Our tradition says that Siddartha Gautama, the

historic Buddha, attained enlightenment sitting

under a tree, ficus religiosa, known since then as

the Bodhi Tree. This was the first buddhist temple.

Also four weeks after Buddha started his practice

under the Bodhi tree, a giant snake, Mucalinda,

came to protect him from a heavy rain. This tree

and this snake represent the original connection

between spiritual practice and nature. There was

no meditation hall, no pagoda, no building of any

kind - just a tree, an animal and a human being.

Since then we have built many temples, many

pagodas, we have heating systems there, air conditioning, and many trees were cut

for that, many animals lost their homes. We vow to attain the Buddha way, but we

have forgotten his original supporters and companions. Without them the sun would

burn him and the rain would drown him.

Now the sun is burning us in many places of the Earth and heavy rains are flooding

us in others. Where are the original Buddha protectors? We must find them and

bring them back home. We have to

rebuild the original Buddha temples,

which we have destroyed. Temples with

walls out of living tree trunks, roofs out

of tree branches and leaves, floors out

of the living soil, temples inhabited by

snakes, birds, bees and worms.

Facing the climate emergency many people ask a question: what can we do, how

should we live? The scientists say: we should become carbon neutral as soon as

possible. They keep saying it for a long time already and the carbon emissions are

still rising. Zen teachings say: if you open your mouth, you are already making a

mistake. One action is better than 10 000 words. What action shall we take?

Zen Master Seung Sah used to teach: clear situation -

correct relationship - correct action.

Our situation now is climate emergency, climate crisis. What

is it about? If you take a closer look you will see that it is all

about the trees and animals. We have burnt the forests and

we still keep burning them, turning them into carbon

dioxide. Not only the forests which were covering Europe,

Asia, Americas and Australia in the last few hundred years,

but also the forests which were covering Gondwana and

Laurasia hundreds of millions years ago, long before

Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree. Because this is what fossil

fuels are - undecayed trees turned into a coal, and

undecayed plants and animals turned into petroleum and

natural gas. The sun which shines on the sky everyday was

not enough for us, so we are using the energy of the sun

which was shining for millions of years over old continents and oceans making

thousands generations of trees and animals grow and which is stored in what was

left of them.

Can we stop? Maybe we could, but we don't want to. We burn carbon to heat our

houses and temples in winter, we burn it to cool them down in summer, we drive, we

fly, we buy food, clothes, devices and services. We are trying to reduce it and we

should keep doing it, but no matter how we try, after five, ten or twenty years we will

still produce some carbon dioxide. And every additional tone of carbon dioxide in

the atmosphere creates more suffering for numberless sentient beings including

ourselves.

So how can we follow the Buddha way in this

situation? We must call for help the original

Buddha supporters and companions. Only

they are able to take back carbon dioxide

from the air and store the carbon in their

bodies, releasing oxygen. We must return

their homes to them and restore the correct

relationship with them. We can do it by

making the Original Buddha Temples.

How to do it?

Very simple: we buy a piece of land, preferably some vacant agricultural land and

give it back to nature. We can give it a start by planting trees, after 10 years we can

do some thinning to help it to become a healthy forest faster. And we make a

commitment, that it will never be felled for timber. We can make a few paths there,

few places for sitting, if it is a country with a warm climate, we can plant an offspring

of the original Bodhi Tree there. Everybody should be allowed to visit, just at the

entrance there should be a board informing that this is a temple and we ask to

honor this. It can be not far from a temple or zen center of our School, where there

are some people from the Sangha who can visit it and do some quiet practice, but it

can be also in some remote place. We already have some forests around our zen

centers - the best example is Providence Zen Centre with 50 acres of land mostly

covered by trees. It has never been called an Original Buddha Temple but serves as

one.

How does it help with the climate?

In the first 100 years such forest is a very efficient carbon sink. If it is not used for

logging, it never stops sequestering carbon, just with time sequestering slows down.

Even old forests are able to remove 5-6 tons of CO2 per 1 hectare (2,5 acres) from

the atmosphere - with time more and more carbon is stored in the soil. Although it is

difficult to measure, 1 hectare of a mature forest can store from 300 to 600 tons of

carbon (depending on the climate zone and type of the forest), which represents

1100 - 2200 tons of CO2 removed from the atmosphere.

What are the other benefits?

One of the effects of the global warming is water crisis. Forests are very efficient

in keeping water in the soil, especially, if they are not logged.

Original Buddha Temples will become habitats for countless forms of life. Some

of the animals can hardly find a place to live, even if there is a forest around,

because they need for example old, decaying trees, which you can hardly find in

a forest which is logged for timber in 40 or 50 years rotations.

Such places create an opportunity for Zen students to reestablish their

relationship with nature, which in my opinion is very important in spiritual

practice. How can one help all the sentient beings without meeting them? We

can organize 1 day silent retreats there, we can organize together action events

if some maintenance is needed. For example planting trees together is an

amazingly uplifting activity.

Original Buddha Temples may have an educational function and can inspire

people who are passing by - if there will be some kind of a board with info what

is the purpose of this place. It can also be an advertisement of the Kwan Um

School of Zen.

How can we finance this?

By creating our own Kwan Um School of Zen offsetting

platform. Some of us are already offsetting our

unavoidable emissions through different projects certified

by UN, Gold Standard, VCS, etc. Why can't we use the

money for our own projects, which we supervise

ourselves? Original Buddha Temples can be much more

efficient in reducing CO2 from the atmospheric pool than

most of the certified commercial projects we can find on

the offsetting platforms. Offsetting our emissions is in my opinion a necessity if we

want to help with the climate crisis. Actually helping starts, when we reduce more

carbon dioxide than we emit. So I would encourage everybody to calculate their

emissions and offset them at least twice. Also zen centers can calculate their

emissions and offset them through our projects, so people can be sure, that by

sitting Kyol Che they are not making the global warming worse.

What is the ratio of contributed money to the amount of reduced

CO2 from the atmospheric pool?

It will depend on the location - mostly price of land, type of forest and local price of

seedlings. I made calculations for Poland, Malaysia and US North Pacific region:

Poland - 1 ton of CO2 - 2,83 USD

Malaysia - 1 ton of CO2 - 3,96 USD

US North Pacific - 1 ton of CO2 - 1,70 USD

The calculations on which the ratios above are based you can find in the appendix. I

can vouch for the ratio in Poland, the calculations for Malaysia and US should be

checked by somebody who lives there and knows more about the local land market,

taxes, etc.

Usually offsetting platforms set a "price" for 1t of CO2 reduced, based on estimated

ratio of contributed money to the amount of reduced CO2. I think we should double

my estimations for that - 6 USD/1t CO2 for Poland, 8 USD/1t CO2 for Malaysia and 4

USD/1t CO2 for US North Pacific, or to set one price - let's say 6 USD/1t CO2 no

matter where we invest the money. It's a medium price comparing to the most of

offsetting projects and low price for reforestation projects.

What about mangrove forests?

Mangrove forests are one of the best carbon sinks and carbon pools in the world

and their importance for the marine ecosystems is inestimable. And we lost 35% of

them in the last few decades. So it would be wonderful, if we could make an Original

Buddha Mangrove Temple in Malaysia. Just it is

much more difficult, than terrestrial reforestation,

because it requires a piece of coastline or shallow

island where there was a mangrove forest before. I

have found an offer for a shrimp farm in Malaysia,

which probably was a mangrove forest before, but

the price is almost 1 million RM (240 000 USD) for

80 acres. Maybe it is possible to find something

smaller and cheaper, closer look would not hurt.

What do we need to create an Original Buddha Temple except for

money?

A local legal Kwan Um School of Zen organization which can be an owner of the

land.

A local sangha willing to do some together action there from time to time.

1 person who has some expertise in forest planting (or is willing to learn) per country

/ region where we want to do it. This person must have a passion for that. I can do it

in Poland, or I can help with doing it in other European countries. I can also help in

US if it's needed, because forests there are not very different from ours (I plant a lot

of Douglas Firs - trees native to North America, but doing great in Polish forests,

adapting better to the climate change then our native spruces and pines). I have 0

knowledge about planting forests in tropical or subtropical zones.

Such a person would have to find a good property for purchase, prepare a

reforestation plan consulted with local environmentalist - forestry specialist, organize

purchase and transport of seedlings, and some Sangha members to help with

planting them. If this person could also organize some maintenance works during

first years, like protecting young trees from animals, mowing weeds once a year,

thinning after few years - than the result will be better. Doing small things from time

to time helps a lot. But it shouldn't be gardening - sometimes the best thing you can

do for a forest is to leave it alone for some time.

How big the Original Buddha Temples should be?

Big enough to let at least 1 tree grow there. It can be a fracture of an acre, 1 acre, 5

acres, 10 acres, or more. There is no upper limit. Sometimes it might be wiser to have

two or three smaller ones rather than one very big.

Criticism this project can meet.

Like every initiative this project can face some criticism. Below there are answers to

some points which I think may appear.

We should focus on zen practice and leave reforesting for environmentalists.

No one is forced to be involved in any way. This project is for those who want to

help all the sentient beings in that way.

Carbon in trees is temporary. A forest can burn, it can be damaged by pests, and

the carbon stored comes back to the atmosphere.

Nothing in this world is permanent. We can minimize the risk by choosing a place

which is not in an area where wildfires are frequent and diversity in species helps in

bringing the risk of pest damage to minimum. If a forest is damaged by wildfire or

pests, and is restored quickly, most of the carbon stored underground is saved and

new trees continue to sequester CO2.

Encouraging people to offset their emissions may prevent them from changing

their lifestyle and reducing emissions.

We have to promote the 3-step way: 1. Calculate your emissions 2. Reduce what you

can 3. Offset what is unavoidable, or unreasonable to reduce. Offsetting represents

the basic zen teachings: "Have you had your breakfast? Then go and wash your

bowls." "A day without work is a day without food." So in case of climate situation:

"Have you paid for goods and services which contribute CO2 to the atmosphere?

Then pay for bringing it back." This is what zen in everyday life means.

Offsetting by reforestation takes a lot of time. It takes decades to bring back

emissions we are making now with planting trees.

That's correct. Carbon can burn in a moment and it takes decades to bring it back.

That's why we should first of all reduce our emissions. Only the natural ecosystems

are able to bring back carbon dioxide from the air efficiently. Other forms of

offsetting are in short offsetting our emissions by paying others to reduce theirs.

Using a rule that we offset our emissions twice or three times makes the time to

bring the CO2 emitted by us back for the atmospheric pool shorter.

How can we guarantee that the future Kwan Um School of Zen authorities will not

decide to monetize the Original Buddha Temples by selling them or felling the

trees for timber?

This is a problem with almost every offsetting project - we don't know how long will

it last. The Kwan Um School of Zen can be more trustworthy, because we are a

nonprofit spiritual organization rooted in Buddhist ethics. Monetizing the Original

Buddha Temples would be a huge violation against the will of people who donated

the money. We may try to find a legal way to secure it more than just with our

authority. In Poland for example, if property is listed in land registry as a forest, it is

practically impossible to change it.

Appendix - estimation of the ratio of contributed money to the amount of reduced

CO2 from the atmospheric pool for Poland, Malaysia and US North Pacific.

Poland. We have medium prices of farmland, usually around 10 000 USD per 1 hectare (2,5 acre),

but land in mountain region, which is perfect for foresting, you can buy for as low as 3 000 USD

per 1 ha (1 200 USD per acre). Seedlings plus transport will cost 250 USD/1ha (2 500 seedlings).

Forest tax in Poland is 10 USD per 1 ha per year, so for 50 years it will be 500 USD. So total cost

shouldn't exceed 4 250 USD/1ha. One hectare of Polish mature mountain forest can store at least

400 tons of carbon, which represents 1 500 tons of CO2 removed from the atmospheric pool. That

means that Polish Original Buddha Temple can reduce 1 ton of CO2 for 2,83 USD.

Malaysia. Prices of farmland are quite high there, usually around 100 000 RM (24 000 USD), per

acre, but you can find vacant land for as low as 10 000 RM (2 400 USD) per acre, which is 6 000

USD / 1 hectare. If the prices of seedlings are similar to Polish and if the tax is not much higher, the

total cost shouldn't exceed 7 250 USD / 1 hectare. Mature forest in Malaysia should be able to store

at least 500 tons of carbon, which represents 1 830 tons of CO2 reduced. So the Malaysian

estimated ratio is 3,96 USD / 1 ton of CO2.

USA - North Pacific region. I have found a sale offer of 20 acres of raw vacant farmland in

Washington State, near a lake, for 13 000 USD. It is 650 USD per acre, which is 1 625 USD / 1

hectare. Seedlings plus transport may cost approximately 1 000 USD / 1 hectare. If the tax is similar

to Polish, the total cost shouldn't exceed 3 700 USD / 1 hectare. Forests in the North Pacific region

are among the most effective in sequestering and storing carbon in the world - average amount of

stored carbon is over 600 tons/ha, which represents over 2 200 tons of CO2 reduced. This makes a

ratio 1,70 USD / 1 ton of CO2.