Interbeing, the Rhizosphere and Green Burial
Friday, September 16th, 2022
1. Interbeing
Thich Nhat Hanh coined the word interbeing as a modern label for the traditional doctrine of Dependent Origination or pratityasamutpada, a doctrine taught in all schools of Buddhism.
The term Dependent Origination has two associated but distinct references in different Buddhist traditions.
For the Theravada it refers to a chain of causation known as the twelve nidanas that accounts for the descent from nirvana and wholeness through various spiritual and mental states into the material world of illusion, procreation, life and death known as samsara.[1]
In the Mahayana tradition dependent origination has a more general reference signifying “the mutual containment and interpenetration of all phenomena,” and “a cosmos of infinite realms upon realms, mutually containing one another.”[2]
In developing his practical philosophy of “engaged buddhism,” Thich Nhat Hahn draws more on this tradition.
Here is how he arrived at the word Interbeing: (more…)