What Did Thich Nhat Hanh Mean by “Accept That This Civilization Can Be Destroyed?”

Last updated on: September 22, 2017 at 11:30 am by Domyo Burk

What Did Thich Nhat Hanh Mean by “Accept That This Civilization Can Be Destroyed?” 2017-09-22T11:30:57-08:00 Domyo Burk

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A friend recently sent me a link to an interesting Youtube video featuring a short interview with Thich Nhat Hanh. In it, Canadian environmentalists David Suzuki and Jim Hoggan discuss the ecological emergency we are facing on this planet, and the problem of public apathy about or denial of climate change.

Thich Nhat Hanh listens carefully and then responds, “You have to accept that this civilization can be destroyed. Not by something outside, but by ourselves. In fact, many civilizations have been destroyed in the past.”

What did the revered Vietnamese Zen master mean by this? And what did he not mean?

I’ve heard this kind of pronouncement from all different kinds of people, and it is usually spoken from a resigned and pessimistic point of view I believe is both dangerous to the world and a denial of what people really feel deep inside. I understand people are trying to find a way to cope with the overwhelm, fear, and despair our global situation inspires. It probably seems adaptive to resign yourself to the fact that everything might – or even probably will – go to hell in a handbasket.

From a pessimistic point of view it makes sense to start taking emotional leave of the world sooner than later. You can mitigate the terrible impact of hearing about hundreds or thousands of deaths from another human-influenced “natural”disaster by saying, “Oh well, it looks like humans are going to kill themselves – we’re a maladapted species.” You can distance yourself from the pain of contemplating a world without humpbacked whales by pointing out how many species have gone extinct on this planet before, and look – life went on and new species evolved. Taking the perspective of geological time can make the disasters we’re facing seem smaller, less important, and, at least theoretically, less emotionally and psychologically devastating.

Thich Nhat Hanh was not advocating for this kind of resigned and pessimistic view. What he was suggesting was something much more challenging – but also much more authentic and helpful.

Acceptance from the Buddhist point of view is not a resignation that inoculates us from pain. Rather, the kind of acceptance Thich Nhat Hanh is referring to involves opening up to reality. You stop resisting, denying, and looking away. You let reality sink in without shutting down your heart in any way (which is a subtle form of resistance). You let reality break your heart if it’s going to.

You might think this kind of opening to reality will lead to despair, but it doesn’t have to. That’s where taking a bigger perspective is helpful. We contemplate how civilizations have been destroyed in the past not to decrease how much we care about this one, but to remember how precious and fragile this one is. We become motivated by love and compassion to do whatever we can to help. It has nothing to do with how likely we think we are to succeed. Would you stop taking care of a loved one who was sick and likely to get worse, telling yourself, “They’ll probably just die anyway?”

Thich Nhat Hanh says in the interview, “”You can look like this: 100 years, 200 years is nothing if you talk about geological time. This civilization might be destroyed and it may take one billion years more in order to have another civilization… We have to accept reality as it is, and acceptance like that can bring us peace.”

In short, if your acceptance of the global environmental crisis leads you to emotional deadening or despair, it’s not the right kind of acceptance. If your acceptance opens your heart, brings you a measure of peace, and motivates you to help, it’s the kind of acceptance our world needs. It might break your heart, but it will be the kind of breaking that you will survive. In fact, it will probably just make you feel more alive.

I’ll let Thich Nhat Hanh finish: “If we allow despair to take over, we have no strength left to do anything at all. That is why we should do anything that can prevent despair, including meditation… Because people know what is happening but allow it to happen and cannot do anything – there are so many of them – because they have despair in them, and they try only to survive. You can help them to sort out [what is] inside, you can help them to have hope, to have peace in themselves, and suddenly they have strength to come back to themselves… and that person will be an instrument for protection of the environment.”

Zen Teachings & Practices

Previous Post

May 13, 2015

The Radical Effort of Non-Effort (Meditate Is Not a Verb)

Next Post

May 27, 2015 Daring to Speak about Our "Buddha Nature"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Practical Challenges to Helping Reflections on Religion Relating to the World Spiritual Practice Spiritual Questions about Suffering Taking Action In Person Uncategorized Wrestling with the Issues Zen Teachings & Practices

Select a Month August 2024 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz