet, and water itself. We are not being mindful when we automatically flush the toilet without thinking about what we are doing, much less about where the water we so cavalierly flush away came from nor where it is going. No joke, sign on the hostel bathroom says If its yellow, let it mellow. If its brown, flush it down. How funny how gross! Actually, the toilets are kinda cool. They use compressed air and a few OUNCES of water to flush, make a big swoosh sound loud! The shower, though, is really weird. You get one shower token per day for 75 seconds of water. There is two buttons, one for hot, one for cold, you gotta push and hold them with both hands to get the shower to work. I ran out of water before I could get shampoo out of my head, ended up just wiping it off with the towel. Hair never been so shiny before! Personal Diary Entry, December 4, 1993
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DeSilva, Padmasiri. Buddhist Environmental Ethics. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 17.

DiFiore 8 Water may be the best example of the Buddhist concept of interbeing, and the importance of interbeing to Buddhists. Interbeing, the interconnection of everything to everything else, implies not only creative forces behind each beings existence (we cannot exist without having something create us, nor do we actually ever cease to exist as from us becomes new creation), it also implies the idea of mutual obligation between nature and humanity, and between people.23 Water is not just an essential element of interbeing, it is a member of the Buddhist sangha, as is all of the earth.24 Water, as does everything else in existence, is imbued with sacred power essential to all of life.25 Everything is interdependent, especially water, and this is particularly true to Buddhists. Water is not just essential to the health of plants, animals, and humans, it is essential to the very health of the earth itself and its atmosphere. We, are an active part of the Earths atmosphere, constantly circulating the breath of this planet through our bodies,26 and as an essential part of the atmosphere which contains not only air but water vapor, it is vital to the future of the Earth itself that we continue to have access to clean water not only for drinking, but for breathing. It is not enough to blame wrong mindfulness as the reason for our misuse of water; we must face the fact that our mindset towards water derives from a dysfunctional and pathological notion of the self. 27 Those 1.1 billion people without access to clean water are denied this essential element of life not just because its uneconomical to provide them with the means for a clean water system, it is our self-centered, competitive and consumptionistic view of the entire world, along with our misguided belief in our own (cultural) superiority that
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deSilva, p 18. Halifax, Joan. The Third Body. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 25. 25 Halifax, p 24. 26 Abram, David. Perceptual Implications of Gaia. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 76-77. 27 Macy, Joanna. The Greening of the Self. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 57.

DiFiore 9 has warped our sense of self to the point where we simply do not recognize that every other human is a part of our own self. Every time one flushes four gallons of water down the toilet with a few small squares of bleached paper28 you are flushing away four gallons of water that could mean the difference between life and death for at least one other person on the planet. But we dont think about thirsty people in other countriesthe idea that anyone may actually die of dehydration is pretty much alien to the average American. This is not just a result of general lack of understanding of non-self, it is not just a lack of mindfulness or understanding of interbeing, it is also a result of competition29. Americans view just about everything as competition, but then so do many other animals and even plants. We are biologically ingrained to compete with one another for limited resources whether we are a noxious weed or a prehistoric human there is a strong survival instinct within every living thing on the planet. This competitive nature, especially over resources necessary for survival, however, has led to much of our ingenious technological advances. Water treatment itself the actual technology to provide abundant, clean drinking water is a result of our competitive natures desire to survive. However, at the same time, these technological advances also came about through a sense of cooperation. The Romans would not have thrived as they did without their aqueducts; those aqueducts could not have been built without cooperative human thinking and action. From the Romans to today, technology has led to much of our misuse and abuse of water; however, it is that very technology that could potentially save our water supply.

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I will not get into how many billions of gallons of water are irrevocably poisoned and destroyed during the process of manufacturing toilet paper...that is for another paper! 29 Hayward, Jeremy. Ecology and the Experience of Sacredness. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 72-73.

DiFiore 10 beer is cheaper than water! $1.10 for a beer, $4.90 for 12 ounces of water! Speaking of money, some guy offered me $10 for my shower token todayan American, of course! Personal Diary Entry, December 7, 1993 If we try to change the mindset of most Americans towards one of non-self and interbeing to change their attitude towards water use, we will fail: Americas consumerist mindset is too deeply ingrained. But these same Buddhist concepts can successfully be put to use to change our view and usage of water, albeit in a more artful manner. Appealing to the idea of saving money as one saves water could be successful30 showing people how the use of technology (low-flow shower heads, low-flow toilets) can reduce their personal costs is one good idea. Through public-service announcements and appeals to the wallet, we can begin to slowly change the mindset of America to one that at least considers water as approaching the precious nature that Buddhists and Australians alike share. Ironically, however, grey-water recycling31, a very low tech technological advance, one that could greatly reduce our abuse of drinking water, is actually illegal in many parts of the country water that falls from the sky (rain) is often legally considered the property of the local water authority. To encourage the installation and use of grey-water recycling, we will also have to change the mindset of local utility companies, politicians, and the public at large, which tends to view grey-water recycling as gross.32 Grey-water recycling is already used in some parts of the
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In Colorado Springs, the utility company is raising the cost of water and sewer service for most of its customers by about $6.00 per month this year. As a (surprisingly effective) public relations ploy, many of their advertisements emphasize that this cost will be used to reduce future costs for the public, along with increasing usable water supplies. 31 Grey water recycling is a systematic approach of reusing water as much as possible before treating/re-treating it for human consumption. Typical systems reuse shower and sink water in toilets, dish and clothes washing machine waters in gardens. Some use roof gutter water to flush toilets or store water for gardening purposes. 32 Shortly after I bought my house in 1999, I remodeled my bathroom. Along with an ultra-low-flow toilet and shower head, I installed a grey-water recycling system that uses a combination of sink and bathtub runoff to flush the toilet. Every single one of my friends reacted to this system with the word gross. Logical appeals yes, its water from my shower, but Im just urinating in it, so what does it matter simply didnt work to

DiFiore 11 world by municipal water suppliers, even in the United States, but overall its usage is very small, especially compared to the amount of water misused. The adoption and use of water conservation technology especially drip-irrigation systems must be strongly encouraged to the agricultural industry, which uses up to 70% of all drinkable water, according to the EPA33. Many agricultural companies are loath to upgrade their irrigation systems, usually using the argument that it would make their costs too high (consumers dont want to pay a penny or two more for their vegetables). This argument can be countered by pointing out that using less water would reduce costs, and create a positive public-relations situation for companies that choose to do so. Using the concept of interdependence, we can change some attitudes towards water usage. Show ducks dying from drinking pond water poisoned by the runoff of a local car wash can effectively point out our responsibility for that animals life, at the same time shaming that car wash owner into more responsible disposal of its poisoned runoff. Take it a step further, and perhaps that same car wash owner can be persuaded to change to an ecologically safer soap and wax, or even the concept of recycling the water it uses. Slowly but surely, however, we can alter the American mindset to be more aware of our water use and reduce our abuse. Water conservation is not just about sustainability and habitat protection for waterdependent animals, it is also about energy conservation. A significant amount of electrical energy is used to treat, supply, and dispose of water. To extend the availability of the gas,

convince any of them that this was a superior system to the flush-my-drinking-water system at the time. Seven years later, I am still teased about my weird toilethowever, five of my friends have asked my help in installing their own systems. 33 EPA: Environmental Protection Agency. How to Conserve Water and Use It Effectively. http://www.epa.gov/ow/you/chap3.html

DiFiore 12 coal, and oil used to provide us with electricity, reducing the energy consumption of water providing industries must be addressed. We must do so. The future of our future is at risk. We cannot live without each other and we cannot live without water. We water and virtually every single other living thing on the planet are absolutely dependent upon each other for survival. This is not to say that water cant survive without humans it most definitely can but at our current rates of consumption and pollution, water cannot continue to survive with humans. The future life of water is absolutely dependent upon humans changing their mindset and actions as regards water. If we do not change our attitudes our mindset about water, we are not only capable of suffering with our world, we are destined to suffer with our world.34

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Macy, p. 57

DiFiore 13 Works Cited Abram, David. Perceptual Implications of Gaia. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 76-77. Abraham, Ralph. Orphism: The Ancient Roots of Green Buddhism. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 39-49. Christian Science Monitor. Backstory: Tapping the World. Online edition of the March 22, 2006 article found at http://www.csmonitor.com. DeSilva, Padmasiri. Buddhist Environmental Ethics. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 17. EPA: Environmental Protection Agency. How to Conserve Water and Use It Effectively. http://www.epa.gov/ow/you/chap3.html Halifax, Joan. The Third Body. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 25. Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Heart of Buddhas Teachings: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation. New York: Broadway Books, 1999. Pp. 236-140. Harderwijk, Rudy. A View on Buddhism. http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org. Stupas can be small, to sit on a desk, or very large, as when an entire temple is built in the form of a stupa. Stupas represent the enlightened mind of the Buddha. Hayward, Jeremy. Ecology and the Experience of Sacredness. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 72-73. Kabilsingh, Chatsumarn. Early Buddhist Views on Nature. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Kumar, Nitin. The Lotus in Buddhism. Exotic India Arts. Reprinted at ReligionFacts.com. http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/lotus.htm Levitt, Peter. An Intimate View. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. Pp 93-96. Macy, Joanna. The Greening of the Self. Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism and Ecology. Ed. Allan Hunt Badiner. Berkely, California: Parallax Press, 1990. P 57. Olson, Carl. Original Buddhist Sources: A Reader. 2005. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London. United States Geological Survey. Water Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 1994. USGS, 4 March 1996.