The ancient religion of Buddhism has been preaching the virtues of a natural and harmonious existence for over 2500 years. And in the Maribyrnong Valley west of Melbourne a passionate Abbot is turning the Quang Minh Vietnamese Buddhist temple into an inspiring model of environmental sustainability.
Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan, the Abbot of Quang Minh Temple, says that according to the Buddhist philosophy we should live harmoniously with other life forms around us. “The Buddha talked about our gratitude towards parents, our friend and teachers, to society and country but the most important is also the environment. Our environment, our nature, the beautiful fauna and flora we have around us,” he says.
Buddhists believe it is their responsibility to help care for those less fortunate around them, and so every week the temple provides a free vegetarian banquet for hundreds of locals.
These free meals create about 4000 litres of green waste a week, or about 35 standard wheelie bins, which used to go straight into land fill.
That is until the Quang Minh Temple installed a commercial worm farm, which takes 20,000 litres of vegetable scraps and green waste and breaks it down within days. The waste is processed with filtered grey water from the kitchens. Once the worms have done their work the leftover nutrient-rich liquid is put back into nature and spread around the temple gardens.
The Venerable Phuoc Tan says: “We are just one life out of many other life forms. The quality of our life depends also on the quality of life around us. So our environment is very important to our quality of life. So protecting the environment means also protecting our life.”
FURTHER INFORMATION:
http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/costa/episodes/detail/episode/2792/season/2
For information on the temple and its work
Last Updated on Thursday, 12 August 2010 00:02