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As I have written in my newest book- The Buddha’s Radical Psychology: Explorations, there are direct implications for ecological ethics throughout the Buddha’s teachings. There is a holism. The Buddha emphasized the interdependence of human and non-human life, the importance of the ecosystem and of natural processes. By rejecting the concept of a substantial ‘self’, and comprehension of the interdependency of all phenomena, the importance of the distinction we usually make between ourselves and other living beings lessens. Such an attitude views the world as a vast interdependent field, in which no life form, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is an outsider. There is a state of connectedness and interdependence of all phenomena. The significant realization that there is no independent ‘self’– that the perception of ‘self’, of ‘me’, of ‘mine’ is only an egotistical representation, therefore leads every person to inter-dependently co-exist. Undercutting the usual ignorant anthropomorphic view of the validity of the successful domination and control of the environment by humans, naturalist Aldo Leopold claimed that, ‘The biotic (life factor) mechanism is so complex that its working may never be fully understood.’ There is a deeper ecology that recognizes the inherent worth of other beings aside from their utility.

Another writer who expressed a similar deep view of ecology was R.G.H. Siu:

‘The term Ecology, as used locally, does not have the connotation of the “environment” as used in America. There is no separation of man and his environment; rather there is a fusion of man and his environment. Ecology represents the study of the ecological entity as a whole. When a given ecological complex appears unfavourable from the standpoint of man, for example, he does not have a prior claim to adjustment on the part of the other elements of the complex. The others have just as much “right” to demand modification of his behaviour as he has on theirs. All are one in Nature. There is an appreciation of this Oneness and the delicate interrelationships of its diffusions.’

So humans are not an isolated island in a sea of existence, but rather their being is shared ultimately with all. This becomes a clear and apparent relationship with all existence through the Buddha’s teaching of anatta.