Andy Hallahan - "The Roots of ecoBuddhism"

Andy Hallahan grew up in Chicago and Nashville in the U.S., and received his BA from Colorado College in religious studies and American education. After undergrad, Andy worked in Rajasthan, India as a teacher and a humanitarian aide, eventually enrolling at RYI. He received his MA degree in Buddhist Studies at RYI in 2020 upon completion of his dissertation which focused on belief in place-based gods and spirits among Himalayan Buddhists, and the
significance of sacred geography and ‘Hidden Lands’ throughout Himalayan history. Since then, Andy has been teaching a variety of subjects as an online teacher, and has continued researching his current interest on the intersection of ecology, Buddhism, and visionary expression.
As the climate crisis grows ever-pressing, Buddhist leaders continue to mention climate change and environmental degradation with an increasing sense of urgency. Yet, as Buddhism gains popularity in the West, trending topics such as environmentalist thought tend to be overly affiliated with Buddhist philosophy, constituting what some call the myth of primitive ecological wisdom.
The first half of this lecture will provide a brief overview of current (mis)conceptions of ecology and environmentalism in early Buddhist thought, focusing on Abhidharma and East Asian Mahayana. The second half of the lecture will outline the influence of pre-Buddhist spirit reverence as it is related to contemporary ecoBuddhism, focusing on Himalayan Buddhist perceptions of the intersection between elemental balance, and internal and external wellbeing.