Seeking expertise in early texts and nature-based practices and metaphors

Q & A
1

Hello SuttaCentral community,

I am currently working on a research project focused on nature-based practices, teachings, and metaphors in early Buddhist texts. Unfortunately, my professor has recently taken indefinite leave, and I am looking to connect with experts in this area for guidance and discussion.

If anyone here specializes in early Buddhist textual studies with a particular focus on nature imagery, embodied practices, or related metaphors, I would be grateful to hear from you. Any recommendations or pointers to relevant experts, teachers, scholars would also be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your support.

Warm wishes,
Kasper Meulesteen

2

Welcome to the forum!

Comprehensive Index of Pāli Suttas might be helpful.

Are you familiar with https://buddhistuniversity.net/content/monographs/nature-in-ebts_dhammika ?

3

Welcome, Kasper! Thanks for posting this.

Here’s an essay by Bhante Sujato you might enjoy. It contains a handful of nature based metaphors from indigenous cultures that can be meaningful in regard to Buddhism.

4

A few relevant papers:

Magician as Environmentalist: Fertility Elements in South and Southeast Asian Buddhism - Ian Harris

Love, Unknowing, and Female Filth: The Buddhist Discourse of Birth as a Vector of Social Change for Monastic Women in Premodern South Asia - Amy Paris Langenberg

Avoiding Unintended Harm To The Environment And The Buddhist Ethic Of Intention - Peter Harvey

5

@cdpatton has written a bit about Animism in Early Buddhism, and it’s an interest of his. I’m sure he’ll have some leads.

6

Hello! For an explicitly somatic way of teaching dharma I think of Reggie Ray and Philip Moffitt, to a lesser extent Ajahn Sucitto. And the nature-based practice brings to mind eco-dharma teachers like Joanna Macy, many teachers on One Earth Sangha and Chatsumarn Kabilsingh. I have an eco-dharma booklist on Archive if you’d like more on that side.