2008 Earth Hour: An Alliance of Civilizations to Combat Global Warming

By K.S.Chow

Introduction

‘Earth Hour Campaign’ is a global environmental awareness campaign of switching off light for an hour by the participating cities and towns throughout the world. In the Earth Hour Campaign, the lighted hardwares and softwares of modern civilization in the participating cities and towns are turned off for an hour on the day of campaign between 8.00 p.m-9.00 p.m to plunge millions of people into darkness to raise awareness about the negative effects of global warming. Hopefully, the awareness will be transformed into altruistically compassionate actions to battle global warming.

 The ‘ inventions, structures and infrastructures of modern civilization include households’ computers, televisions, home and restaurants (light replaced by candle light), commercial buildings,such as shopping malls, shop houses,and private business buildings, government buildings, monuments and other landmarks and attractions. The collaborative effort is to save global electricity produced from burning fossil fuels which pollute the environment with carbon dioxide and other green-houses gases.

Objective

The common objective is to slash carbon dioxide emissions to combat global warming. Global warming is confirmed by environmental scientists to be the root-cause of the climate change. Climate change has already depleted the quality of our natural environment, human economy and public health in the underdeveloped, developing and developed countries. The negative impacts of climate change recognized by environmental scientists are  higher ocean temperatures, intense hurricanes and tropical storms, rising sea-levels, disappearing wetlands, increased risk of drought, fire and floods, more heat-related illness and diseases, wildlife at risk and economic losses. The worst affected countries are the developing and underdeveloped countries globally.

The Earth Hour campaign encourages the participation of both individuals, private companies’ employers and employees and government servants  to collaborate to reduce the unnecessary consumption of electricity in buildings, households and appliances. It also helps create the awareness of the efficient utility of electrical energy and the encouragement of utilizing of energy saving technology for private and public sectors.

Backyard ‘Bodhisattvas’

The first backyard ‘bodhisattva’ of the Earth Hour Campaign was Andy Ridley who initiated the first Earth Hour Campaign in Sydney in 2007. In March 31, 2007, only Sydney alone participated in the campaign between 8.00-9.00p.m.  In 2008, the second backyard ‘bodhisattava’, James Leape of WWF International invited more participants and expanded the campaign globally on the 28/29 March, 2008. 26 major cities, and other small cities and towns participated.

James Leape is a great backyard Mahāsattva (great being) who organized this significant event globally to promote and foster the global alliance of civilizations to protect our natural environment. The world certainly appreciates the altruistic compassion of both Andy Reidly and James Leape who have initiated the two environmental friendly campaigns to halt climate change through a collaborated huge effort of great compassion to save the earth from future environmental catastrophe. The collaborative effort of all the individual and company participants canalized a collective karma to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. That was indeed a powerful way to fight global warming and climate change through international outpour of altruistic compassion.

Conclusion

 The unity of wholesome collective karma or action is divine and is worth venerated. This unity is divine in the sense that it is the Dharmadhātu of Unity from the Buddhist perspective. It is divine from the Islamic sufi’s vision of Unity of Being ( Waḥdat al-wūjud). In short, it is the manifest of the essence of God according to Sufi Ibn ‘Arabī’s Sufi philosophy. According to Hua-yen Buddhism and Sufism expounded by Ibn Sufi Ibn ’Arabī, any form of micro-unity is intrinsically divine or pantheistic. In other words, both micro-unity and macro-unity encompass the essences of God. This immanent essence is known as Dharmadhātu in Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra.

Any individual effort committed for only personal interest is directed by self-centric ego. Action directed by self or ego is secular or mundane.The unity constructed upon collaborative efforts to actualize solely for public interest is divine. The Earth Hour campaign is divine and praiseworthy. The key organizers are backyard ‘bodhisattvas’. There is Buddha-nature or Dharma-dhātu in any form of genuine unity to fulfill a common cause for all. The unveiling of Buddha-nature or Divine nature is the manifest of the Buddha-mind or spirit of God which is pure and infinite.

The monotheists describes thus :  God is immanent in any form of micro-unity or macro-unity.It permeates in all parts of the unity. It corresponds with the sufi doctrine of Unity of Being (Waḥdat al-Wūjud).This is also the Common teaching of Zen tradition and Sufi philosophy. Both traditions are identical as they both seek to obliterate the illusive self or ego in order to reveal the eternal Truth of Unity or Non-duality which is beyond any linquistic expression. This ultimate reality of the eternal Truth of ‘One in many and many in One’ is Tathāgata or God. In actuality, there is congluence of soteriological goal between Zen and Sufism. Zen practitioners seek Emptiness of Emptiness (Śūnyatā-Śūnyatā) whilst Sufi practitioners seek Extinction of Extinction ( Fanā’ al-Fanā’). There is one and only Truth which is beyond all religions.

Editor’s Note:

When the world is currently marred with a multitude of clashes of civilizations.The alliance of civilizations, marked by ‘Earth Hour campaign’, is certainly a welcomed oasis in the desert.